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she-posts-nerdy-stuff · 6 months

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Essay questions I would set if I were writing the English Lit A-levels on Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom

(To be clear the structure is based entirely on the exam board I did I don’t know if there are different question structure for others)

Explore the ways in which Leigh Bardugo presents the importance of home in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

Explore Leigh Bardugo’s presentation of Heleen Van Houten in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

Explore Leigh Bardugo’s presentation of Dunyasha in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

‘The blood of the convenant is thicker than the water if the womb’

Explore the relevance of this quote in relation to the presentation of Wylan Van Eck in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

Explore how Leigh Barudgo presents the conflict of love and passion in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

Explore the presentation of power in Six of Crowd and Crooked Kingdom.

‘Pekka Rollins represents everything Kaz would have become without the influence of Inej’

To what extent can the above quote be considered correct?

Explore the importance of the Komedie Brute is Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

Explore how Leigh Bardugo utilises setting in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

To what extent can Matthias Helvar be considered the tragic hero of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom?

Explore Leigh Bardugo’s presentation of social class through the city of Ketterdam in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

Explore the presentation of Joost and Retvenko in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

Explore the motif of flowers in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

Discuss Leigh Bardugo’s use of literary foils in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, including the different foils of Kaz Brekker.

Explore the themes of sexism and feminism in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

Explore how Leigh Bardugo presents the theme of courage in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.

Explore how Leigh Bardugo presents the theme of revenge in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom

#the way I could have written a thousand more of these #I thought I’d finished this like 3 times and more just kept coming to me #grishaverse #six of crows #crooked kingdom #leigh bardugo #inej ghafa #kaz brekker #nina zenik #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #matthias helvar #kanej #wesper #helnik

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burningvelvet · 5 months

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on cancel culture, tumblr, lit crit shit, paranoid reading, and some observations on blogging about byron & the shelleys —

every day someone comments on one of my posts about old dead writers with the most insufferable and reactionary takes disguised under a veil of liberalism. go read eve sedgwick's essay on paranoid reading & reparative reading, and learn how to enjoy things!!! why are you trying to cancel people who died 200 years ago? stop!!!

9/10 times they've never read the writer in question, they just hear that these writers were problematic and without using their own critical thinking skills, and having done zero research, they readily condemn them. no real appreciation for literature, no real appreciation for history or culture. and if they do have these, or if they have done research, it's entirely biased, already marked with judgement (aka exemplary paranoid reading).

i think it's very interesting that percy shelley and lord byron were getting cancelled in their own time period left and right, and now they still face cancellation attempts for some of the same reasons, only now more often at the hands of self-described progressives who feel they do so for the "right reasons."

a major problem in discourse (both in and outside of academia) is that most people do not understand the difference between "criticism" in the academic sense (which is synonymous with "discussion," "analysis," "engagement") and "criticism" in the colloquial sense (synonymous with "condemnation" or "harsh judgement" or even sometimes "attacking").

so when we start talking about literary criticism, some misinformed people automatically seek to cancel every dead writer, burn every book, and disregard all of history, even the progressive bits, because they simply don't care, and think that they are being "critical" and that this is a good thing, when they are using the wrong definition of the term to begin with. if i taught a class on literature the first thing i would do is make the distinction between these two definitions.

a lot of people approach dead writers or old writing in bad faith (paranoid reading). they automatically denounce The Olds for being problematic, and then proceed to believe they are morally superior for their own lack of depth.

percy shelley is one of the most progressive and forward-thinking figures of his generation and it's honestly a miracle that we still have access to some of his works which were literally burned in his own lifetime, but that his friends and most importantly his best friend, his wife mary shelley, carefully preserved during his life and long after his death even in the face of social ruin and censure, because they recognized his immense merit and they desperately loved him and his work. this is a beautiful thing!!!

this isn't the narrative a lot of people prefer, though. a lot of people would have mary shelley, instead of being the publisher and defender of his works as she was, be forced into the role which she herself openly derided, of being percy's unwilling bride, victim, who merely tolerated him, who was herself either repressed or oppressed by him. nor is nuance allowed in this narrative.

this narrative is based on a reactionary stance disguised as progressive. that all women writers are mere victims to the men around them. nevermind the fact that mary shelley's husband was one of her biggest encouragers (as well as her trusted proofreader and editor; and all this also goes for her father godwin, but to a lesser extent, as one could more easily make the argument that godwin did emotionally neglect mary).

paint all male writers as abusive control freaks, and all female writers associated with them as their weak-willed puppets, all based on their biological sex and a surface-level analysis of their biographies. these people are arguably just as bad as the sexist pseudo-scholars who have claimed that percy actually penned the entirety of frankenstein and used mary as his puppeteered pseudonym. as if mary never sought agency of her own and never possessed a modicum of it!

for a fair analysis on percy and mary's connection, i highly recommend Anna Mercer's "The Collaborative Literary Relationship of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley" and her interview by Mathelinda Nabugodi for a TLDR version.

i find it interesting that my posts about percy shelley's personal life are not only much more popular than my similar posts about byron (probably due to percy's surname; the mary/frankenstein connection) -- but also that i see way more criticism against percy than against byron.

i think this is partly due to their portrayals in the ahistorical 2018 mary shelley biopic film (see: graham henderson's blog posts on this topic) wherein byron was somehow portrayed as less of an asshole than shelley (which i never would have thought possible had i not seen it). & maybe it has to do with interest in & misconceptions about mary in general. but this is surprising because in many regards, percy really is much more likeable and progressive than byron.

i once had a person hating on byron and trying to argue with me entirely under a post about percy shelley which had nothing to do with byron. whenever i try to critically engage with this sort of backlash on my posts, it is utterly pointless. none of them are interested in or respectful of the opinions of others, nor are they receptive to facts or nuance or engaging with any material in any mature or serious way.

it's especially difficult that they mostly comment on my more popular joking posts/memes, bc that sets up a false pretense for me or my blog to be taken unseriously, when i do take academic figures & topics seriously. my blog is a place for me to unwind and joke about literature, yes, but it's not like i'm just mindlessly joking about writers i've never studied. a lot of people assume that i'm genuinely ridiculing writers when i playfully make fun of them, so they take it as an invitation to do the same, when that's not my case at all.

— back to the percy/byron comparison: in the history of my blog posts, i've seen probably 30+ percy haters and maybe 5 byron haters. as i said, this is honestly bewildering. there are way more justifiable reasons for hating byron than there are for hating shelley.

if we're speaking solely in terms of political, creative, & ideological stances between the two, (and there are hundreds of books/essays comparing their lives/works/philosophies,) i agree and disagree with both of them on various topics. they're both extremely complex writers/thinkers/figures and very different people, despite having been friends.

but if i'm comparing them biographically speaking, if i had to let one of them babysit my children, i would choose percy 10/10 times. if i had to live with one of them, i would choose percy most of the time, although either of them would be tough as a roommate for different reasons.

but overall, percy was a bit more decent biographically speaking, though that doesn't make him a superior writer (percy himself wrote numerous times that he felt byron was creatively superior to him, but morally inferior). and i think most people who've researched the two would agree that percy is the more moral poet by most standards.

for these and many other reasons, it seems apparent to me that the majority of people who hate percy are often parroting the rhetoric of others & not actually thinking for themselves -- which mary endlessly wrote that she despised, as she devoted so much of her time and energy to defending her husband's moral character from critics, so it's especially disappointing that most of the anti-percy sentiment comes from mary shelley fans, who don't even realize how much effort she put into publishing his work and transcribing it as his pre- and posthumous amanuensis.

#lord byron #percy shelley #mary shelley #william godwin #paranoid reading #literary criticism #memoirs of a lit blogger #lol #literature #rambling #my ramblings #me #my essays #it practically is one #my writing #lit blog #eve sedgwick

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carewyncromwell · 10 months

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“I’ve always been a smart girl... Always made the grade -- always got the gold star -- I’ve always been a smart girl, But ‘smart girl’ only gets a girl so far... You win at every single game... You want a quest -- they tell you, ‘tough!’ If you don't go, you'll never know If you’ll ever be good enough...”

~“My Grand Plan” from The Lightning Thief (musical)

x~x~x~x

Hey all! I thought I’d go ahead and draw up a proper concept for my HPMA girl Anastasia “Ana” Read, since quite frankly I never envisioned her as skinny, short, or talkative as MC in the game is. The lack of body diversity in the MC’s models in particular, or even among MC’s friends, is actually one of my biggest hang-ups with all of the recent Hogwarts games...as much as I understand up to a point thinking it’d be difficult to program a lot of different outfits or animations for different size models, it’s still a little sad to me how the player character is always programmed to be skinny, and in Magic Awakened in particular, that favoring of skinny character designs is only accented all the more thanks to the quasi-Tim-Burton-esque animation style, which favors toothpick-thin necks and limbs. It’s one of the few aspects of poor representation in Rowling’s original books that I would argue these recent games haven’t tried as hard to address -- we’ve seen attempts at more LGBT+ representation, as well as more positive representation for different cultural backgrounds and disabilities (especially in Hogwarts Mystery), but not as much in regards to rounder body types. And I guess for me, being raised by a woman who struggled with her weight her entire life, that’s a little sad. Regardless, it was nice to draw Ana again after such a long time, particularly using the original game’s model as a kick-off point!

If you’d like to learn more about my “Strong But Silent,” daydreamer, Sailor-Moon-loving girl Ana, here’s a masterpost of links to get you started!! Enclosed under the cut is the original unedited sketch, embellished with some extra messy chibi doodles of Ana I did on the same page, in case you’re interested!

Ana’s Moodboard

Ana’s Intro Post and Model Sheet

Ana’s Playlist

Meet Ana’s awesome step-dad, Bradley!

See Ana’s dynamic with her stepdad and stepbrothers!

Bradley’s Moodboard

Preston’s Moodboard

Jasper’s Moodboard

Why Bradley is the best dad ever

The first doodle is kind of based on that first pair of duels with the Frey twins and Cassandra Vole in the game. As I discussed with my friend @dat-silvers-girl, I see Ana being suuuuper quiet the entire time, to the point that everyone thinks she’s really shy or nervous, until she -- seemingly out of nowhere -- uses Wingardium Leviosa to levitate poor Colby a good five feet off the ground and then abruptly drop him, effectively putting an end to the duel before it even got started. (As it turned out, Ana was really inspired by Flitwick’s story about Ron Weasley using the spell on that mountain troll to protect his friends and worked super hard to master the spell herself, with the thought that maybe she could do something that cool someday. It ends up becoming one of Ana’s favorite spells to duel with, though she usually uses it to levitate herself over her opponents to give herself the literal “high ground.”) Ana accepted Cassandra’s invitation to the Dueling Club, as well as challenges Cassandra on the dueling field several more times over the years, out of her strong sense of honor, which is funnily enough rather akin a knight’s -- Ana will never back down from a challenge, and if her loved ones or her view of common decency have been insulted, she will absolutely ask to “take it outside” and fight the dispute out on the dueling field, rather than insult the person back, ignore them, or actively lose her temper and attack them straight out.

The second doodle is Ana in class, a good chunk of the time. Ana isn’t actually that shy, nor is she stuck-up, but she’s much better at writing eloquent essays than coming up with witty phrases or sassy one-liners on a whim. And because of how incredibly sensitive she secretly is (and the bullying she experienced for both her magic and her weight), she’s actually kind of hard to get to know, preferring the company of her fiction books to lots of people. She’s honestly a true “Belle” type, if one thinks of Beauty and the Beast, despite being in the house of Lions.

The last doodle is of Ana with Daniel Page, because, amazingly, these two are on the exact same wave length when it comes to the Statute of Secrecy, though for very different reasons! Ana’s stepfather, Bradley Pinkstone, is a pro-Muggle and Squib rights activist who passionately believes that the Wizarding World should find a way to work alongside the Muggle World, to the extent that the Statute of Secrecy isn’t necessary -- he and his sons even work in a theater alongside Muggles everyday, embracing Muggle technology just as much as they do magic! With Ana being Muggle-born herself, she’s likewise very supportive of the thought that if the two worlds knew more about each other, other little magical kids wouldn’t have to grow up feeling like freaks and outcasts the way she did. That doesn’t mean that Ana would ultimately agree with NOTME’s tactics, though -- she thinks there’s a very big difference between protesting against an unjust law and causing abject terror and chaos. (I personally see Daniel as more of a Ravenclaw/Slytherin type than a Gryffindor type myself, but that’s just my headcanon.)

#hpma #magic awakened #anastasia read #my art #about anastasia #daniel page #cassandra vole #colby frey #fischer frey #bradley pinkstone

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in-a-slanted-outhouse · 2 years

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Ok so I’ve been thinking about Five and Delores recently and I honestly find the whole concept of Delores absolutely fascinating. I wanted to post this before season three in case I get contradicted and all of this work was for nothing

So today I present to you:

Why I think that Number Five can still be aroace and have loved Delores

An essay on comphet by me, a bisexual who is procrastinating the work he actually has to do and stayed up way too late for this

So I’m going to be talking about Five’s sexuality, a very controversial topic of which I could end up pissing off at least one person whilst discussing. So a little disclaimer: y’all don’t have to listen to a word I say. We can all have different headcanons. I just request that you please read the entirety of this before you reply

Anyways

Five does not have a canon sexuality as of when I’m writing this so it is therefore entirely up to interpretation

Here’s mine

A lot of people who argue Five can’t be aroace often point out that he had a romantic relationship with Delores or feel that saying Five is aroace undermines the relationship that he had with her. I’m here to say that that isn’t necessarily true. In fact, in my opinion, it could make their relationship more faceted and interesting if it wasn’t a romantic relationship

To me at least

Firstly, I don’t think Five ever explicitly states what his relationship to Delores was other than saying they were ‘together for over thirty years’ when Klaus has a brief discussion with him about romantic and sexual relationships. Now, this does heavily imply that they were in some sort of romantic relationship however, it could also be taken as them being partners in a more platonic sense because Five mentioning it seems more prompted by Klaus claiming him to have been alone (and Five feeling semi comfortable enough to take that as an opportunity to open up to him) more than anything else.

Secondly, (and here’s my main argument) their entire relationship will always be based off Five’s perception of how certain relationships work. If Five believes that him and Delores were in a romantic relationship then that can only be based on the way he perceives romantic relationships or more accurately, the way a sheltered thirteen year old perceives romantic relationships. And as Delores is an extension of Five himself, she will always have the same subconscious values and feelings that he has, as well as with him being trapped in The Apocalypse, he couldn’t have been told differently by anyone else.

All of how he sees romantic relationships is going to be based off the limited knowledge of what he saw around him. Majority of this would have been from late-nineties/early-2000s media as well as (and mostly) older literature that he was taught in class or burnt up books, magazines and newspapers in the wreckage of The Apocalypse.

Five didn’t have a very good model of what a healthy, loving, romantic relationship looked like, growing up. And he didn’t really have anyone that he could have fallen in love with other than his siblings (eek.) His two real life references for what a romantic relationship could look like would have been his father and robot mother; and his brother and sister unhealthily projecting their repressed puberty feelings onto each other due to their isolation from the rest of the world

Robot Grace was essentially a maid to Reginald and not a real romantic interest so I highly doubt that he ever saw them as being in a romantic relationship despite them both being his ‘parents’. This is backed up by the way that Diego reacts to finding out that real Grace and Reginald were dating in the 60s

Reginald (although I doubt that he would have wanted the Hargreeves to fall in love and distract from saving the world) seems like the kind of man to have very old-fashioned values that a man and a woman fall in love and then they get married. And all of the Hargreeves would have been influenced by that somewhat by what media he let them consume. As well as this, we have a very heteronormative society and back in 2002 the access to information wasn’t void but it wasn’t excessive either

Five, having a curious mind and always striving to understand everything, probably did have some idea on different relationships and sexualities but he still would have had limited access to those resources. He could very easily be aroace (or any other sexuality for that matter) but during his years at The Academy, had such little eduction on the matter that he couldn’t truly figure himself out. I doubt he would have known about sexualities other than being straight, gay or bi and could have had the thought process of ‘I’m not attracted to men, so I must be straight,’ or ‘I’m not attracted to women so I must be gay,’ or even ‘I’m attracted to both equally (equally not attracted) so I must be bi.’ He could have also had such little interest in romantic relationships that he just didn’t put that amount of thought into it/thought that everyone had the same internal nonchalance about it but that some people were just more externally excited about the prospect than others

His access to this kind of information would have decreased when he landed The Apocalypse, partly because there was no one else there to give him the information and partly because a lot of books containing said information would have been destroyed. That’s not to say they would have all been destroyed because obviously Viktor’s autobiography survived, but a large amount of them would have been destroyed.

Now, Five, as we’ve seen, is often described by the fandom as being a magpie in the way that he mimics the behaviour of those around him as a survival mechanism. Five, obviously knows what love is, and I have no doubt that what he felt for Delores was love, but for someone who, was separated from society at a young age and has a tedious reference for what romantic love looks like, it could be quite difficult for him to distinguish between romantic and platonic/familial love. Delores was very much created by Five as a coping mechanism to slow his impending insanity. It wouldn’t be far fetched for him to have created Delores and as he slowly slipped into believing she was real, he ended up developing a love for her -which could have been platonic/familial love- but based off of his knowledge of ‘when a man and a woman are in love they must be in a romantic relationship’ he analysed his own feelings of love and went ‘hey, this must be what romantic love is!’

And Delores wouldn’t be able to say any different because she wouldn’t know any different because she lives inside Five’s headspace

Essentially what I’m saying is that Five spending his teens (and entire life) in isolation with his only companion being a person who he made up, would realistically hinder his own sexual exploration and due to limited resources, could cause him to misinterpret his own feelings of platonic/familial love for romantic love. Meaning that with Delores he could have ended up subconsciously or maybe even intentionally mimicking the traditional heterosexual romantic relationship with his own interpretation of what he’s been taught is what happens when man and woman love each other, as a way of experience some semblance of the life he was missing/be able to live semi-in-denial of his suffering on occasion. Therefore, Five (and Delores by extension) could still be aroace and have been in a relationship

Five clearly loved Delores (and we know that he does love people in a platonic/familial way because his entire character/motivation is based off his love for family) and he clearly needed her but it’s never specified what their love entailed, and therefore their relationship could have been based off of a child’s misunderstanding of how romantic relationships work. They could have still been life long partners without loving each other romantically. Five could still love her deeply and strongly and in a meaningful way without loving her romantically. They could have still technically been in a romantic relationship if both parties (singular party technically) believed that they were.

Five could still not experience romantic or sexual attraction and still have loved Delores. He does it with his family every single day

And obviously this logic of Five not being able to explore his sexuality and having limited resources for that could also apply to him having any sexuality. I’m not denying that. I’m just using it as a way to show that him and Delores could still have loved each other and had a relationship that was just as important as a romantic one without it actually being romantic

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk

#reminder that yall dont have to agree with me on this #i just wanted to share my opinion and analysis #there arent any s3 spoilers in this btw #tua #the umbrella academy #five #delores #number five #five meta #louie says shit #aroace five #long post

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lovesitcomsandgaystuffs · 2 years

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Iruazz issay.

First of all I want to clarify that this essay is NOT mine, I didn't write it, it's an essay I read a long time ago on Reddit (about a year ago) and I wanted to share it here because I find it very interesting.

As some of you may know, the ship I ship with Iruma is Iruazz and in this prolonging essay I will discuss why. My favorite part about this ship is the pure layers of depth it dives into especially when it comes to selflessness. I don't think I need to elaborate on Iruma's part since all is clear, but I find Asmodeus' part to be somewhat misunderstood. I find Asmodeus to be the character to have the most development and development potential. He undergoes 3 major developmental arcs.

The first and most impressive is his transformation as a person regarding morality. Thanks to Iruma he slowly starts losing his selfishness towards others and becomes a better person: growing closer and losing his biast distaste towards the abnormal class, seeing ranks in a whole new light, etc. I am of the opinion that exact quality is what infatuates Asmodeus most about Iruma: his compassion. We've seen that he most admires Iruma's inner strength and kindness. In fact, I believe that it's been like that from the start. After being defeated, Asmodeus states that he 'appreciates' (in the manga) and 'is moved by' (in the anime) Iruma carrying him to the infirmary, an indication of particularily emphasizing Iruma's selflessness and kindness. He also seems to be the first to realize this trait in him and mention it.

The second significant development is him developing to let Iruma go. At the start we see Asmodeus alongside Clara spying on Iruma, yet prior to doing so, he showed reluctancy. That gave indications of the potential to develop, which he did: understanding and deciding to not do things for Iruma but letting him go for it himself during the volleyball game, learning to believe and trust Iruma to be on his own and entrusting his feelings to him throughout the harvest festival, and if he hasn't developed enough yet, he definitely has the potential to in the future. Yet, a subject I must shed light on is the absolute FACT that Iruazz will never become canon and in actuality could not (exactly why will be elucidated on down below). Asmodeus also cannot be developed all too much as to not exceed Clara as it is clear they will both hold equal positions in Iruma's relationships if not Clara more as a love interest that has the possiblity of becoming canon.

The third development revolves around him growing to not throw himself into danger mindlessly for Iruma, having realized that would harm Iruma more. For the sake of Iruma and not causing him guilt, he shows signs of no longer stupidly putting himself in danger's path unless absolutely necessary. Aside from these points he undergoes minor pieces of development also, but I wished to state these because they show just how significant Iruma's impact on Asmodeus was, changing his entire personality and him as a person as a whole.

But here's what makes Asmodeus stand out as a character most for me.

We've all seen those characters that fangirl over another or have an obsession for them, yet Asmodeus differs greatly from them by such a small detail that most miss yet that has such a strong effect. The less significant difference is the fact that his admiration isn't based on false factors and also isn't toxicly possessive since he just wants what's best for Iruma, but the bigger detail is just how deep Asmodeus' selfnessness goes. There are characters that are extremely selfless for another, but I've found one thing that differs Alice from them. As the manga has shown in tiny details Asmodeus almost irrefutably has feelings for Iruma, yet unlike all the other characters aforementioned, he does not expect more than friendship. Those characters all actively express their feelings to their fancied person in hopes to be requited, yet that is not the case with our decorous incubus.

The reasons could vary from not finding himself worthy or maybe even believing he couldn’t make Iruma happy in love to knowing Iruma has the likeliness of saying yes either way, but in any case he doesn't express his feelings and never will. The closest thing to fighting over him has been with Clara but that seems to be concerned with worry as to what will happen to Iruma with Valac rather than jealousy. It is more than likely that Alice would help search for a worthy partner or at least stand by and watch with nothing but painful happiness for Iruma.

Here I would also like to give a short paragraph on what I think Azz' future will be. I find the chapter with Alice's vision: 'A future to look forward to' rather ironic since in actuality Alice doesn't even get that much out of that future. Either way he would be the heir to one of the thirteen crowns therefore position isn't much. The only thing he gets is being by Iruma's side forever, but that is exactly all he wants and could ask for: being by Iruma's side and seeing him happy. Personally, I really like the idea of Asmodeus having that secret, subtle tragic ending and I really hope they don't just pair him off with someone to say 'oh look, he's happy too' since I find that to be unrealistic.

Exactly why can't Iruazz be canon?

Well, the beauty of this particular ship is that it's a slow burn relationship that requires a series of abundant development; something the manga simply can't afford so as to not distract from its feel-good and light-hearted feel.

Something interesting and unique I find about Alice is that he isn't just blindly admiring Iruma, as we've seen him doubt Iruma at times as examples of him being unbiased and seeing Iruma's flaws, hence him most likely to be Iruma's right-hand man and advisor in the future. As evidence, at the demon ball he agrees with Ameri when she disapproves of Iruma attending the Sabbath, which can show that Alice can doubt Iruma’s choices

This leads me to talk about Iruma's part. The one thing that doesn't come naturally to Iruma is self-regard and I find Asmodeus to be the best person to help him with that. Asmodeus' constant encouragement has at times and could be what helps Iruma develop into appreciating himself, gaining confidence and seeing the good in himself , not just others. An interesting piece of development could be a simple realization on Iruma's side that Asmodeus' admiration isn't him placing him on a pedastal and isn't based on untrue grounds.

I also found something rather humorous: whilst spying on Iruma, Asmodeus exclaimed in tears how Iruma was charming the president for the sake of his friends. I remember laughing and thinking 'oh Azz, that's so silly', but then in the 'Royal one' arc Iruma does in fact do that. This was just an interesting thought I discovered and found funny. I also find it amusing that sometimes Alice misunderstands Iruma to be more ambitious but oftentimes it turns out to be true, as Iruma is in fact ambitious, in my opinion.

Another thing I really like about this relationship is the slow pace it has. I love how Asmodeus is constantly working towards trying to understand Iruma and I find that gradual growth involving tripping and falling yet getting up and continuing towards that final goal - coming to understand each other conpletely - to be rather satisfying. I love the possible idea of them gradually developing to the point of understanding each other fully and predicting each others' selflessness in the future as ways of helping each other.

I find their chemistry to be rather unique alongside their encouragement and mutual support. I love how both are dense on different levels, Iruma being a little dumb but observant of others, while Asmodeus is intelligent yet not the most acute. They are both a good fit because they interact with each other unconditionally as in.. they don't expect anything from each other except what the other is willing to give them (which is basically their time and attention)

Of course Alice wants to impress Iruma and get praised, but that is only part of his reason to move forward as he simply wants to stay by Iruma's side and support him. I find his need for praise to come from his desire to find himself wiorthy of being Iruma’s indestructible spear and him wanting to prove that.

Iruma doesn't 'want' attention - lots of love and affection - but that does seem to be what he needs in my honest opinion.

I just love the idea of two people who would forget their own selves and do anything for the other and just want to be by each others' side which are the vibes I get from this particular ship.

But no ship is perfect and Iruazz is absolutely no exception. It has its fair share of flaws and I actually find one of the major ones to be rather cute surprisingly enough. I adore the fact that they both are so selfless for each other that they would constantly do anything for one another and make each other guilty. I just love that constant cycle of 'I'm sorry! I'm sorry!' to one another as 'arguments' and find it hilarious and even relatable.

So, in short do I find Asmodeus to be the best match for Iruma? Absolutely not. I kind of want to talk about shipping in general now on account of having discovered something not too long ago. All these reasons stated above, in reality, don't even matter. Finding reasons for a ship isn't exactly difficult and how good those reasons are don't really matter either, it's what you do with those reasons that matters. Basically, I took a look at shipping from a writer's perspective and thought to myself: take a ship that is practically perfect with perfect reasons and chemistry but you can't do anything with it and take a ship that is flawed to the max but has the potential for incredible storyline; which is better?

It's all about what that ship inspires you to create, regardless of reasons. Every ship is good in its own way, as long as there isn't some big fat wall of logic slapping it in the face- and hey, oftentimes that wall can be sidestepped (might just get in the way of the story and mess with the quality of the storyline but still). After all, this is love we're talking about here and love doesn't need always a reason or to be perfect. I find the most important think about shipping to be the storyline that comes with it first and foremost, after which lack of clichéity (is that a word????) comes and- Heck! Even that doesn't matter. Someone can take an incredibly cliché dynamic of, say, haters to lovers coffe shop AU and write a storyline so unique it triumphs over any other eccentric dynamic.

There could be an abundance of stories for a ship yet one sole story for another can take the cake. And since everyone gets inspired to create content and write for different things and tastes, there is no 'best ship', just like there is no 'best girl' (Keima, don't come at me) or 'best boy'. In these cases I say "count your blessings, not others' flaws". Maybe you like and get inspired by an iconic ship like Iruclara, or an wholesome and incredibly cute one like Irumeri, or maybe something wholesomely disturbing like Irukiri is more your style, or maybe you're like me and get inspired and touched by the idea of deep, selfless and unconditional love like Iruazz. Whatever the case, know that if it inspires you to create, then it's already a great ship, be it rarepair or canon.

#the autor gave me permission to post it <33 #mairimashita! iruma kun #mairuma #m!ik #welcome to demon school iruma kun #suzuki iruma #asmodeus alice #alice asmodeus #iruazz #asmodeus x iruma

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softguarnere · 11 months

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Hi Dove. What do you think about the feud between Compton and Nixon?

Hello Anon!

As a history major, I feel like that definitely has an effect on the way that I've thought about it/looked into it. So this answer probably isn't quite what you're looking for. Apologies in advance for the small essay.

I think that with how much time has passed; the influence of Ambrose's book and it's subsequent television adaptation; and the publicity that came from individuals writing their own books; there is a chance that some details of the feud have been changed, misremembered, or dramatized. One major point that we stressed in my oral history class (which I feel is important to put here because Band of Brothers was born out of oral histories) was that humans are not perfect. Therefore, memories are not perfect. Whether intentional or unintentional, consciously or unconsciously, we are bound to misremember details of events that happened to us. So I think when reading the differing accounts of Compton and Nixon's feelings towards each other, it is imperative to keep that in mind.

That being said, I don't really have any groundbreaking thoughts on the feud, nor have I taken a side in one way or another. From most accounts, it would appear that the two did not like each other very much. Which - maybe a controversial thing to say here - is okay. They were human. Humans are bound to cross paths with someone that they don't like or get along with for whatever reason at some point in their lives. Based on everything that I've seen about the feud, it seems like their feelings of dislike were mutual. Many have given reasons for this. We should maybe take their explanations, as well as our own speculations, with a grain of salt since Compton and Nixon are no longer here to confirm or deny details.

Again, I know this probably wasn't what you were looking for. Sorry about that. My only real thoughts on the feud are that it seems that they didn't get along, and that the reasons for that could be what we have seen stated in the books, or something else entirely. We may never know. From where we stand in history, all we can really do is analyze and speculate. I suppose my main thought on the feud is that we should be careful and mindful when we discuss it for the above stated reasons.

(It feels strange to not end an essay with endnotes and a bibliography completed in Chicago-Turabian haha.)

Dove 💕🕊️

#went into full on historian mode for a sec lol my bad #do I mic drop now?#nayyyy jk #band of brothers #lewis nixon #buck compton #anonymous #asks #hbo war

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innocentsshounenjuujigun · 2 years

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Back when I read the manga, I interpreted Christian as a closeted gay desiring to become a woman in order to be with Etienne.

Since the story is framed in a time in history where gays were not well-liked and Christian is presented as a super logical person, I thought it was reasonable for him to want to be a female, because this would make his love for Etienne more acceptable and overall easier.

I know you write Christian as a trans girl and I think it's a totally valid take because the manga is a bit unclear, but I would love to hear your opinions on this other interpretation.

(Also English is not my first language, but I hope I could convey my ideas just fine >.<).

Alright, so, I may have taken this ask a little more seriously than I should have. >w> As in, I'm currently in an Arthurian Legends class with a professor who specializes in the Medieval period and its history, culture, and stories... and I had a meeting with her specifically to discuss this topic.

That means you're about to get an essay in response here, anon. Most of the following paragraphs are based on my own opinions developed in the years I've been invested in Innocents, but there are a good few of my professor's opinions also taken into account.

I have a lot of feelings about Christian's gender identity and how Furuya crafted her story, so I hope I can do those feelings justice!

. . .

(They/them pronouns are used for Christian here for neutrality.)

The core point of this is that for Christian, changing their gender identity would have been far from the most logical choice. There's nothing about becoming a woman that would have made their life easier— or made it easier to be with Etienne from a social perspective. It would have been far more "logical" to stay a gay man than go to such extremes, for reasons such as...

Homosexual acts were common enough to be in the manual priests had to guide people through repentance (called a Penitential). Beyond that, "sodomy" happened often enough that it was a recognized issue, particularly in monasteries and among knights. While it was still a "sinful" and punishable offense, it happened, and it happened often enough that Christian, well-read as they are, would have almost definitely been aware of both the existence of those acts and exactly what would have been done to "punish" them. (Source)

In comparison, trying to become a woman would have been a major problem socially. That's not just a single sin to repent for; it's an attempt to alter their entire lifestyle into something that would have been highly socially unacceptable. A couple of acts of "sodomy", in comparison, if they were even found out, would have been much less punishable than trying to live as a woman.

Going from that, it would have been far easier for Christian to live with Etienne somewhere remote enough that the chances of being found out would be next to zero, and have their "sinful" relationship as it was— not embark on a dangerous, potentially years-long quest to undergo a dangerous surgery and change their entire life to do something that would have been less socially acceptable than a few acts of sodomy that may or may not have ever been discovered.

And of course, Hugo! He, a member of the Knights Templar, was very obviously engaging in sodomy on the regular. While we may not be sure of exactly how aware of this behavior his superiors were, the fact that half of the prostitutes shown in the scene with Nicolas and Guy are male says a lot about how easy that was to get away with. (Ch. 10)

As you can see, Hugo was sleeping with plenty of men, and he didn't suffer any dramatic punishment for it (that we know of) until what happens in the actual story.

Next, in terms of logic, undergoing surgery to "become a woman" would have been an incredibly reckless, risky choice. We see an illustration of the procedure in Christian's textbook (Ch. 20), and it's pretty grotesque. Definitely not the kind of thing that would have had a high survival rate in the era before germs were common knowledge. Going by the picture, it does not look like something that a rational man would willingly undergo, especially not when considering the information stated in the previous paragraphs.

Yeah. That does not look like something many people would have survived, nor a very logical choice to undergo if you're not desperate.

This leads to my most significant point— the utter loss of any kind of social advantage. In this time and place, women didn't have much in the means of rights. By becoming a woman, even if the procedure was 100% successful, if they survived, and if they were able to seamlessly live their new life without anyone ever knowing that they started out male, Christian would have lost every bit of status, power, and safety they had in the process. As a man, they still had some form of agency; submitting to life as a woman would have put them in a terribly vulnerable position, even without the risk of being found out for who they previously were.

With Christian indeed being a logical, rational person (for the most part), it doesn't make sense to me that they'd resort to such desperate, dangerous measures in the hopes that it would somehow make their relationship with Etienne easier. The matter of attraction is the only advantage I can think of that they'd gain, and even that idea doesn't exactly work out— since Etienne would have been fully aware that they started out as male, the aftermath of the procedure wouldn't have changed what he knew about them.

Christian's desire to become a woman is highly illogical. It's desperate. And the consequences of such a choice, the overwhelming risks with very little reward, indicate to me that there was a lot more going on in their head than just wanting to justify their feelings for Etienne. In this setting, changing their sex and gender would have been a far too dramatic choice to solve that problem.

There's additional evidence, in my opinion, in Christian's behavior in the story, but since this post is meant to cover only the potential logic/non-logic of the choice, I'll stop here for now.

Thank you for the ask! :D

#Innocents Shounen Juujigun #Christian #Analysis

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redwineconversation · 1 year

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Knew you'd miss me once the thrill expired (and you'd be standing in my front porch light)

Just going to go out and say it: I prefer Twenty One Two's cover version of Cardigan to the original one by Taylor Swift. I'm holding out on the hope they will pop up on the Eras Tour but also am not holding my breath. The original is quieter, literally like putting on a cardigan; the cover is like the cold, the rush you get when you step outside and the temperature has dropped. Also, this is mildly nitpicking, but I think the hook is better when it ends on "And you'd be standing in my front porch light" rather than "I knew you'd come back to me."

Why, yes, I can write entire essays on Taylor Swift lyrics. Whatever. You are who you are.

ANYWAY let's talk about Lyon's 2023 contracts, and other factors that are actually at play. I'm going to go through position by position because I think it helps explains things a little better. I don't care if this turns it into a whole-ass essay. It's my blog and I will monologue if I want.

GOALKEEPERS

CHRISTIANE ENDLER: A 2024 contract. While not up this cycle, she is arguably the world's best goalkeeper and one Lyon will most likely seek to extend. Will she? My guess is probably, but this is based on her not having a legitimate reason not to. As long as she and her wife are happy in Lyon/France, there is no reason to believe Lyon won't be able to get an extension.

EMMA HOLMGREN: 2023. I go back and forth on this one. On the one hand, Lyon made it explicitly clear that Endler is the starting goalkeeper, so any chance of playing time is contingent on Endler getting injured. But Holmgren is young, and it's one of those situations where playing time isn't necessarily a make-or-break factor. I would guess 60-40 she re-signs, but this could probably go either way. Right now I think she would choose salary increase over playing time.

ALYSSIA PALJEVIC: I DESPERATELY want her gone, which means that Lyon is days away from giving her an extension until 2026. The day that happens you will find me playing in traffic. I will legitimately scream into the void if a team whose winning pedigree is what Lyon's is re-signs a goalkeeper who is literally the same height as Selma Bacha.

DEFENDERS

ELLIE CARPENTER: 2026, not a factor for this cycle or next cycle unless we are discussing the right back position. And even then it's basically written by the Sports Gods that Carpenter is locked in as a starter for the right back position, so yeah. Non-factor in almost every way.

PERLE MORRONI: 2024. Kind of a factor for 2023 contracts. Here's the thing: in a weird way Lyon's injury crisis in the first half of the season showed how dependent Lyon is on their bench, and how when that falls apart, Lyon is so completely crippled. Someone commented recently that Lyon has the "luxury" of substituting one world class (left back) player for another. At the end of the day, Bacha will need a certified cover as LB. Morroni provides that option. So will Lyon set aside 2023 money for Morroni's extension? Not impossible, and not something we should dismiss.

SELMA BACHA: 2025. A non-factor. Basically certified starter at left back. When on, and vexed, she has the most lethal left foot in the world. Knockout game Bacha > your favorite player. I said what I said.

VANESSA GILLES: 2023. She's one of the ones that I think won't extend because it's a loan situation, but Lyon will be wishing there were ways to skip around that. I've said it before but Gilles slips under the radar because she is, well, boring. You're not going to get any flashy defending from her. She's just a no-nonsense defender, keeps her head down, and does her job. I wouldn't have said this back in October 2022, but, as The Daylights once argued, I think I miss(ed) you.

WENDIE RENARD: 2026. Non-factor.

ALICE SOMBATH: 2026. I said it before and I'll say it again - she is PSG's The One That Got Away.

KYSHA SYLLA: Out on loan, 2023 contract. Skeptical about the renewal chances but never say never I guess.

INES JAURENA: 2023. Out of sight, out of mind. Zero probability of her extending, if she does, it will probably put the entire Lyon fanbase on suicide watch.

Griedge MBock: 2024. Will be an expensive renewal but one Lyon would be willing to pay for.

ASSIMINA MAOULIDA: 2023. Very unlikely to be renewed.

MIDFIELDERS

DANIELLE VAN DE DONK: 2023. It's not Marozsan's contract situation that will be the determining factor. it's certainly not her relationship with Carpenter, because Lyon will never take that into consideration. No, weirdly enough, I think the biggest determination is if Pernille Harder is actually as virtuous as she claims to be. I somehow doubt that Lyon is currently on top of Harder's Christmas card list. But what does Harder really want more: to be on SBG's side or to win a UWCL trophy? With all that being said, van de Donk also has big game experience, which is vital when you play the 10 for Lyon, and gets along with the squad. She's probably the hardest one for me to predict simply because there's a lot of contingent factors - my guess is they will extend, if only because they will want a cover for the No. 10 position, a position they are so protective of and won't give to just anyone anymore. If they extend - as I said, it's probably the hardest to predict - my guess is it will be a +1, at most a +2.

DZSENIFER MAROZSAN: 2023 +1. The question isn't whether she goes to PSG. The question is whether she goes to PSG in January. I think it's an important distinction, and here's why: Bouhaddi's contract with PSG ends June 2023. Marozsan's interest in PSG is tied to that alone. If Lyon balks at the idea of selling this January, then they are just entering into a game of chicken with Marozsan. Who knows if Bouhaddi will retire in 2023? Probably not. But if she still deemed high enough that she could take a starting spot elsewhere? Does Marozsan have that kind of pull? Not for most of the top clubs, who saw what Harder pulled in 2020 and Miedema in 2022 and view relationships as a cautionary tale.

AMANDINE HENRY: 2023 + 1. "I knew you, heartbeat on the high line, once in 20 lifetimes" I keep threatening to write about it but Henry's relationship with Lyon is so interesting and fascinating and complex. Even more so than Hegerberg, it poses the fundamental philosophical question: did Lyon mold this player into its own image, or did this player mold Lyon into theirs? They might disagree with each other, might go at each others throats with a bloodlust that cannot be described as healthy, but even monsters can be tethered to one another. I think it's too soon to say for sure what's going to happen to her, Lyon's performance in the UWCL probably being the biggest factor.

JANICE CAYMAN: 2023. People threw WOB around as a possibility, but I have my doubts solely because WOB will still be suffering from PTSD after the Harder fiasco. I'm not excluding Germany completely, but I question whether it will be WOB. Will it be a loss for Lyon? ehh, kind of. She's not the fastest player on the squad but can show up when needed. Just not at RB against faster players.

DAMARIS: 2024. There are rumors that Manchester City were inquiring about her but there is absolutely no way Lyon lets go this window. Well, I say absolutely no way, the only player I think Lyon would trade Damaris for is Oberdorf. Since Wolfsburg isn't going to sell Oberdorf anytime soon, Damaris will stay a Lyon player through at least June 2024. She is one of the players that I think (1) will be expensive and (2) Lyon will move for an early renewal for. Her stock will only go up after the World Cup.

SARA DABRITZ: 2025. Non-factor.

AMEL MAJRI: 2026. Non-factor.

LINDSEY HORAN: 2023. Much like Gilles, we only got her on loan. I would love it if we could extend her - she's been much more reliable than I gave her credit for back in January 2022, but I doubt (1) that the Thorns will agree to an extension and (2) that she even wants it. I think she likes Lyon, she does, but she misses the US more than she likes Lyon.

CATARINA MACARIO: 2023. I actually think she won't re-sign, and will be pleasantly surprised if she does. Right now her wage demands are absurd - it will be the equivalent of Hegerberg and Renard combined, and I just see Lyon's board flinching at that. No one player should have all that power. It's frustrating, because Macario is such an incredibly talented player, but she has proven before that her concept of loyalty is somewhat flexible. If she ends up extending, I am happy to donate to the charity of your choice.

INES BENYAHIA: 2025, kind of a non-factor. She has a lot of growing pains left to go through but I wouldn't put a loan in the future out of the equation, but we'll see what Lyon does in the meantime.

FORWARDS:

ADA HEGERBERG: 2024. A MASSIVE factor when it comes to determining both 2023 and 2024 contracts. In last year's list she was the second highest paid player on the Lyon roster (Majri might have overtaken her in the 2022 extension, which at worse would have bumped her down to third). Much like Henry, there's debate as to whether she molded Lyon into her image or if they molded her into theirs. Monsters recognize monsters, but that comes as a price.

THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE MELVINE MALARD: 2026. To put my feelings about this extension into context, the moment the news broke a very, very close friend of mine texted me asking if I could let her know I made it to work okay.

SIGNE BRUUN: 2023. The one I firmly believe will become Lyon's The One That Got Away.

EUGENIE LE SOMMER: 2023. This one I think is a little complicated - she's been at the club for a very long time, and although isn't the goal scorer she once was, she provides a ton of experience. Le Sommer is one of the squad players who has basically lived through it all. Is Lyon so ruthless as to send her away knowing she probably has one, maybe two years left in her career? Lyon operates as a business (as it should, you own a football club with the goal of making money, not running a charity case). The other factor is whether they get Brugts (@god pls pls) or Leutcher (I think less probable but never say never).

DELPHINE CASCARINO: 2024. An important factor but not necessarily a dealmaker. Lyon born and bred, I don't think she will necessarily leave for greener pastures, but loyalty does come at a cost, homegrown or not.

VICKI BECHO: Increased playing time shows an increase in confidence. Will she extend? Probably, but she is on the cheap side.

YOUTH ACADEMY PLAYERS TO WATCH

Alice Marques

Maeline Mendy

Feerine Belhadj

EXTERNAL PLAYERS TO WATCH

Pernille Harder though it really comes down to how firm her moral convictions really are

Magdalena Eriksson, though this one I have serious doubts over because she has a pretty consistent trend of using Lyon's name in order to leverage interest elsewhere

Esmee Brugts

Romée Leutcher

#all good love stories start in the rain

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sagau-my-beloved · 2 years

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Hello how are you doing? :P

Alive and kicking, for now at least—

I do currently have an absolutely inhuman amount of work dangling above me, threatening to crush me whenever it so chooses

Since I don't have anybody in my actual real life I can complain about this too, let me go over the full magnitude of exactly what I have to get done, so you can understand the sheer amount of bullshittery that's been thrusted upon me

I have to write 3 essays before Friday on Greek, Roman, and Egyptian architecture and statues, because I need to submit one of them for my western survey midterm but my professor has which one set at random, he also won't allow you to simply copy and paste whichever essay it turns out to be, you have to rewrite the entire thing in the text box provided

So that midterm is due Friday and is also composed of 9 short response questions that I don't know anything about before going into it, I have a staggering 90 minutes to do all of that 👌

Then I have a continuation of a semester long graphic design project, which requires me to create 25 unique logos based on a fictional environmental activism corporation, due Friday as well

Also on the graphic design schedule we have a completely different project, due Sunday, which specifically says in the header "Don't wait until the last minute to start working on this", which requires me to design four stamps based on social issues, with no less than 12 different steps of criteria for each, and then, of course, a formal analysis for the set

And then ending it off strong we have a discussion post which thankfully only requires about 3 paragraphs worth of work, one paragraph due Friday and the other two on Sunday

After that 3 psychology assignments due Friday, I'm really kind of scared to look at that class because I know I have this really big grade hanging over my head, but I don't know much about it or when it's due, and every week that passes I tell myself I'll deal with it next week—

Then moving ahead a bit, I have to fully shade an 11 × 14 in fantasy based architecture drawing, with a fine liner, before Monday, because that's when we're critiquing

Have to finish a landscape charcoal drawing that I've worked like 4 hours on and I'm only about 15℅ done with before Tuesday, because that's when we're critiquing

And then I have a western survey research paper due on Wednesday, that I have not started, roughly 5 pages and requires me to find 4 peer reviewed sources and properly cite them 😀

On top of that I'm completely losing tomorrow afternoon because I agreed to go to an event with a family member out of obligation, which I only learned about this morning, because if I don't go then a different family member of mine would go in my place, and having the two of them in a room together might actually lead to the final nail in the coffin of their multi decade long relationship

And I think that's about it—

So I'm just a tad bit stressed, but I assure you that I'm handling this with the utmost of optimism I am physically capable of, and no matter how all of this plays out I'm not going to die nor is it the end of the world, which is what I have to keep telling myself

So I apologize for kind of rambling for something that required a short concise answer, but honestly writing all that out was kind of therapeutic and it might actually help me keep better track of everything—

So thank you for the check in, I needed it, and I hope you aren't suffering the same fate

And maybe send a prayer to Lord Barbatos for me cause I'm gonna need it

#hey look i'm talking #personal #vent #(?)#I'm not sure if I would really consider it that but I will tag it to be safe #I'm so tired guys #tw cursing

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jngsjngs · 1 year

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(if its not too personal) what was the specific instance that not only made you want to write hsc but to share it with us too?

i’ve always loved to write and in all honesty knew i was pretty good at it (if only because i had the support of so many incredible teachers over the years) but the most i had ever done was the occasional essay and a group project in high school in which we had to write a script and record it (sort of like an audio book). although daydreaming was a daily occurrence that project was my only attempt at fiction for several years because the thought of putting words down on paper seemed oddly perplexing. i genuinely thought nothing i had to say was worth anyone’s time so publishing my work or even reading it aloud was an impossibility.

in hindsight a lot of my insecurities stemmed from a severe case of imposter syndrome (and it’s still a burden i carry now). i don’t think i learned the significance of sharing until i took my first creative writing course a few years later. so many of my peers poured their hearts into the pieces they brought to class and i would have never known that sense of community had they not been brave enough to invite other people into their world. i’m not sure if i was inspired to write hsc solely because of that but at the very least all of these experiences gave me the confidence to believe it was actually possible.

at that point of my life my depression had taken a turn for the worst and the only place i could find solace was in stories. i read so many books and watched just as many shows but after finishing them i realized that there were only a few i felt deeply enough. something about that was incredibly isolating. looking back it was probably because mainstream media wasn’t discussing mental health to the extent that they do now so i had no idea other people struggled with it the way that i did. i came up with hsc because i wanted to be a part of that conversation in case even one person could relate.

sometimes i feel selfish because i wish i received more comments and sometimes i’m sad because a few of the ones i do receive are criticisms (sometimes constructive and sometimes not). often i get frustrated because i’m not the best at execution and even more often than that i get excited because i can recognize how much i’ve improved. most days i’m happy because those who reach out (on tumblr and ao3 in particular) are only ever kind. but i am always content because i am able to feel deeply regardless, and because i never feel as alone as i once did.

as i’ve said before rei as a character isn’t based entirely on me as a person but it’s only natural that my experiences helped shaped some of hers. i think that’s the most important part. after all, the people who read hsc come from all over the world and have lived so many experiences of their own. despite our differences there is something about the story that brings us together and it’s for that reason i continue to write it. thank u for ur patience and support all these years. i don’t think i’ve quite mastered how to express my gratitude but i hope u know wherever u are that i appreciate u.

p.s. the sun is rising and i have not slept so this might be totally incoherent (the lack of punctuation doesn’t help at all i’m sure) i apologize for the strain on ur eyes but if u made it this far i am all the more grateful

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masongrizchel · 1 year

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The Low-cost Scientist: Episode 2

Unemployment, Underemployed, and Blue-collar Job

The low-cost scientist received a text message a week ago. He expects ten text messages where he dropped his resume at some prestigious school around the metropolitan. His regard to his self is high. Some of his friends and classmates labeled him a late bloomer since this is the only time he has access to wifi using his phone and downloading advanced materials that he found exciting and necessary. He imagined how advantageous it would be for him to have this accessibility. He might have taught himself everything he needed help understanding, or the instructors failed to deliver. That is the reality of where he is going and where he went.

The magnificent instrument 'android phone' served as his library and his access to information. It is the same instrument where he received one message out of 20. Today is the day of his interview. He arrived while carefully walking in an aisle full of unfamiliar ambiance. It is his first time witnessing a community where it is entirely different from his standard view. He is applying as a secondary teacher at a prestigious Chinese school. The buildings touched with classic and modern Chinese architecture. The kids' lives were too focused on math, and it occurred to me (maybe this is on end). Their entire lives revolved around academics and how to get higher grades, which seems to be their only problem. I overheard a group of students discussing quadratic formulas as if it were their dinner last night and their breakfast this morning. The kids are too fantastic.

While recalling years back in his childhood, the talk is more on how to escape the cleaners' schedule first day in the morning and how to score with their crushes, where they were obliged to walk for one and a half hours to be at school since the family can't pay attention to your needs. There's no pressure. There are no expectations. You hear many words from disappointed people around them, which labels some children more problematic once they achieve adulthood.

Returning to the walk, these cloud of thoughts and negative vibes establishes envy of the low-cost scientist. He walks passing to the group of students discussing mathematical equations and formulas. Then passes to the group of students sharing books they have read. And many more. It is a niche for students who were not having any issues academically—those who made to be great. Looking at himself, the low-cost students approached the glass door of the school directress. Full of negative vibes -nervous, envious, and full of what-ifs.

The low-cost scientist enrolled in an MTAP program during his elementary days. It is a Saturday math class that focuses on the mathematics enrichment of students. Most of the students came from different sections; we can call them the cream of the crops. They were selected based on their mathematics exam scores. However, there was one chosen out of pity. He is a low-cost scientist.

A short back story: The low-cost scientist (in grade 6) was mocked by one of his classmates due to his crumpled uniform and hanging by a thread backpack. He snapped and strangled the bully, and their next subject teacher witnessed this. She interfered, and both kids asked to be in the guidance office. The teacher hears the story and where the low-cost scientist is going. The teacher had seen how promising this kid was. He writes a highly remarkable essay. From that point forward, the low-cost scientist is the favorite of this English teacher. She enlisted him in the feeding program, trained him in the writing camp, and added him to the list of students to join the MTAP. And yes, out of pity.

The door opens, and the principals welcome the low-cost scientist.

'Have a seat.' she said.

Tell me about yourself.

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amarantine-amirite · 1 year

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I Am Proto, Super Bowl Commercial Is My Motto

I hate in-class discussions. Every time I get verbal instructions, I have to ask someone to repeat the part where they said stuff about everything. More often than not, I have to ask them to write stuff down for me. It works until it doesn't, such as when you're doing discussions. But that's the way it's going to be.

Honestly, I feel like we shouldn't have to do them. We do them so much because our English teacher is so set on saving paper she loses sight of what's practical. We can't take notes during discussions, and we can only have at most one page of notes before tests/exams, and two note cards during readings. We can't use mobile devices for note-taking, nor can we record anything that goes on in class. Even the assignments are entirely discussion based because it's easier for the teacher to grade you based on how you behave in a discussion than it is for them to read an essay you've written off a screen.

"OK, everybody," the teacher began, "for this discussion, if you don't fill at least 15 minutes of air time, you fail." She walked around the class and sat on her desk. "Your topic is this: is Shakespeare a person or an army of monkeys with typewriters? Go"

"I'm going to need that in writing if you please," I asked the teacher. I couldn't tell whether she said 15 minutes or 50 minutes.

"Well, you can't," she said, looking at her phone.

I tipped my head to one side. "Why not?"

"It wastes paper," she said, still looking at her phone.

I got it, but I felt a pang of suspicion. If you tell someone, don't write that down, it wastes paper, it sounds like a socially acceptable way to tell someone that you don't want to have a paper trail. "Is there something you want to tell me?" I said as I narrowed my gaze.

"What do you mean?" the teacher responded. She tried to look like she wasn't insulted.

"I'm a teensy bit suspicious that you don't want to write this down because you don't want a paper trail."

The teacher glared at me. "Do you not trust me?" she asked, taking it way too personally.

"No, that's not it."

"Then why?" she demanded.

"I don't process spoken language too well because I'm on the spectrum, so I need written instructions."

"No," the teacher said, "you're just a bad listener, Elizabeth."

I shook my head. No part of that sentence is true. I'm a good listener, I just struggle to process speech. But that doesn't matter. I'm a bad listener because somebody probably doesn't want a paper trail.

The next day, I found out that she had gone behind my back and removed me from my piano recital. A few days later, my dad told me that Twisted Sister was there, looking for new talent. I soon realized that had I been there, I would have become the latest member of Twisted Sister. It made me feel even worse about missing my piano recital. I had worked hard, and not only did I not get a chance to reap the rewards of months of hard work, but I missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime. All because I can't process spoken language.

After Christmas, I made peace with it. Then Super Bowl Sunday rolled around. The wound reopened when my dad pointed to Twisted Sister playing at the Super Bowl halftime show and said, "Lizzy, this could have been you if you didn't screw up in English class so badly".

Missing out on being the newest member of Twisted Sister made me ask myself why it is so easy for everyone to write me off. Common sense would dictate that it's not me, they're too stupid to get me." Unfortunately, it's shockingly easy to miss out on terrific opportunities because other people are too stupid to understand I struggle to process speech.

The halftime show ended. A strange commercial with a cartoon superhero driving a sports car down the highway out in front of Mount Rushmore set to an awkward cover of "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats came on the TV. "What is this, Super Why?" Dad asked.

I recognized it instantly: my Super Bowl commercial for Protegent antivirus and data protection software. "No, Dad," I said, "It's that Super Bowl ad that I made when I did AV club in the fall." The feeling that I was some kind of loser melted away. They aired something I made on National TV.

As Proto drove underneath the moose, the voice-over said, "When it comes to protecting your personal computer, only Protegent passes the moose test". Dad gestured to the TV and said, "That's not what the moose test is."

"Yeah, no it's not," I replied, "We were just really stuck."

Stuck was something of an understatement. It took some moron in my homeroom buying a moose head on the teacher's credit card during class for us to come up with the idea for the commercial that we ultimately used. Even now, I can't believe that we got our work out the door on time.

"Did the AV club really have you make a Super Bowl ad?" Dad asked incredulously.

I nodded and told Dad the long story about the Protegen Super Bowl ad. Protegent isn't too well-known outside of India, but the ads for it have become something of a minor internet meme worldwide because the mascot looks like the protagonist of the cartoon Super Why. Marketing-by-meme worked for a while, but now the magic's gone. Time to take more drastic action. Time to make a Super Bowl commercial. Yes, a Super Bowl commercial for something that there's no American market for.

Dad turned to me and asked, "Do people in America actually buy this software?"

"No". There's a good reason for it. I remember when we were storyboarding the ad, Priya told me that Protegent is useless and their tech support department scams people.

"Then why is there a Super Bowl commercial for it?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "because the people who make the software asked for one," I replied. Either Unistal doesn't know there's no demand for this product in America or they don't care.

"What were they thinking?" Dad replied.

"Nobody knows," I replied, "I guess that they saw the memes and thought the Protegent was popular in America. Point is, something I make ended up on National TV!"

The game came back on, Dad shushed me because nobody talks while football is on. I think we can file that ad under well, we just wasted 60 crore rupees.

@soprompt

#writing #writers #writers on tumblr #short fiction #short story #super bowl

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at-your-service-guys · 2 years

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Critical Thinking for Children

There is no doubt that the decisions we make have an essential impact on the quality of our lives. Furthermore, if we want to make sure that we live our finest, most prosperous, and most joyful lives, we need to take deliberate steps towards making these decisions. The word critical thinking is one of the most common terms we hear every day. Nevertheless, perhaps we are not entirely sure what it really means; we think of it as a process of analyzing facts in order to form a judgement. In simple terms, it is described as thinking about thinking.

During the course of her career, Bell Hooks, a renowned cultural critic and liberal educator has been recognized for her essays that examine feminism, class, and racism (Wikipedia Contributors). As Hooks' writings demonstrate, her main concern was to show how race, capitalism, and gender interact to maintain oppressive institutions and systems of ruling dominance. Throughout some of her books, she discusses several issues teachers face inside and outside the classroom. One of the topics in her book particularly entitled Teaching Critical Thinking, focused on the topic of Critical thinking.

Photo by the UW Archives

Bell Hooks argues that in most cases, children are taught that thinking can be harmful from an early age, which results in them no longer finding it enjoyable to think and instead frightening by it. In many homes where parents teach children that obedience is preferred over self-awareness or in schools where it is not acceptable behaviour, children tend to suppress the memory of thinking as a passionate, enjoyable activity (8). As for me, when a child loses his or her drive to think, it can result in withdrawing from the tasks set and constantly complaining of boredom and losing motivation to think to solve things. Moreover, if it continues, they will lose the will to do or believe because they do not know where it will lead. They can't see the relevance of thinking.

Back when I was young, at home, I contemplated a lot because of what I read, saw and watched, to the point where I wanted to know what was next or what the answer was to what I was thinking. One time, I watched something about cooking on television, but I couldn't continue, and the next day I thought critically about what will happen when you add water to hot oil. Of course, I was young then and didn't know what would happen when the two liquids were mixed, so I did it without any guidance. My mother suddenly stopped me when she saw that I was going to do that and scolded me. She didn't tell me what would happen if I did that, so I slowly thought and thought to the point that it was tiring to think, so I stopped. After that, I just played games with my friends and didn't let myself believe anything. That's a child for you. They have a lot of questions and curiosities because of their thinking.

In school, I did not experience a teacher who didn't ask if we had any questions. On the contrary, they were the ones who made us feel comfortable to ask anything and incorporate different types of views. It gives us students a chance to share our own viewpoints while listening to and learning from others, which helps to practice our critical thinking. Additionally, by allowing us to ask questions, mainly open-ended inquiries, teachers allow us, primary school pupils, to apply what we have learned to their lessons and to build on prior knowledge. In addition, it improves our self-esteem and allows us to express ourselves in front of our peers, enhancing our ability to think quickly and solve problems.

Photo by Laowisit, Khunkorn

Based on my experience, what do I want to convey in relation to Bell Hooks' passage on critical thinking? A child's inherent curiosity contributes to the development of their critical thinking skills, and it is imperative that these skills are taught and practised. We must use creativity and curiosity to engage in critical thinking, which requires us to absorb information, analyze it, and make judgments. Children's brains function similarly to libraries, growing as they acquire new knowledge. They must consider how the new information relates to what they already know if any of their preconceived notions are altered by the new information.

An approach to learning that emphasizes critical thinking can enhance children's and student's analytical and logical reasoning skills. Besides improving one's ability to be objective, critical thinking also assists in reaching the right conclusions. When kids are young, they have the potential to learn skills that will last a lifetime. In this way, children can benefit from being exposed to the critical thinking process in school and applying it to all aspects of everyday life.

Allen, J. “Gender, Race, and the Freedom of Ideas.” Wisconsin Alumni Association, 21 Dec. 2021, www.uwalumni.com/news/bell-hooks-obit.

Hooks, Bell. “Critical Thinking.” Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom, 1st ed., Routledge, New York, NY, 2009, p. 8.

Laowisit, K. “Asian Student Girl Is Writing Homework and Reading Book at Desk.” Vecteezy, www.vecteezy.com/photo/10110879-asian-student-girl-is-writing-homework-and-reading-book-at-desk.

Wikipedia Contributors. Bell Hooks. 2 Nov. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_hooks.

#education #educational #critical thinking #bell hooks #education matters #critical thinking for kids #Critical Thinking Is A Must #critical thinking skills #critical thinking for students #english

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dr-c-says · 2 years

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Weekend Roundup | EN 112 | 09/13-/09/15 | 2022

On Tuesday, 09.13.2022

I walked the class through an extensive lesson on how to identify a potential research topic, formulate a research question, and then refine the research question so that it can drive the research process effectively. I also gave you the brief version of requirements for the research essay so that you will know what to aim for as you consider topics and questions to ask about them.

We will talk about the individual elements in greater detail as we work on them, but for now:

6-8 pages

(typed, double-spaced, 12pt font, Times New Roman or similar)

argumentative (not strictly informative but no, “argumentative” does not mean “opinion based” –– it means persuasive, using a reasoned presentation of evidence)

proposal essay structure

topics must be approved in advance (see below)

TOPICS are the piece of the puzzle we want to focus on for now, but it’s not a bad idea to keep in mind the overall length requirement and the need to build an argument as you think about potential topics to choose.

In this course, you choose your own topic within a set of parameters set up to ensure that the topic you choose (and the research question you pursue) will meet the ultimate course goals.

You have a list of topics you may NOT use:

abortion

gun control

euthanasia

the death penalty

animal testing

legalization of any controlled substance

(most of these are just drastically over-used; let’s think outside the list of topics everybody already knows offhand, hm?)

arguments based on literary or religious texts (there is actually a whole other kind of argument that applies to these, and the English Dept. teaches it in the Literature courses ... so let’s leave something to look forward to!)

Actually fitting all my notes on research questions into this post is proving to look EXTREMELY WEIRD and hard to read; I think I’m just going to scan the actual lecture notes I used, put them into a Google Drive folder, and post the link. STAY TUNED (yes, I’ll post an Announcement in Canvas).

_____

On Thursday, 09.15.2022

we spent the entire class period on a revision workshop; the first essay of the semester is of course the one we are revising, but the revision guidance itself is meant to be a tool you can use to revise not just this essay and not just your work for the course, but all the writing ou do in your life from here on out. For that reason, I encourage you to review your classmates’ notes (see Canvas discussion thread) as well as reading this recap.

The (very) short version:

1. Identify uses of 1st or 2nd person. In general, you should revise these sentences to use the third person (remember that the third person tends to place emphasis on the subject matter and evidence and that emphasis is what we normally want in academic essays).

2. Put a noun on it! This, that, and it all get overused to stand in for whole sets of ideas either spread out along previous paragraphs or not actually stated explicitly in the essay; either way, the use of any of these listed pronouns to refer to anything other than a single noun in the previous clause or sentence makes your essay less clear and therefore harder to follow. You don’t want that!

Common “red flag” phrases that often indicate a vague pronoun/antecedent relationship (especially when found at the beginning of a paragraph) are: “Because of this...”; “...get it done...” “This means that...”

My favorite method for fixing all of these structures is to replace the pronoun with a paraphrase of the concept or set of concepts to which that pronoun is meant to refer. So, for instance, if a writer has been discussing low visibility at the intersection of Pine and Irvine, “Because of this” becomes “Because the height of vehicles parked on Pine Street limits sight distance for traffic heading westbound on Irvine ...” Or, if the preceding paragraph has established that employees who stay home sick are often expected to check email and respond to messages, “This means that ...” becomes “The expectation that workers who ‘call in sick’ will still respond to work-related communications results in...”

3. Finish the thought! Sentence fragments are a major error, per English Department guidelines. They also tend to look like “clutter” on the page –– a whole bunch of partial sentences with half-finished ideas. Give us the whole shebang! The easiest way to fix these is to look for “subordinators” (usually but not exclusively conjunctions) and then check whether the clauses they introduce are actually connected to an independent clause elsewhere in the sentence (more on that in the week ahead!).

IF YOU MISSED CLASS on either of these days, your task is to:

brainstorm a research topic

watch for research question handouts (in Canvas)

follow the Thursday steps to MARK (not yet revise) your essays

Post a summary of THIS ENTIRE DOCUMENT to the comments on the MOST RECENT Canvas Announcement.

#EN 112 #Weekend Roundup #reviews / guidelines / instructions

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tommydoesntpayforsuits · 2 years

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Hi! I was wondering, did they teach you critical thinking at school? Thing is, I notice that western people are more opinionated(?) than eastern people (generally speaking). Most of you have a broad knowledge on things and able to discuss things and share your opinions.

So what I'm trying to say is, how do I learn to be more critical and not afraid to show my opinion on things, be it a light conversation or more serious discussion.

I really admire the way you think especially your post about the Spencer movie, cause I watched it and if I got asked how was it, I'd probably say I don't like it and can't offer a more explanation.

Marina, I hope you understand what I'm asking <3

I'm not gonna lie, I read the first sentence and laughed out loud because I thought this was going to be a very long insult paha

I honestly don't know about opinionated differences between East and West, so no comment on that as I have no idea what to say.

As for do we learn it at school: I'm not sure? I mean, there isn't a "Critical Thinking" class, but in school you were expected to draw your own conclusions. School pretty much for me was teachers lecturing about fixed information, and then asking us about our opinions or using logic to decipher following events (I mean, don't think we didn't have to do boring stuff too). There were often heated debates in class about who's character's side you're on, or who had the rightful claim to X throne, etc. So, you could say we were kind of forced to think critically, unbeknownst to us. I used to have to write minimum 3 essays a week around my subjects for homework. So analysis is pretty much something I can do in my sleep.

Honestly, the only advice I can give you is that you need to inform yourself on the subject, once you know what you're talking about, then you decide on an opinion. As long as you understand that opinions are not set in stone, and can change should you receive new information, you should be okay (i.e. don't defend something that has been disproven or get into a fight about because the whole thing is about pride/embarrassment, because I promise it's not worth it). There's also no shame in not having an opinion on something, just because you can't seem to settle on a coherent ideal or because you have no strong feelings on the matter.

Also, you can like what you like! You don't have to defend your taste! I like stupid French shows and semi-realistic historical dramas— it's my trash, I love it.

That's the end of the advice, I'm just going on a Spencer tangent now:

As for Spencer, I feel like maybe about 25% of the audience hated it. A lot of people complained that it didn't have a plot, which I think is a silly criticism, because it does have a plot: about Diana's suffering in the span of two to three important days for the Royal Family. We see her slowly decend into her own depression, and I found that fascinating, because it's essentially a dramatic tragedy as the audience are aware Diana will die (though the film never touches on her passing) and her suspicions are correct. Not to mention the symbolism and the foreshadowing was geniously placed. Once you realise the piece is about emotion, one can view it differently. But also, I am a Film and English student— my entire academic career is based around analysing stories and how they're constructed, so I do overthink when I watch movies.

#anon ask #marina's asks

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