#his ideals aren't ultimately the problem but the belief that there is no other way to achieve them

[sleepy-aletheas]

I love the delicate balance of intelligent antagonists falling for schemes.

On one hand they can sniff out any ill intention, any attempt at deception, expect the unexpected and have precaution after precaution for every situation. But then there is always that one flaw, that nick in their armour, the blind spot in their reasoning that the protagonist can and will exploit that unravels every calculation and tosses the carefully build confidence out the window, and they panic so hard, they become reckless.

Sunday is cunning, he knows a lot of stuff, and has a great ambition he is hungry, even desperate, for. He will do anything to achieve it, be it climb the ladder to rule over all, or go against his own sister, who is one of his more apparent weaknesses.

And yet he fell into Aventurine's trap like a curious mouse, blinded by Aven casually tossing Robin's "death" as a bargaining chip, scrapping the nerves raw and chipping at the armour until Sunday snapped. Sure, he probably wanted to bind Aven to "harmony" anyway so he could get to his goal, and getting rid of the IPC ambassador along the way; but it also was a punishment for treating his dead sister like she was nothing of importance to anyone. So he missed the convenient double cornerstone, the betrayal, the performance of it all. He didn't question if the Stonehearts truly were a worse mess than The Family, and he didn't question if a renowned intelligent man was about to fool him with his colleague. He thought he knew it all, and then some more, and when the rug got pulled under his feet, his patience and dedication to stealthily work around the obstacles for his plan pretty much snapped with each new information he got.

Sunday didn't lose his cunning nature or smarts because of this, if anything, he became more than a figurehead of The Family, more than an ideal leader of the Dreamscape; instead he became human. His biggest weakness was his need for the ambition that he clung to, because he never learned, never was allowed to learn, that help from others can bring strength enough to go on your own, and a flightless bird doesn't have to try and fly, some just walk and are okay too.

[bibibbon]

It's especially disappointing that All Might and Hawks rarely interact, despite having contrasting views of their ideal hero world (one wanting heroes to be self-sacrificing and hard-working, the other wanting heroes to have endless free time).

The only time they interact is to indirectly talk about Endeavor (because of course). However, it's not to discuss their connections to and disapproval of him, instead it's to lament about how Endeavor of all person was harmed by the hero society.

Hero society needs to change, and Hawks will help. Only regarding Endeavor. Only for Endeavor.

All might and hawks don't really have proper interactions where we see both of their beliefs clash. Yes, we see all might and hawks interact outside of endeavor but the interactions where we do see them talk about the state of hero society (specifically seen in the latest manga chapters 427 and above) are incredibly vague and shallow.

It's a shame that the only proper discussion these two seem to have about heroics is about the hero popularity polls or billboards which hawks change about them (to me) is a horrible idea since I believe that they should of just been taken down in general instead of being expanded since they done more harm than good.

(That aside why does all might looks so gloomy?he looks weird)

Yes enji is a character that ties these two closely but even that isn't explored to its fullest potential. Hawks never seems to react negatively to finding out that his hero who saves him from his own abuser is also an abuser and a terrible human being in many ways and all might never seems to react to enji also being a terrible being and him being a terrible being all because he wanted to surpass all might. The lack of build up and reaction is so irritating

Beyond the enji connection for all might and hawks you also have their personal lives and thinking. The current hero system is something that all might built and the hpsc (even if by accident) is something that all might influenced the creation of and contributed to building. All might even if he never meant for it is the creator of the current status quo and all of its problems and positives tie back to him.

Now this is interesting because you can explore the guilt all might can have with this issue and how hawks someone who has suffered and benefited from the status quo reacts and Interacts with all might. We already see that all might and hawks have clashing views specifically when it comes to heroics with all might putting his entire life into heroics and using all of his strength to make sure he creates a perfect world where people can rely on someone (ultimately creating the massive bystander effect in mha) this is all contrasted to hawk's own beliefs where he wants heroes to have a ton of free time and we can see that this belief stems from hawk's own experiences of working and it could be argued that this maybe a wider criticism that horikoshi holds towards the toxic work culture there is especially the one in Japan.

However, both of these ideologies are flawed by themselves and would have a lot of negative consequences if implemented. This is why it would be even more interesting to have hawks and all might come to a conclusion where yes heroes need to work properly but they also need to have proper breaks and support while also allowing other members of society to play their role.

The more interesting thing is that you can have all might and hawks both come to this conclusion in the vigilante arc with hawks learning how valuable other members (who aren't heroes) to society which is something he can learn with tokoyami checking up on him and contacting him. All the while all might can learn that heroes cannot overexert themselves or they will snap and may even die in battle which is something he can learn from seeing izuku his successor almost go too far and get himself killed from pure exhaustion and reckless behaviour.

[fantasyinvader]

I think we've been limiting ourselves with the Buddhism takes. While Buddhism does play a part in Houses, it's not the only symbolism the game uses. There's the easy Christian stuff, elements relating to the tarot, there's the names of ancient greek philosophers, it invokes Napoleon and even the nickname El refers to ancient Sumeria as a title/name for a god.

Nirvana isn't just from Buddhism, it's origins are from Hinduism where it's not the ultimate goal. In Buddhism, Nirvana is achieving a form of enlightenment portrayed as extinguishing of the self. The ultimate goal of Hinduism is elevating ones consciousness so that it becomes part of the universal truth, indistinguishable from the creator god Brahma. When you die, you return to the energy that created the universe.

If you want a very scary version of this, someday I'll explain Getter Robo and what exactly is Getter Emperor.

The Nirvana class seems to be a reversal of the Hindu version. Byleth gains Nirvana when the Creator Goddess Sothis fuses with them, extinguishing herself for Byleth's benefit. The deity fuses with Byleth, fading into Byleth's subconscious and from there Byleth gains their power (Hopes admittedly fucks with this as Sothis fuses to save Byleth, but can take over if pushed). Even the fact Byleth is male by default but is referred to as a spiritual mother in the ending points to the Hindu version, complete with Flayn trying to figure out his pronouns in the S support, a combination of male and female like Brahma.

While the game does seem to support the Buddhist takes of extinguishing the poisons/flames, for Byleth extinguishing themself seems to be the problem. They grow during White Clouds, eventually defaulting to siding against Edelgard. Byleth's flag, the supposed Fire Emblem of the game, reflects a belief in Byleth themself. But by altering the story, by going against Byleth's choices and characters thereby extinguishing Byleth as a character, in the words of the devs it's about believing in something else entirely and instead Byleth becomes subservient to El (a false god figure). The Japanese explains the Crest Stone disappearing at the end of Flower by saying it "shattered," Byleth's actions were bad enough it broke the heart of the Goddess and caused her to unfuse with them thus Byleth loses Nirvana.

This would also carry implications about Byleth's karma. Hindu belief is based on the caste system, where if you have good karma you'll be reborn in a higher caste, a form of spiritual meritocracy where your good deeds benefit you in your next life, such as being born into wealth and privilege because you earned it in your last life, and even plays a role in achieving Enlightenment. Buddha rejected this, believing that anyone can achieve Nirvana regardless of class. But considering that Flower is called the animal path, it's ultimately about Byleth's demerit.

Flower Byleth might fight so that Fodlan can know “true peace,” but they need to ignore the fact that Edelgard is invading other nations post-war in the Japanese script or having anyone who challenges her rule offed from the shadows in the English all while using Slither tech. Byleth is a soup sandwich if they submit to Edelgard. Meanwhile, fighting Edelgard might be hard now but it bears fruit in the future, as that way Fodlan doesn't suffer her tyranny, which does tie into Eastern beliefs.

Also noticed this in Wind's ending, the Japanese makes it out Byleth's goal is to make a world where everyone can hold hands regardless of nation or ethnicity. Bloodlines don't figure into it, likely that change was to support the change where Edelgard's ideals aren't too far off from what Claude and Byleth support in Wind in English.

But, as a whole, this just illustrates a problem with Houses and it's writing. The game loves it's symbolism and uses one set of symbols to reinforce another. But when you don't understand those symbols, or mistake one for another, it can throw the reading off even before Treehouse got their hands on the script.

[nanakah]

about Ishigami, his growth and Miko's role

most people, myself included, thought at some point that Tsubame's rejection (or acceptance) could wrap up Ishigami's arc and even his past's flashbacks neatly, but Osaragi's arc suddenly revealing there was more to his relationship with Miko made me reflect more and think nah...if anything we're halfway there. It also showed glimpses of him already struggling to find his place in the world by quitting his clubs, even though he was successful at them and there was no Ootomo incident yet to undermine his self-image.

It seemed odd that despite everything he went through he still has his "hair=shield/averting eyes" theme going strong, but it makes sense if you consider even though Tsubame helped him see the way to be more accepting of people and cleared his name, his self-esteem still is super low. I spoke of this in my "sutera" meta, but to Ishigami, his life still has been a sucession of failures and almosts. At his core, he still hasn't fully opened up to people or learned to use his vulnerabilities to his advantage.

If I have grabbed your interest thus far, keep reading for more considerations!

Tsubame is kind to anyone and attempted to do good for him, but ultimately he was never fully himself around her, nor she tried/he alllowed her reaching out to the deepest parts of his insecurities. She doesn't show her own flaws to him either and to this day we get the feeling we don't know her well, just the best parts that Ishigami wanted to see. Kaguya, Miyuki and Chika contribute a lot in a sibling-like way, but there's a limit to how much Kaguya in particular can inspire him. Miko however, has scratched a little beneath the surface and has expressed an interest in helping him with that, even if he himself is still avoiding the topic. She's also more relatable to him in the sense that the rest of the stuco has a history of successes in their lives, while he was able to watch Miko's hardships and failures closely. Their panic attacks even look similar and they're always watching the other to provide backup (in a very roundabout way, at least before) when they happen.

While their personalities are fundamentally different, his arc and struggles remind me a lot of Miyamura from Horimiya and today, as I was musing on what is so different about them as of now, I believe it's how Miyamura didn't have a single *traumatic* mistake to get over, so he goes down his development road much faster. Putting it another way, it's ultimately that Ishigami hasn't yet learned to be kind to himself like Miyamura has through Hori. Like Shirogane and Kaguya are through themselves. In Miyamura's case, sympathizing with how Hori despite her strong exterior can be very fragile inside but still support him (fight for him, defend him, accept his true self, not judge him, hear him, make him feel good enough) made him feel compelled to grow stronger to protect her back.

Miko as she was at the beggining of the story couldn't provide Ishigami this sort of stability (and that's where Osaragi's "prettier story"/"you weren't there for him" reasoning fails) even if deep down she wanted to, but now after making many mistakes, learning from them and becoming more flexible, she absolutely can. Both Ishigami and Miko have deeply rooted issues that took them more than just each other to flesh out and develop, but they're very much the missing puzzle piece the other needs.

Miko still very much has room for growth as well, mainly concerning finding a middle ground between her "bad girl" and "good girl" personas that Ishigami can easily see through, as demonstrated by the consolation chapter. She tried being "bad", she attempted lying but was still saying half-truths, because her love of justice isn't just out of parental abandonment issues or loneliness - she does believe them sincerely. The moment Ishigami headpated her and shared genuine, spot-on words of concern and admiration (thus a hint of fondness), it was all over for her trying to keep up the love-warfare upper hand.

That's not actually new - Ishigami has always demonstrated he was able to see glimpses of her true self, be it teasing how she's an otaku or a closet pervert and such, he never fully bought the strait-laced image she aspired to make real. But it did take him being around her more to see she could be sweet to him and as he puts it, that smiling more is not a bad look on her. Miko says to Osaragi your true self only comes through interacting with others, so given how lonely she has always been (and how the one person close to her - Osaragi - was actually keeping things between them superficial because of her own problems), it's no surprise she's only finding out now who she is. Ishigami can help Miko find a better compromise of good/bad after both not following any rules at all for so long and recently learning that hard work can pay off. Miko immersing herself in his hobby will clash with her rigid study schedule sooner or later, and he'll know how to help her with that better than anyone else.

On the other hand, Ishigami's moral compass, romanticism (love for flowers, planing dates etc) and idealism aren't things he is proud of...yet. He protects himself with layers of cynism, especially in his first appearances, but he is always being contradictory and letting it slip how idealistic/pure he is at heart. He also is only now learning to like his outward image with things like fitness/studying and finding out it's not like he never cared about it - it's just that he was scared shitless of failure, thus never even tried hard in the first place to avoid being hurt. And as I have advocated for in the Sutera post, I expect Miko in some level to help him come to terms with seeing good in himself. Heck, even being able to game with her now and showing off how good he is and having her appreciate it is gonna do wonders to make him feel more "adequate". Tsubame's arc had a lot of him changing himself to become "better", but Miko on the other hand is trying to put herself in HIS shoes to maybe go "hey, I like you as you are. I'm trying to understand you more and put effort in for you".

Ishigami and Miko start out watching out for each other behind their backs - which instead of helping their relationship, drives them further apart because they think the other side is showing no appreciation. As the story progresses, they're slowly learning to make each other more aware of their support, and it is making them open up more in general.

They have a strong belief the other wants to be rescued and there is truth in that. Both want help and to be recognized for their efforts, but won't cry out for it. In the unplugged earbuds chapter Ishigami takes it upon himself to protect Miko's reputation in spite of himself, the election arc has him actually putting effort into the campaign just for the sake of protecting her and at first posing as a rival of hers to Shirogane only to reveal he's trying to "make Miko smile", he is constantly fending off men from interacting with her as protection (while also sounding jealous), he was way more protective of her when she was wearing that cast than needed and is now being able to openly headpat her and sounds almost like her "soothing sounds" from the days of yore lol Sure Tsubame seems like his start to becoming "a better man", but all the way back on the election, it was for Miko's sake that we first SEE him putting effort into *anything* without being coerced by anyone to take action.

And while it's more discreet compared to Ishigami's "white knight" attitude, Miko also tries hard to protect him - cheering him on during the sports festival race and wanting to console him before the stuco intervened, telling him he should study (but he thinks it's just nagging), christmas (which I'll elaborate bellow), making sure he was able to graduate middle school by actually confronting school staff and, of course, their very first meeting as recently revealed.

Many people hated the entirety of Osaragi's arc, but 232 gave very juicy info indeed. Ishigami's reason for supporting Miko from the shadows comes from admiration AND part gratitude for her attempting to talk to him and listen to what troubles him, and seeing they actually had a "falling out" argument was game changing.

He looks sad and troubled to have shut her down there, not simply angry, and so does she (there's tears in her eyes when her face is shown in the next page) - despite her black and white sense of justice at this point of the story, she still wanted to listen to him. And even after that outburst she still believed the rumors weren't real, unlike Osaragi sees it - otherwise she wouldn't have made the effort for him to be able to move on to high school. Why would she care, if she truly hated him and thought he was in the wrong?

If any further proof was needed at all that this info is important, I'm happy to say we have more. I noticed the Christmas stairs scene mirrors this exact falling out moment: "Go away"/"Suit yourself"

But this time Miko had already decided to change, had already seen the mess their relationship became the last time she did not reach out to him and thus already had their previous falling out in mind - meaning she decides to chase after him.

I don't like how the scanlations handled this scene because reading the japanese raws, my interpretation was that Miko was sounding "annoying" because she was still kinda drunk/unfiltered and freaking out when talking to Ishigami, not outright berating him like the Jaimini's box translation made it look like. She also sounds too angry after the fall, so I generally thought Viz's version (the panel shown above) was closer to the original.

"I always have to take care of you! You keep putting youself in danger. You can't make it on your own." is a better translation than Jaimini's, and also parallels better what Ishigami is often telling Miko as well (That she keeps putting herself in danger and that he has to be around to keep her in check). But with 232 in mind, I think it misses a nuance of the original line: "ほんとあんたは 私が居ないと危なっかしく駄目ね" - "Honto anta wa watashi ga inaito abunakkashiku dame ne" - while I'm a novice at japanese studies, gathering from what I can read and trying to get a feel of the whole sentence, it's closer to "So it really is dangerous to you if I'm not there/ It's no good if I'm not around you". You can take that as her being full of herself, which is the route Jaimini's goes ("You'd be screwed without me") but that's too hostile - Viz's got the spirit of wanting to protect him better, but the original has an implication that she has "tested not being there"/failed being there before (due to not fully siding with him in middle school) that's absent elsewhere.

IMO the reason Ishigami's "closed his eyes" arc is not over yet is because he hasn't accepted or gotten over or fully learned from his past yet, he simply shut it down. That's why briefly during the sports festival his eyes are in plain view, then go back to their usual for the balloon gag. I'm not sure if Ootomo herself will make a comeback, may or may not - regrets are regrets and sometimes the only solution to them is letting them stay in the past. But the topic of how he saw Miko in middle school and the letter certainly are being set up to still show up in the story.

If I compare him to Miyamura again, he'd still be at the point before Miyamura's haircut - not wanting to face the parts of himself he doesn't like, not quite ready to change. Not quite ready to patch up his own wounds yet and instead silencing everything from his past.

In this sense, Miko does wonders to make him feel more confident even if he hasn't realized it yet, and she's always dropping little hints she'd like him to worry about his future not in a naggy way, but because she genuinely prays for his success. He unconsciously wants Miko to think well of him and it fills him with confidence and a more prideful image of himself he doesn't really display to anyone else, not even Tsubame - like his usages of "ore" (a more manly/confident way of addressing himself) around her (AND HER ALONE):

( I don't like the available translations to the staircase scene either, lol. Zaibatsu has conveyed the tone of the second scene up there perfectly. For the staircase line, I've seen "I'll be there to catch you" and "I'll save you" which are contextually correct, but to me the original "俺が絶対守る" - "I (ore) will absolutely protect you" carries a much more romantic nuance or ambiguity, regardless of him realizing it at that point. It's like, the title to one of the most romantic moments/songs in the CCS Clear card anime ost, for instance. OF COURSE MIKO LOVES HIM. The narrator doesn't overexplain or take apart Ishimiko's interactions like for Prezguya, but all the evidence needed is there. And I gotta add the very next chapter to the staircase one is the "eternal love" x "real love" I'm super fond of that says fate is irrelevant and to find real love you must use your head to realize/understand things, so makes the romantic subtext even greater.)

This whole affair is also making me open my eyes that I should try to study japanese more...of course I'm happy to have translations and scanlators working hard, but there is something inherently lost in adaptations because it robs you of connecting with the author's intentions unless it was the author who wrote the translation in the first place

Thinking back on Ishigami's early "i wanna die/i'm going home/don't look at me" role, it seems unbelievable we're at the point he's now able to directly confront a "stranger" (lololol) or make serious promises with so much confidence.

PLEASE DON'T END SO SOON MANGA, I NEED MORE.

( off-topic kind of, but i'm lazy to make a separate post just for it: Since I mentioned things lost in translation, I saw something on Discord about Ishigami having an unreliable narrator moment in the "compliments" chapter/Iino Miko cannot love part 4 and holy molly, it is true. He first says something akin to "You're just too beautiful" out of context, Miko HEARS IT - and that's why she looks so shocked before asking for clarification - and he DID SAY IT in the speech bubble, but after she's nice to him and he thinks back to what he said he adds a "Your handwriting is just too beautiful" to his flashback. I'm ONTO HIM. ONTO HIM I SAY. It is what he meant, but it's like his mouth betrayed him. Whether it's unconscious or denial...it totally is something. The scanlation completely skips this and had the same line both times it's mentioned.)

[funkyhoneybee]

Huge Spoilers for Infinity Train S3 Ep9-10!!!

Ok so I've calmed down slightly and that last episode. It was so good! It brought up the fact that Grace was wrong and that she wronged both Hazel and Simon by trying to protect herself and her own need for control. Due in part to her parents overbearing yet hands off parenting style, and insecurities of being alone or shut out. She was unwilling to take a side and tried to find a balance and when she was ultimately forced into either admitting she knew Hazel wasn't a passenger beforehand, and telling Simon about how her ideals had changed she opted not to and protected herself and lashed out at Hazel maybe out of habit but still that hurt Hazel so clearly

And Hazel my girl! Like she knew she was in danger with Simon she made it very clear that she was uncomfortable around him, and was always ready to throw down. Grace's betrayal was the last straw I think. I mean she said she was going to be Tuba now the protector. But she finally understood that Grace and Simon weren't people she could continue with and come out unharmed. She knew them for what a couple of days and they took away what was most precious to her. Seeing her take the initiative to go with Amelia. To state that Simon and Grace aren't her caretakers that she can take care of herself like I just I'm happy she's grown but my heart broke when Grace told her it wasn't to late to change her mind.

And can I say like it was so smart to bring up the fact that Simon wasn't the mastermind behind the Apex's ideals. Grace had just as much a part if not a bigger part since as soon as they meet Grace assumes a sort of leadership role for having a higher number. To bring up the fact that Grace knew deep down she was wrong that the very core beliefs they founded the Apex on were wrong but was to afraid to admit it, because she didn't want to risk being alone again. to tell us hey she's flawed she's wronged both Simon and Hazel. But also later on have her acknowledge she isn't responsible for his problems and she doesn't owe him anything like ahhhh

And that final fight, like honestly how long was she in her memories. Simon's number is up to his neck his hair is longer even including his ponytail like I might have to do some math or something. Because there's no way he was able to rewrite the Apex's heirarchy in a few days so at minimum it had to have been a couple of weeks.

I just cannot believe how that fight went Simon was willing to kill in his mind a passenger someone who had a "right" to the train add on that it was Grace who he spent probably at least 8 or 9 years with. Who was hinted to have feelings for. Like to see him at this point of his let's be honest it was a mental breakdown, I mean he was forced to reface one of his most traumatic traumas and was brushed off, he was told that everything he believed in was a lie, and was told he was a child multiple times which was shown to also be one of his triggers, his friend who helped shape his identity and ideals for at least 8 years is suddenly a stranger to him?

All of this condensed into him snapping and realizing that if he wanted to stay in his "normal" it was going to take sacrifices. One of them being his connection to Grace the only other person with as much trust and authority in the Apex. Like jesus I really didn't think it would go that far. But it did and to have the roach dog come in while Grace and Simon are in their final battle like the parallels to Samantha's abandonment are just perfect.

But he's not a kid anymore he has his gravity boots, and he has a mission to accomplish and the Apex to run. And to have it all go so wrong for him. To have him end up in the position he does and yet still have Grace save him. And admit she doesn't know why she did it. And to just immediately go into the fact that that won't change someone's heart if they don't want to change. I was fully expecting a cliche Simon realizes he's wrong and they now run the new apex together but NOPE!

What he does to Grace after she saves him really drives home how much of a toll all of this took on him. His mind really just can't process what he's done it's why he's switching from crying and laughing so rapidly. Simon knows he's done something horrible but his mind is no longer in place to accept it. And then the rest of the episode scene plays out and I was so convinced like many others I'm sure that we were finally going to see him reach infinity. And honestly I think he would have if he had been given the chance. But he wasn't and now Grace and the rest of kid's many of whom are now probably traumatized as well have to navigate what Simon was so scared of. Something knew and unknown no Apex, no leaders, just what they are kids who have to work out their problems.

[giancarlonicoli]

25 Basic Life Skills That Should Be Taught in School (But Aren’t) 

Editor’s Note: I know lots of you are homeschool parents. But please accept before reading this article that many kids are sent to public schools for a wide variety of reasons. Please do not turn this into an argument about homeschooling vs. public schooling or an insult festival toward parents who send their kids to school. That’s not productive. Let’s talk about what is taught vs. what is missing. And also, keep in mind that school is the only chance that some children have to learn new ideas because their parents are either disinterested or close-minded. While most of us try to teach our children these excellent skills at home, many young people are not raised in households like ours. ~ Daisy

By Meadow Clark

Think of the vast amount of time that students spend in school. But what do they come away knowing? They are taught very few life skills, so are they really prepared for the real world?

Here’s one of the glaring problems with public school: it’s designed to waste time.

Like a Weeping Angel from Doctor Who, school can zap your life away. It wouldn’t be half bad if you were being taught something useful. Sure, reading and math are important, but the bulk of those things can be taught in much shorter periods of time than are being utilized right now. Plus, reading skills are deteriorating and math was swallowed by Common Core.

Ideally, there would be myriad forms of trustworthy education that could suit any personality. And ideally many of these skills would be taught by family and imparted by experienced people – but that’s getting harder to do.

So in the list below, think of what it would be like if schools were ideal and actually preparing people to live meaningful lives.

Without further ado, here are…

25 Life Skills That Should Be Taught In School (But Aren’t):

#1 Individual Thought

Instead of regurgitating what the teacher says and mirroring their peers, people need to think for themselves only. That means no groupthink. Most people think they are unique but are only parroting. That’s why you can figure out who they are from just two of their beliefs. A lot of people struggle with who they really are but can’t even have a thought of their own. Life shouldn’t be so monochromatic and Borg-like. Calling all real individuals.

#2 Personal Finance, Saving & Budgets

The credit card and personal finance industry should not be the ones teaching us about money. And while I think Dave Ramsey’s advice from Total Money Makeover to start an emergency fund is golden; I’d like to nominate The Index Card by Helaine Olen as the curriculum. It is by far the best, most objective personal finance advice I’ve ever gotten. Takes all the confusion away. The name is from the idea that everything you need to know about finance fits on an index card – and the book even comes with it!

#3 Health & Nutrition

No fad diets. Just self-care and nutrition. Food selection and important information about vitamins, minerals, and bio-compounds. I know they teach health in school but c’mon… And why not include gardening and food prep?

#4 Resiliency & Failing Gracefully

The world can be crushing enough, perhaps resiliency and tenacity can be emphasized instead of measuring students against failure. Failure is inevitable after all, so people should be shown how to fall and get back up again.

#5 The Art of Conversation

‘Sup! Hav U taken this class B4?

#6 Logic, Reasoning, and Public Discourse

Did you know that schools have been rapidly dropping Logic classes? It’s time to stop the Idiocracy from spreading and revive Logic! Also, it would be nice if public discourse didn’t amount to two people rabidly screaming at each other.

#7 Character

You can’t legislate morality, but young people are eager to learn character. Instead of burdening children with global warming responsibility and punishing them severely for breaking unspoken social justice mores – how about letting them have fun but fostering a sense of character. Show them they have personal control/responsibility and that there are real-world consequences for their actions. Relationship skills probably shouldn’t be taught by government-run schools but ultimately those come from a person’s character.

#8 Negotiation

In order to make it in the real world and provide for a family, negotiating is crucial. It means being firm, having a backbone and the willingness to exhibit some disagreeableness.

#9 Cooking from Scratch

It’s a seriously needed lost art! And it overlaps with health, budget and survival classes.

#10 Survival & First Aid

All forms of survival, prepping and first aid, including wilderness first aid, should be taught to everyone. Survival without tech and during disasters or live shooting events – all of it. Gardening, self-defense, and firearms overlap with this class, too. The Dangerous Book for Boys, The American Boys Handy Book,  The Field and Forest Handy Book: New Ideas for Out of Doors would be a great, fun start! Of course, The Organic Prepper makes a great curriculum – hi, homeschoolers!

#11 Speed Reading (But with Deep Comprehension)

Speed reading is not the same as skimming. Many people have been taught to skim haphazardly because of the Internet, new gadgets and pressure to multi-task. This study shows that skimming is actually not a great way to comprehend more. Speed reading removes “subvocalization” while reading, and it can be done while maintaining comprehension.

#12 Self-Defense

Both with and without firearms. It would include boundaries, situational awareness, and improvisation.

#13 Crash Course on How Government Works

People are told to go out and vote but a lot of them don’t even know much about the positions they are voting on. I wish School House Rock had kept up the government songs! “I’m just a bill…”

#14 Creativity

Our linear-thinking and tech-driven world is rapidly extinguishing right-brain thought, and that is a travesty. Our creative force needs to be ablaze at all times and should never be downgraded or snuffed out.

#15 Household & Basic Car Mechanic Repairs

Why are these skills not taught to everyone? Learn to be handy and be independent from others while putting thousands of savings toward paying down a house. A lot of people are afraid to try, but only because they weren’t taught and may be afraid to ask for help.

#16 Time Management, Focus, and Productivity

Multi-tasking is a proven fraud. In a world driven to distraction, the art of focus is priceless in the working world. Maximized time is a maximized life.

#17 How to Read Literature With Deeper Understanding

Let’s face it: high school makes a lot of people hate books. Something tells me that’s the real reason why 1984 is mandatory reading. Who actually remembers the deeper message later in life? Curriculum: The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer is a straight-forward, wonderful guide through the classical education most of us never got.

#18 Entrepreneurship, Career & Starting a Business in a Gig Economy

This is a crucial skill desperately needed in a changing job landscape. It could teach sales skills for all different personality types. And hey, wouldn’t it be great to cultivate what your passions are instead of being wedged into categories by those career assessments?

#19 Etiquette

Seriously. Make. This. A. Class.

#20 Social Skills

Social skills are different than etiquette and manners. It involves picking up on cues and tone, and knowing how to appropriately respond in different situations. There is dating etiquette and there is also dating social skills. These are just as important as having social awareness on the job.

#21 Study & Deep Research

Why do 12 years of school without first learning this key element?

#22 How to Selectively Make Real Friends

An elective class to win GOOD friends and influence people. Networking. Watching out for red flags in relationships. School is basically a big bullpen where you’re with the same people every day for 12 years. And they think homeschoolers aren’t “socialized”? Sheesh! Plus, social media gives the false impression of connection without much selectivity.

#23 Effective Communication & Writing

So apparently this is being taught now, but…is it really?

#24 Resume & Cover Letters

Firstly, a lot of people do not know how to craft these. And secondly, most of them are thrown into the trash or get lost in cyberspace. The soul-crushing job application process needs a serious makeover, but until that happens, people need to learn how to write an attention-grabbing human-voiced resume that gets that foot in the door.

#25 Understanding Credit Cards, Bills, Taxes, House/Car Purchases, Student Loans, Insurance

This is a much-needed course, unfortunately. This class would help students avoid predatory financial practices instead of being ushered right into them. Day 1: teacher cuts up all credit cards in a class demonstration.

Last but not least….a bonus that is only being sort of taught apparently?

GEOGRAPHY!

If people want to let their government charge trillions to lob bombs into another country, then by Jove, they’d better be able to point it out on a map… I’m being darkly facetious, but seriously, geography is important.

It may even drive a wanderlust to explore, and the government doesn’t want that. We were always at war with Eurasia!

What electives would you like to see taught in school?

I was tempted to put some other electives on the list like “Relationship Skills by Interviewing Elderly Couples” or “Why TV Sucks” but I realize that these fall outside the realm of objectivity and belong in class #1: Individual Thought.

Would you like it if schools taught some of the skills above? Which ones are your favorites? Did I leave any important skills out of the mix? Leave your nominations below!

[fantasyinvader]

I was thinking about, well, think about this. Engage links Celine to Celica early on, while alt-Celine is linked to Edelgard. Therefore, Celica and Edelgard are linked by proxy. In Echoes, Celica sacrifices her soul and becomes a witch because of her faith that the gods will fix everything. If Mila is gone, perhaps restoring Duma's sanity will solve the issue, On the flip side, Edelgard will turn herself into the Hegemon Husk, the series framing the act as the end point of the ideals Edelgard served. They're both defeated in these forms, turning back to normal however while Celine accepts her own flaws Edelgard does not and tries to kill Dimitri as he reaches out to her.

We also have the Hegemon Edelgard confronting Mila in Heroes. Mila, who was viewed as a goddess who coddled humanity and as a result Zophia became decadent and fell into decline. Mila points out that Edelgard's own beliefs are similar to Duma's, beliefs that ended up making his people harsh and cold. The same beliefs Jedah championed. Edelgard blames the gods either way; If they help people, they make people weak and dependant, but they're bastards if they don't use their powers to serve people. But then we remember that both Duma and Mila had good intentions with their teachings, and it was their inability to compromise them that was the problem.

Celica's flaw makes her a foil to Jedah. They both believe in the teachings of their respective faith, believing that only their deity can save the continent, and in turn are trying to save their deity as well. Celica by breaking through the Imperial army to break the seal on Mila, only to learn she's already dead, and Jedah by restoring Duma's sanity through sacrifice. Celica was willing to ignore all that she herself had accomplished due to her faith, while Jedah ignores the original intent behind Duma's teachings or the simple fact that a sane Duma wouldn't be the same as the insane version he's serving. It's this faith in the gods that leads to Celica's sacrifice, and when Mila uses the last of her power to save Celica it leads to Celica admitting that the gods aren't the answer here. She joins Alm in freeing Valentia from the gods, putting faith in mankind's ability to survive, something Jedah is unwilling to do.

Now let's look at Edelgard's own relationship to her own ideals. Hopes has her say she is hopelessly committed to them as she legitimately believes that they will make Fodlan a better place. But it ultimately comes down to an argument of what those ideals actually are. In the case of meritocracy, we can see Edelgard subvert this ideal in how she takes credit for Byleth's leadership in order to bolster her own image while at the same time when her betrayal of TWSITD leads to her losing a sizable portion of her army lying. She's mentioned to coddle nobles and oppress commoners as parts of her reforms resulting in a system that favors the nobility while commoners have to work much harder in order to even be considered. She's willing to frame her ideals as a faith, and spread lies despite her talk about how religion makes people weak and condemns the Chruch over spreading a false history. A big part of Silver Snow is that Byleth has the merit to lead Fodlan, yet Edelgard opposes them. Likewise, she notes that Claude's ideals aren't that far from her own, yet will say his lack of knowledge means she can't hand over Fodlan. Meanwhile, she's ideologically opposed to Dimitri, and even after Dimitri proves his strength by taking her down and has the whole of Fodlan supporting him she rejects his hand in one final attempt to win.

All her talk about a world for humanity leads to turning herself into a monster. Edelgard looks the other way from things she doesn't want to see, something Dimitri calls her out on in Moon and she herself admits in Hopes, instead believing her ideals will save Fodlan. It's because of these ideals she works with TWSITD, hires bandits with instructions to assassinate her classmates, is willing to abandon Monica to the Slithers, hides what TWSITD did in Duscur, assists in attempting to steal Seiros's remains and Flayn's kidnapping, keeping quiet about Kronya and the human experiments TWSITD are doing because it will provide her with powerful monsters, and ultimately start a war of conquest disguised as one of liberation. Even after she wins, various endings depict her rule as one through force. Hubert putting down rebellions from the shadows while Caspar begins invading other countries. The fact that Caspar's troops are mentioned to be “often out of control” in the Japanese makes one question if he really had merit as an army leader, alongside Bernie Slither tech is appropriated in order to maintain the peace, while Edelgard is willing to ban a play she hasn't even seen. It's Edelgard who dictates the conditions of Brigid's independence as well. The devs have even confirmed that the ending is supposed to have negative connotations representative of hadou, especially in contrast to Dimitri's benevolent oudou.

I think we can see now the line from Celica through Edelgard to Celine. Edelgard is not just a continuation of Celica's flaws, her ideals are more like those of the Duma faith and she takes it to a level on par with Jedah. Edelgard is the antithesis of Echoes, a game about perspective and learning to see past your own. Houses offered three separate routes to counter Edelgard's, while Hopes seems to be built around showing how Byleth's influence was what made them into hero routes, but Edelgard is not able to see past her own. But when you continue on to Celine, you see that Edelgard's ruthlessness isn't a bad quality in and of itself. Celine is very clear about how she uses it to protect her people, serving them as well as looking out for the Avenir (future)...her brother. Her country is prosperous, but hasn't gone through a decline like Zophia or Adrestia has as she fully embraces her responsibilities as a ruler in contrast to her counterpart and Edelgard.