#cogentranting

[itspileofgoodthings]

I'm teaching P&P for the first time currently. Any tips? Or things you do that have gone well?

Omg I’m so excited for you!!! And your students!! Please tell me how it goes!

I mean, what I do changes every year, at least a little, BUT

1) I have found that slowing down and giving them time to interact with the text in specific ways (guided questions, looking for quotes, even sometimes open-book quizzes) makes them less afraid of reading it and so I try to do it especially for times where I really want to discuss what’s happening but I need them to have read and to have read closely. So I’m planning on doing it this year for Darcy’s letter (they don’t always read it and I NEED them to lol) and also for Lizzy’s emotional journey while at Pemberley (there’s so much to pull out). It’s also super easy for them to FIND stuff. Like—Austen is just so clear. Every line is either plot related or clearly stating what’s going on internally, and because it’s all right there on the page I find that that gives them both a confidence boost in getting it “right” and also helps them get invested in continuing reading.

2) They’re always wayyyy more confused by the beginning of it than i think they will be (because to me it is the least confusing book on the planet) so I always have to remind myself to explain the set-ups/expectations of the time slowly and thoroughly before it sinks in. I personally hate doing the “social commentary/class stuff” with Austen at great length because tbh I never really think that’s what it’s about so I just keep it as story-relevant as I can. Also helping them keep track of the characters takes more work than I think—I’m sure it’s just my own knowledge of it that makes me a little blind to it—so I walk them through meeting everybody and getting a sense for them slowly and try to weave in some thoughts on Austen’s effective characterization while we do it.

3) I’m sometimes torn on this one, can’t lie, but I show them the mini-series as we go. Not all of it by any stretch but many of the scenes. I shoot for a viewing experience once a week but it’s often more. There are always a few students every year who want the experience of reading the book brand new with no conflicting images or pictures in their head to compete with it and I always feel SO bad that I don’t do that? Because I COULD!! And the magic would still be there!! But also I just feel like it’s a real help to the class as a whole for following along with the story as we go and for getting a sense of the time and costumes (and characters.) it’s hard because as I know the book better I find more faults with that version (I still love it, but it can never be the book) but also the experience feels like part of it. At least at this point. And at least in May. I try not to overdo it though. (This is my least favorite tip haha.)

THANK YOU for asking!!! Always on my mind. And I hope it goes so well!

[the-haiku-bot]

“Is Blue Beetle part

of the DCEU or

the new DCU?”

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

"Is Blue Beetle part of the DCEU or the new DCU?"

Much funnier if he's in the same universe as Battinson.

Bruce is sitting on his bike in the rain monologing about vengeance and despair when Jaime rolls up in his giant bug-mobile with his Nana in the backseat.

[twinklingwatermellon]

Ooh is there a edmund vs henry discussion going on? I neeed to know and see my boy Edmund's defence posts

Oh it wasn’t Edmund vs. Henry, it was just about Edmund himself, @/cogentranting just finished reading MP and posted a poll asking who should smack some sense into Edmund when he’s pressuring Fanny to marry Henry, then some people answered that he doesn’t listen to women and she posted the defense post I reblogged, then someone 👀 reblogged it from me saying that it’s true and he doesn’t listen to women soooo

[sweetcarolinejane]

Two weeks have passed since Lucy Chen's promotion to sergeant, removing the professional barriers between her and Tim Bradford. Despite their mutual feelings, both hesitate—Tim fears overstepping, while Lucy awaits his move. As they navigate this uncertain space, a pivotal moment forces them to confront their feelings and decide whether to take the next step together.

a one-shot, loosely based on some things in the promo for 7x18.

Big thanks to @cogentranting for this idea!!!

[joanthangroff]

fic rec - best of 2024

I haven't done one in ages so i thought [mariah carey voice] IT'S TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMEEEEEEEE. These are my fave fics from 2024 + two or three I read in 2025 already but I wanted to include them :)

Arrowverse

Once More, Mr. Queen by mybrotherharry

Olicity but turly mostly a genfic with a character study on Oliver!! The monitor makes Oliver travel to different universes to make sure the Ollies from there also become the Green Arrow. Shows different paths Oliver's life could have gone and how much he's grown. i loved it!!

Sacrifice by MaddyBaby

Genfic with a focus on Barry's and Hartley's friendship!! Set in season two when Barry travels back to the events of Hartley's first appearance. In the new timeline created by this, they're friends only that Barry doesn't know and has some trauma from the time Hartley wanted to kill him <3

Cold Storage by @sproutwings

Iris gets locked in a freezer and hallucinations of Snart help her get out of there. But maybe it's actually been him? Set Post-Oculus.

Partial Disclosure by RetroactiveCon

Hartmon bonding!!! Over queerphobia, too lmao. They're still at each other's throats but realise they have a lot more in common than they thought. Trans!cisco my beloved.

An Honest Thief by @sophiainspace

Coldwest team-up!!!! Polyamory!!!! Aromantic!Iris!!!!!! Coldflash!!!! Iconic Mick behaviour!! What more can I say????

The Memories That Hold Us Back by Cogentranting

Set after the Arrow finale where Oliver brought Tommy back to life. He's Mia's uncle and THEY'RE FAMILY. I love them.

Other DC

Perfect Paradise, Tearing at the Seams by McKat

Payneland fic with a truth spell!! Crystal buys a hexed necklace from Tragic Mick and when Charles accidentally touched it, he has to tell the truth.

heartbreak is one thing, my ego's another by @artemisadore

Catwin with SPOT-ON characterization!!! Edwin stops Thomas when he trashes his ex's car, only to find out that they have the same ex. To make him regret fucking them over (and for other reasons) they start fake-dating :)

myself and this body that they stuck me in by @misspickman

Kon has a few realizations about his gender hehehe

straight on 'til morning by @mamawasatesttube

Big brother Kon realizes that throughout his life he has been treated uhhhhh horribly?? And learns to talk about it

Other fandoms

the fubb cinematic universe by @tkffyrpntsndjckt

The most unhinged chatfic i have ever read I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!! Basically a rewrite of glee starting during ?? season 3 i think?? Blaine doesn't go to McKinley but stayed at Dalton, he and Sebastian are besties. Sebastian used to be Kurt's roommate at Dalton. so many shenanigans. someone dies. someone goes braindead. hilarity and craziness en masse. i had the time of my life reading this

white christmas by @lalalenii

you may think i'm biased but it really!!!! is that good!!!!! leni plays with formatting in the best way. like you FEEL the pauses while you read and it's so awesome. but robert please stop taking drugs

L'Chaim by sebastian2017

Erik's life and how he has been influenced by being a Jew. It's so so good and has so many gutpunches

A Book Half Unread by @jakeluppin

I still don't properly go here because i'm stuck in 911 s1 BUUUUTTTTT we love buddie in this house. and ezra put so much love into this because being a librarian is ezra's passion and you can FEEL it. it's so good. i love how dorky they are. and chris and buck's friendship is just so cute

The Line of Thought by @shotbyafool

Typical House MD episode tbh. The ducklings meddle with House's private life and he decides to play tricks on them. Unfortunately, he enlists Wilson to help him

The Live Forever Job by jessikast

Leverage/The Old Guard crossover!!!! It's so good and placed perfectly tbh.

[theragamuffininitiative]

Having just read quickly through a couple commentaries on this, I think the arguments are not nearly as weak as you're presenting them, which may indicate that you haven't fully understood them. For one thing, I'm not sure how the commentator you're using phrased it but argument 3 is certainly not based on the KJV but on the Greek (and compares to 3 John which uses consistently 2nd person singular). And yeah in general the way you presented the arguments here are not how I would describe them. All of the things I looked at did, however, say that the majority of scholars think its figurative and I just think that… while you can research and come to a different conclusion than the majority, you should be cautious in doing so. It also seemed from the commentaries I looked at, that most didn't feel the need to spend a lot of time parsing the issue because as one directly stated, there isn't really any difference in interpretation of the letter whether its an individual or a figurative way of describing a local congregation. If you want, when I have time later this week I could look through my seminary's database and see if I find any more specific articles that have been written on the topic, which would go into the issue in more depth and probably better explain the reasoning behind the different positions. - @cogentranting

(sorry I'm not sure how else to best include the text of the reply here) Hi friend! 😊 Thanks for the note! Not currently looking to have a big discussion on this one, but want to address your concerns here.

Questioning certain biblical interpretations is very new to me, so I'm a baby at this and don't have all my data and sources lined up. But that's ok, I'll get better at it, and this post was definitely not my "hey everyone let me convince you of a point!" post but merely an expression of my personal surprise that an assumption I have long held about certain burdens of proof I have been taught about actually don't exist. This is a teeny tiny piece of a personal reformation process I am going through, and I certainly don't expect anybody to go through it with me. After years of deconstruction of purely man-made religion, I am slowly starting at seeking interpretation of Scripture built directly from the text (and its original context) as closely as possible, going to the wisdom of those more well-educated than I whenever appropriate.

The text I quoted from I lost the link to last night and wasn't much bothered about, but here it is. I am aware there are much more detailed and familiar commentaries out there. The 20 some links I perused in the evening all presented approximately the same arguments, so I just didn't bother tbh.

(As to the whole KJV thing, that was honestly just a joking aside by me. The guy in question was primarily citing the Greek, but the fact that he was most familiar with KJV makes me automatically a bit wary of how much he cares about being faithful to the text, as we know the KJV has multiple issues in this area and that's the one he seems to prefer. Sorry for the confusion there, I was mostly trying to be funny. xD)

As for the singular/plural thing: 2 John uses both, and the places where it switches seems very obviously to fit with addressing, in turn, both the lady and her children to which the letter is addressed. 3 John is written to a single person, so it uses consistently 2nd person singular. That much is pretty simple as far as the grammar goes.

However, I disagree that the majority of scholars think it's figurative, that's not what I found at all. There's a specific line of that interpretation which has been historically pretty popular given the cultures in which it was presented that made it make sense.

I did conclude my post by agreeing with your last point: that it really doesn't matter. Unless your objective is to dismiss the role of women, particularly women teachers or leaders in the church. So when beginning to study the ways in which certain sects of Christianity throughout history have interpreted texts to fit their own worldview and desires (what I am doing when trying to separate them from each other), then it becomes important to know why people might insist it to be one thing more than another. To me personally, it doesn't much matter in a theological sense because neither interpretation damages my theology. I just grew up thinking it was clearly a metaphor for a church and laughable that it could be to a specific woman.

When coming to this epistle, I sort of held my breath to see how cuckoo the less patriarchal, more egalitarian types (those both feel like theology buzz words rn but I can't think of better substitutes) presented their reasoning. What I found is that the literal reading makes equal if not more sense as the metaphorical one, and it surprised me, especially given how emphatically the point had been delivered to me in the past - which might not be your experience.

That was the whole point of my little ramble last night. 😊

If you would like to send me further resources, you are very welcome to. I should probably warn you that I'm studying these things from a mindset that has long been convinced on all matters of theology by the commentators who insist on things like its a metaphor. So it's actually the new (to me, not novel) information that there exist other perfectly valid interpretations (or that the interpretation I know is on shaking ground) that I am finding intriguing.

@ everyone else, I am going to ask that you dm me any further discussion on this one, as I would love to talk more about it with you but not in a big chain post. Thanks!

Ok. No. Wait. Hold up.

I'm... flabbergasted. XD

Growing up, I was always taught that the recipient of John's "second" epistle was obviously a local church congregation he was in contact with. There were, I believe, a few summary dismissals of arguments that it might be to an individual but never any time wasted on the matter.

And yet. The arguments for it to be absolutely a metaphorical "elect sister" rather than distinct individual (and her children) are incredibly weak from a scholarly standpoint?? I'm not going to rule the metaphorical option out conclusively myself, but I am just ??? laughing at how commentators dismiss the literal interpretation when their grounds are soooooo slim??

Arguments represented by a one, Wayne L Fussell:

Argument for "church" understanding 1:

"It is not logical that John would declare his love and the love "of all they that have known the truth" for one lady. This language would more reasonably be directed toward a well-known church." .... Not logical of John?? We're talking about this being illogical of John, the Apostle John? John who went into so much detail about how God is love and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God's commandment is that we believe in Jesus and love one another as he has loved us? It's illogical to say that that John might open a letter to an individual person saying "all who are of God love you because we all abide in God's love together" (vs 2)?? The John who refers to Gaius in his third epistle repeatedly as "beloved?" Okay, go off I guess.

Argument 2:

"John’s statement concerning certain of her children who were "walking in truth" (verse 4) does not sound like language addressed to one lady but to a collective church." I'm.... I'm sorry. Dude. What- how. Ugh. Vs 4 says, "I rejoiced greatly to find that some of your children are walking in the truth." -flips page to 3 John 3-4.- This is directly specifically to a single individual, named Gaius: "For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers" (we could insert sisters here but that is an entirely Different post) "came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." Sure, John refers collectively to believers as children (here and elsewhere), but also notably as "my" children rather than "her/your" children. ALSO why would John bother to comment that he "rejoiced greatly" to find that "some" of her children were walking in truth if the "your children/her children" referenced were believers in the church? Should he not instead be concerned about those who were not? (But if you would like to insist that the reference to children is still purely spiritual children, I can meet you there.)

Argument 3:

The strongest reason to doubt that the lady is an actual woman is that John changes from the second person singular ("thy" and "thee") in verses 4 and 5 to the second person plural ("ye" and "yourselves") in verses 6, 8, and 10." ...... my dear commentator. Firstly, get ye another translation, the King James has multiple translation issues though we are grateful for its role. Anywho, John addressed the letter to the lady and her children. So there is both a singular address and a plural. This is.... this is not complicated or odd.

Fussell whoever he is, is definitely not the foremost commentator on the subject, but these seem to be the general arguments based on the text itself supposedly as taken from others such as Barker, McDowell, Stott, and etc. There are other arguments based on the idea that there were no women leaders in the early church (this is false, another post for another time perhaps), or pretty easily dismissing the questionable stance that eklekte kuria was a proper name for a particular woman (just bc she isn't named doesn't mean she isn't an individual who had a name), or the idea that the lack of name was due to secrecy for protection in case the letter fell into unsympathetic hands (then why risk naming poor Gaius? also these letters were almost definitely delivered by hand-picked trusted people by John).

The term used, kuria, is not used anywhere in the NT outside of its occurrences within this epistle. So while it is fair to discuss how the church is metaphorically referred to in feminine terms elsewhere, this particular term is not one of them. The masculine form of kurios is commonly translated as lord or master and always suggests authority, which would be an interesting term to use if addressing a body of believers. So it makes little sense to apply it that way simply bc it is in feminine form. It would also be odd and redundant to address the body of believers....and their children. To the church and to the believers? Is this type of language used elsewhere?

John's ending with "the children of your elect sister greet you" is a fascinating one. It could of course mean another church. It could mean a fellow woman leader within the church and her spiritual children. It could mean the very real sister of the first woman and her literal children. There isn't enough information to really speculate further than that.

From a very commonsense reading of the text, eklekte kuria means "respected/honored/chosen lady/leader" and there is nothing inherently within the text or outside of it to suggest the terms are metaphorical. There is no great issue between whether you think this was a real individual or a metaphor for a congregation (except when it comes to refusing women in Christ the ability and distinction of carrying out their God-given calling of making disciples). There is however an issue with insisting that it must be a particular thing to fit your idea of what the Bible should be, when that is simply not evidenced by the text.

[CBE international]

I just. I thought you folks had a stronger case here than "Well to me, personally, living in my male dominant culture, it seems odd that John would say this to a woman." ???

[itspileofgoodthings]

I love The Alchemy because it has this leftover exhaustion (from the smallest man who ever lived especially) but also the album as a whole, this edge of weariness, this shrug like “might as well”— not 100% but a little bit—as she faces another love story, another attempt, and not just that but another attempt at writing about it. And as it turns slowly from gray to gold (cc: @cogentranting) she’s feeling the surprise and hope of love coming back to life and, because of that first admission of exhaustion that began the song and in many ways still colors it, she’s taking all of us, even the most jaded of her viewers, along with her.

[feilcityqueen]

"From this point forward, whatever you want to know, whatever you might want to ask me is fair game, okay?" inspired by this amazing post by cogentranting

[cogentranting]

I'm curious about your thoughts on The Last Unicorn and the various horse-like pokemon (especially mudsdale)?

Here you go! https://www.tumblr.com/cogentranting/732852373264941056/ranking-animated-horse-designs-take-3?source=share&ref=_tumblr

[runabout-river]

cogentranting hat auf dein Foto geantwortet “Can we talk about Diego for a hot second and the kind of disaster this...”

I interpreted five's question and Diego's answer as "how long have you been in the 60s" not "how long have you been in the mental institution". And the 75 vs 76 discrepancy would be just a matter of whether he counted the day he got there and whether he counted the day they were on.

This is a good question because I certainly interpreted Diego’s answer as “75 days in the mental institution.” I would say that for simplicities sake most people would count the days he’s been in 1963 as 76 because that’s just the easiest way to count from the 1st of September to November 15th.

But I think there are two points for why the “75 days in the institution” scenario is the one intended by the producers (though someone could always ask them on twitter or something)

1) his haggard look and the subtle but twitchy way he behaved when he was talking to Five

That’s a visual shortcut to conway just how long he has been in that asylum. (And he probably wouldn’t have let his hair get that long if he had been out and about.)

2) That picture of him in the newspaper looks like it had been taken really close to the time he arrived in 1963

Maybe someone can get a date of that particular paper but I’m actually quite sure that I’m right with how I saw that conversation. But even if I got all of that wrong, in the end he would have still stayed at that asylum for an abnormaly long time.

[pooslie]

from this post: https://www.tumblr.com/cogentranting/173551186198/

Exasperated Bucky: Oh, God. There’s two of them. They don’t even have weapons….

[benedictsvestcollection]

cogentranting replied to your post “Who do I have to bribe for Prodigal Son to host a Gilmore Girl’s...”

Who do I have to bribe to get Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham on the show as a serial killer duo

Go on.... (But only if they get to share at least one scene with Keiko. Lol)

[redeemed-wren]

15, 36 and 67 for the ask thing

15: Top 3 kinds of flower

Hmmm I honestly haven’t thought about this hugely buuut: orchids probably,,, a classic rose is really pretty and probably tulips (#dutch heritage i gotta say that. but also they’re pretty)

36: Top 3 books from your childhood

Oh gosh wow uuuh how can I only choose three???? I’m gonna go with series bc I’m NOT picking favourites out of my series and they’re probably Lord of the Rings (and the Hobbit that counts as well), Narnia and the Inheritance Cycle. Honourable mentions are Artemis Fowl, Ranger’s Apprentice and Redwall. 

67: Top 3 historical figures

I mean the top gotta be Jesus Christ because he died on the cross for my sins so you know I gotta say that. Who else hmm,,,

I’m sure there are other people who I’ve been really fascinated by in the past. Maybe like,,, Alexander the Great or Julius Caeser. I just keep thinking of more Bible characters if I’m being honest XD 

Corrie Ten Boom is pretty cool actually, I read a lot about her as a kid - I should find some biographies and refresh my memory, she’s such an inspiration. 

[anatombombatallhours]

tags from @cogentranting

you're NOT a bad person if you can't read, if you are illiterate in some way, or if your reading comprehension isn't that great

THAT is not why literacy is important

Literacy is important because without it, you are much easier to lie to

it is so much easier to make you believe something that isn't true because you do not possess the ability to find other information--much of it written, but not all

you *need* to be able to discern and understand what is happening, because there are people who want to do things to hurt you or others without your knowledge

assessing and analyzing that classical book that uses metaphor and talks about how people in power will stop at nothing to remain in power, an opinion piece in the newspaper explaining why everyone should just calm down about fascism, a political skit on SNL, whatever, is actually incredibly important so that you know what people are saying and doing right in front of you

many civilizations throughout history have lived and died over their people allowing something horrific to happen right under their noses

and *this* is why governments that are corrupt and leaders who want to operate without oversight *always* restrict education and journalism and media--they all require literacy to engage with, and cutting down on what people are *allowed* to think about is the number one way fascists try to control a people

you are not bad for not being literate

but please do not cheerlead further ignorance and revel in your lack of ability to parse information

we fight for freedom for all--and an essential part of that is literacy

[snowgloberoundandround]

Peace and Cardigan

HARD but I’ll have to go with Cardigan. It just hits

[thelonelybrilliance]

@cogentranting‘s blog always makes me smile <3 <3 <3