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thethirdromana · 1 year

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Mina's class conundrum

For some of the characters in Dracula, it's very clear-cut which class they belong to - e.g. Arthur, who is 100% a member of the upper class. With Mina, however, it's less clear:

She was a childhood friend of Lucy, who is upper-class or upper-middle class (from a high enough class background to marry a nobleman).

She is engaged to marry Jonathan, a newly qualified solicitor (a middle-class profession) who was recently only a clerk (one of the worst-paid white-collar jobs in Victorian England).

Mina expects to be short of money in their married life, and "shall have to try to make both ends meet".

Lucy considers her to be a suitable match for Jack, a man who is "well off" and "of good birth".

She has to work for a living as an assistant schoolmistress.

She's a orphan who has never known her parents.

Some of this (the friendship with Lucy, the idea of marriage to Jack) points towards an upper-middle class background. But the rest (marrying Jonathan, working for a living) is less consistent with that.

So I thought it might be interesting to tease out what the options are. Dropping the rest of this under a cut because it's long.

Quick disclaimer: whatever the finer details of her background, Mina is still in the top 15% of 1890s society. She's not working-class; she's an educated professional who's probably earning 50% more than the average full-time salary.

But there's still a big gulf between the entry level of the Victorian middle class (household income around £150/year, employing one servant) and the top end of the upper-middle classes (four-figure household income, large numbers of servants, potentially enough passive income for no one to need to work).

Mina's job

I realised in writing this that we don't know a huge amount about what Mina's job actually is. She's an assistant schoolmistress, and she says:

you can't go on for some years teaching etiquette and decorum to other girls without the pedantry of it biting into yourself a bit

but that doesn't imply that etiquette is all she teaches. She could equally have said "you can't go on for some years teaching other girls to keep their shoes shiny and in good order without becoming self-conscious when your own shoes are scuffed", without it implying that her teaching career is all about shoes.

The Dracula Daily fandom has also generally assumed that Mina was a pupil of the school, before becoming a pupil-teacher, then a full-time teacher; I think that's a reasonable assumption from Mina teaching "for some years". We've also generally assumed that Mina and Lucy attended the same school where Mina then became a teacher. That's implied here:

It was my privilege to be your friend and guide when you came from the schoolroom to prepare for the world of life.

I think there could be other ways of interpreting that sentence, but most of them are a bit of a stretch.

There were a variety of different schools for girls in Victorian England: chiefly board schools, private schools, and a small number of academic schools that aimed to give girls an equal education to that received by boys, targeting university entrance. I'm going to leave out the latter, because I don't think Mina works for one of the academic schools; there just weren't that many of them.

Board schools were primary schools for the general population, run by the state though funded partly by fees. Working at a board school would be stressful, with huge class sizes. Board school teachers were generally middle-class: for instance, Margaret McCallum, the daughter of a shopkeeper (a lower-middle class occupation), who became a pupil-teacher at her local elementary school in her early teens, then went to college for further qualifications, eventually becoming a headteacher.

Board school teaching was promoted as a career for upper-class women, but very few of them did it: Eglantyne Jebb, who went on to found Save the Children and drafted the document that became the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, was a rare exception.

There's also no way that Lucy attended a board school. Her education was much more likely to have been at a private school, which were run by women from a genteel background. Fees for pupils ranged from £3 to over £150 (bearing in mind £56 as the average male full-time salary).

This made it a difficult way to earn a living: women who ran and taught at these schools had to keep up the appearance of a genteel lifestyle while not usually making enough profit to support it. They were often not well-qualified; their qualification was coming from the correct social background, which meant upper-middle class or upper-class ("gentlewomen", broadly), though by definition they were also poor enough to need to work for a living. (Source, p139-141)

Possible options for Mina's class

Putting my cards on the table, I would strongly prefer Mina to be of a distinctly lower class than Lucy (who is upper-class or upper-middle class). That would mean that the Crew of Light spans different genders, different ages, different faiths, different nationalities and different classes (rather than just upper-middle and upper, which is a difference, but a small one), which really appeals to me. Unfortunately, the evidence doesn't really go my way.

Mina as upper-middle class I think this has to be the more likely option, however much I don't like it.

Mina's parents could have been upper-middle class, potentially connections of the Westenras, but their untimely deaths meant that they didn't have as much by way of savings to pass on to their daughter as they would have liked. They might have left Mina enough to be educated at a good school (with Lucy) and to care for her needs as a child, but not so much that she could afford not to work as an adult. At the same time, being from established upper-middle class background would give Mina the standing that she would need to work as a teacher in a private girls' school.

This could suggest that Mina is marrying down, at least a little, in her engagement to Jonathan, leading to this line in Lucy's letter:

We met some time ago a man that would just do for you, if you were not already engaged to Jonathan.

I don't much like this reading. But it does seem to be the one that fits best with the facts we have.

Mina as lower-middle class OK, now let's see if I can make my preferred reading work.

This puts Mina in a class that would naturally marry a solicitor's clerk. She would work in a board school or potentially one of the cheapest private day schools. How she came to be childhood friends with Lucy is harder to figure out, but if Lucy is from new money (possible!) then the connection might go back to before the Westenras became wealthy.

Suggesting Jack as a match for Mina, "good birth" and all, could simply be the relatively innocent Lucy thinking that if Mina and Jack met, love would conquer all regardless of a class barrier. (Which is plausible given how much Jack admires Mina when they do meet).

This reading does fit better with Mina's dedication to autodidacticism and her interest in supporting Jonathan through his work, not just by being a better housewife. This would be consistent with coming from a background where women routinely worked before marriage, and I would guess might work alongside their husbands more as well (e.g. a shop-keeper's wife working in the shop).

As for being Lucy's "friend and guide" when she came from the schoolroom... well, being her teacher is the most logical way to read it, but she could arguably have been guided by an older friend, especially if the age gap between them is more like 3-5 years rather than 1-2 years.

Yeah, it's a stretch. But I think either option is possible, just about. I'd be keen to hear what other people think!

#dracula daily #dracula daily spoilers #mina murray #historical context

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nikos-oneshots · 10 months

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hello HELLO guess who's back and is into monster prom now.

could i have some headcanons for calculester with a friend who struggles in school?

:D - 🪐

Calculester & Reader who Struggles in School.

Warnings: No beta we die like everybody in the z'gord ending ✌️ Word Count: 0.6k Pronouns: None Notes: I COMPLETELY FORGOT THIS SAID HEADCANONS UNTIL I WENT BACK TO POST THIS!! D: I'M SORRY ANON!! If you want me to remake this, then I will! Note 2: ALSO IM SO GLAD YOUR INTO MONSTER PROM ANON!! I love monster prom so much so i'm always happy to do requests for it!! I hope you enjoy!

Calculester Hewlett-Packard does really well in school. He has the internet as his brain, everything known by man at his fingertips. I wouldn’t assume he talks about school much because he knows he has a huge advantage over everybody else and doesn’t want to upset people by telling them that he has straight A’s in most of his classes. This rule especially applies to you, Cal knows that you don’t do the best in school. Whether you are a person who tries super hard and still doesn’t make it that far or decides to skip class multiple times a week, I would imagine Calculester would be clueless about your struggles.

I would think that he would only notice after midterms.

Everybody is sharing their scores. Liam is subtly bragging about how he got the highest in the school, Polly is super excited to show everybody that she got a 69 and Scott is relieved that he just did good enough to stay on the football team. You on the other hand, aren’t really happy about your score, you did your best, or maybe you didn’t, point is, you got a 20. Cal comes up to you asking about your score, you were hesitant to show him, but after he showed you his score of 89, you showed him your score.

“Oh, dear Friend Y/N. Not to alarm you, but that has been the lowest score I have seen yet. I apologize for your test failure.”

You look down in shame, you thought at least somebody would have done worse.

“I notice your struggles now Friend Y/N. If you are open to the idea, I could teach you what I know, like tutoring. Your problem may be that the strategies the professors here use aren’t effective for you to learn from. What do you say?”

You decide to take him up on his offer and once you begin your first session at the library. Calculester proves himself to be a great teacher, he knows how to tailor the way he teaches to match your learning style. You get through worksheets faster and actually begin learning the material. Along with potentially turning your marks around, you also begin to connect with Calculester more than you have already before! As you get him to talk about himself during your breaks, you learn about the way he also tutors Scott and how much of a struggle it was. You learned that even though he is a sentient computer, he still has so much he still needs to learn about interacting with others. You also learn a couple new plant facts!

When your next big test came up for your science class a couple months later, you went into it with a newfound confidence, an attitude completely different from your usual one. Calculester wished you luck, he was confident you would do amazingly, but deeper down, he was nervous for you. He dreaded the possibility that you come back with a terrible score again, he was scared that you would lose faith in him as a teacher and along with that, your trust; He could have sworn he was about to malfunction with how worried he was for you.

As you received your scores a week later, you instantly go to find Cal to show him your score. You try to hide the smile on your face, but you can’t as you give him your paper marked with a large 79 at the top. Relief washed over him and pulled you into a hug. He was so glad he was able to help you, both of your hard work paid off and he was glad that you had managed to achieve your goal with his help, validating his ability as a tutor. As the bell rang, you guys walked to your next class together. As you guys passed his classroom, you shouted to him as he was going to walk in.

“See you after school for our study session!”

Lots of Love -Niko

#🥞��= niko writes #monster prom x reader #calculester #calculester hewlett packard #calculester x reader #monster prom #calculester monster prom #monster prom calculester

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ofmermaidstories · 1 month

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Hii Merms, thank you so much for the kind response 💌🩷

It's been days and I honestly did not get the chance to read the official chapter yet. Which I believe I should do before responding even, because the issue with the leaks was the mistranslations here and there. And because so much of it was also open-ended many fans came up with stuff out of nowhere and pushed it into the ending and called it canon. So it was a mess.

It's weird to me, it felt like Horikoshi forced himself into an ending that would satisfy everyone else and not him, which ultimately resulted in him messing up a bit. Because he put such great great effort and thought into sympathising with the villains and what they story means for how hero society operates. And he kept on showing how flawed the society is until ch.429, the before last.

In the end, like u said, traditional hero rankings are still a thing. Some people have changed yes, like the old lady who ignored Tenko but reached out her hand to another version of him, that could have been like him. But the last chapter also shows that the majority, or at least a huge part of society, is still sticking to the old ways of thinking. (Like the guy mocking Dai for his quirk, how being a hero is somehow more of a thingfor "elte people").

And while Uravity began a project for quirk counselling that's now fundamental for society and Tentacole fought against racism. It seems everyone else continues on to be normal pros. And there is no shame in that, but idk, the fact you all took part in wars that occurred because of how society and hero society operates but continue to do the same thing your predecessors did is asking for another League of villains, another group of children and young who would be pushed to that. But maybe I'm jumping to conclusions since we barely got to see any of what the new pros (like Mirio) are doing.

Also goodness, the mistranslation that class A did not see Izuku after graduation and people so QUICKLY believed it and spread it around. I saw alot of post both on twitter and tiktok shaming class A for it.

My dear "we don't fact-check leaks even though it's a very common occurrence that mistranslations happen" people, are we really talking about the same class A? The same class A, that collectively as a class, decided to join Izuku back in his vigilante arc to help him? They were willing to go out and be vigilantes with him. But then Nezu assured them they can bring him back instead so he could rest and be protected all the same.

THAT SAME CLASS A? Who knew what OFA means and all it's connections, the way he was quirkless and got it. and the only thing they(Oijiro) asked was how does it feel like? They never made him feel weirded out about it. (It might not seem like a big deal, but when you look at the public reaction to it, like "isn't that AFO's ability tho" or "he's like a Nomu" u would see).

So also yeah, I'm so so happy about the fact they all contributed funds to his suit. But prior to that he was a teacher for what, 5 to 6 years? While I do think being a teacher suits him. Keeping him in the dark about getting a chance to be a hero again JUST as he seemed to accept he can be a hero by teaching and inspiring younger generations seemed a bit off to me. But then again, I wanted him to be able to grow and continue to be a hero so I guess I can't complain much about it.

Overall I'm actually happy and sad it ended, this show was with me for 6 years. And it's my most cherished so I don't want to say goodbye (we still have a movie and the anime, so exciting). Even if that small disappointment is still lingering.

Hii Liliii. 🌷 How are you feeling about it now that we’ve had a little bit more distance? Have you read the official chapter yet? I dunno if it makes that much of a difference, but it did for me LOL. I don’t read the scanlations (they’re UGLY 😡) but I do think that like, seeing the dialogue in action verses hearing a brief summary from a rushed translator does matter. And that was the case for me!! Whenever the fandom took the leaks and then like, ran wild with them, it always… idk! I won’t say it ruined things, really, but it definitely made things less fun, and for me personally it had a lot to do with how quickly the discussion goes from, “oh, the leaks are suggesting (thing happens)” to, “omg, this is cold hard fact and now 50k people agree”. For example: the other day I saw a post here, made in the wake of the leaks, that said something like, “oh i can’t believe kacchan singlehandedly funded deku’s suit” and like??? no the fuck he did not!!!! LOL. I guess it’s just a lethal combo of like, overzealous fans taking what they want from the leaks without taking the time to tell themselves hold up and wait, and then making it everyone else’s problem too. 💀 Overwhelmed by the siren song of instant gratification.

Having re-read the last couple of chapters, tho, I don’t think Hori wrote himself into a corner! There’s definitely a disconnect, though, between us as an audience, and Hori as the author—like we’re kinda on different wavelengths? Because he’s shown what kind of writer he is (with the way he’s answered questions in like, interviews and stuff, he kinda actually reminds me of that Ralph Waldo Emerson quote. “The most interesting writing is that which does not quite satisfy the reader. Try and leave a little thinking for him; that will be better for both […] A little guessing does him no harm, so I would assist him with no connections.” emphasis mine). For better or for worse, Horikoshi just does not care/think to dwell in the big moments/emotional beats he creates, and I think that throws most of us as readers off, LOL. Like… we want to be more in Deku’s head, we maybe wanna see more of the kids in their final years at UA, or starting out as Pros, or like, linger with Deku a bit more in a school day. But Hori doesn’t wanna give us that. And I think that’s where everyone is getting their wires crossed—we want one thing (or several lmao) and Hori… wants and does another, LOL.

(The middle part of that Emerson quote above says, “The trouble with most writers is, they spread too thin. The reader is as quick as they; has got there before, and is ready and waiting […] If you can see how the harness fits, he can. But make sure that you see it.” And to me that’s the problem, we as readers have jumped ahead of Hori and have landed at a place we expect him to arrive, and instead he zigs in the complete opposite direction LMAOOOO. whether or not it works issss. Up for debate lmaooo. Are we seeing where the harness would fit, where he’s seeing a collar? Some food for thought maybe.)

One opinion I’ve seen in the wake of these last few chapters is that Hori often gets his messaging confuddled; I’m not sure if I agree or not. I think it’s another case of harness vs. collar lmao, like maybe we as readers are taking away different conclusions to what he’s intended (he’s sticking to his message; we just don’t like how he’s telling it LMAO). But it is stark, when you lay it out. Anyone can be a hero—as long as they have pro hero friends funding an Iron Man suit for them lmaooo (anyone can be a hero, but they need a community of people willing to hold out a hand for them to get there). Society is fundamentally selfish and overlooks uncomfortable things, and that breeds resentment and hate (society is capable of change, it’s just a slow crawl to get there, and that maybe we can’t help everyone—but the point is that we should help the people right in front of us).

I guess the biggest example, though, is indeed the League; I’ve seen soooo many heartbroken people point out that Hori spent all that effort—an entire POV arc!—on showcasing the villains, and getting us to sympathise with them, and what-was-the-point-of-it-if-he-was-just-going-to-kill-most-of-them-off? But they were always doomed. Doomed by the narrative, doomed by their society. It’s what makes them a tragedy. The tragedy of their tragedy is that Hori’s preferences with his storytelling (or his weakspots, depending) doesn’t really stop to give people the catharsis of like, a big goodbye. 🥺

(This is off-topic, but every time time I see that phrase—doomed by the [whatever]—it makes me think of a quote from one of my favourite books, Picnic at Hanging Rock:

“Edith echoed, ‘Doomed? What’s that mean, Irma?’

‘Doomed to die, of course! Like the boy who “stood on the burning deck, whence all but he had fled, tra… la la…” I forget the rest of it.’”)

Hori’s ending really wants to leave us/let us believe that like, our Heroes have solved the biggest problems their predecessors faced, and now they’re like, a glorified search and rescue—but I think the fun of the ending is that it does leave room for new villains, new League-type deals, to pop up. 😈 People are good and bad. There’s always going to be someone who wants to lock a kid in a basement, lmao, the point is that someone will be there to help them out of it. And maybe it’s baby steps at the moment, but the takeaway I got from the story was less about fixing everything forever, and more like, putting systems in place so that you and others—heroes and civvies alike—can catch what you can, when you can. 🥺 Deku might miss League 2.0, but maybe Kota or Stitches at the end there won’t. Our Heroes have turned the tide. They’ve reminded people at large to do their best. 🥹 They’re actively teaching them to do their best.

Which is why it drives me bonkers when the fandom likes to like…. discount Class-A’s bond!!! At it’s worse though—throughout that awful gap where all we had were the leaks—I just had to keep telling myself that the, “Izuku was abandoned by his friends!” stuff was a product of this fandom being an average age of like, twelve. 💀 LOL. But also it’s just—idk! A result of shipping culture, maybe. The inability to understand that people can and do have meaningful relationships outside of people they have sex with. 💀 That it’s possible for a whole class of kids who went through a war together to care for each other and still be busy with saving the world, outside of school. 💀💀

I’m happy and sad it ended, too. 🥺 A lot of complaints I’ve seen are valid—and have made me realise that the thing that threw me, personally, was how passive an ending it is (like how things just happen to Izuku, aka him being given the suit as a surprise and not being apart of it). I’d like to reread the series, back to back, and see how it flows! Maybe when the anime comes along and fills in some of those gaps where Hori couldn’t/didn’t want to, it’ll feel more… apt. 🥹 And I hope that by the time the anime ends, Lili, you feel a little more fulfilled by it. 🥺🌷

#ofmermaidstories-asks #mha spoilers #bnha spoilers #my hero academia: the story of how we became heroes

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kimbappykidding · 9 months

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Other Parts: Part One

As you carried on dating, you noticed how Kai became more comfortable and relaxed around you. At first, it was very obvious he was nervous and controlling his responses but he soon stopped doing that and became bolder. He seemed to borrow your confidence and would flirt back more and more which you loved. Kai was just so different from what you expected. You'd only seen him be kind and sweet with Bahiyyih but he could be hilarious and sneaky with you. He was also insanely talented. When the guys told you about his perfect pitch and musical talent you figured they were lying or exaggerating but no. He was a musical genius and so you asked him to teach you something because despite being an idol music still wasn't your strong suit. Kai agreed to teach you and arranged for you to come over the very next day to learn. He suggested the piano for you because he thought you'd be good at it and he was such an attentive teacher...but that didn't help.

You'd learnt the chords and were now moving on to playing basic songs when Kai thought of a tip to make things easier for you. He demonstrated a better way to hold your fingers over the keys so you could access notes quicker but you were just watching him. He had such a cute smile and the way his brows furrowed when he was concentrating was so cute. Kai caught you staring and smiled "did you get that?" he asked. You blinked and then registered what he'd said "huh? Sorry no I missed it". Kai laughed "why? How? You were sitting right here". You smiled "I know but so were you and you look really good right now". "I do? Doing this?" Kai asked confused and you nodded. "You know I think a break will really help my piano skills" you said pointedly and Kai smiled. "Whatever helps you learn I'll happily do...you mean make out right?". You smiled "I do" and Kai nodded "that's good, I can show you some other stuff afterwards" and he pushed the piano away with more vigour than you thought possible. Kissing you was more important than his instruments and you felt that was a huge compliment.

You enjoyed kissing Kai for obvious reasons but also because he was sometimes hard to read. You knew he was into you, that much you had confirmed but you weren't sure how much or where he was in the relationship. Kai would typically wait for the to initiate things and you had no idea if he wanted you as much as you wanted him...but when you kissed him you felt it. The way he'd pull you closer and linger as you both pulled back. How his eyes lost their youthful charm and were replaced with something else. It showed you Kai did want you and you had no idea a fellow member had been stoking that flame for you.

You were now round at the TxT house regularly and Kai loved how well you fit in with his members...but didn't like how well Beomgyu had taken to you.

He knew Beomgyu meant nothing by his teasing and would never actually cross any lines there but Kai still didn't like seeing him flirt with you. It was part insecurity because Beomgyu was so funny and charismatic. Kai had seen him walk up to random girls he'd never met before and win them over with his wit alone. Kai didn't think he'd ever be able to do that and so seeing Beomgyu use his material on you rubbed him up the wrong way. He knew it wouldn't work but he still didn't want any tempting fate. He wanted you to himself and was getting more and more territorial.

One night, you came over to binge the new season of Stranger Things and somehow Beomgyu ended up beside you instead of Kai. The two of you had discussed Stranger Things before and probably did like it more than the others so Kai shrugged it off as the first episode started. When the whispering started though he started getting agitated. Beomgyu kept leaning over to you and whispering things which made Kai feel awkward. He didn't like how much of your attention Beomgyu was getting and was pretty sure it was an act because Beomgyu had no problem talking loudly in a movie or tv show normally. Then when Beomgyu started asking to borrow your blanket Kai nearly lost it.

Thankfully the episode ended just as Kai reached his limit. So when Beomgyu left for the bathroom Kai took his seat next to you. You smiled when Kai sat down and immediately moved towards him. "Hey you" you smiled pecking his lips and leaning against his side. Kai put an arm around you and added another kiss to your forehead. All was good...for those 2 minutes.

Beomgyu returned and protested Kai taking his seat but Kai didn't give him the time of day. Kai was rather short with him and felt a little bad about it but mostly didn't care. He was pleased when Beomgyu took a seat behind the two of you but that faded when Beomgyu kept talking to you. You even turned at one point to show him something on your phone and Kai was not pleased.

Kai went quiet for the rest of the night and after a few more episodes you noticed something was bothering him. So you invented a reason you needed to speak to him in his room privately and shut the door as he followed you in. "So what's up?" you asked "you went quiet on me, is something wrong?". Kai bit his lip "nothing's wrong" but he'd always been a terrible liar. "Come on Kai, what's up?" you asked him "talk to me". Kai also couldn't deny you anything so he sighed and sat down next to you. "I don't like how Beomgyu is around you". You paused "you mean all the flirting? But Kai you know that isn't real". "I know and that's what makes this so annoying! I know you don't like him that way and he'd never do anything but it still gets under my skin and that day you flirted back with him to test if you could make him blush..." Kai said his breath catching "I knew you were only doing it to mess with him but still...it made me jealous because I wanted it to be me. I didn't want you looking at any other guy like that and now I feel like an overprotective irrational weirdo". You smiled shaking your head "Kai you're not a weirdo and I actually quite like that you got jealous". "You do?" Kai asked and you nodded "I didn't do it to make you jealous but hearing you wanted it to be you...I like how that makes me feel". Kai smiled "I like how you make me feel too". You tilted your head to the side "oh trust me I'm going to make sure of that" and kissed him but this was different to the other kisses. This was heated from the off and Kai didn't have to ask what you meant. He got it. So he let all his feelings go and channelled how you were making him feel. He focused on you and didn't stop.

***

Kai was adorable bashful afterwards and so gentle with you. He helped tidy things up and then bundled you into his arms. It was then that something occurred to you "Hey where are your plushies?' you asked and Kai froze "what?". "Your plushies? I thought you had like 50 but they're not here". "I moved them so there would be room for you" Kai said and you gasped "you sly fox! You knew tonight was the night you'd get me in bed!". Kai blushed worried but realised you were joking and shook his head. "No, I moved them a few weeks ago. Beomgyu mentioned I should move them in case you wanted to sleep here and I thought that sounded like a good reason. I didn't want anything to stop me from spending more time with you". You blushed "that's really sweet but I know how much they mean to you, you don't have to banish all of them. Plus I like the penguin one, it reminds me of you". "Which penguin?" Kai asked "I have several" and you laughed "the blue one". You said it so sleepily Kai could've died right then and there from cuteness but he didn't. Instead, he nipped out of bed, much to your protests, and went to the wardrobe where he fished his penguin out. "Here" he said "she's yours". "I can't keep her" you said but he shook his head "I want you to have her, that way you can think of me when we;re not together". That was so adorable it made you want to melt and you kissed Kai instead. "I like that idea" you whispered as Kai smiled and wrapped you back up in his arms.

Baihiyyih also started to notice the effect you had on Kai and she didn't always like it.

You were on a variety show and your personality was shining like usual. Bahiyyih could tell one of the hosts was into you because he kept directing questions to you and smiled at you lots. So afterwards, it didn't surprise her when he asked for your number...but what did surprise her was your response.

"I'm really flattered but I'm already seeing someone" you explained. "Can't say I'm surprised" the host said "a funny beautiful talented girl was totally going to have a boyfriend but I thought I'd shoot my shot. Let me know if anything changes" and with a wink, he left. As you travelled back Bahiyyih pretended she hadn't been listening but her mind was going crazy! Were you and Kai boyfriend/girlfriend now? Were you official? He hadn't mentioned anything and neither had you but surely Kai was the guy you meant? Unless you just didn't want that guy's number and so said that to put him down easily? She was very confused and it must've shown.

Once you got back home she was the last one out of the car and you noticed and hung back. "Hey are you okay? You've been quiet". She looked at you and hesitated before asking "are you and Kai exclusive now?". "Oh you heard that back there?" you asked and she nodded "it's fine if it was just to get him to leave you alone I just wanted to know". You paused "well Kai's not asked me but we've been seeing each other a while now so I wouldn't think it's okay to go on dates with other guys but I don't know if Kai's seeing other girls". "He's not" Bahiyyih said and she knew without even checking because it was Kai. He wasn't a player and with how much he liked you there's no way he'd go near other girls. "Kai's not like that so I guess you're unofficially official?". You smiled "yeah I guess so" and Bahiyyih was surprised that actually made her smile too.

Teasing Bahiyyih was now the furthest thing from your mind and you had actually been doing the opposite. You had been trying to stop Bahiyyih from seeing you and Kai together but it seemed like the harder you tried the more she saw.

Classic example, that evening Kai was meeting you at your house to take you out for dinner. You hadn't seen him in a week because of scheduling so when you saw him at the bottom of the stairs you were super excited. You skipped down them and threw yourself into his arms with a happy "Kai!". He happily engulfed you and held you tightly. "I missed you" you said and Kai blushed "you did?". You nodded "of course I did" and looked up at Kai with such a cute but sincere expression he caved and kissed you. You only realised Bahiyyih was in the corner dying about 20 seconds into your make-out session. "Bahiyyih we're so sorry!" you cried and she nodded wincing "thank you for stopping" and rushed away. "Oops" Kai said giggling and you smiled "I'm honestly surprised that hasn't happened more" and it was as if your words cursed everything.

Anytime you or Kai kissed, Bahiyyih was present. When you were texting Kai flirty messages, she just so happened to look over your shoulder. When Kai dropped you back off home and was giving you a goodnight kiss, Bahiyyih had just gotten back and saw it. It was as if she was cursed and it was really starting to bug her.

One night, you'd all gone to a local restaurant for food. It wasn't super close but you could walk it in about 30 minutes so you all did so without complaint. However, on the way back, it was uphill and it was raining so you didn't want to walk. The only problem was it was a Friday night and no taxi driver had a car big enough for all of you. More and more time passed with no drivers taking your trip and it was getting late.

"How are we going to get home?" Yeseo asked and you smiled "leave it to me" and brought up Kai's contact. You were sure he could borrow a company car and come get you. "I've already tried Kai, he's not answering" Bahiyyih said and you looked at her "okay not to be rude but I think he'll be more likely to pick up for me". Bahiyyih's jaw dropped and she was in the middle of protesting when Kai picked up the phone. "He has rehearsal" Bahiyyih said angrily "he won't come" but 2 minutes later you hung up the phone and told them Kai was on his way.

When Kai pulled up Bahiyyih was still pouting. You of course hopped into the front with Kai and Dayeon got in beside you. Bahiyyih sat in the back with her arms crossed and Yujin nudged her "you're not still mad are you?". "Of course I am! In an emergency situation my brother would protect Y/n instead of me". Yujin frowned "I don't think that's what happened tonight, yes he answered her call not yours but that doesn't mean he doesn't love you or wouldn't protect you". Bahiyyih shrugged in response so Yujin continued "plus I think this is a good thing, seeing how much they care about each other". Bahiyyih made a noise of disgust "trust me I've seen enough of it" and Yujin smiled "true no sibling wants to see their sibling being physical with their partner but isn't it nice to see how sweet Kai and Y/n interact?" she asked "you were worried about this but look at it! It's so real".

She gestured to the front where you were leaning on Kai's arm as he drove. Kai had a hand on your leg and had long since given you his coat which you were sharing with Dayeon. She saw your faces in the rearview mirror and you looked so casual. Neither of you was trying to be cute or affectionate, this was just normal for you and she had to admit that was sweet.

You decided to stay with Kai instead of going to the dorm and Bahiyyih really wanted to thank you for making her brother so happy. She tried ringing you but you didn't pick up so she texted you instead.

"Hey Y/n it's me, don't worry nothing's wrong I just want to thank you for not breaking your promise with Kai. I'll admit I was worried at first when you started spending time with him to bug me but I can see how it's evolved into something real and you make him smile more than anyone ever has. Thank you for caring for him and sorry for judging you too soon". You replied back a little later "Aww thanks Bahiyyih, yeah it definitely started off as more of a bit of fun to tease you but even I was caught surprised by my feelings and I guess it's just fate huh? A great accident".

You put your phone down as Kai called you back into the kitchen where he was making food. You'd ordered food but Kai insisted making it would be quicker and you were having a race. You'd started just observing Kai, determined to keep the race fair but he looked so cute when he asked for help that you relented. You were washing up in the sink when your phone went and you smiled "ha I win! That'll be my delivery person, can you answer it?". Kai did as you asked and told the guy which apartment you were in. Kai was heading to the door when he spotted his name. When the call ended, it went to the last thing on your phone screen. Your whole conversation with Bahiyyih was there and Kai couldn't help but read it.

Kai's heart broke.

You heard the front door open and close but that had been 2 minutes ago and Kai wasn't back. "Kai?" you called shutting the tap off "you know, you can't spend ages in the hallway with my food, hoping that your food will done before you get here" you said laughing. You stuck your head around the door and saw Kai sat on a sofa in the living room. "Kai?" you asked and then you saw your phone on the table in front of him. Your conversation with Bahiyyih right there for anyone to see. You jumped up as your stomach sank "Kai don't read that!" you said but only when you snatched the phone away from him did Kai seem to hear you. "Don't pay any attention to that, it's not important anymore, Bahiyyin and I were just teasing" you said "no big deal" but the second Kai looked at you, you knew it was.

"No big deal? No big deal?" he asked in disbelief. "It was a joke?" Kai asked his voice rising in volume "you slept with me and did all of this just to piss off my sister?" he cried. "No not at all!" you said and Kai shot you a look. "Well I mean it started in that way yes. I saw how much flirting with you bothered her so I kept doing it but it changed so much from them. When I actually spent time with you I started to like you and it stopped being about teasing her!" you said but you could tell Kai's trust had been broken. "I can't believe I was so stupid, to think you actually wanted me and cared about me". "But I do want and care about you" you said and Kai shook his head "you called us an accident Y/n! We wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you teasing Bahiyyih, you never would've approached me if it wasn't to hurt her right?" he asked. You hesitated but knew there was no way you could spin this. "I can't say for certain but yes" you admitted and Kai shook his head.

Soobin and Yeonjun suddenly appeared, hearing the argument from their rooms. "Hey is everything okay?" Yeonjun asked "we heard yelling". You looked to Kai but he wouldn't even look at you. You went to answer when Kai spoke over you "yeah Y/n was just leaving". You blinked at Kai, shocked at his cold tone. "Kai can't we talk about this?" you asked and he shook his head still not looking at you. "I've heard everything that needed to be said". You looked at him in disbelief but felt Yeonjun and Soobin staring at you and knew if their maknae wanted you to leave, they'd enforce that. "I...I'm sorry Kai, I never wanted to hurt you and I do care about you" you said trying to get him to look at you but the most he did was glance. He didn't comment so you hurried from the room for once in your life feeling anxious.

You got home and had no idea how to make this right. You were so focused on Kai that you didn't even think about Bahiyyih until it hit you an hour later. What would you tell her? That you'd done the one thing she'd asked you not to do? No, you couldn't. You couldn't lose both Huening siblings so you called Kai.

Beomgyu picked up. "Hey how is he?" you asked. "He's okay" Beomgyu said awkwardly "but he needs some space". "Okay that's fine, as long as I get a chance to talk to him afterwards. It's not as bad as he thinks it is and I promise I really do care for him Beomgyu". Beomgyu sighed "but he doesn't believe that Y/n". "Which is why I need to speak to him! To explain it to him" you said but still Beomgyu wasn't sure. You could hear him whispering to someone else and got excited "is he there? Can I speak to him please?". "No it's Yeonjun...sorry Y/n. I'll tell Kai what you called but I think you're going to have to wait for him to come to you" and be hung up. Your chance to fix it had vanished.

The girls could tell something was wrong and feeling like you should just bite the bullet, you found Bahiyyih and asked if you could speak to her. She nodded looking a mix of confused and curious and led you to her room. You didn't know what to say so just put it as simply as you could.

"Kai ended things with me" you told Bahiyyih and her eyes widened in shock. "What?" she asked "why?". She was certain her brother was head over heels for you so this didn't make sense. You sighed "he found out how this all started, with me teasing you and he felt betrayed". Bahiyyih frowned "but how" before she realised "he saw our texts?". You nodded "I asked him to unlock my phone to get me something and I'd left it open. I'm sorry Bahiyyih, I messed with your family and I think I did exactly what you asked me not to". Bahiyyih shook her head "you don't need to apologise I feel like I should, they were my texts he saw so I'm partly responsible". "You're not" you said "I was the one who started all of this and got into it for the wrong reason". Bahiyyih nodded "yeah but I've seen how you've changed and how much you care for Kai. It was never really fake but now it's truly real". You sighed "but now I've broken his trust and I can't fix it. Something tells me your brother isn't too frivolous with his trust". Bahiyyih frowned "well no but he's also not one to fall for someone quickly but he did with you, he really liked you Y/n so if anyone can win him back it's you".

Bahiyyih meant to comfort you but her words just made you cry because if Kai really didn't love easily that made everything you'd done worse. Bahiyyih rushed to hug you as you cried "I think this is it Bahiyyih, he wouldn't even look at me when I left and he won't talk to me. There's nothing else I can do, it's over" and Bahiyyih hugged you harder. She told you many times that night this wasn't over and Kai would listen to reason but when she next saw her brother she wasn't too sure.

Bahiyyih initially didn't want to get too involved but then realised she was directly in the middle of this so decided fuck it! When a week had passed and Kai was still refusing to speak to you she decided to go see her brother herself. She told him she had something from their parents to drop off which wasn't a lie but she didn't mention she'd purposefully asked their mom for something. She arrived at Kai's dorm and was immediately surprised with how pale her brother looked. He offered her a small smile but she could see the bags under his eyes and thought even his face looked thinner. The members seemed really happy to see her and she rightly assumed Kai had spent every minute he could locked in his room shutting the world and you out. "Hey" she smiled trying not to let on she was concerned and she played along with Kai pretending nothing was wrong until they were alone.

"So thanks for dropping this off" Kai said wondering why their mum wanted him to have this odd pair of shoes but when he saw Bahiyyih hesitating he knew this wasn't just a drop-off.

He sighed and shook his head "Bahiyyih I don't want to talk about it". "Look I know you don't but I just wanted to say I think you're judging her before knowing the full story". "I know enough" Kai replied and Bahiyyih shook her head. "Come on Kai...she didn't date you to annoy me. She didn't go through all that for me, she did it because she likes you". "But how do I know that?" Kai asked "I feel like I can't trust her at all". Bahiyyih frowned "well look at the facts, like how she was with you. Around you, she was sweet, caring and genuine. We all saw a side to her we didn't know existed and she was real with you. It wasn't an act or mask that was the real her and you brought that out in her. It was real Kai I'm sure". Kai stated at his sister but eventually sighed "even if that's true I don't know if I can take that chance, if I can trust her again". Bahiyyih sighed "well ultimately that is your call but you know her Kai. It wasn't fake and I think if you just think over the time you spent together you'll realise that too...but I promise not to talk about it anymore. I'm neutral". "You are?" Kai said "I thought you'd be on her side". "There are no sides but of course, I wouldn't be against you. I love you both and want you both to work this out" Bahiyyih said "I want whatever is best for you both and if you need someone to talk to I'm here". Kai smiled "when did you get so mature?" and Bahiyyih smiled "there's a lot you don't know about me big brother".

Bahiyyih was hopeful that something she'd said would stick but a week later, nothing had happened. She knew her brother was hurt by this but had no idea it ran so deep and like you said, had destroyed all his trust in you. She knew she shouldn't meddle anymore but this whole situation wasn't fair on you or Kai and you were both miserable, so she spoke to the only other people who might be able to convince Kai, his members. They all agreed Kai needed to at least hear you out and promise Bahiyyih they'd work on him. That same she got a text saying Kai would speak to you.

You met Kai two days later at his dorm, where all the guys were mysteriously absent, giving you the place to yourselves. Silence had never felt so loud as when Kai let you in and you led you to the living room wordlessly. You sat down facing one another and weren't sure if Kai wanted to start but after a few seconds, you couldn't take it anymore.

"Kai I'm so sorry!" you said "I never meant to hurt you and the teasing was just something I said to annoy Bahiyyih. I liked you from our first meeting and wouldn't have kept talking to you if I didn't!". Kai blinked and looked down almost startled but you continued. "I know I've really hurt you and my words mean nothing to you but I promise if you take me back, I will make it up to you and will prove I am telling the truth and you can trust me again". Kai stood up abruptly and you frowned "Kai? Are you okay?". "No" he said "because you don't get it Y/n I'm not like you. I'm not social and good at talking to people. So to have you, this beautiful funny confident girl date me...and then to find out it started as a joke...it's not funny to me" he said "I've been told so many times to just be patient and the right girl would come along. That I'd find someone who loved me for me and I...this hurt more because I thought my waiting was over" Kai said "but then I found out you didn't even like me initially. Not enough to come over to me just because you wanted to. You gave me hope Y/n just to shatter it". "But it's not shattered Kai" you said "I like you! I want to be that person you were describing! I care about you and love how kind you are and how hot and confident you are around me. I want you!" you said annoyed at everything "and just because I didn't know that when I first met you doesn't make it untrue". Kai didn't say anything so you sighed. "Kai, is there anything I can do to reassure you I care about you? You must've thought there was still some hope here or you wouldn't have agreed to speak to me". Kai looked at you and you saw the tears in his eyes and buckled. "Oh Kai" you exhaled and hugged him. Kai crumpled into you and you both held onto each other.

Even after you'd both calmed down, you still stayed pressed together and you kept saying you were sorry until Kai shushed you. You frowned "but I am!" and Kai smiled "I know but it's okay. I think we can try and move forward from this". "We can?" you cried excitedly and Kai smiled, trying hard to contain his own glee. "Yes" he said "I do really care about you, enough to put myself at risk a second time and I feel I can trust you". You nodded "you can Kai I promise!" and peppered him in kisses until he started dolphin screaming.

That was when all the guys got back from their exile and when they heard Kai screaming, they came rushing only to smile seeing how happy he looked. "Hey guys!" he beamed spotting them "we're back together". Yeonjun smiled "yeah we figured, glad to have you back Y/n". "Glad to be back!" you replied flinging yourself into Kai's arms and neither of you could be any happier.

You'd dodged a bullet and now had your arms wrapped around your prize.

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lomappreciationblog · 8 days

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Can't Look Back: Quest Discussion (Part 1)

So like I mentioned in my last post, I'll be talking about this quest! Geez, it's been a while since I did one of these, but this IS a really good story.

It's one of those stories that isn't connected to a bigger narrative - it's a one-shot story, in the book that is LOM. Reflecting on this quest, now, I though, I realize it shares a lot of themes with the Star-Crossed Lovers Arc, and is sort of a miniaturization of its story. I'll discuss this point some more later.

"Can't Look Back" is pretty memorable for tackling a pretty heavy story and for giving Mephianse a very human story. Most people probably play "Reach for the Stars" before this quest, and so have the impression of Mephianse as this theatrically evil mastermind who sought a way to bring down the stars in a fairly comedic quest that's basically a huge prank.

But this quest is very different, and while it does feature some students, the focus of the story is Mephianse and his brother, Nakratos.

From the very start of the story you're already a lot of information even with a few lines of dialogue, namely that Faeries are involved, Nakratos's wife is dead, and whatever he did was related to his response to her death.

It's quite fitting that the bg theme for Fieg Snowfields is titled "Evanescent Memories" with this quest in mind.

Mephianse does stop his dramatic monologuing to acknowledge the player and he speaks with a rather teacherly concern, addressing the player as a young traveler and warning them of the "ice witch" - whom we of course meet later on, as the character Crystalle.

The choice of words sounds a bit harsh, and considering that Mephianse teaches alongside Kathinja and Thesenis (who the Characters Tome calls an actual witch of reincarnation), it's a little clue to tip off the player that Mephianse might have strong personal feelings regarding this situation.

Being nosey main characters, we go after Mephianse, of course.

The next story beats takes place at Mephianse's camp with his students. It is really sweet that the students, in their own way, are trying to encourage Mephianse to not give up on trying to find Nakratos again. I assume the students came along because they were curious in the Faerie treasure, but they do sound close and respectful of their teacher, too.

Meanwhile, the MC: casually boogies on down to the Underworld whenever one feels like it lol.

And you can meet ACTUAL dead NPCs that way too. We really are the Mana Goddess's most special boy/girl lol.

Jokes aside, at the core of it this quest is a discussion of grief and responses to it. Nakratos lost his wife, and his response was not to move on, but to either meet her or bring her back to life - but in doing this, he himself was lost, and this quest is untangling Mephianse's grief to it and making the teacher see the truth.

This is a really cute interaction though, and shows that Mephianse does really care for his students.

You need to talk to them some more to prompt the quest to proceed, which again gives some more information.

Oh, he is scared of them, but probably not for the reasons this student thinks.

At least one student is tired of the field trip.

Oh dang, I just realized, I never brought Bud or Lisa to this quest, I wonder if they too react to the quest.

Mephianse, I know you have strong opinions on Crystalle but telling ALL your students she's an ice witch is kinda mean.

I'm guessing the mentions of an "ice witch" and that she apparently froze Nakratos and turned him into an ice statue is to serve the purpose of making Crystalle sound like a Yuki-Onna, the snow woman yokai from Japanese folklore (and she sort of is, since Nao Ikeda designed her with that in mind, but I think I'll discuss that in a separate character art post). The whole "turning into an ice statue" even sounds similar to the habits of the Pokemon Froslass, who is also based off the Yuki-Onna.

While there are stories about some sort of good fortune happening to someone who treats a Yuki-Onna right, a lot of stories about them portray them as dangerous creatures who freeze people, push victims down snowy valleys, trick them into holding their children only to cause one to die by exposure, etc. etc. As a personification of snow and winter, these stories are meant to warn people of the dangers of the cold and frost, so it's not a surprise a lot of stories involving them have them making victims out of humans.

I wonder if LoM was banking on that cultural association to make a player suspicious of Crystalle and make one think she might be the boss fight even...but as with a lot of stories in LoM, not all things are as they seem, and Mephianse's own issues are clouding what really happened.

That got long, whoops. But I do love a good build up of expectations and then a subversion, all because a character accidentally misunderstands - or willingly misunderstands what happened.

I realize looking at these screenshots that Mephianse initially talks about Nakratos being dead already, but then he suddenly refers to Nakratos having a "whole new life" - again, tipping one off something isn't right here.

And away we go as the nosiest main character in existence! But that'll be for part 2, when we get to see Crystalle in person and start figuring out what REALLY happened.

(apologies for the longest ass posts, there is no way for me to talk about LoM's events without rambling :'))

#legend of mana #legend of mana hd #can't look back

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flockrest · 1 year

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directly referring to this / @gloryseized

Tulin loves learning, even if it can get pretty boring sometimes with the Elder when he's running his Gatherings or with Mum when she's tryna teach him stuff like how to properly dust off hammocks.

Tulin really, really loves Link, and there's no but or though or even if 'bout that.

It figures, then, that he'd really-really-really love learning with and 'bout Link, which is something that's been true and holding true ever since the hero stepped foot into these peaks — 'specially now that they've started language lessons!

Hylian Sign, it turns out, is somehow way more and way less finicky than what he knows of Rito Key. The movements are smaller and can get real compact — kinda quieter, in a sense — so it's taken a lotta fine-tuning on both their parts to allow Tulin to do more than just understand. It's different from everything else he's currently learning and trying, but, y'know, he thinks he's been doing a good job of picking it up!

He must be, 'cause even Dad seemed a little lost and very impressed when he recounted all that he and Link went over this time during dinner tonight — lightly testing him on everything and turning to Link for the answers he wasn't sure of. Which is, like, Dad-speak for answers he doesn't know, and how neat is that?! Tulin basically knows more 'bout this than his dad, now! And-and Link's getting better at making out bits and pieces of Rito, too: when he started teasing Dad 'bout falling behind for the first time in his entire life in warbling tones, his friend jumped right in and joined Dad's side on teasing him back!

( Totally unfair of him, by the way. Tulin had to swipe a bread roll from him when he wasn't looking for that!

...And then passed him his last piece of trout when Link caught him mid-bite 'cause he felt bad, but the point stands! )

Hehe. Link really is the coolest. And the nicest! They'd touched some more on how to talk 'bout others in his people's tongue today — hard to explain when the Hylian equivalents don't really tell you anything useful 'bout anyone, and probably harder to wrap your head 'round when that sorta blankness is what you've grown up with — but Link hadn't complained, or pretended he completely understood so Tulin would stop, or anything else like that.

He'd stopped anyway though, 'cause it's a lot and he can be a patient teacher as well! As long as Link knows they have words that mean something like I like you without actually saying that, or I hate you without actually saying that, he's perfectly happy to leave recognising them and how to use 'em for next time. Maybe he can even try showing Link some Rito Key! Ooh, ooh, can Link whistle? Can he get Uncle Harth or Mr. Huck to make him one? How awesome would it be to see him say you-that-I-like? Or— or you-that-I-love!

...Which Tulin, now that he thinks 'bout it, doesn't know how to even remotely say in Hylian Sign.

That's no good.

He leans further out from his roost, keen student for the last time tonight as he watches Link go through the motions of, "I love you." It looks pretty simple and very doable, so it's with a huge smile back that he shuffles to the very edge of his hammock, wings rising to wholeheartedly repeat after his friend—

—Only to fall straight out, directly onto Link with an oof!

"Tulin," Mum's voice cuts in from above them, and that's totally unfair of her, 'cause it's not like he meant to fall! S'not his fault — not for that, and not for how he suddenly can't stop laughing, giddy with almost-sleepy silliness and the warmth that burst in his chest when Link caught him.

"Sorry," he says when he's got his breath under control again. He pushes himself up from where he's landed, eyes bright as he straightens, shakes out his wings, and tells Link, the way he told Tulin: "I love you!"

#gloryseized #* gloryseized & tulin / you don't gotta fight all by yourself‚ y'know!#( GETS YOU. GETS YOU GETS YOU GETS YOU #HILARY!!! WAAAHH I LOVE THEM SO /MUCH/ I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!#COULDN'T RESIST MAKING THIS ANOTHER PAIRED DRABBLE!! BROTHERS!!!#THEY ARE EVERYTHING TO ME THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN FOR LETTING ME WRITE WITH YOUR LI.NK!! WITH MY TUTU!!! [COLLAPSES] )#* windsong / ic.#* ic / para.#* v / songs in the headwind.#long post cw

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rotationalsymmetry · 1 year

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I just have so many opinions on how teaching, specifically, would be way better if we didn’t try to make one adult manage an entire classroom.

Picture an elementary school, kindergarten through fifth grade, with, for the sake of simplicity, one class per grade. The way this is normally done, you have a teacher and maybe a teacher’s aid per class, and if the teacher can’t come in you bring in a substitute who isn’t attached to that school and who only works when someone calls in sick.

This is absolutely wild. That sort of thing makes perfect sense for college students who can manage their own lives, it makes no sense whatsoever for five years olds, many of whom are also going to spend all afternoon in after school care and not actually get one on one adult attention until their parent/s are off work. And if your parents suck or are exhausted after working all day? Sucks to be you!

Kids spend the hours of a full time job plus commute time in these institutional environments. It’s not good for people! People talk as though school is good for kids’ social skills just because they’re in proximity with other kids, but schools are highly artificial environments and it’s not normal or good for kids to not really get attention or advice or emotional support from anyone older who’s got life slightly more figured out. For hours at a time, days at a time. Kids need an adult’s full, caring attention now and then and to get it about things that matter to them, not just things that matter to the adult. And schools as they are now make that more or less impossible.

And of course the working conditions are brutal for the teachers. The work can be relatively rewarding because you’re working with kids and you know it’ll make a huge difference if you don’t show, but it’s demanding as hell and there’s a lot of pressure to not call in sick unless you absolutely have to, and there’s no time and you spend a lot of time being a disciplinarian rather than, you know, teaching.

What if the same school, instead of having six teachers (one per grade), had eight or nine? Six teachers each assigned to a specific class (although I imagine it’d be fun to switch it up now and then, and probably better for the kids so you get some year to year adult continuity) and two or three floaters. One’s with say the kindergarteners in the morning before recess (while the kindergarten teacher does some lesson planning or something, or maybe they co-teach if the kindergarten teacher would rather do that), the first graders recess to lunch, and the second graders from lunch to the end of the day. On a normal day. But maybe the first grade teacher has a headache that isn’t going away, and he could push through it but he doesn’t really want to and he especially is worried the pain might make him short tempered and he doesn’t want to lose his patience with the kids. So the floater goes “cool, what were you planning on doing?” and the first grade teacher either passes on the plan or suggests something else, and gets to go lie down in a dark quiet room for a couple hours.

(Would this cost more? Yes, almost a third again or half again as much. (Not quite that much because under the current system you do need subs sometimes.) Is it not worth it though?)

Now picture this. Two or even three teachers per class. I imagine a lot of current teachers would hate the idea of having to split a classroom, but I imagine there’s way more potential teachers who could work in a system like this who can’t function under the current one. For one, it lets you split up roles more, maybe one teacher is great at getting large groups of kids to sit down and pay attention so that teacher can do that, and the other teacher/teachers can focus on what they do best, which might be eg explaining fractions in a one on one context so that the kid who is really just not getting fractions can understand them. You know, teaching. And it would allow for a lot more diversity in subject matter teaching and style of teaching in one setting; maybe one teacher prefers lecturing but manages to do it in a way that gets the kids to listen and be interested, like the teacher is revealing ancient secrets to a select few. And another one is really good with setting up learning-by-doing situations. And one has a gift for making up silly songs that get the kids engaged and help them remember things.

And maybe you also have one counselor per classroom, one person whose job it is to look out for learning disabilities and the like and to look for why a kid who’s acting up is acting up and to be available when someone’s having a bad day and needs someone to talk to or conversely is so excited and happy that they really can’t just sit still and listen until they’ve had a chance to share why they’re so happy.

And surplus teachers would still be good in the grades where kids go to different classes based on subject. You’re teaching social studies, but you’re the one who really loves getting into ancient Egyptian and your partner teacher is the one who really likes covering current events. You’re teaching math, but you’re the one who loves math conceptually for it’s own sake and your partner is the one who’s good at typing it to the real world. Or you’re good at explaining things in a way that work for some of the students and your partner is much better at getting those other students who are just lost and frustrated with your approach. And any time a student just doesn’t want to be in the class, they can go to one of the professionally trained counselors or one of the community ambassadors who don’t have to have professional training (beyond, like, this is how we do things here/this is our sexual abuse policy/whatever) but can keep a kid company and keep them out of trouble when the kid doesn’t want a counselor but also just can’t stand being in the class another five minutes and also legally can’t be left without some sort of adult supervision. And if the teacher really doesn’t want a specific kid in the classroom for another five minutes because the kid is acting up, the teacher can kick the kid out without it being a disciplinary thing. You’re not in trouble, but you also have to leave the classroom until you stop being disruptive.

and if the teacher has a headache and doesn’t want to be around any kids, well, you have a partner. And if both of you want to be out, well, there’s got to be someone in a different class who can step out for a bit.

This would cost so much more than the current system.

But wouldn’t it be worth it?

And as a society, would it actually cost us more? We have more or less the same number of adults capable of working full-time professional jobs regardless of what they’re doing. If there were somewhat fewer adults say working to add short video features to social media apps or find new ways to squeeze money out of people playing mobile games, and instead in schools working with kids, would that be a bad thing for society?

#And of course child care programs should do this too! More adults and pay them full time even if they only work part time dammit #‘But it needs to be affordable’ it sure does give them public funding #Guess who can afford this shit the government #Spend less on militarizing cops and more on schools challenge

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obsidianmama · 2 years

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Resources Masterlist

Right now these resources are generally aimed at parents/caregivers of younger children, as my child is a toddler so that's the stuff I usually look for. As I find good resources for tweens/teens I will add them.

My Parenting Bible (aka my Must-Read List):

The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson, PhD: Understanding how a child's brain works makes a huge difference in your ability to empathize and problem-solve with them. Full of layman-speak neuroscience and some useful tools, this book helped me understand not only my child's brain but adult brains, too.

How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen by Joanna Faber and Julie King: A true game-changer. Targeted at ages 2-7, this book is brimming with strategies for limiting behavior and encouraging cooperation and problem-solving in safe and respectful ways. I got this book when my daughter was 15 months old and though she was too young for many of the approaches, such as those thay require two-way conversation or creative ability beyond randomly stabbing paper with a ColorWonder marker, there were a number of changes to my speech that I was able to make right away and it immediately made both our lives easier and less stressful. 10/10. (How to Talk When Kids Won't Listen is much the same, but more recent and includes examples involving kids up to teenagers.)

Beginnings by Sarah Ockwell-Smith: A comprehensive guide to all manner of physical, mental and emotional development from conception to age 5. Age-appropriate expectations are key to peace and problem-solving.

Books:

Raising Good Humans by Hunter Clarke-Fields, MSAE: The first section of this book is all about learning some emotional regulations and re-parenting yourself. Lots of resources stress the importance of being the calm in a child's storm and modelling good regulation skills; this is the rare book that will actually teach you how.

Calm-Down Time by Elizabeth Verdick is actually a board book and aimed at little kids, but it's also got some good caregiver tips for dealing with tantrums in the back.

What Kindergarten Teachers Know by Lisa Holeway and Joan Rice: a short but valuable book packed full of child development information, approaches for earning cooperation at all times of day, and activities to help kids aged 3-6, whether at home or in a classroom setting, alone or in a group. Though it's targeted at preschool through first grade, the underlying principles can be adjusted to help kids of other ages as well.

Videos:

Dusty the ADHD Coach on YouTube has a few really amazing videos on parenting with ADHD!

MrChazz MrChazz on Facebook and TikTok has lots of videos on gentle parenting, including many explaining why punishments don't work and how co-regulation helps.

Social Media:

Big Little Feelings on Facebook and Instagram is a page full of info and gentle approaches to various situations that arise throughout toddlerhood. There is also a website with a blog and paid courses.

Kids Eat in Color on Facebook and Instagram is a nutritionist that teaches how to instill a healthy relationship with food in little kids. There is also a website.

#masterlist #parenting #resources #resources masterlist #updated 28.05.2024

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heartxshaped-bruises · 2 years

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Hi friend! Just wanted to ask, since you work with screenplays and filming - where do you get your inspiration from? And is there any materials (like actual documents, videos and such) you've benefitted from filming school that you would reccomend?

✧･ﾟ 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃.

HEYHO NONNY !!

Thanks for the interest. I'd say that it entirely depends on what kind of movies you want to do or what stories you'd like to tell. I believe the worst thing you can do is working with resources and materials that you know you won't work for you, but people still recommend it.

Personally, I find MY INSPIRATION in music videos and music itself, most of the time. Like, two of my big movie projects originated from songs I heard that lead to characters who then inspired me to write their stories and make two shortfilms. And those characters are Benji and Joe from this blog here. My upcoming Bachelor's movie is also rooted in several songs and music videos that gave birth to the protagonist whom I used to write a while ago on here, too.

AS FOR WRITING, we get a lot of literature recommended when it comes to Screenplay Writing, but I find a lot of them kinda pretentious and they don't help me with my approach. What I still think should be a standard reference though is STORY by Robert McKee. It doesn't force the author's own opinion on the reader like others and gives you clear examples why some stories / movies work better than others based on techniques and facts, what could be the issue and how to fix it. It's less a book to read and more of a reference book, though. But I always found it very helpful.

Another thing I personally turn to has always been a book from Hirohisa Tanaka's HOW TO DRAW MANGA's series. It mainly focuses on teaching you some techniques and tricks how to develop interesting and surprising stories, or how you can "stay in creative shape". Technically, it doesn't have something to do with movies at first sight, but it works for me and it's fun. You should always consider material outside of your bubble.

WHEN IT COMES TO VIDEOS and such we actually do have our own huge digital encyclopedia of video tutorials made by the staff and students, courses, interviews and such that are only accessible for us. So I couldn't help you out with these, but as I said before -- turn to materials that benefit your story.

But I can warmly recommend one vid that my Screenplay teacher showed us and it was a simple but huge game changer for my stories: Writing Advice from Matt Stone & Trey Parker. I've never seen this put better into action than in Riot Games' ARCANE series, I would've never noticed if my teacher hadn't shown me this video.

Outside of my film school I watch A TON OF VIDEO ANALYSES of series and movies that I love so I can compare them with my own views and understand how they work. And they dont have to be exclusively from professionals and fellow filmmakers bc lbr, you just have to look at letterboxd reviews and you know we're a totally different kind of breed than your everyday movie-lover. It's also good to just watch reviews of regular people and see how their opinion differs from professionals.

Channels I personally enjoy are:

The Closer Look (Writing & Constructing Stories w/ examples from famous media)

The Vile Eye (Analyzing Evil // Villains)

Cinema Therapy (Psychological Aspects of Characters & Filmmaking)

Broey Deschanel (Analyses of popculture & politics)

schnee (In-Depth Analysis of ARCANE)

abitfrank (Overanalyzation of fairy tales, creepy stories & movies)

Hello Future Me (Reviews)

Friendly Space Ninja (Reviews & thoughts on recent series / remakes)

verilybitchie (LGBTQA+ analysis of movies, series and politics)

And generally, I ofc watch videos about the kind of filmmaking that I wanna do. So, in my case I watch a lot of videos about visual comedy in the style of Edgar Wright, how he uses Sound Design (a highly underappreciated department) and so on. And I also bother with materials covering these topics:

Morally Ambiguous Characters (I need writing-heavy resources)

Bizarre but endearing Dialogues (Watching movies that have this; researching in my book how to write conversations; watching vids on how to NOT write a dialogue)

How to do Music Videos (Watching music videos from the 90ies and early 2000s bc that's what I am going for; analyzing how music videos work, what it tells you about the song etc.)

Symbolysm & Color Dramaturgy (basically just research of the meaning behind each one, how to give the audience information, how to evoke emotions in the audience... and also watching movies where it's very clear to tell - like Crimson Peak and the like, if you're inexperienced)

That was a lot of text now, sorry about that. I'm not sure if you find any of this helpful, but I guess the general thing I can tell you is to directly look for materials and sources that speak to you and are specifically for you. The things that work for me might not work for you and vice versa.

I personally don't find any use in bothering with excercises and materials that only show me how much I don't want to incorporate them in my own work.

I hope this helps??

#[ answered ]#★ ᴏᴏᴄ #[ anyway -- thanks for this! ]#[ it was fun to write it down ]#[ I hope it doesn't sound too all over the place ]#[ I'm always struggling to phrase these things ]

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meichenxi · 3 years

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Hi! I'm in sixth form right now, and I'm a huge lover of languages. I have ADHD and languages are the only thing that can get me to actually sit down and study (which doesn't bode well for my other classes but ah well). The thing is, my ADHD makes it difficult to get started and stick to a proper plan, because I get bored very easily. Do you have any advice for studying a language with ADHD?

Hiii!

Ah, yeah, the good old 'I adore this thing but to do this thing you need structured study' problem. I have exactly the same problem! I preach about the importance of Anki and I know my languages would be better if I just stuck to the same routine every day, but I seem to be chronically incapable of forming habits, and as much as I try and be accepting of my own limitations, sometimes that's very frustrating. Here are some tips I have from my experience with languages and ADHD - some of these may contradict each other, and only speak from my own experience.

1) Their way of studying is not worthier

I don't know if this is causing you distress or not, but regardless: one of the first things to consider is simply that what works for them - a specific routine, self-motivated study - might not work for you. Study plans are not designed for people with ADHD. Any well-meaning advice your parents, friends or teachers give you might similarly not be meant for people with ADHD. What does this mean? That there is nothing intrinsically better about studying in one way if it doesn't work for you, so stop beating yourself up if you can't follow that. Stop worrying if you are not studying as efficiently or as effectively. If trying to study in a specific way - like keeping the same habits every day - is stopping you from studying at all, how is that more effective than studying in front of the TV or whilst jogging??

Ok, true, if I did manage to plan my studying weeks in advance and stick to that every week, my languages would be better than they are now. I know that 100%. But I also know that the longest I have ever successfully done any flashcards was about twenty days, and that if I plan what I'm going to study I just end up spinning around in my spinny chair for thirty minutes or gnawing absently on my hairbrush.

I have been struggling with trying to keep a routine with exercise, cooking, teaching, writing, learning languages, reading and talking to friends for years. And I've always felt so frustrated with myself and like a complete idiot for finding things like 'remember to shower' and 'clean your fucking room' so hard.

But I think I'm beginning to understand myself better now. I completed NaNoWriMo last month and it was life-changing - I have never stuck with a habit that long!! And I realised why: it's because during NaNo, I wasn't trying to juggle twenty different hobbies and interests every day (because that's how you're 'supposed to do it'), but just focusing on work and writing. Just one thing, intensely, for a month! For ages I have known that's how I learn best, but I've been unwilling to implement it because that's not the 'best' or 'most effective' way to learn.

You know what though? If it gets you learning, it gets you learning. There is no 'right' way to do it. ADHD often exhibits alongside anxiety and perfectionism, especially if you're used to being good at school, have never had to learn how to learn and have planned your life to the Nth degree because you can't function otherwise. If this is you, your brain may try and tell you it's not correct to learn in X way - but the advice that you find online literally was not written for you. Don't be surprised if following it feels frustrating.

At school you may not have the flexibility to work on something for an extended period of time, but my point still stands: any learning is a good thing, and you know yourself the best. Try and look at it that way, rather than focusing too much on what is optimal.

2) Try and implement external structure into your routine

Speaking of knowing yourself. I struggle immensely with empty days and nebulous goals - but at the same time hate structure. What the fuck brain. I don't know if you're learning for school or pleasure, but either way, try and tack your language learning habits on to habits that already exist. For example if you're walking to school - listen to a podcast. If you have to do homework every night - put on a playlist and do languages after that after your homework is done. If you're on the bus - do Duolingo. When you're waiting for your brother to come out of swimming - read fanfic in Spanish. Even if it's an hour of complete self-study, you can still tack it onto another habit that exists, preferably one that involves exercise or social interaction or something different. I know just how hard habits are to form, but this is one of the only ways that has been effective for me. I can never plan in advance what exactly I'm going to study, but I try to plan when I will study at least.

The best kind of external structure, of course, is other people. Join a discord server where you can study together. Arrange to test each other on vocabulary every week with your friends. Get one of your friends to message you aggressively every week to check you've done your homework. Study with a friend who will literally take your phone and not give it back until you have finished.

3) It's not cheating to use software and technology to help

This is what I wish I had been told earlier. IT'S NOT CHEATING. If you have a problem with controlling your time, then don't let yourself have that problem. We live in the modern age!! Use technology to help you! Here are some I personally use and recommend:

- Habitica: this gamifies your to-do lists, and helps you earn points. This is great because you can put both things like homework on here as well as you know. Basic tasks like showering and tidying my room which I still find inordinately difficult.

- Discord study groups: these let you share your SCREEN!!! And because you're in a group full of random internet people you cannot go on social media unless you want to be axe-murdered. You just can't. In these groups you can also form little groups that keep you accountable every day - I was in a group of four who all studied at the same time every day online, and we shared both our cameras and our screens. You can't mess around when you have someone who is literally looking over your shoulder the whole time.

- Freedom: my saviour, my beloved, my one great love. This you do have to pay for but oh my god, it's the most worth-it purchase I have ever made in my life. You add blocklists and you can control what websites you can access when on your phone and your laptop, and they don't have to be the same. For example during my last year of university I only allowed myself access to Tumblr for 30 minutes a day, and it may have just saved my bacon.

- Chrome extensions: for example Pause, which makes you wait for ten seconds before going to any social media site. It still lets you go! But it stops that impulsive scrolling.

4) Utilise your special interests, and don't neglect input

The great thing about languages is that once you're at a certain level, you can do anything you can do in your mother tongue. What does that mean? FANFIC. Youtube. Music. Dnd. Tv programs. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE INFINITE. Of course there are times when you just need to study verb tables, but the majority of people fail at languages A-level or GCSE because they don't have enough input. You're still young; your brain is still spongey! One of the best things you can do, regardless of neurodiversity, is to pump it aggressively full of information. Bad at listening? After 300 hours of dnd...you'll get better.

And you, my friend, have an advantage the neurotypical does not: use your hyper fixations!! I had to speed-run my Spanish A-level in about three or four months for Reasons, and one of the reasons I succeeded without any teacher input was because I was hyperfixating on minimalism at the time. I listened to probably every single video on minimalism on Spanish YouTube. HUNDREDS of hours of podcasts on packing and lightweight travelling and minimalism and Marie Kondo...I haven't thought about minimalism in years, but at the time, that was what did it for me. Use them!! (Of course, if the language itself is your hyper fixation, so much the better, but you can't always control that...)

Please, for the love of god, if you have a tumblr and are a fan - read fan fiction. Hell, write fan fiction. Learning languages doesn't have to be boring!! I wrote pages and pages and PAGES of Silmarillion fanfic in German and look, now I'm applying to do a German-speaking Master's.

One final point here: Yes, random vocabulary about minimalism and packing cubes isn't going to help your A-level. But the sentence structures surrounding it, the constant listening practice, everything else will. So don't worry if your interests are niche or 'irrelevant'. I was obsessed with translations of Homer into German for a while and in my listening exam one of the points hinged on the word 'vanguard', so, you know. You never know!

5) Utilise The Scroll

Do you spend too much time aimlessly on your phone? So do I. Apart from just deleting all the apps from your phone and going cold turkey (which I did, apart from email and messenger, and it’s been pretty successful) there are two things you can do:

- Install social media / reddit / YouTube etc from the country whose language you’re studying. If you reach for your phone first thing in the morning to get into The Scroll, well, that’s thirty minutes of reading.

- Let yourself watch and consume as much social media / Netflix / YouTube as you want, but try and restrict yourself to only doing so in your target language.

- You can also buy a kindle! This has CHANGED EVERYTHING for me. I’m fundamentally a lazy person. I like scrolling and I like the dark and I like the shiny screen! But downloading books onto my kindle (from places like zlibrary *cough cough*) means that that’s the first thing I reach for in the morning - I literally sleep with it under my pillow, and I read for 30 minutes in the morning instead. I have made sure to download lots of fanfic onto there too for the times when I just can’t concentrate on anything longer; either way, it stops me scrolling through my phone. You can utilise this with languages too - download Harry Potter or the Little Prince or Lord of the Rings or anything you know well and love, or even fanfic, and read that instead of scrolling. It might not work for you, but I find I end up reading genuinely about 10 times more daily if I use my kindle rather than an actual book, because I can eat and read, lie down and read, jump around and read, walk and read...

6) Shake it up: incorporate movement and stimulus and PEOPLE

Most likely routine is boring!!! And most likely, at school, you are also somewhat bored!! Even if you’re a die-hard introvert like I am, talking to other people in your target language is the best way to stay motivated, and it measures real progress, not just vocabulary stats. Get an exchange partner. Join a discord server. Make friends with somebody in that country if you can. Organise a twice-weekly call.

Re movement: learning doesn’t have to be static. Listen to podcasts and audiobooks on the go - they will help your listening skills no end. You can go for a walk around the block every hour or so to get yourself moving, and whilst you do so, why not listen to American Gods in Spanish? Or whatever floats your boat. Do YouTube workout videos in that language. Anything which tricks your brain into realising that a language is a system of communication that real people use, not just for school. Of course, all of this is easier if you are somewhat intermediate at least. But there are plenty of beginner videos and podcasts too! Use a Youtube converter and download them onto your phone, and listen again and again as you go shopping or wait at the bus stop.

7) Run a blog (no, seriously)

Just something to consider. It’s time-wasting, but also it builds a community of accountability and explaining things to people is fun! I personally make it a rule though not to post when I’m not studying too much - I think it’s hypocritical otherwise, which is why this blog sometimes goes quiet for a few months at a time.

6) Understand if you are overstimulated or under stimulated, and adapt accordingly. Gamify your learning!

Habitica is good for for gamifying habits, but also basic things like washing up and cleaning. Memrise and Quizlet, whilst probably not as effective as Anki, are much more fun - I use them for that reason even though Anki is probably better, because I know I’ll actually USE quizlet.

I don’t think any advice I can give you for being overstimulated or under stimulated is going to particularly help, since I’m sure you’ll know what works and what doesn’t for you. For me personally I’ve learnt gradually that if I’m really under stimulated VERY few things are going to be able to make me study - most of the time it’s just not worth pushing through. So I take a break and run around for fifteen minutes, or punch my pillow listening to insane loud music. That sort of thing.

If I have to study in that state, though, learning languages is one of the few things that works. If you have quizlet or can test yourself online on verb conjugation, this is the PERFECT moment for it - it’s fast, it’s furious, you don’t actually have to think that much, but doing rapid-fire conjugation or translation whilst listening to repetitive, loud music is one of the only things that is even a little bit useful that I can do.

Learning to recognise your own moods and tailoring your learning accordingly is hugely important, and probably the best thing you can do in the long run for your own mental health. Sometimes you just need to take a break - and that might not come at the same stimuli or with the same clues as neurotypical people.

----

Alright, I hope that’s somewhat useful! I apologise for the long, ironically non-ADHD friendly post (though it means I get to info-dump hehe). If you take anything away from this, I hope you can take away the idea that finding what works for you is better in every single way than trying to persevere with trying habits that you have never successfully built.

A hard message, but - if it hasn’t worked so far, maybe it’s time to try something different.

Best of luck with everything - learning languages is hard, and it’s even harder when your brain won’t shut up. Kudos to you for persevering!!!

- meichenxi out

#actually adhd #adhd #adhd studyblr #adhd study tips #langblr #study tips #studyblr #studyblr tips #askies #thanks for the ask!!

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wisteria-lodge · 3 years

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Why do you hate the term "gifted"?

"Gifted" is a term that got a lot of play in American educational systems in the 90s though the early 2010s (it’s now slowly losing favor - and funding.) But at its height there was a lot of specialized programs for "gifted" students, a lot of specialized testing, that kind of thing.

And like... who came up with this term? "Gifted" is literally a synonym for BETTER. Some teachers taking a bunch of 12-13 year olds, dividing them into groups and calling one group "better?" Who thought this was a good idea. The ones who aren't chosen are either going to use this as more evidence that school is bullshit, OR they'll take this message to heart (and there is so much stuff about labels being self-fulfilling prophecies. You tell a little girl that 'girls aren't good at math' enough times, she'll start to believe you.)

Then the kids that ARE chosen as part of the "better" group... well, they're going to start feeling that weight of expectation - you are special, you are marked out as being something special, you had better be extraordinary. Which actually a terrible thing to tell a kid in the process of figuring themselves out. "Gifted kid burnout" is very, very much a thing. So many ex-Gifted kids saying, "I should be doing more/accomplishing more/working harder. I was supposed to be BETTER." A lot of them write into me.

And then there is the selection process itself. I was a gifted kid, of course I was. I had a huge vocabulary, read a lot, had a really good memory, and was "mature." (Another terrible thing to call a child - as far as I'm concerned, a "mature" child is one who is docile and good at mimicking authority and/or shouldering too much responsibility too young.) But my SISTER, who is a GENIUS, I mean it, she's smarter than me... SHE wasn't a "gifted" kid because she wasn't "mature" (read - she was a lot more emotionally well-adjusted and less of a suck-up.) She didn't read like I did (because she was teaching herself how to use Photoshop and video editing software, and making short films with her stop-motion maquettes.) And she didn't have the autism-memory superpower.

Because what gifted kids really are are out-of-order kids. Different aspects mature at different rates for different people, it's really that simple. So, "gifted" kids have certain skills that kick in early, but that generally means they have to wait on other skills that are... less flashy. More invisible. (No less important.) And part of gifted-kid disillusionment is watching other people "catch up" to them, while they're going back and learning the older lessons about identity, and self care, and socialization, and play.

There is this idea of a skill "carrying a weakness" which is VERY applicable to gifted kids. If those gifted programs were better, they probably would have taught us about things like executive functioning - which none of us knew how to do, because we all had some other skill (memory, meta-reasoning, background knowledge etc.) that carried us through the eighth grade curriculum. That's also a common gifted kid experience - falling apart later on because at some point your "superpower" isn't enough anymore, and you've got nothing else to fall back on.

I teach a lot of kids that would have been called "gifted" back in the 90s. Kids with tremendous skills, tremendous accomplishments, with the presentation of someone much older. I think of them as anakins, because to me - Anakin Skywalker is the platonic ideal of "gifted kid." Tremendously skilled, wants to seem older, but... a kid, with a lot of sticky bits of his psyche that aren't getting looked at. There are so many lessons about emotional maturity and what it means to be a functional person that just haven't kicked in yet. So, when I teach them, I focus on that. "Gifted" kids want to feel safe. They want to play. They want to be listened to. When they are scared, or unsure, or upset - they want a safe place to put those emotions. They don't want to be told to act more mature. They DON'T want to feel like they have to constantly have to impress you. They don't want to constantly have to live up to some kind of ideal.

#gifted kids #teaching #teaching stuff #one of my causes #gifted kid burnout

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souichioneshots · 3 years

Text

Passing Notes 【Souichi x Reader Fluff】

Summary: You and Souichi had never really spoken before. But after getting new seats, you two start to exchange notes with one another.

It all started when the new semester started and everyone was assigned new seats.

The class had been proceeding the same as always when suddenly a folded-up piece of paper landed on Souichi’s desk.

Opening it up he saw the words,

Y/N: Sorry, but what page are we on?

Turning to the side where the paper came from, he saw you. You had turned towards him, but weren't looking directly at him.

You and Souichi had never really spoken to one another before. Thinking about it now, Souichi had never seen you talk to anyone before. The only time you spoke was when the teacher called on you to answer a problem. Other than that you were silent, always hiding in your own shadow as you tried to avoid interacting with people.

Writing the page number under your words, he slid the paper back onto your desk. Giving him a small bow as a thank you, you quickly turned to the assigned page.

From that day on, you would pass notes to Souichi whenever the teacher wasn't looking.

Although most of the notes you passed him were brief and casual, today you started off by asking him a heavy question.

Y/N: What do boys like?

Souichi squinted in confusion as he looked down at the note. What kind of question was that?

Turning his head to the side, he looked at you. You were looking down at the worksheet on your desk, trying your best to focus on the problems written on it.

Souichi sighed deeply as he looked back at the note. He noisily moved the nails around in his mouth as he thought to himself.

Are you trying to figure out a way to approach a guy? How is he supposed to answer that? The question is way too broad.

Scribbling on the back of the paper, he poked your elbow and handed it back to you.

S: Everyone is different. If it’s a guy you like, you should just ask him yourself.

Ripping another piece of paper from your journal, you wrote back.

Y/N: But I’ve never actually talked to him before… S: Love at first sight type of thing?

Suddenly, you shoved the paper into your bag and turned away from Souichi. The conversation between the two of you ended there.

Souichi couldn’t help but wonder that night why you thought it would be a good idea to ask him such a thing. Although he didn’t have social anxiety like you, he certainly wasn’t popular or qualified enough to answer such questions. But still, he felt proud that you thought so highly of him.

When the next day came, you immediately started to pass Souichi notes.

Y/N: Do you like cookie straws? S: I’ve never had one before. Y/N: I have some. Is strawberry okay? S: Yeah! I love strawberry!

When lunch came, you reached into your bag and pulled out a small pink package.

Scribbling onto a piece of paper, you handed both to the pale boy.

Y/N: These are from my home country. They’re my favorite. I hope you like them too…

Just as Souichi was about to verbally thank you, you got up from your seat and walked out of the classroom.

He'll just have to thank you later.

After finishing his own bento, Souichi opened the package. He was surprised when the delicious smell of strawberry filled the air around him.

“Woah. These are really good!” Souichi said to himself as he ate the sweet snack in big bites.

Before he knew it, he had eaten all 10 cookie straws in one go.

When lunch finally came to an end, you walked back into the classroom.

Sliding a piece of paper onto your desk, Souichi gave you a smile.

S: Thanks for the cookies. They were super good.

You gave Souichi a small bow and placed the note into your bag.

As the class went on, you didn’t make any attempts to pass him any more notes. Souichi rested his head in his hand as he looked at you. His eyes looked you up and down as you continued to write in your notebook.

Now that he got a good look at you, you were actually kind of cute. Because you were a foreigner, you stood out like a sore thumb, but not necessarily in a bad way. Maybe that’s why you felt anxious about hanging out with people so much?

Souichi tensed up a bit as you suddenly turned and look at him.

Pulling your notebook up, you showed him what you had been doing.

Souichi quickly put his hand up to his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter as he looked upon a drawing you had done. It was the homeroom teacher hanging from the ceiling as he continued to ‘teach’ the class. Even though it was just a sketch, the detail was amazing.

Ripping out a piece of paper from his own notebook, he passed you a note.

S: You’re really good at drawing. What else can you draw?

He could see a small blush appear on your cheeks as you read his note.

Taking out a new piece of paper, you moved your textbook in a way that hindered Souichi from seeing what you were doing.

When you finished, you folded the paper half and passed it to him.

Souichi’s eyes widened in surprise as he opened it up to see a picture of him. You had drawn him in his current uniform, but with a long vampire cape. The nails in his mouth had been replaced real vampire fangs, making him look like the vampire he always wanted to be.

Souichi couldn’t help but stare at the drawing. It was the most amazing thing he had ever received.

He didn’t exactly know how to thank you, but he needed to give you something in return.

As the class was coming to an end, Souichi handed you one last note.

S: If you want to talk with the guy you like, why not try greeting him in the morning?

It wasn’t much, but it was a start. It would help you break the ice with the guy you liked and even help cure your social anxiety too.

You looked down at the note with emotionless eyes. When the final bell rang, you shoved it into your bag and quickly made your way out of the class.

As the next day came, Souichi noticed that you had arrived before him today.

He gave you a small bow as he sat down in his seat next to you. However, you didn’t bow back. Instead, you turned towards him and rubbed your wrist with your hand. Your mouth moved in small motions, but no words came out. Not that he could hear at least.

Not able to understand what you had just said, Souichi tiled his head to the side in confusion. He was expecting you to try to speak again, but you just turned to the other side and, taking out a random textbook from your desk, pretended to read from it.

The entire time the class went on, you hadn’t tried to pass him any more notes again.

Had something happened between you and the guy you liked? Maybe you finally talked to him?

Souichi suddenly started to feel irritated as he thought about how you might be trying to throw him away now that your social anxiety was slowly being cured.

When cleaning duty came, you and Souichi had been assigned to eraser cleaning duty.

You had kept your distance from Souichi most of the time, but as people started to slowly leave the classroom, you walked up to him.

Bringing a piece of white chalk up to the blackboard, you wrote in tiny letters.

Y/N: Can I call you by your first name?

You placed the chalk down and stared at the words, waiting for the raven-haired boy to respond.

Taking the chalk into his own hands, Souichi wrote back.

S: Sure

Wrapping your hand around your wrist, you started to nervously rub it again. You tried to look up at the boy, but your eyes quickly looked in a different direction when his eyes met yours.

“……Souichi…”

Souichi’s face suddenly felt warm as you whispered his name.

Taking the chalk back into your hand again, you quickly wrote.

Y/N: You can call me by my first name. It’s Y/N.

He already knew your first name. There was no need to remind him.

“Y/N.”

You jolted at the sound of your name coming from the tall boy beside you.

Quickly grabbing an eraser, you erased the writing and ran to the open window. Souichi laughed as a huge cloud of chalk dust surrounded you, causing you to go into a small coughing fit.

He was happy that you actually tried to talk to him. Even if it was just you saying his name and running away in embarrassment.

When the day finally came to an end, Souichi noticed that you hadn’t gotten out of your seat yet. You stayed as still as possible until you two were the only ones left in the classroom.

He was going to write you a note to ask what was wrong, but he stopped when you turned towards him.

You brought your hands up to your desk and pushed your body up, almost as if you were about to leave. But then you suddenly sat back down again.

You had also wrapped your hand around your wrist for a second, however, you quickly pulled it away when you looked at the boy sitting next to you.

You looked extremely nervous.

Taking a deep breath, you spoke in a calm but slightly loud voice.

“Good morning!”

Souichi’s eyes widened in surprise as his cheeks burned red. He finally understood everything that had been going on with you.

Unsure how to respond, he just continued to look at your ever-worsening anxious expression.

Suddenly you pushed yourself off your seat and grabbed your bag. Souichi moved from his own seat as you walked to the door of the classroom.

Rushing towards you, he put his hand out and grabbed the strap of your bag, stopping you from going any further.

His heart raced as he looked into your eyes and responded.

“…Good morning.”

#souichi x reader #souichi tsujii x reader #souichi tsujii #fluff

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oh-for-fic-sake · 3 years

Text

Superman's Dishcloth

A small cute headcannon thats been sitting on my tablet?

Summary: some people use pick up lines to get a womans number, henry uses a crochet lesson.

Warnings: Fluff?

Your fingers twisted the yarn around the hook automatically looping and pulling untill you made another double crochet stitch that the pattern required.

To be honest you wasnt paying that much attention as you worked your project, which was stupid really because you were making a new pattern, a bobble popcorn style head band.

You couldnt concentrate for two reasons

One. You were on a goddamned plane soaring across the Atlantic ocean. And if things went tits up you cant swim.

And two? You were seated next to none oher then mr henry cavill himself.

Not that you made a thing about it or even dared to look at him.

He he was watching you, eyes frowning as your fingers twisted the yarn into an intricate looking yet fairly simple pattern.

Youhad to stifle a laugh as his fingers twitched tryig to follow the moves and figure out what you were doing.

You growled missing count again. One, two, three three, skip three. A crochet, half double crochet, two double crochet in one stitch then skip three stitches and repeat untill the end.

Normally youd have no problems but your audience was putting you off.

You dropped the project in your lap as you miscounted again and realised you had to undo the last twelve stitches otherwise you'd be a set out on the end.

You closed your eyes grunting before slipping the hook out and began to tug the working yarn slowly before pinching it and slipping the hook into the loop catching it before it all unraveled.

"Why'd you undo it?" You jumped a little as the huge man beside you spoke up after watching you quietly since take off.

"Huh?... oh i misscounted i skipped four instead of three so it'd be out of line on the end and curl round..."

"How'd you know?" He frowned now leaning over even more curious then before.

You chewed your lip trying not to freak out as he peered over your little project.

"Err well i just counted the stiches i had left on the row, see i was up to here and there was five left not six, so i pulled it taught to spot the odd one out" you explained pulling more yarn through so you could point out the stitches to him with the hook.

"It looks complicated, you twist it so many times?" He said as your fingers began moving once more creating the repetitive pattern.

"Yeah... its not too difficult, Im doing a few different stitches is all, once you know a single crochet stitch and a chain stitch your good to go" You muttered with a smile.

"I doubt its that simple" he replied trying to keep up with watching your fingers guiding the hook jthought the piece making the fabric grow.

"It really is, here you see the little v on top?" You said slowing deciding to show him just how simple it was.

"Yeah?" He hummed quietly watching keenly.

"Thats the row before, so you slip your hook under both strands like this and loop your yarn over then pull through under that v so you have one loop on your hook" you said moving slowly and loosened the stitch with a light wiggle so he could see properly.

"Then loop the yarn over again so you have two loops, and pull the second one through the first... and thats a single crochet stitch" You explained showing him slowly.

"So you make lots of tiny loops and pull them through one another and it some how becomes fabric?" He asked fascinated by it, watching as you began to work on the next stitch.

"Yeah pretty much"

"But that one you pulled the wool over before you did anything at all?" You paused impressed he had noticed the slight difference... he had been watchkn that closely?

"So that was a half double, when you do a half double or double you yarn over first, then you just keep yarning over and pulling through until your left with one loop on the hook" you tried explaining as simply as you could.

"... it still sounds hard" he uttered still focusing on your hands that had been creating stitches.

"Honestly its not, i taught myself in about an hour and a half? Here try it? I've got extra yarn in my carry on if you want to give it a go?" You offered and instantly flushed you did not just offer to teach superman how to crochet like a fucking granny!

Before you could take it back and apologise he beamed.

"Really? That would be fun, i've never tried anything like this before" he said eagerly.

"Err yeah sure lemme just get you started, i'll give you a 5 hook... here" you said surprized digging about pulling the small ergonomic crochet hook out and some mustard yellow yarn.

"So you start with a slipknot... and then a few chain stitches" you began guiding him through it slowly teaching him the steps.

"So do you always crochet on long flights?" He asked pokeing his tongue out as he tried concentrating on the stitches he was doing.

"Yeah, im not good with confined spaces... especially confide spaces that are a good few miles in the air over the open ocean" you chuckled nervously chaining a stitch then turning begining your next row.

"Honestly im not either, usually i have kal- my dog but... not this time... this is good though, its helping take my mind off it thank you" he said sincerly.

"Dont mention it"

"Oh... i think ive done it wrong?" He said andnheld it out to you, you prodded it and to be honest you were impressed, it was neat, not a dropped stitch in sight... just a few loose stitches here and there, but he was finding a good tension.

"No, thats not wrong... just your tension thats all it comes with practice" you said handing it back to him.

"Tension?" He said making you pause. Oh yeah, he wouldnt knpw what that is yet.

"Yeah, how tight you hold the yarn and hook determies how tight your stitches are... mines pretty bad, i have to always use a size bigger hook" you expalined simply

"Really?"

"Yep, i do it too tight- even snapped a metal hook in my hand before" you chuckled remebering the way the hook had just... snapped mid project.

"Wow that sounds painfull?" He huffed eeingnyour hand curiously as if expecting you to snap a hook then and there.

"Yeah, i will admit i was frustrated with the project so it probably didnt help" you chuckled sheepishly.

"Frustrated? Was it complicated like that one?" He asked nodding to your growing head band.

"No, i kept loosing count on a pattern of 78 stitches" you said trying to wave it off but in actual fact that project had been murder.

"So what are you making?" He finally asked eyeingnyour work that had grown wider.

"A little headband, and hopefully i will widen it at the ears to keep em warm" you giggled wrapping it around pinchingnthe ends together proudly presenting it to him.

He grinned and looked down at his little square fiddling with it.

"And im making a... mess?" He laughed holding up the uneven square cheeks tinted pink when you giggled again.

"... Dishcloth?" You offered prodding it gently.

"Perfect, im making a dishcloth!" He bellowed nodding proud of his new diy dish cloth.

"I'm henry by the way. But from the way you were shaking in your seat im guessing you knew?" He finally introduced himself holding out a hand.

You smiled shyly and took it shakingnhands trying not to fawn over how huge hot and soft the palm was.

"Yeah... sorry i was nervous and you probably dont want to be bugged. Im y/n" you tried explaining nervously but he chuckled.

"I wouldnt mind being bugged by such a cutie~" he uttered quietly smirking at you tipping his head down a little too make sure you heard him despite his voice being quiet.

"Oh stop it" you flushed quickly looking down at your headband noticing your stitches werent as even as they could have been, but it couldnt be helped you had handsome distraction.

A very distracting handsome distraction.

"Its true. Besides i think it was me bugging you... and i have managed to plunder through your wool" he grinned sheepishly holding up his little dishcloth.

"Its fine, it not expensive, this is left over yarn from other projects" you waved him off. It was true ou had lots of odd ends and half skeins of woll from other projects.

"Well still i appreciate it, i hate flying" he said sincerly.

"Well now you have something to practice. Youll leave the plane with a new skill to stick on your cv" you added with a grin nudging him playfully.

"Indeed... And perhaps i can leave the p,ane with err...maybe your number to? You know to replace the wool and erm swap err instructions?" He said nervously jumbling his words.

You paused and looked at him shocked blinking. Did he just?

You blinked again watching as his face grew red and he chuckled nerously plucking at the woll on his dishcloth.

"Well i suppose every student needs to be able to contact theor teacher~ and these instructions are called patterns" you smiled to him nodding slowly.

"Right right i knew that of course they're patterns" he chuckled grinning ear to ear relived you hadnt turned him down.

"Well we have a good few hours, perhaps a few more lessons for my little student?" You teased picking up the pattern to show him some of the abbreviations. Mostly to try and concentrate on somthing other then the fact superman had just asked for your number... and was taking crochet lessons.

"Of course" he said excited eyes glittering with glee whilst looking at the small page.

#henry cavill #oh for fic sake headcannon #fluff #my ovaries demand fluff #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill headcannon

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vintagegeekculture · 4 years

Text

The Chinese Cultural Inspirations for Dragon Ball Z and Super

Journey to the West was only the beginning.

A lot of people are vaguely aware that Dragon Ball was inspired by Chinese culture and Hong Kong Kung Fu movies and novels, but are unaware of how deep and long lasting it goes. The Japanese spent the 1980s fascinated by China, which opened up from being a closed society for decades in 1978; the most famous human being in Japan in the 80s was either Michael Jackson or Jackie Chan.

In fact, a lot of people commonly believe that the Chinese action movie and Kung Fu novel cultural and media influence on Dragon Ball ended very early on. This is untrue. Sure, we started to see qipaos and cheongsams less frequently when they headed to West City, but it absolutely did not finish, because there’s tons of influence to see even as impossibly late as Dragon Ball Super. Interestingly, I don’t think any of these point of inspirations have been pointed out before, mainly because a lot of Chinese adventure novels are simply not available in English.

The Piccolo/Gohan plot was inspired by the Chinese action novel “Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre.”

Okay, tell me if you’ve heard this story before: a truly demonic, weird looking monster villain is defeated by a martial arts hero, but by circumstance, is forced into training his greatest enemy’s young son. The villain trains the young boy, the son of his enemy, in martial arts and over time, becomes like a second father or uncle to him and his family, putting the boy in his “evil” sect, and thanks to his love of his rival’s son, this baddie turns over a new leaf and goes from evil to just…grumpy, and becomes a loyal, though gruff, ally of the boy.

Of course, the events of Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre are a bit different from Dragon Ball in details. The Lion King becomes Wuji’s teacher because they are both stranded together on an island after a shipwreck, for instance, and he is blinded and made vulnerable. Also, the Lion King wasn’t so much evil so much as he was misunderstood by the orthodox martial world. However, in broad outlines, this trajectory for a face turn (becomes friends with his greatest enemy’s son, and becomes like a second father to him as he trains him, causing the villain to become a gruff good guy and ally) is essentially from one of the most famous Chinese novels ever written in the 1960s.

Oh, and while we’re at it, Gohan is likewise inspired by another character from a Louis Cha novel: the Prince of Dali Duan Yu in the Kung Fu novel Demigods and Semi-Devils. The Prince in that novel is a naïve, pacifistic scholar who prefers books to fighting, and who was raised to be timid and avoid combat, absolutely out of step with his family, all of whom are martial artists and warriors. In fact, the beginning of the story is the prince gets incredibly lost in the wilderness, where the hopelessly naïve prince is utterly out of his depth, with all the robbers and scary beasts, and needs to be saved by real martial artists that protect him like fairy godparents. He spends the first part of the story running away from everything, scared as hell. However, by circumstance, he has naturally high power he cannot fully initially control, and eventually realizes that even scholars and others who hate fighting have to sometimes become fighters to protect those they love.

The Duan Yu part of Demigods and Semi-Devils was made into a film, the Battle Wizard, which was reviewed by PewDiePie. The Dragonball similarities went over his head because, honestly, PewDiePie does not strike me as a perceptive person.

Hit was based on the screen persona of Chow Yun Fat.

Chow Yun Fat was a Hong Kong cinema superstar who was to director John Woo what Robert de Niro was to Martin Scorsese. There are three giveaways that Hit was based on Chow Yun Fat. One, he’s an assassin, same as Chow Yun Fat’s character in the Killer, and is even given a sequence that’s a John Woo homage with an assassination in an office building with guns pulled on an empty elevator in an act of misdirection. Second, he’s wearing the single piece of clothing Chow Yun Fat is associated with, a black trenchcoat (fun fact: in Hong Kong today, trenchcoats are called Brother Mark Coats, after Chow Yun Fat’s character in John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow). Third, his power is essentially bullet time, a visual technique refined by John Woo in Hong Kong in the 80s and 90s in his gunplay triad movies starring Chow Yun Fat (what, you think the Wachowskis invented it?).

The Goku/Vegeta relationship is from “Legend of the Condor Heroes.”

Here’s a story you might have heard before. It’s about two rivals, but by circumstance, one is raised in the wilderness beyond civilization, where he becomes an honest and goodhearted, though overly naive bumpkin, martial arts prodigy. The other is raised a wealthy prince by a conquering enemy, who grows up to also become an armor wearing martial arts expert, but also a cunning, arrogant, emotionally distant sociopath.

The similarities go into their love lives, too. The unsophisticated bumpkin hero is betrothed to a daughter of a powerful bearded barbarian king against his will, while the one hint of vulnerability and loss of emotional detachment in the otherwise sociopathic prince, the crack in his smirky arrogance, is that he loves a girl he otherwise pretends to hate, and even fathers a child with her who becomes a main character later.

This is Guo Jing and Yang Kang from Legend of the Condor Heroes. The most fascinating similarity, and proof that female psychology is the same all over the world, is that the fangirls love the emotionally distant, arrogant, and sexy/evil prince (remember when Rhonda Rousey said her first crush was Vegeta?). Girls everywhere love bad boys and sexy villains, and oh boy, do they love Prince Yang Kang. I think you can probably guess who all the fan art is about for Legend of the Condor Heroes, and what ship is the most popular.

I have to emphasize that Legend of the Condor Heroes, which came out in the 1950s-60s, is possibly the most widely read novel by the most widely read novelist on earth - the sales on that dwarf Twilight and Harry Potter. It’s probably not an exaggeration to say nearly every Chinese person, even if they never read it, knows who these characters are. In fact, Yang Kang and Guo Jing from Condor Heroes are basically repeated over and over in Asian, Chinese, and Japanese culture. Does the unsophisticated but gifted martial arts prodigy bumpkin hero, and the glib, arrogant wealthy prince rival remind you of….another duo of rivals?

Gohan/Videl comes from Little Dragon Maiden

One of the most important and influential Martial Arts novels of all time is “Return of the Condor Heroes.” A sequel to Condor Heroes, this time, the main character is the teenage son of one of the main characters from the first novel. It gets even more familiar from there.

“Return of the Condor Heroes” was about a martial arts couple who are also master and student, the same age but vastly different in experience and skill so one somehow seems “older,” and they fall in love because the circumstances of training together requires they spend lots of time together and become intimate. The training story and the love story are exactly the same in “Return of the Condor Heroes.” The dead giveaway one story inspired the other is that in both, the most significant training sequence is one where the master teaches the student how to fly (though Return used a chamber of sparrows for lightness Kung Fu).

There are some differences of course – obviously in Return of the Condor Heroes, the genders of teacher and student are flipped from Gohan and Videl (it’s the Little Dragon Maiden who is a powerful teacher, and the boy who is the student). It was the girl (Videl) who was a rebellious delinquent in Dragon Ball Z, when it was the opposite in the novel, true. But it was obvious this story was in the back of the creator’s mind as a way to combine Kung Fu with the love story, by making teacher and student lovers.

Addendum: hey, remember that awesome movie Kung Fu Hustle, the one Hong Kong movies normies have seen? Well, remember the landlord and landlady? The landlady was named Xiao Lung Nu, or Little Dragon Maiden, and her husband was named Yang Guo – the same as the main characters in Return of the Condor Heroes. It was a joke that went over the heads of Westerners, by giving these names of attractive and naïve young people in love with each other to a surly, bitter, arguing and chain smoking middle aged couple who don’t give a damn.

Going Super Saiyan comes from “Reincarnated” aka “Bastard Swordsman.”

Stop me if this sounds familiar: a terrifying warlord tyrant prone to killing underlings who displease him has achieved a level of skill and cultivation so tremendous nobody can stop him. But there is one, and only one, thing he fears and that can defeat him: a long-lost legendary skill that nobody has achieved in recent memory, that includes a supernatural combat power transformation that turns the hair light to indicate it worked.

This is “Silkworm Skill” from Reincarnated aka Bastard Swordsman, a novel and TV series from Hong Kong in the early 1980s. Of course, there are differences. To get the power boost and new hair color, the hero has to jump in a cocoon he weaves himself. In fact, the scene is so well known that they actually have it on the poster.

(To those saying “Super Saiyan turns your hair blonde, not white” my response is that it turns hair white, or uncolored, in the comic book.)

The idea of your hair turning white to indicate a new supernatural combat transformation or martial state wasn’t created by Bastard Swordsman, though – though it is the best example and probably the one most familiar to a 1980s audience due to the hugely popular books and TV series. For an older example, a famous Chinese movie based on a folktale is “Bride With the White Hair,” about a bride who’s hair turns white when she is betrayed, in her anger, she becomes less a woman and more a supernatural creature of vengeance (interesting that anger should be the means to unlock it).

#dragon ball z #china #kung fu #martial arts #anime

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