#what is the difference between reference and bibliography

[iamadarshbadri]

What is the Difference between References and a Bibliography?

There is a tendency among us—as students and researchers—to use both references and bibliography synonymously. For several years now, I thought the same too. Admittedly, I have used both bibliography and references as synonyms. Most of us don’t think there is any difference between both. But, as it turns out, that is not really correct. As students, most of our assignments will require us to…

[weirdmarioenemies]

MARIO KART 9 RETRO PREDICTIONS!

That's right! Ever since like, a month ago, we've received official confirmation that we're getting a new Mario Kart game that isn't Mario Kart Tour! Rejoice!

Yes, it's an exciting time to be a Mario Kart fan. After all, a new game means new courses, new drivers, new items, new gameplay mechanics, and all that jazz! I mean, 24-player races in the fantastical world of Utah? That's some exciting stuff!

But almost just as exciting as the new courses are the new old courses, especially when considering how much Mario Kart 8 spruced them up! Also, it's just way easier to to predict returning courses than new courses. Look: I don't have a time machine shaped like a crystal ball. I could say "Oh yeah, Mario Kart 9 will definitely have a new course called Toad's Wastewater Treatment Plant," but I'd just be making that up. I don't have a source! I can't show you the bibliography! I'm sorry.

Not that I can completely accurately predict retro courses either. Look, I can be as methodical as I please, but I don't work at Nintemdo. We know next to nothing about this game, so all my predictions are really just shots in the dark here! But it's fun to load a gun and haphazardly shoot bullets in a cave! Who knows! Maybe we'll end up shooting some of the retro courses that will be in Mario Kart 9!

My dearest condolences to Toad's Factory.

Retro predictions begin under the cut!

Oh wow, you thought we were gonna get straight into the retro predicting? How does it feel to be The Fool right now, The Fool?

Really though, I just want to get all methodologologilical[sic] first. Just get out some of the key assumptions I'm making so you can better understand why I've made the choices I've made. Alright? Cool. Cool.

I'm assuming there will be 48 courses in the base game, and by extension, 24 retro courses split across six cups. Given the goal of this game is to move people to the Nintendo Switch 2, and every Nintendo Switch 1 owner and their mother and their mother's dog owns a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, going from 96 courses to a mere 32 courses feels like a considerable downgrade. Given that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has 48 courses without the DLC, this feels like a good baseline going forwards.

I'm not sure what to make of the mainline status of Mario Kart Tour. I'm leaning towards it being technically mainline, due to its content being ported to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but it's definitely not a traditional Mario Kart game. So I will be including courses from it in my predictions, but courses that have only returned in Tour are basically on the same level of priority as courses that have never returned at all to me. Speaking of which...

I plan on prioritizing courses that have never returned, but I'm not going to exclusively limit myself to courses that have never returned. We're reaching a point where some games are really slim pickings for retro course options if we're only considering ones that have never returned, and given Nintendo has shown they're comfortable with double-dipping in places like Mario Kart 8's DLC and Mario Kart Tour, I think it's safe to say Mario Kart 64 won't be dragged out back and shot after they bring back Wario Stadium.

HOWEVER, I will NOT include any courses that have returned in Mario Kart 8!* This does include the Booster Course Pass for reference, so I apologize to any courses that were given underwhelming remakes there. Someday you'll get the remake you deserve, Sky Garden. Courses that originated in Mario Kart 8 are still fair game, but given that again, the goal is to move people to the new console, you probably don't want too many courses they can already play on the game they most certainly already have. Don't worry about the asterisk yet. We'll get there when we get there.

And as for more general goals, I'm looking for solid aesthetic diversity, a respectable difficulty curve, and a decent balance between games. None of these are really hard rules, since everybody will define them differently, and the exact amount they matter is hard to judge. I mean, I would like to keep the games relatively balanced, but it makes sense why the Booster Course Pass has eight Wii courses and two SNES courses. This is because Wii courses tend to be "pretty damn fun", as opposed to SNES courses which tend to be "utter dogwater".

Fun factor is also an important thing to keep in mind here. Why waste precious development time on bringing back courses nobody wants? I'm sorry, but no amount of spit-shine will ever save Figure-8 Circuit.

Okay, I think that's about everything. Now we can get into the part of the post you probably actually care about: predicting the retro courses!

SHELL CUP

Wii Luigi Circuit

Ah, the classic "boring starting course". Boring starter courses are interesting, because they brought back like 50 of these in Mario Kart DS, but ever since Nintendo has kinda been avoiding these like the plague. Unfortunately, now we've kinda reached a point where for games with slim pickings, "boring starter courses" are some of the only courses they have left. I feel like we're gonna have to bite the bullet at some point and bring one of these back, so it may as well be Wii Luigi Circuit.

Also motivating this pick is the return of the Luigi Tires sponsor, which was featured on this track back in Mario Kart Wii! Obviously this is a pretty minor connection, but I kinda get the feeling the reason they'd bring a sponsor like this back is if they're also bringing back a course that featured it. Ultimately this is what gave it the edge to me over Figure-8 Circuit. Well that, and the fact that there's no reason to spend development time on Figure-8 Circuit over literally any course that isn't Figure-8 Circuit.

3DS Daisy Hills

Daisy Hills! I don't really have a ton to say on this one. Its "alpine village where a young witch would look for a lost cat" setting is fairly unique by the standards of early-game courses, and given the list of courses that have never returned consist largely of mid-to-late game courses and "boring circuit tracks", having a course like this feels like a good pick.

SNES Koopa Beach 1

I would like to take a moment to curse Super Mario Kart for not having interesting course themes. It becomes a pain to pick specific courses from a game where literally every course theme has better alternatives from other games. Because when I'm prioritizing aesthetic diversity, picking a boring Super Mario Kart track is kind of by extension shutting out the better options from other games, right?

So figuring out what courses from this game to pick was basically a game of figuring out which theme had the most acceptable losses, and I concluded it was probably the beach courses. Apologies to Cheep Cheep Lagoon and Cheep-Cheep Island, but neither of you is interesting enough to warrant not picking an SNES course over you. And actual sincere apologies to Dolphin Shoals!

MK8 Sweet Sweet Canyon

Rounding out our Shell Cup, we have our first returning course from Mario Kart 8! Given Mario Kart 8 is ripe for the picking, it's likely we'll see a solid handful of courses from it, and since Nintendo tends to avoid putting multiple courses from the same game in a single cup, my choices are gonna have to be spread out across the difficulty curve.

Sweet Sweet Canyon isn't really one of my favorite of Mario Kart 8's original courses, but as an early game course with very unique theming, it feels like a pretty safe pick for a Priority Retro course to me. There's not really any thematic competition for "courses made of candy"! My only hope is that if my predictions are accurate and they do bring back this specific course, that they brighten up the color palette a bit. The amount of detail here is gorgeous, but the colors have always felt slightly too drab for the theming to me.

Also yes, I'm using "MK8" as the abbreviation for returning Mario Kart 8 courses and not "Wii U". I know that typically the abbreviation is based on the console and not the name of the game, but given the existence of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the fact it has battle courses unique to it that should probably be put under the same label, and the fact Nintendo probably wants to acknowledge the Wii U as little as possible, I think using "MK8" as the abbreviation feels like the right call.

BANANA CUP

DS Delfino Square

Given Mario Kart DS's options for courses that have never returned are "starting circuit", "Bowser's Castle", and "Rainbow Road", and all of those are competitive slots, I think it's likely we'll see a bit of double-dipping for this game. That's probably a good thing, because DS has some awesome courses that aren't in Mario Kart 8!

Case in point: Delfino Square, which feels like one of the most-requested courses I saw for the Booster Course Pass that never got added. But maybe we should be grateful, because now it can be saved for a remake with good graphics! I've been a big fan of this course ever since I was a kid, mostly because of the music (which I'd love to hear a live arrangement of!), but the course itself is pretty cool too I guess. Glider ramp on the drawbridge whenever it's up? Would that work?

N64 Frappe Snowland

Mario Kart 64 is another game that's slim pickings in terms of "courses that have never returned at all". Given I'm trying to include at least two courses from every game here, picking another N64 course was kind of a challenge. Most of the picks I would've gone for are in Mario Kart 8 already, because if not for the Booster Course Pass, Choco Mountain and Kalimari Desert would've definitely been in the running. And lots of the other choices that felt decent, like DK's Jungle Parkway or Banshee Boardwalk, have alternatives in other games that felt higher priority.

So I'm going with Frappe Snowland. This course hasn't really been in a traditional Mario Kart game since Mario Kart DS, so I think it feels like a solid candidate to get another remake. I mean, it's a pretty generic snow course as-is, so it might be due to get a modern reimagining. I'm imagining a cozy little winter town near the starting line, maybe having some similar vibes to the winter variant of Animal Crossing.

Do you pronounce it "frap" or "fra-pay"? I'm in the fra-pay camp but I'm pretty sure the other one might technically be correct due to the lack of accent over the e, but I'm also not sure if that's so much a hint of the pronunciation so much as "leaving off the accent for convenience sake". Both are technically valid I'm pretty sure, so I won't fight you if you're in frap camp. I promise.

Wii Toad's Factory

Look. If there's one course I would put actual real money on being in the next game, I think it's Toad's Factory. Yes! Even over the courses from games that literally have only one course that has never returned! Wario Stadium is boring and faces competition from Wario Colosseum, and I'm not sure to what extent Tour counts as mainline as far as Piranha Plant Pipeline is concerned, but Toad's Factory? I can't think of a reason you wouldn't bring this one back.

It's one of the only courses from Mario Kart Wii that has never returned, it's a fan-favorite course, it's an early-game course with unique theming when "courses that have never returned" tend to skew late-game, not to mention that Mario Kart Wii is a favorite game for fans and Nintendo alike. Literally the only reason I can imagine Mario Kart 9 not having Toad's Factory is if Mario Kart 9 doesn't have retro courses at all. That, or if my methodology is way, way off. But like, Nintendo knows what courses fans like! They have to see the demand for Toad's Factory, right?

3DS Shy Guy Bazaar

Look. I'm gonna come forwards and say it: I'm pretty sure this course is what we in the industry would call "orientalist as hell". I'm definitely not the most qualified person to speak on this subject, but given what I have heard from people who are, it's very much giving me the vibes of "mystical, vaguely Arabic desert kingdom" that all of us should frankly be tired of seeing at this point. This isn't really a course I think I want to see brought back.

But this isn't a wishlist. This is Predictions, and unfortunately I do not have the faith in Nintendo to Not Be Orientalist, considering how much this sort of thing has continued into even their most recent output. And like, as far as the things I am prioritizing when I make my list go, I'm pretty sure Shy Guy Bazaar checks all the boxes. It has unique theming, and datamining suggests it was very nearly put in Mario Kart 8. I think this one feels like a shoo-in, even if I don't really want it to be.

FEATHER CUP

That's right! More retro courses means I have to predict new retro cups as well! I think the Feather Cup feels like a good retro cup choice, since its presence as an item in Super Mario Kart and its absence from most later Mario Kart games gives it a distinctly "retro" feel.

Oh, and speaking of Super Mario Kart...

SNES Mario Circuit 4

For a long time, I saw people question why Nintendo would bring back the Mario Circuits so much compared to other SNES courses with more distinct theming. After all, if you're going to have to dedicate a slot or two to SNES courses, you might want to pick the less boring themes, right...? But while this sounds like a logical train of thought, I think I have since seen the light of day. The reason they bring back the Mario Circuits is because they can get away with being boring.

Because the Mario Circuits can pass off their "being boring" as being like, a retro thing, right? Like, you can try to make an interesting rendition of Donut Plains or whatever, but ultimately you're just putting lipstick on a pig. Donut Plains 3 is always gonna be one of the most boring courses in Mario Kart 8, even with a gorgeous graphical overhaul! The Mario Circuits, by virtue of being thematically boring, don't have to pretend they are anything more than what they are: boring SNES courses.

...I'd still like them to do something interesting with Mario Circuit 4 though. I mean, GBA Mario Circuit got an anti-gravity U-turn. It's worth a shot.

MK8 Sunshine Airport

Something you need to know about me is that "me making retro course predictions for Mario Kart 9" is NOT a new thing. I've been doing this basically ever since Mario Kart 8 came out over a decade ago, and ever since then I have felt reasonably confident in one thing: I think Sunshine Airport is gonna be one of the first Mario Kart 8 courses they bring back.

Literally everything about Sunshine Airport feels like a "priority retro course" to me, in the same vein as Coconut Mall or Music Park. Unique theming? Check. A level of complexity that gives it flexible positioning on a difficulty curve? Check. Approval from the fans? Check. Hell, even if Nintendo decides not to bring back anti-gravity, this course doesn't need it! All it amounts to here is one singular turn where the anti-gravity feels shoehorned in to begin with!

It feels weird to be so, so confident in a Mario Kart 8 pick when literally every original course from that game is an option, like I can't say I'm confident in Sunshine Airport to the same degree I'm confident in like, Toad's Factory or Wario Stadium or anything like that, but I dunno. Sunshine Airport almost feels like it was made to be a retro course.

Or maybe I've just been so weirdly confident in this specific idea for so long that it's just drilled itself into my head, I dunno.

Tour Piranha Plant Pipeline

Say hello to literally the only Mario Kart Tour course that didn't make its way into the Booster Course Pass! Yes, that's literally my only reasoning for including it. But if Tour courses are in fact in the running, then that's basically the only reason you need. This course wasn't in Mario Kart 8 and the only other place you can play it is a mobile game where it's only in rotation for like, two weeks of the year.

I don't think this is one of Tour's best original courses, it's decidedly mid-tier compared to the likes of Squeaky Clean Sprint, Yoshi's Island, and Ninja Hideaway, but it'd be nice to have it in a more accessible place. In Mario Kart 8 it'd feel redundant with Piranha Plant Slide, but here it probably won't have that issue.

Funniest outcome for this course however, is if they treat it like the other non-city Tour originals in the Booster Course Pass and try to pass it off as a new course for some reason.

GBA Broken Pier

I think it's funny how much Nintendo has fallen in love with Mario Kart: Super Circuit lately. For the longest time, GBA courses were given the short end of the stick with only one or two returning courses per game. However, when they started giving retro courses more dramatic overhauls in Mario Kart 8, they realized that GBA courses, unlike SNES courses, actually have interesting themes that are conducive to cool remakes, and now there are barely any GBA courses they haven't brought back! Which is to say there's two, and one of them is Broken Pier. Hi, Broken Pier!

Look, this is not a fan-favorite GBA course by any stretch of the imagination. I often see this considered one of the worst courses in the game. But how much does that actually really matter? When it comes to creative liberties taken with retro courses, GBA courses tend to get the most dramatic overhauls. As long as you keep the theming in tact and a vague facsimile of the layout, you can basically do whatever you want with these courses when you bring them back.

Given I think the atmosphere of this course is "pretty dang cool", that's all that really matters. Nintendo has free reign to do whatever they want with this course, because who's gonna complain about an unfaithful remake of Broken Pier?

LEAF CUP

MK8 Wild Woods

To be honest, there's a ton of courses from Mario Kart 8 I've considered putting at the start of the Leaf Cup. Shy Guy Falls, Dragon Driftway, and Super Bell Subway also feel like solid choices to me, but I'm going with Wild Woods for the silly reason of "cup-appropriate theming". This isn't something Nintendo does a ton of, but given in the past we've seen Maple Treeway in the Leaf Cup, DK Jungle in the Banana Cup, Rock Rock Mountain in the Rock Cup, and 3DS Rainbow Road in the Moon Cup, it's definitely something that does happen. It's enough to sway my opinion on this subject ever so slightly.

Either way, this is definitely the part where "literally every Mario Kart 8 course is in contention" is coming to bite me.

GBA Lakeside Park

Lakeside Park is another of those courses I really don't have to say much about my inclusion of. There's a bit of competition for a "jungle course spot" from Dino Dino Jungle and DK's Jungle Parkway I think, but given this one has yet to return in a traditional Mario Kart game, it feels like a more likely option to me. I just hope they reintroduce a little bit of the complexity in the layout that was lost in the Mario Kart Tour version of this course. I dunno what's up with Mario Kart Tour and oversimplifying the layouts of GBA courses in particular.

Wii Dry Dry Ruins

So many Mario Kart Wii courses are in Mario Kart 8, that based on my somewhat arbitrary "no repeat retros from Mario Kart 8" rule, narrowing down potential Wii courses is not really a challenge at all. Like, we're probably getting Toad's Factory, we're probably getting Dry Dry Ruins, and then pick one of the other three courses off a wheel and throw that one in, too.

I see a lot of people say they don't care for desert courses, but I'm kind of under the impression that they really just mean Dry Dry Desert and Bone-Dry Dunes. And maybe Yoshi Desert, but I don't know how many people even remember that course exists. But like, every other desert course in the series seems to have a solid reception with fans, right? I've seen lots of people clamoring for Dry Dry Ruins, but that might just be because "Mario Kart Wii fans" are a very vocal crowd, and they just think the shortcuts here are really cool. I can't blame 'em.

3DS Wario Shipyard

Something I've realized from my various attempts at Mario Kart 9 retro predictions from over the years is that lots of the courses that seem like viable options for retro picks are Wario courses. N64 Wario Stadium is basically a given, but Wario Shipyard is probably one of the most distinctive 3DS tracks, and Wario Colosseum and Mount Wario are both big fan-favorites too. Dang Wario, you need to cut it out with all your "courses that kick ass"! You're stealing valuable real estate from all the other characters!

I don't think Wario can hear me, and even if he does, he probably doesn't care. We know he's a greedy man. He probably feels so smug about "stealing precious real estate". I bet he's gonna get a new course of this caliber too, because that's just the kind of course Wario makes at this point.

MOON CUP

That's right! Second new retro cup! I went with the Moon Cup, and put it between the Leaf and Lightning Cup to act as the new retro parallel to the Star Cup, because that just feels right to me.

MK8 Electrodrome

This is the last of my picks for returning Mario Kart 8 courses, and feels like another relatively safe pick. Not as safe as Sunshine Airport, since it'd be considerably worse-off without anti-gravity, but there's this one butte in the background of the trailer which looks like it could be an anti-gravity section so we're probably fine on that front.

Anyway, all the stuff I've been saying across this post applies here also. Unique theming, well-liked by fans, you know the drill. Really, how much do I have to keep repeating these things? You know what my lines of reasoning are, do I have to keep saying them? Is this interesting to you? Are you interested right now?

Uhhhh this course was given a spotlight in a trailer for the original Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U. So I think Nintendo likes it also. That's a little more in its favor specifically.

GCN Mushroom City

Forget about every other course I've talked about on this post. If I have to single out the course I want to see return the most, it's this one. Frappe Snowland? More like CRAPPE Snowland! Mario Circuit 4? More like Mario Circuit BORE! Mushroom City? More like Mushroom Sh... no wait this is the one i like

Anyway, Mushroom City is cool as hell and it's criminal they've never brought this one back. Definitely probably maybe a top 10 Mario Kart course for me. I dunno. I haven't played Double Dash that much. But I've played it enough to know that I like Mushroom City, okay? I don't know if any other traffic course really sells the feeling of driving through a big city as much as this one, what with all its branching paths.

I really appreciate how they handled the branching paths here. On a course like Yoshi Valley, there's only one route that's actually good, making the whole gimmick feel kinda meaningless, but here everything feels even enough that no path feels unviable, especially with how the traffic patterns can influence your decision-making! And also the music is great and begging for a live band rendition. Make it happen, Nintendo! Mushroom City has spent too much time not returning, and not enough time... returning.

I mean, it feels like a pretty likely inclusion to me. I feel people have reappraised this course as being "really really good" lately (rightfully so!) and it's also one of only four Double Dash courses that have never been brought back. The other three include the coveted Bowser's Castle and Rainbow Road slots, as well as Wario Colosseum, which WOULD feel like a good candidate if not for...

N64 Wario Stadium

Man, I'm glad I put these courses back-to-back in my retro predictions. It wasn't specifically for that segue, but it makes for a damn good segue.

Poor, poor Wario Stadium. Literally the only course from Mario Kart 64 which has never been brought back, which I think kind of makes it an auto-include for these retro predictions, even if we don't want it to be. Something funny is that, having looked Mario Kart course ranking lists for over a decade now, I've seen the public opinion on this course shift dramatically in real time.

Like, ten years ago I saw this course frequently ending up on "Top 10 Mario Kart courses of all time" lists, with people talking about how cool it is that it's like a real dirt bike stadium, and how funny it was when you hit an opponent during the big jump and they had to repeat half the race.

But nowadays it feels like the popular opinion is "there's a good reason this is the only N64 course they've never brought back". Like, now everyone thinks this course is just really long and boring, and the opinion on Big Jump Snipes have shifted from "funny and cruel" to "just making the course even more of a slog to get through." Time has not been kind to N64 Wario Stadium.

But if anything, I think that's why this course needs to be brought back, right? To get the makeover it deserves and get some time being a less terrible course. I'm pretty sure the addition of tricks as a gameplay mechanic alone would improve it significantly, let alone more dramatic changes you could make to the layout. Worst case scenario, you give it the Wario Colosseum treatment and make it a two-lap course. (Or give it the N64 Rainbow Road treatment and make it only one lap, but I don't think that'd work out here.)

I have to clarify: the fact there's a long Wario course set in a stadium that's basically an auto-include is the sole reason I'm not putting Wario Colosseum on my retro predictions. Sorry, guys.

DS Airship Fortress

You wanna know why DS Airship Fortress is on my Mario Kart 9 retro predictions? Because it wasn't in the Booster Course Pass. That's it. Like, this course is a big hit with fans, it was in Mario Kart Tour already, and basically everyone agrees it was a baffling exclusion. So at this point the most logical conclusion I can think of is "it wasn't in Mario Kart 8 because they were saving it for Mario Kart 9".

That's really all I have to say on this one.

LIGHTNING CUP

3DS Maka Wuhu

Did you know? The two Wuhu Island courses are literally the only Mario Kart 7 courses which have never returned! Granted, lots of the others have only returned in Tour, which feels like the world's biggest edge case, but like, it's weird we haven't seen the Wuhu Island courses at all, right? I feel like people like these courses quite a bit. I mean, they brought back Wuhu Town as a battle arena in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, so I don't think they're off the table.

Really, I've kinda been skirting around the crossover courses, because I'm not sure what to make of them. I'm definitely under the impression Mario Kart 9's not gonna be the "Super Smash Kart" or whatever some people have suggested, given the trailer exclusively shows Mario characters driving through an area not based on any Mario game in particular. I don't think Super Smash Kart would include Baby Rosalina on its roster.

But like, I don't wanna dismiss the idea of Mario Kart 9 having crossover content completely, because I could totally imagine it sticking around on a smaller scale, akin to... well, Mario Kart 8! And even putting that all aside, I kind of feel like the Wuhu courses are almost a weird exception to being "crossover courses" since they were in the main game of Mario Kart 7? I dunno. At this point I'm making weird and arbitrary rules for myself for the sake of making weird and arbitrary rules. I don't think I can explain my logic in a way that makes as much sense as it does in my head.

Tour Ninja Hideaway

Hey, so remember way, way earlier in the post when there was an asterisk when I mentioned my rule about no repeat retros from Mario Kart 8? Well here it is! It's Asterisk! You see, I wanted to include at least two courses from every game, but this proved to be an issue for Mario Kart Tour in particular, since all but one of its courses were included in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. So I broke my rules, right? Well, not exactly...

Because Ninja Hideaway didn't return in Mario Kart 8.

See how this course was labelled in Mario Kart 8? It wasn't Tour Ninja Hideaway, just "Ninja Hideaway". Legally speaking, Ninja Hideaway did not return in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, because it was a new course in that game too, for some reason! So none of my rules have been broken. This is, legally, the first time Ninja Hideaway will be a retro course.

Obviously, this sort of logic is incredibly silly, and barely makes any sense at all, but knowing Nintendo, I'm kind of under the impression this is the exact sort of logic they operate under. So I'm sticking by it! I think this would be a cool Lightning Cup pick. I like it for a lot of the same reasons I like Mushroom City (thank you well-balanced branching paths!), and I feel like some of the sharp turns here would make it well-suited for the late game.

DS Bowser('s?) Castle

Did you know? This course is just called "Bowser Castle". Not Bowser's Castle, with the apostrophe s. I don't really know why. I kind of expect them to change it, since they did with all the GBA Bowser's Castles in Mario Kart Tour, but they didn't with SNES Bowser Castle 3, so I really don't know. Either way, you too are now cursed with this information!

Anyway, given my two other picks from Mario Kart DS are both double-dips, I figured I should include one course which hasn't returned yet, and I'm going with this one. Figure-8 Circuit is probably the worst course of all time, and I think there's better candidates for a retro Rainbow Road, but Bowser('s) Castle? I mean, I've seen a fair share of fans who really like this one. I figure it's about time to bring it back.

For some reason, Nintendo hardly ever brings back the endgame Bowser's Castles, but I figure they gotta start chipping away at that list at some point, and having it as the penultimate retro course before a Rainbow Road just feels right. Speaking of which...!

GCN Rainbow Road

This was a pretty big toss-up between GBA Rainbow Road and GCN Rainbow Road for me, but I'm going with this one. I know GBA feels like the logical pick, since we got SNES in Mario Kart 7 and N64 in Mario Kart 8, but now that Mario Kart 8 also has SNES, 3DS, and Wii's Rainbow Roads, I'm not sure how much that order really matters anymore. And besides that... GCN just feels more iconic. It's the road that you go when you die!

Don't get me wrong, I don't wanna discount GBA completely, partially because of The Cycle, partially because it's one of the only GBA courses left, and partially because I think you could do a lot with a cool remake, but at the same time, let's be real with ourselves: if any Mario Kart game is the least iconic one, it's Super Circuit. I love its Rainbow Road a whole lot, but I don't think that's the one you show off in a big trailer to get fans excited for the first big Mario Kart game in over a decade, right?

Also, GCN Mushroom City feels like a very likely retro course, and you can see it in the background of GCN Rainbow Road, so uhhhh yeah. Checkmate, atheists! GCN Rainbow Road is real and there is nothing you can do about it!

Okay, so maybe my logic is a little flimsy, but as I said at the start of the post, I can't predict the future! Ultimately, I don't know why or how Nintendo decides which courses they want to bring back, and all I can really do is try to infer patterns based on what they've done in the past. But you know how it is with apophenia. We're all the time seeing patterns we want to see that aren't really there!

Ultimately, this is a game we know very little about, and it would be foolish of me to pretend that I've boiled any of this down to a science. Really, the reason I'm doing this is because it's fun! It's fun to think about hypothetical returning courses in future Mario Kart games using bogus patterns that don't really exist!

Also a big waste of time. Thanks for indulging in this big waste of time with me, everyone!

(if your favorite course wasn't included on this list, please imagine it as post-launch DLC. thank you.)

[magickkate]

What is a “Reliable Source” in Witchcraft?

In witchcraft, a reliable source is one that presents information accurately, ethically, and with transparency about its origins, especially when it comes to spiritual practices, cultural elements, or historical claims. Reliable sources respect traditions, differentiate between personal experiences and established practices, and avoid harmful or misleading generalizations.

They may include well-researched books, culturally rooted practitioners, reputable blogs, historical texts, or experienced teachers who are transparent about their influences and lineage. In a path as personal and eclectic as witchcraft, reliability doesn’t always mean objectivity. It means being honest, thoughtful, and context-aware.

Why Use Reliable Sources in Witchcraft?

Reliable sources help you avoid misinformation, harm, or the accidental appropriation of closed or sacred cultural practices. They also help you grow more confidently and ethically in your craft by giving you a clear understanding of where practices come from and why they are done a certain way.

When you’re first starting out, it can be tempting to grab info from the first Tumblr post or Pinterest infographic you see. But not all sources are created equal. Some oversimplify, misrepresent, or combine traditions without context. Building your foundation on solid knowledge means you’ll be better equipped to shape your own path without disrespecting others or relying on fluff.

Reliable sources also help you separate trends from tradition, and your own intuition from misinformation. Learning where to look, and who to trust, can empower you to study with discernment rather than overwhelm.

Beginner Tips

• Start with books. Especially those that cite their sources, include bibliographies, or clarify which traditions they come from. • Learn the difference between UPG and tradition. UPG (unverified personal gnosis) is personal spiritual insight. It’s valid, but shouldn’t be confused with historical or cultural fact. • Follow practitioners with transparency. If someone explains where their practices come from and how they learned them, they’re often more trustworthy than someone who claims universal knowledge. • Beware of absolutes. Anyone who says “this is the only right way to practice” or “all witches do XYZ” is usually not a reliable source. • Check for cultural context. If a practice is closed (like smudging with white sage in Native traditions), it’s important to understand why and find alternatives that respect that boundary. • Use academic or folklore sources. These won’t always apply directly to your modern practice, but they help you understand where things come from. • Look for communities with healthy discussion. Reddit threads, Discord servers, or Tumblr spaces with respectful disagreement are great places to test ideas and learn from others.

Cautions and Ethics

• Avoid closed practices unless invited. Some spiritual traditions are not meant to be used outside of specific communities or initiations. Research what’s closed, what’s open, and what’s sacred. • Watch out for plagiarism. Some blogs and books copy others without credit or context. If someone’s writing feels vague or stolen, check for original sources. • Respect lived experience, but contextualize it. Personal stories can be powerful, but remember they’re not one-size-fits-all. • Avoid appropriative sources. Be cautious with sources that present cultural practices without explaining their origins, especially if they monetize them. • Don’t treat spiritual info like trivia. “Fun facts” without depth can be misleading. Dig into the why and how behind practices. • Stay skeptical of TikTok trends. Quick videos may spark interest, but they rarely give enough background to be truly reliable.

How to Incorporate Reliable Sources into Your Practice

• Create a vetted resource list. Keep a list of books, creators, and sites you trust and refer back to them. • Take notes. Jot down sources in your grimoire so you can remember where you learned something and double-check later. • Fact-check before you use. If you read something new (especially a spell or correspondence), try to confirm it from at least one other reputable source. • Ask questions in community spaces. Learning from others can help you develop discernment and notice red flags. • Stay curious. Witchcraft is a lifelong path. Being open to learning (and unlearning) is one of the most important skills you can develop.

My Experience and Notes

When I first started, I pulled info from everywhere: Tumblr, Pinterest, TikTok, witchy forums, you name it. And while some of that was useful, I also absorbed a lot of fluff and misinformation. I didn’t know which herbs were safe, which correspondences were modern versus historical, or what traditions I might accidentally be misusing.

It wasn’t until I slowed down and started reading books, joining respectful communities, and double-checking things that I really began to feel confident in my practice. I also learned the value of humility, of knowing that I don’t know everything and that it’s okay to grow over time.

One of the most empowering shifts in my journey was learning to say, “I’m not sure. Let me look that up,” instead of pretending I had all the answers. Witchcraft thrives on curiosity, not perfection.

⸻

Anything I missed? Add some tips and more info below!

Anything you’d like for me to cover? Send me an ask or a message!

[pub-lius]

hiiii :3

i just read your response to an ask about your reason for disliking ron chernow’s alexander hamilton book, and i wanted to ask if i can still use it as source for some info. i’ve done my fair share of research on various topics and my opinions/what i’ve read differentiated strongly sometimes from what he wrote, but some things are just hard to come by (as somebody not from the US who doesn’t have local resources and has to rely on stuff i can find online). what do you suggest i do if i want more accurate info? i know the founders archive but other than that i haven’t found a lot of trustworthy sources concerning the amrev that aren’t $300 textbooks?

idk- sorry this is really long :,) i’m not sure in im making any sense haha

Girl have you seen the length of my posts? This is not long at all, and you make perfect sense.

And if you have seen my posts, you may notice that Chernow is my most frequent citation because of how valuable his biographies are as sources. He does intensely thorough research and his index and bibliography are so extensive, I can’t even make a joke about getting them as a tramp stamp.

Chernow is a great source and I do recommend any starting Hamilton scholar to get a copy, if you have the means and patience. The downfalls of it are its a hard read and his personal interpretations are heavily skewed and biased in various directions, which is only different from other historians because he doesn’t give proper evidence and substantiation to these claims. All you need to have in order to recognize this is basic critical thinking skills. Tl;dr: Chernow is a great source, he’s just fucking annoying and I hate him.

One very good thing about Chernow is that his book is so (painfully) extensive, that it can serve as a source for more than just Hamilton, so there’s no shame in using him as a source for *checks notes* how the island of St. Kitts and Nevis was formed from a volcano, if you’re into that.

I see your inability to access US propaganda and I raise you youtube documentaries. That may sound crazy, but you can put it on in the background and cross reference between them (usually repeated details are closest to the truth). They can also be entertaining, especially if they’re from the 80s (i love the 80s). Additionally, if you’re looking for archives, @maip--macrothorax can tell you all the benefits of Internet Archive (if they aren’t too busy borrowing all of the books on there /lh). You can also find a lot of things on the Library of Congress’s website, and also my favorite governmental department:

THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE!!

Go to the national park service, it includes all the battlefields, important buildings, where important buildings used to be, the houses of historical figures, and really pretty parks (also like mount gaymore (rushmore) and shit but wtvr). They have tons of information and great archivists and librarians and i long for their jobs. Also, American Battlefield Trust, Mount Vernon, The Museum of the American Revolution, etc. also have great sources and tons of information- along with wonderful reenactments that they have on youtube!!

I also do my best to make these sources as accessible as possible, so if you do some perusing you might be able to find some of this stuff here, but I am always happy to answer asks with links or research though I am very slow (sorry). And of course, my dms are open and I probably wouldn’t be totally infuriated if you found me at my local library and asked for directions to the non-fiction section. I am the personal librarian of tumblr.com, so ask away and I’ll be there!!

[final-fantasy-as-literature]

Final Fantasy VII and a Failure to Properly Analyze Japanese Media by English-Speakers

Light spoilers ahead without revealing deeper context.

One thing that always gets me about discussions of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII is that they're kind of poorly Eurocentric, but I don't think that's entirely the fault of players and journalists. The original game itself came into being in one of those moments where Japanese media was looking both inward and outward while reflecting on what was becoming the economic stagnation of what would become known as "The Lost Decade." There was a lot of outrospection, looking at media from as far as Europe and North America, but a lot of analysis from without Japan often weakly frames that borrowing to the point that it makes the cultural context of where those borrowings might have come from disappear. That's what I mean by "poorly Eurocentric" - these analyses rightfully detect a borrowing, but fall apart because of a lack of curiosity into their depth, origin, and meaning within a Japanese context that fails to center that context as distinctly Japanese or even distinctly of Tokyo.

I have no ill-will towards this author nor do I have any ill-will towards his work, but M.J. Gallagher's Norse Myths That Inspired Final Fantasy VII is kind of a case-study in this. This is not a takedown, callout, or assault of Gallagher, but an example of what I'm talking about. While reading it, I was somewhat struck by a series of claims made that encapsulate this poor Eurocentrism:

Final Fantasy VII’s Nibelheim is largely derived from the primordial realm of mist, and its name is very deliberate. ‘Nibel’ is the word for ‘fog’ in the Romansch language of Switzerland, cognate with the German ‘Nebel’, both of which share a Proto-Germanic root with the Norse ‘nifl’. ‘Heim’, on the other hand, translates most commonly as ‘home’ or ‘home of’. It can therefore be deduced that where Niflheim is the Home of Primordial Mist, Nibelheim is the Home of Fog. Closely related in form to ‘mist’ or ‘fog’ is ‘cloud’. Given that the series’ lead protagonist is Cloud Strife, it becomes apparent that Nibelheim was named quite literally for being the home of Cloud.

This etymology has generated some confusion among fans over the years who believed it to have been drawn from Richard Wagner’s celebrated opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, which itself was inspired by Nordic mythology and the Nibelungenlied, an epic Middle High German poem dating back around 800 years. The terms Nibelung (German) or Niflung (Norse) have been used in different ways over the centuries, most commonly referring to a noble family or to dwarfs, neither of which are heavily associated with Niflheim."

I first want to point out that there is no in-text citation of any of these claims when one might expect even a pop-history novel like this to, but that isn't entirely important - the first major claim, that Nibelheim is named for Cloud, comes from word association across four languages. It has to, as none of the sources in the bibliography associate Nifl with 'fog' or 'cloud.'

Japanese itself cannot easily evidence a difference between these words to lay a hidden significance for a speaker who understands all four mentioned languages after transliteration. ニヴルヘイム, ニフルヘイム, and ニブルヘイム are all ways that Niflheim may be written in Japanese and would have all likely to have been pronounced 'Niburuheimu' and transliterated as Niflheim or Nibelheim depending on context. To somebody not writing on an explcitly Norse context, any of these might be as or more likely to be transliterated as 'Nibelheim.'

Japanese has no distinction between 'v,' 'f,' and 'b' sounds from loan words in its native phonemic inventory, and writing Niflheim as ニヴルヘイム is something that would not have been common in the mid-'90s. This is something that would have only become more common later as academic translations of works like those of Snorri Sturluson became available. These translations, though, would not have become common until the early 2000s, and the standardization of loaned words like Niflheim is recent enough that most articles about Niflheim in Japanese mention or use more than one of these forms.

This brings me to the second major claim, that the association of Final Fantasy VII's Nibelheim with Wagner's is misplaced when it ought to be attributed to Norse myth through word association. This is, to me, a baffling assertion when taken in context of the Compilation or the greater Japanese cultural context.

Setting aside that Final Fantasy VII (1997) is a Wagnerian spectacle at heart, the events of the Nibelheim Incident are even more reminiscent of a borrowing of Der Ring des Nibelungen than they are of Norse myth that would have been largely unavailable to the developers and relegated to university libraries miles and miles from Tokyo.

What would not have been difficult to access for somebody in Tokyo in the '80s and '90s would be the first and following performances of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in Japan as part of the climax of the Opera Boom, mostly centering on Siegfried and Götterdämmerung after their initial performances at the Tokyo Nikikai Opera. Japan was, in part, going through a kind of Wagner mania at the time as Marumoto Takashi points out in his writings on opera in Japan. It wasn't interest in Norse and German mythology that exploded interest in Wagner in Japan, but interest in Wagner that exploded interest in Norse and German mythology.

Knowing this, it is hard not to see Cloud braving the fires of Nibelheim in order to be there for an unconscious Tifa as reflexive of Siegfried conquering his fear to reach the unconscious valkyrie Brünnhilde through the ring of fire surrounding her in Siegfried. With the added context of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth in 2024 having both Cloud brave literal rings of fire while fighting an enemy named "Custom Valkyrie" with a woman he is explicitly the bodyguard of and a reference to Wagner's Götterdämmerung in the Götterdämmerung accessory instead of to Ragnarok, it almost feels like a dismissal of Wagnerian connections without knowing the content of Der Ring des Nibelungen or Wagner's influence in Japan in the '80s and '90s. It even excludes other possible readings of the work, like in Loveless where Alphreid almost appears as a portmanteau of two central names in Der Ring des Nibelungen - Siegfried and Alberich.

That's what frustrates me about discussions on Final Fantasy VII and the Compilation at large. When you combine that poor Eurocentrism that fails to notice the context of Final Fantasy VII (1997) with a clinging to the words and stated intent of the author, you get readings that might be fun but miss a lot of really cool stuff. Yeah, it is cool to look at Norse mythology, but Final Fantasy VII was made in a context of Wagner mania and the popularity of Western opera in the face of economic stagnation that peaked in the same year as Final Fantasy VII's international release with the founding of the National Opera.

I didn't cite any source here because I'm used to Tumblr hating outside links, but Marumoto Takashi's English work comes up rather easily on even just a Google search, and I'm willing to hand out links if asked. Most everything else was just language and looking at the works cited in the text itself.

[santacoppelia]

Of fandom, age, and David Tennant being our own personal Time Lord

I read the fantastic post that @davidtennantgenderenvy wrote about David Tennant and aging (if you haven’t yet read it, go for it!) and, as a fan who is closer to DT's age range than to what seems to be the rest of the fan base's age (yeah, being well over 40 is A THING), I had an interesting mix of ideas and emotions. I was going to just reblog her post with some of these musings, but when this started getting longer (and I started searching for bibliography, ha), I decided that I was not going to hijack her post, but rather cite it (and reblog it on its own right, really, read it). I should say that this is a long essay, and it comes peppered with references to one of my preferred fields of study (but I make it light and fun, promise).

Becoming an “old geek”

The first time I came into the idea was when I found a thirst TikTok with that very nice audio that goes “I think I need someone older…” and clearly, the thirst was there, but also… David is 8 years older than me, and when you are 45, thirsting over someone who is 53 doesn’t feel as “edgy” (and thinking about “needing someone older” starts verging on thirsting over people well over 65, which is absolutely fine, but a very different category over all for the rest of TikTok). So yeah, it was weird. You see someone who you feel is "in your range" and everyone is calling them "old"… And you start thinking about aging, inevitably.

Of course, I "don't feel old", but most of my friends are younger than me, and I'm the oldest person in many of my "fun activities". Take, for example, my lightsaber combat team, where every sponsorship is pitched to people under 30, and you should be training at least twice a week and following a strict diet to reach the expected “competitive or exhibition” level (enter the “old lady” who is taking this training just for fun, who needs to take care of her joints and who is not going to be invested in becoming Jedi Master General or anything of the sorts in the near future). Or we can talk about the expectation about fandom in general being a “teenage phase”, and thinking about everyone who still is into it actively after certain age as “immature” or “quirky” at best (hi, mom! Hi, work colleagues! Hi, students!).

Society, aging and social constructs

Of course, this has a lot to do with societal expectations. For almost 80 years, popular culture has been built around "youth" and "young people": before rock & roll, most things (music, clothes, movies, art in general) were targeted to “adults”, and you were expected to be “a functional adult” since a younger age. There was a seismic shift in the way popular culture was built when consumer culture decided to see and cater young people: trends became shorter, being “hip” was desirable, staying younger for a longer period was a nice aspiration (a good, light reading to get a deeper view around this is “Hit Makers” by Derek Thompson. It is written for marketers, but that makes it an easy historic overview and I like that). This has a lot to do with the change of our view about old people, too: while being old 100 years ago (yup, 1924 still fits the bill) made you “a respected elder” and you were expected to be wise, to know best, to be the voice of reason and an expert, nowadays not even us older people like being seen as “old” or “older”.

Frequently, culture becomes entrenched in binary oppositions. The binary opposition between “young” and “old” is… well, old! And while the opposition is sustained, the meanings around it change over time (that’s what the past paragraph was about, really). If in the 1940’s being old meant “mature, respectable, wise, responsible” and being young meant “inexperienced, immature, foolish”, after the 1950’s those meanings shifted a lot: being young became “fun, interesting, in the now and in the know, attractive”, while being old was about being “boring, dusty, passé, uninteresting, dull”.

In reality, being young can be a mix of all of these things (inexperienced and fun and foolish and attractive), and being old can be, at the same time, being responsible and wise and a little dusty and dull, because that’s life *shrugs*, and the wonder of lived experience is that, even if we simplify it, it is complex and rich and sometimes contradictory in itself: we can be old and foolish and interesting and boring, or young and dull and inexperienced and attractive. But, as we need to make “social sense” of things, simplifying them is… easier. That’s why we build stereotypes, and why we use them! We need to have a “base” of signifiers to build upon, so we usually take what we have on our environment and run with it. If you find this idea interesting, welcome to the world of cultural semiotics! *takes her Iuri Lotman picture out of her pocket and puts it on the desk*

(Iuri Lotman, people. He is my "patron saint").

Pop culture versus “real culture”

Another cultural opposition that piques my interest in this area is the notion of “pop culture”, of course. It is opposed to “real, serious culture”, the sort of thing that everyone expects "older, mature people" to enjoy. In the sixties and seventies, there were a lot of studies and writing about "high brow" and "low brow" culture, trying to keep this distinction between "things that make you familiar with the now, but have no intrinsic value" and "eternal things that cultivate your mind, soul and spirit".

Evidently, if you ask me, this is a whole load of horse manure: probably useful to fertilize other things, but with little intrinsic value on its own. My main point is not dolphins, but the idea of culture: historically, it has used to mean a lot of things; from the notion of (exactly) fertilizing something and making it grow to make it come to fruition, to the hodgepodge of practices that a social group creates when they are together and are trying to make common sense of things.

I like the latter better (that is the one I’d ascribe to if this was The Academia TM, but this is tumblr!), but another popular definition, which comes from the Illustration and has been quite prevalent, is the notion of culture as the set of cultural practices that make you a better, more intelligent, far more educated person. For example: if you want to have real culture, you have to read Shakespeare and know what a iambic pentameter is, rather than watching “10 Things I Hate About You”. You must read real books, not listen to audiobooks, and “real books” should be written by “serious authors” like (insert old white Western European or American cis men, preferably born before 1960).

Here comes the notion of “cultural canon”, grinning widely. Yup, that set of practices becomes an expectation of what and how you should experience any area of the human experience, and they become a sort of “nucleus” of the whole experience, with people playing “defense” around them and culture shifting all around and sometimes across them. This is not exclusive to “high culture”: Have you ever heard about “gatekeeping”? Yeah, same fenomenomenon (Shadwell, of course). Whenever something gets this “shape”, it becomes a “norm”, the “common” thing, the “rule” if you participate in that set of cultural practices.

As every cultural set of practices tends to generate its own “canon”, they also have a lot of practices surrounding it, which are ever changing, shifting, learning from new and old practices, and redefining what everything means in their common/shared space. For example: Neil Gaiman, my beloved, was part of the “comics” frontier when Sandman first appeared, but as he and Alan Moore (yeah, I know he did it first, but Gaiman is my study focus right now, so let me be) and other very talented and interesting people started creating fascinating stuff that hadn’t been done, and they found people who loved it, they not only redefined the world of comics, but became part of the new canon themselves. And then, Neil’s presence in the world of literature and fantasy became widespread and recognized and then revered… And then he is doing it again by adapting his own work to a streaming platform in a serialized way… I hope this explains why I’m growing an obsession with studying Neil Gaiman as an author who crosses through different media: a transmedial auteur, an anomaly in his own right. But that is not an essay for tumblr, but a thesis, one that I don’t know if I’d ever have the time or mental resources to write (being a runaway ex academic with ADHD who works on their own is hard, people). Besides, this was about aging and David Tennant, so let’s cut this tangent short and start talking about our Time Lord and Savior: David Tennant, the king of frontiers.

David Tennant as a Frontier Lord

David Tennant is another fascinating case in this sense, mostly because he is an actor who has been able to build a whole very impressive career through crossing symbolic frontiers. Through his massive filmography (161 roles just for screens, as registered in IMDb) and his stage career (I love this gifset for this exact reason), he has acted his way through almost everything, from classical Shakespeare to improvisational comedy, from procedural police drama to wacky fantasy sci-fi. This has a lot to do with his personality (he loves acting, he decided to pursue acting as a career thanks to his love for Doctor Who, but he is also smart and inquisitive) but, as it happens with a lot of “frontier figures”, it also has a lot to do with “unpredictable” circumstances: less of a strategy, more of an instinct.

David has talked many times about how his impostor syndrome made him feel, for the longest time, that he had to keep accepting roles, because you never know if there is going to be another one after. He is talented and open and curious (this is quite a good interview about his perspective), but this… anxiety? meant that he had also lower quandaries about saying “yes” to roles and projects that were “less consistent” with a typecast (which has been, for the longest time, one of the main strategies to build an acting career). Yeah, he has some defining characteristics that make a role “tennantish” (I’m not starting that tirade here, but yeah, you know that almost fixed set of quirks and bits), but he has also worked his way through many different genres, budgets, styles and complexities. And he has usually been as committed and as professional in a big budget-high stakes-great script sort of situation, as he has been in a highly chaotic-let’s see what sticks-small scale project.

That can be correlated by the way he talks about “acting advice”. “Be on time, learn your lines, treat everyone the same, never skip the lunch queue”… Acting is a job, and he treats it as such. Yeah, he looks for interesting projects anytime he can, but the “down to earth” attitude about it is, once again, not-usual, not-common: pure frontier. Then, when David talks about his own self (specially at a young age), he is pretty clear about his “outsider” or “uncool” status (this interview is fantastic), and how strangely disruptive it was to become not only recognizable, but cool and sexy and… everything else, thanks to Doctor Who. He went from living in the frontier to being put in the canon, but he is still, at heart, a person who is more comfortable not defining himself by that “expected” set of rules.

Him being a very private person, who insists on having a family life that seems, form this distance, stable, loving and absolutely un-showbiz just makes the deal (and the parasocial love and respect) easier to sustain; as does his openness to talk about social and political issues that interest him (passionately, again; against the norm for “well liked celebrity”, again). His colleagues also talk wonders about him, mostly because he is this sort of down-to-earth but also passionate about his craft and easy to work with. Again: not the “norm”, not the “rule” of being such a celebrity.

Many of his fans (should I say that I’m one? Or is it obvious at this point?) find this not only endearing, but comforting: he is a massive star, who has acted in a lot of terrific roles in huge productions… But he feels, at heart, as “one of us”. But he is, also, a well-respected thespian, a Shakespearian powerhouse, an international talent. He lives in a very authentic, but very unstereotipical frontier. And he seems happy about that and has made a career from it. Extensive kudos and all the parasocial love and the amateur-actress mad respect for that.

I should mention, just in passing, that a “natural” archetype for this characters that traverse frontiers… are tricksters. Think again about the “tennantish” characteristics. Here goes another essay I’m not writing right now.

Aging: The Next Frontier

This takes me to the original post that inspired the essay: living in a culture where the “norm” is “being young and famous is a desirable aspiration”, we have a fantastic actor, at peak of his craft, who is in the heart of middle age (past 50, nearing 55). Not only that, but he is an actor with whom at least a couple of generations have grown older: from the ones who feel him as “our contemporary” to the ones who grew up looking at him (like Ncuti Gatwa!).

David, being the frontier person he is, has been navigating this transition in a very “unconventional” way: he came back to the role that made him iconic (The Doctor, now with more trauma!), is starring in another fantasy series about middle-aged looking ethereal beings that at times is an adventure thriller, at times is a comedy of errors and at times is a romcom (having another beautiful trickster of a man as his co-star… There goes another tangent that is an essay); he is playing one of the quintessential Shakespeare roles for middle-aged men (Macbeth), and is, seemingly, having a lot of fun doing a lot of voice acting for animation roles (if you haven’t watched Duck Tales, you’re missing a whole lot of fun, really).

Traditionally, middle aged actors navigate that period of their career trying to reinforce their “still young, thus a celebrity” status (for example, doing a lot of action-packed movies and keep doing their own stunts while seducing women 20-30 years younger than them), or strengthening their “prestige thespian, so now a real culture person” position (fighting for more serious roles, going from comedy to drama, or working their way into The Classics©). Sometimes, they face the internalized societal expectation by also becoming a shipwreck in their personal life (yeah… the stereotype of “getting divorced, having an affair with someone half their age, getting another red convertible, getting in trouble…”) because we don’t have a good “map for aging responsibly” yet as a society. We have been so focused on youth, that we have forgotten how to age.

Again, switching to the personal experience. I was raised as a female-shaped person (yeah, being queer is fun), so part of the experience of growing (and then growing old) has been closely related with that concept from the female point of view. I decided, pretty early on (but not so much, probably 25 years ago), that I wasn’t going to conform to the norm… And that included aging naturally. When I found my first white hair, it was a shock (I was 21 or 22), but I had already seen my father fighting his own hair being white since forever. I decided it was a loss of time, money and effort… And the judgement from people in my generation and in the one that preceded me (my mother, my aunts) was stern and strict: “it will age you, and it will date us. You shouldn’t do that”. Men could do it, given the right age (being over 50) but women must not. Same with wrinkles and sagging and gaining weight and getting “pudgy”. But when men grew older, they needed to make a “show off” of their ability to seduce, to “still be a man”. Aging, then, was undesirable by any standard.

As me and my peers have grown older, and my hair has gotten increasingly silver, there have been women that come to me saying that “I look great” and “they wish they were as brave as me”. I would like to state in front of this jury of my peers (hi, tumblr!) that the only bravery it took was deciding, somewhere between my twenties and my thirties, that I wanted to be as myself as I possibly could, so no bravery at all, just the same lack of understanding of social rules that took me to become interested in… you guessed it, cultural semiotics. We’ve come full circle with this. Now, let’s finish talking about what it means for an aging fan to have an aging star to look up to, shall we?

David Tennant as a cultural Time Lord

I am pretty sure that he wouldn’t have chosen this role for himself (as he wouldn’t have chosen being a massive star just by playing his favorite character and being so talented and charming), but he is, as Loki would say, burdened by glorious purpose. Being “the actor of his generation”, and him crossing so many frontiers with such ease and grace, without even thinking about it too hard, just because he is a hard worker and likes to try new things and is just so good at what he does put him in the exact cultural crossroad for it.

He is not in a sudden need to “resignify himself” as anything: he has already shown his very flexible acting muscles through his very long career. He is not bounded to “keep his public image relevant”: he likes to have his personal life clearly separated from the spotlight, and being married to the brilliant and funny Georgia, who herself grew up with a famous father, so she is no stranger to staying sane and in control in the eye of media, and who manages their social media presence with a good mix of humor and well-set boundaries.

Therefore, he is in a moment where he can (and probably will) chose to do whatever he likes. And he has the public support to do so: he is prestigious and respected, but likes to make fun of himself and is not self-important; he has a lot of awards, but he is also a very likable person with whom most people in the industry enjoy working. And he is up to do a lot of things: heroes, villains, morally grey characters; romance, drama, thriller, fantasy, sci-fi, procedurals, historical fiction, classic plays, silly parts, voice acting… We are going to see him aging on screen and stage, with no playbook: the playbooks were written for people that certainly are not him. And I have some evidence to prove it.

He is starring in a groundbreaking series (yeah, Good Omens) where the protagonists are two middle-aged looking entities, full of queer relationships, written by another trickster. This series, in an on itself, is a showcase for characters that are rule breaking in many ways: in the narrative, by being hereditary enemies who are inevitably linked to one another by a loving bond that may or may not be romantic, but that has been in the making for 6,000 years; in representation, by having the protagonists being represented by a couple of middle aged actors who are “not serious” and “not action” coded, in a role where they are delivering romance, banter, intrigue, joy and a whole other range of emotions that are “not your stereotypical” middle-aged male-lead coded.

He also delivered the baton on a relay race with Doctor Who: he came back after almost 20 years, to bring back the generation who grew up watching him in the role, and deliver us into the arms of Ncuti Gatwa’s 15th Doctor, with the promise of taking a rest and working on getting better from all the trauma The Doctor has endured in 20 years Earth-time (which, as any Doctor Who fan knows, account for centuries of trauma in Doctor’s time). Not your usual Doctor Who Anniversary cameo, but one built to deliver some zeitgeisty emotional health promises that made the specials feel… healing. At least, for some of us.

Even when it wasn’t the hit series it deserved to be, his Phileas Fogg in “Around the World in 80 Days” is also a great delivery of an unconventional middle-aged protagonist, who goes from meek and scared and too worried about societal norms, to a lovely, tender, slightly awkward and daring person, with friends half his age who look at him but are also his peers (another kind of relationship that is not very frequent in media).

And, with all fearlessness, he has played a lively old duck in Duck Tales! Scrooge McDuck has never been a middle-aged character: he is, quite openly, an old gentleman. An adventurer, quirky, with a lot of spunk… but also quite clearly an elder to Huey, Dewey and Louie, and obviously older than Donald Duck (who is also not a young adult himself!). When you watch that series, and if you have the opportunity to catch any glimpse of him behind the scenes while recording the part, you can feel the joy he got from playing the part (and he has said time and again that he IS Scrooge McDuck, so it will become his “recurring bit” for the future).

Hopefully, David (and some other actors and actresses, for sure) will dare to build that new “aging publicly without making an arse of myself” playbook, and I (and I can imagine, many other fans in our middle age, but also fans that are right now leaving behind the “young adult” stage and becoming “adults” fair and square, and others who will arrive to this place at a future time in their lives, so I hope) will be there to bear witness, support, cheer… and learn from the model. Because that’s what fandom is about, but also because that’s how culture itself gets shaped and changes, continuously. And that is exciting and a little scary, and that’s why it is better if we do this together.

And I'd love to imagine diverse (in the full sense of the word) role models for this process and this playbook, too!!!

If you read all the way through this, I'm very grateful, take a cookie, have a gold star and suggest names for our aging interestingly role models on the "non-white-male" side of things!

Class dismissed!!

[academicfever]

Research 101: Last part

#Citing sources and the bibliography:

Citation has various functions: ■■ To acknowledge work by other researchers. ■■ To anchor your own text in the context of different disciplines. ■■ To substantiate your own claims; sources then function like arguments with verification.

Use Mendeley:

It has a number of advantages in comparison to other software packages: (1) it is free, (2) it is user-friendly, (3) you can create references by dragging a PDF file into the program (it automatically extracts the author, title, year, etc.), (4) you can create references by using a browser plug-in to click on a button on the page where you found an article, (5) you can share articles and reference lists with colleagues, and (6) it has a ‘web importer’ to add sources rapidly to your own list.

plagiarism – and occasionally even fraud – are sometimes detected, too. In such cases, appeals to ignorance (‘I didn’t know that it was plagiarism’) are rarely accepted as valid reasons for letting the perpetrator off the hook.

#Peer review

For an official peer review of a scholarly article, 3-4 experts are appointed by the journal to which the article has been submitted. These reviewers give anonymous feedback on the article. As a reviewer, based on your critical reading, you can make one of the following recommendations to the editor of the journal: ■■Publish as submitted. The article is good as it is and can be published (this hardly ever happens). ■■Publish after minor revisions. The article is good and worth publishing, but some aspects need to be improved before it can be printed. If the adjustments can be made easily (for example, a small amount of rewriting, formatting figures), these are considered minor revisions. ■■Publish after major revisions. The article is potentially worth publishing, but there are significant issues that need to be reconsidered. For example, setting up additional (control) experiments, using a new method to analyse the data, a thorough review of the theoretical framework (addition of important theories), and gathering new information (in an archive) to substantiate the argumentation. ■■Reject. The research is not interesting, it is not innovative, or it has been carried out/written up so badly that this cannot be redressed.

#Checklist for analysing a research article or paper 1 Relevance to the field (anchoring) a What is the goal of the research or paper? b To what extent has this goal been achieved? c What does the paper or research article add to knowledge in the field? d Are theories or data missing? To what extent is this a problem? 2 Methodology or approach a What approach has been used for the research? b Is this approach consistent with the aim of the research? c How objective or biased is this approach? d How well has the research been carried out? What are the methodological strengths and/or weaknesses? e Are the results valid and reliable? 3 Argumentation and use of evidence a Is there a clear description of the central problem, objective, or hypothesis? b What claims are made? c What evidence underlies the argument? d How valid and reliable is this evidence? e Is the argumentation clear and logical? f Are the conclusions justified? 4 Writing style and structure of the text a Is the style of the text suitable for the medium/audience? b Is the text structured clearly, so the reader can follow the writer’s line of argumentation? c Are the figures and tables displayed clearly?

#Presenting ur research:

A few things are always important, in any case, when it comes to guiding the audience through your story: ■■ Make a clear distinction between major and minor elements. What is the key theme of your story, and which details does your audience need in order to understand it? ■■ A clearly structured, coherent story. ■■ Good visual aids that represent the results visually. ■■ Good presentation skills.

TIPS ■■Find out everything about the audience that you’ll be presenting your story to, and look at how you can ensure that your presentation is relevant for them.

Ask yourself the following questions: •What kind of audience will you have (relationship with audience)? •What does the audience already know about your topic and how can you connect with this (knowledge of the audience)? •What tone or style should you adopt vis-à-vis the audience (style of address)? •What do you want the audience to take away from your presentation?

■■If you know there is going to be a round of questions, include some extra slides for after the conclusion. You can fill these extra slides with all kinds of detailed information that you didn’t have time for during the presentation. If you’re on top of your material, you’ll be able to anticipate which questions might come up. It comes over as very professional if you’re able to back up an answer to a question from the audience with an extra graph or table, for example.

■■Think about which slide will be shown on the screen as you’re answering questions at the end of your presentation. A slide with a question mark is not informative. It’s more useful for the audience if you end with a slide with the main message and possibly your contact details, so that people are able to contact you later. ■■Think beforehand about what you will do if you’re under time pressure. What could you say more succinctly or even omit altogether?

This has a number of implications for a PowerPoint presentation: ■■ Avoid distractions that take up cognitive space, such as irrelevant images, sounds, too much text/words on a slide, intense colours, distracting backgrounds, and different fonts. ■■ Small chunks of information are easier to understand and remember. This is the case for both the text on a slide and for illustrations, tables, and graphs. ■■ When you are talking to your audience, it is usually better to show a slide with a picture than a slide with a lot of text. What you should do: ■■ Ensure there is sufficient contrast between your text and the background. ■■ Ensure that all of the text is large enough (at least 20 pt). ■■ Use a sans-serif font; these are the easiest to read when enlarged. ■■ Make the text short and concise. Emphasize the most important concepts by putting them in bold or a different colour. ■■ Have the texts appear one by one on the slide, in sync with your story. This prevents the audience from ‘reading ahead’. ■■ Use arrows, circles, or other ways of showing which part of an illustration, table, or graph is important. You can also choose to fade out the rest of the image, or make a new table or graph showing only the relevant information.

A good presentation consists of a clear, substantive story, good visual aids, and effective presentation techniques.

Stand with both feet firmly on the ground.

Use your voice and hand gestures.

Make eye contact with all of your audience.

Add enough pauses/use punctuation.

Silences instead of fillers.

Think about your position relative to your audience and the screen.

Explaining figures and tables.

Keep your hands calm.

Creating a safe atmosphere

Do not take a position yourself. This limits the discussion, because it makes it trickier to give a dissenting opinion.

You can make notes on a whiteboard or blackboard, so that everyone can follow the key points.

Make sure that you give the audience enough time to respond.

Respond positively to every contribution to the discussion, even if it doesn’t cut any ice.

Ensure that your body language is open and that you rest your arms at your sides.

#Points to bear in mind when designing a poster

TIPS 1 Think about what your aim is: do you want to pitch a new plan, or do you want to get your audience interested in your research? 2 Explain what you’ve done/are going to do: focus on the problem that you’ve solved/want to solve, or the question that you’ve answered. Make it clear why it is important to solve this problem or answer this question. 3 Explain what makes your approach unique. 4 Involve your audience in the conversation by concluding with an open question. For example: how do you research…? Or, after a pitch for a method to tackle burnout among staff: how is burnout dealt with in your organization?

[finnlongman]

I'm having a citation crisis and could use some advice.

I have the choice to use my department's stylesheet (designed for medieval studies but primarily for historians; requires manual citations and is also a huge pain), MHRA (not designed for medieval studies; can use Zotero), or MLA (I think this is in-text citations and thus not suitable for my needs; can use Zotero).

Whatever I choose, I will be doing the bulk of my footnotes manually, because I have a lot of abbreviated textual references that look like this

and this is, frankly, not something that referencing software can handle, and writing all of these out in full would double my wordcount and be completely unreadable.

Nevertheless, I would ideally like to use Zotero for my initial footnotes, if only because it'll make creating a bibliography a lot easier, and encourage me to ensure everything's been added to my library for later reference so I don't have to spend hours tracking things down later on. True, I have a large number of non-digital materials that have to be manually inputted, so this is not wildly convenient, but doing that now will make it easier than trying to find the publication info for a library book that's out on loan to somebody else at the last minute.

However. While this is fine for secondary material/articles etc, I have no idea how to go about setting up all my primary texts in Zotero. I need to distinguish between those which are only edited, and those which are edited and translated, in order to make it clear which translations are my own. But while it's easy enough to say (ed.) or (ed. and trans.) when manually citing, I ... don't know how to do that using Zotero?

Because the only way I can figure out how to list both roles is to list the person twice:

But obviously this is unsatisfactory since your footnote ends up reading ed. O'Rahilly, C., trans. O'Rahilly, C., and then you have to manually adjust them all anyway.

There seems to be no way to create a single role of 'editor and translator', and if I don't include that information, it's going to be a pain later. It essentially doesn't distinguish between a modern edited book and an edited medieval text, but those are in fact very different things.

UGH. I don't know what to do. The only stylesheet I have access to that actually provides information on how to handle medieval sources is the department one, but it's a) the worst, and b) genuinely just such a bad experience to interact with, like, it's essentially an essay about references with examples rather than a proper stylesheet.

Go away, this is not the time, I don't care, just tell me how to format this!

[sroloc--elbisivni]

Sorrow is an Autumn Heart bibliography

October 16, 2022 is the day I put up the first chapter of what I still refer to as the spookyfic, and I'm overwhelmed and delighted that people are still finding it enjoyable. @letsgetempirical asked about the bibliography, and because I still have a lot of the info and wanted to do something for the ficiversary, here we go!

some notes: this is in two sections. The first section is the officially-formatted version (Chicago style) of stuff I knew I would need to refer back to or would definitely be using something from and remembered to put in Zotero while I was looking at it. The second section is...all of the links I zipped away into onetab when the fic was done. It's much less coherent. Not everything in here showed up in the fic, either--some stuff was just me following rabbit holes that looked interesting, or finding out that whatever I was looking at wouldn't fit for whatever reason.

Some of the jstor links are very ugly and I apologize for that. I also apologize that not all of the sources are going to be publicly available, as I was using university library access through work. The gun stuff in particular was maddeningly hard to get Anglophone sources on. I also just gave up on food at some point which is why the only visible meals in this story are the two from Usagi's recovery, and which I still managed to fuck up by forgetting the difference between yams (native to Japan) and sweet potatoes (from south america via pourtugese traders, not at all widespread). c'est la vie.

I WOULD like to shout out three of my absolute favorite open-access sources I found while researching this: Sengoku Daimyo, an SCA site that consistently had specific terminology or details I needed and whose 'Calendar and Time' page was probably my single most frequently consulted website; Shinsen On-Hiinagata: A New selection of Respected Patterns, which is a genuine Early Edo period book of kimono patterns and where I got the chrysanthemums kosode Leo wears in chapter 3; and The Rice Harvest, an online game where you play through a rice growing season in the Edo Period as resource manager. Yeah. I never managed to get all the way through because it was more time than I had to invest when I wanted to get back to writing, but its existence delights me and it DID teach me what tea orchards were.

Part 1:

Aoki, Reiko. “Innovation and Incentives in Japan Focus on Pre-Meiji,” n.d., 24.

Armstrong, Katie. “History of Kimono: The Edo Period.” Owlcation. Accessed November 5, 2022. https://owlcation.com/humanities/History-of-Kimono-Part-4-The-Early-Modern-Period-Edo-Period.

Breen, John. "Resurrecting the Sacred Land of Japan: The State of Shinto in the Twenty-First Century." Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 37, Issue 2, (2010): 294-315

Brown, Delmer M. “The Impact of Firearms on Japanese Warfare, 1543–98.” The Journal of Asian Studies 7, no. 3 (May 1948): 236–53. https://doi.org/10.2307/2048846.

“Danka System.” In Wikipedia, October 16, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Danka_system&oldid=1116488468.

Docslib. “Talismans and Amulets in the Japanese Collection1.” Accessed October 14, 2022. https://docslib.org/doc/1588708/talismans-and-amulets-in-the-japanese-collection1.

“Fudai Daimyo - in The Edo Period.” Accessed November 6, 2022. https://www.liquisearch.com/fudai_daimyo/in_the_edo_period.

Greve, Gabi. “Edo - the EDOPEDIA -: Teppo Guns.” Edo - the EDOPEDIA - (blog), April 30, 2016. https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2016/04/teppo-guns.html.

“Ofuda.” In Wikipedia, October 4, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ofuda&oldid=1114105231.

Sengoku Daimyo. “Etiquette.” Accessed October 14, 2022. https://sengokudaimyo.com/etiquette.

“Shinsen On-Hiinagata (A New Selection of Respected Patterns).” Accessed November 5, 2022. https://collections.mfa.org/objects/316014/shinsen-onhiinagata-a-new-selection-of-respected-patterns;jsessionid=B2C387B7B543B9D56C2759D94A3A8755.

"Special Exhibition: The Introduction of Guns in Japanese Warfare," National Museum of Japanese History, Oct. 3 to Nov. 26, 2006, 9.

Walthall, Anne. “Do Guns Have Gender?,” 24–47, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520267374.003.0002.

Yu, A. C. “Chigyo - Japanese Wiki Corpus.” Accessed October 14, 2022. https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/history/Chigyo.html.

———. “Kamishimo - Japanese Wiki Corpus.” Accessed November 5, 2022. https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/culture/Kamishimo.html.

———. “Kokushu - Japanese Wiki Corpus.” Accessed October 14, 2022. https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/title/Kokushu.html.

国友鉄砲ミュージアム. “STORY,” March 16, 2020. https://kunitomo-teppo.jp/ikkansai_en/story_en/.

Part 2:

https://www.justonecookbook.com/tsukimi-japanese-mid-autumn-festival/ | Celebrating Tsukimi: Japanese Autumn Festival • Just One Cookbook

https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Role-of-Shintoism-in-Art-During-Edo-Period-Japan | The Role of Shintoism in Art During Edo Period Japan - Owlcation

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45744 | Autumn Grasses | Japan | Edo period (1615–1868) | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

http://dwl.gov-online.go.jp/video/cao/dl/public_html/gov/pdf/hlj/20151101/06-07.pdf | 06-07.pdf

https://metimejp.com/lucky-charms3/ | Looking for Good Health in Ancient Japanese Culture - Me Time Japan

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Morishio&atb=v229-1&ia=web | Morishio at DuckDuckGo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzu_(bell) | Suzu (bell) - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Japanese_musical_instruments | Traditional Japanese musical instruments - Wikipedia

https://japanobjects.com/features/furin-wind-chimes | Furin: All You Need to Know About Japanese Wind Chimes

https://sengokudaimyo.com/calendar-and-time | Calendar and Time — Sengoku Daimyo

https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/building/Yamajiro%20(mountain%20castles).html | Yamajiro (mountain castles) - Japanese Wiki Corpus

https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/The-Tokugawa-status-system | Japan - The Tokugawa status system | Britannica https://www.pin1.harvard.edu/cas/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fkey-

https://nbthkebscandinavia.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/e6968-pettersson_16th_century_matchlocks.pdf | The evolution of the Japanese matchlock during the 16th century - e6968-pettersson_16th_century_matchlocks.pdf

https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/history/Joshu%20Daimyo%20(governors%20of%20castles).html | Joshu Daimyo (governors of castles) - Japanese Wiki Corpus

https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/culture/Jinya.html | Jinya - Japanese Wiki Corpus

https://www.kikkoman.co.jp/kiifc/foodculture/pdf_12/e_002_006.pdf | e_002_006.pdf https://wattention.com/traditional-rice-harvesting-in-japan/ | Traditional Rice Harvesting in Japan - WAttention.com

http://www.thericeharvest.com/info/game-basics-and-tips/growing-tea.html | Growing Tea | Game Basics & Tips | The Rice Harvest

http://www.thericeharvest.com/game.html?difficulty=easy&villageType=mountain | The Rice Harvest

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/44674 | Farmers' Lives in the Twelve Months | Japan | Edo period (1615–1868) | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2022/01/in-old-japan-rice-luxury/ | In Old Japan, Rice Used to Be a Luxury | Tokyo Weekender https://sake-museum.jp/en/saketalk/1010/ | The History of Rice Polishing in the Edo Period - Sake Museum (Hakushika Memorial Museum of Sake)

https://www.japanpowered.com/japan-culture/understanding-japanese-good-luck-charms | Understanding Japanese Good Luck Charms

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11776994/ | [Camphor in the Edo era fireworks] - PubMed

https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv176ktd4?searchText=mountain%20castles%20edo%20period&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dmountain%2Bcastles%2Bedo%2Bperiod&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A335be2b0edac87a2794e24ced0c184ea | Technical Knowledge in Early Modern Japan on JSTOR

ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A335be2b0edac87a2794e24ced0c184ea | The castle town of Hikone and its future on JSTOR

https://www.jcastle.com/view/Daimyo | Daimyo - JCastle, the guide to Japanese Castles

https://www.jcastle.info/view/Edo_Period | Edo Period - Jcastle.info

https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/building/Yamajiro%20(mountain%20castles).html | Yamajiro (mountain castles) - Japanese Wiki Corpus

https://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?452907-Food-during-the-Sengoku-Era | Food during the Sengoku Era

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/81d8gf/what_was_japanese_cuisine_like_during_sengoku/ | What was Japanese cuisine like during Sengoku Jidai era Japan? How was it different to modern Japanese cuisine? : AskHistorians

https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/Samurai-groups-and-farming-villages | Japan - Samurai groups and farming villages | Britannica

https://kokorocares.com/blogs/blog/life-in-edo-a-prominent-era-of-establishing-japanese-food-culture | Life in Edo: A Prominent Era of Establishing Japanese Food Culture - Kokoro Care Packages

https://www.kikkoman.co.jp/kiifc/foodculture/pdf_12/e_002_006.pdf | e_002_006.pdf

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.Z480GtLLhOvuc1zsHfsakQAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=17bd9f98803761c2300bdae496a0afb2a793b5ba6a5c3fb55316692806ed8087&ipo=images | th-1957266066 (JPEG Image, 129 × 180 pixels)

https://www.liquisearch.com/fudai_daimyo/in_the_edo_period | Fudai Daimyo - in The Edo Period

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fudai_daimy%C5%8D | Fudai daimyō - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fief | Fief - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimyo | Daimyo - Wikipedia

https://www.adfontes.uzh.ch/en/tutorium/old-japanese-maps/edo-period-maps | Ad fontes: Tutorial / Old Japanese Maps / Edo-period maps

https://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/image-l/M1000000000000000309 | 和州郡山城絵図 https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1286203?_lang=en | 〔日本図〕 - NDL Digital Collections

https://www.nakasendoway.com/castle-towns-2/ | Castle Towns

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=topographical+map+japan&t=ffab&atb=v229-1&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-preview.redd.it%2FGNBAmxXsj_ebIW6pZj0pV6ZYu--m3oHxwgpYveuCgo.png%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3D8b008a3a286a814e1e7cf96b79a33dfe5b070883 | topographical map japan at DuckDuckGo

[katrani]

2025 Books: Iliad

So I have not touched ANY level of classic poem or play since like... college? So at least 10 years. But I have always been a mythology girlie at heart- though more focused on isolated stories more than the epic interweavings or such- and Emily Wilson's translations have been getting a fair bit of buzz both in general and among some of my friends. But this is gonna be odd to review, because I don't have other translations at hand to compare it to, and this is not a story that I have a lot of basis in-

like, based on what I know of the myths and what happens in adaptations, I thought the Iliad covered, yanno, the Trojan War, with the apple selection and the kidnapping of Helen and some of the fighters trying to get out of the conscription and the chain of Patroclus to Hector to Achilles to Paris and the Trojan horse-

but nah! This story really is just focused in on like, a month? It starts with an argument between Agamemnon and Achilles and (mostly) keeps its focus on the fallout of that, and ends after Hector's death but before Achilles's.

Also it is an oral tradition story and not a written tradition one so like. The idea of character arcs and prose and symbolics is way different. But let's try!

First, the translation: So given that I am not a Greek scholar, I do not have any idea what is original/standard wording vs specific to this translation- damn does Wilson do this well. There's a big long intro going over that her approach is essentially localization over translation, that her version is longer by line count because she went with pentameter instead of hexameter because our social conscious has Shakespeare as a comparison point vs the ancient Greek poems, and she needed to just add lines to keep some of the titles in that are purely there to sell how grand the characters are.

Her translation notes are fairly detailed for where there's debate over a line's meaning or source, though I do wish for a bibliography so I could easily find some of these commentaries if I made the time to.

And her own sense of word choice within the meter is so good, starting from Achilles with his "cataclysmic wrath", to simple correlations like a priest approaching ships and "the warriors bedecked in bronze"- like obviously from the clauses "bedecked" refers to the warriors, but it's a good internal logic in the sentence where you mention ships to also use that verb, would be easy to remember.

When we get to things like the listing of ships and commanders, I told fiance that it's kind of like how the Animaniacs countries or capitols songs went, that it's pure information and you might not absorb it but it's fine to list through because of the syllable flow:

"Of the Locrians, the son of Lord Oileus was captain- Ajax the swift, known also as the lesser because he was much smaller than great Ajax the son of Telamon. The lesser Ajax was small and wore a corselet made of linen, but with the spear, he was the best of all. With him came those who lived in Opoeis, lovely Augeae, Cynus, Bessa, Scarphe, Tarphe, Calliarus, and Thronius, besides the streams of the Boagrius. Forty black ships came with him, bringing men from Locris, facing sacrosanct Euboea."

Even with my rough understanding of name pronunciations (especially in a list where I want to run through it instead of taking my time at each), saying this out loud is just fun, in a way.

Of course the downside of this is that it's easy for the words to kind of... hypnotize, I guess? When it came to the long battle scenes where I knew I did need to understand what was going on, in case a recurring character got injured or died, I often had to read them twice because the flow was too good and I didn't take in the actions themselves. Kind of like when listening to a song and suddenly you realized you lost a whole minute of it because it did its job too well.

Either way, there is just a lot of care that went into this, and I'll throw some selected quotes at the end.

Second, the story:

Heck I found this to be a mess. I literally felt like when someone tells me that a game gets good after the first ten hours. A good two thirds of this is just. Stuff happening on a battlefield, introducing names only for them to be irrelevant three stanzas later. It is frustrating that multiple characters are described as "godlike" or "shepherd of men" with no distinct reasoning for it to be used in those moments. Lion metaphors get applied to like half the characters- because the metaphors are more for actions than for the characters involved, as I understand it, but it still bugs me. Just like I know the shared adjectives are for balancing meter or making it so a performer can more easily remember which archetype of a character (so narrow down who it might be in case they forget), but that is going to bug me when I want to look at intentional parallels and shared symbols.

It kind of also felt like, with the context that a lot of these names would be known from other common stories, say, DC's Crisis plotlines? Or some tokusatsu crossover things, where we have various people here for the sake of showing them for five seconds and maybe tricking someone to get invested only for their blorbo to get killed off/rolled/pop in and pop out. I do not care about 90% of what's happening, because the story as intended has no need to do introductions or anything but I as someone separate from that audience has no basis for most of this.

It's also frustrating because the drama of Agamemnon and Achilles and Achilles abandoning the Greeks and the tragedy that comes from that is... well, the tragedy is all the deaths we get, but because the gods are also meddling and turning the fight into a back-and-forth, it feels abstracted? Like can we really blame Achilles's stubbornness for all the deaths that happen when Hera and Zeus and Poseidon and Apollo keep throwing wrenches at everything they can?

But when we do get that focus in on Patroclus and Achilles, and then Hector, man, I can understand why one of my friends calls them their "war crime blorbos". Book 15 got me eager to keep going because something was finally happening, then 16-22 had me invested. 23 kinda ruined the momentum but 24 was alright, to wrap things up.

Unless they're being directly manipulated by a god, the humans seem pretty consistent. The gods are infuriatingly confusing? Like. Hera will say she hates Zeus and will do whatever she wants against him then a page later it's "oh he's the grandest of all of us and I can't risk his wrath", or Zeus buddy just tell the other gods about your promise and then no one has to worry about going against other gods.

I did like Iris though, she's just here to run messages and tell people to get their shit together. Also like that, while Night is not apparent as a character in the way other gods (and god-adjacents) are, she is consistently noted as not to be fucked with by anyone, including Zeus.

There's some good pacing things that happen, gearing up scenes before important parts of battle, or the way that Patroclus's death is drawn out compared to others, which can give the audience hope that he might be about to dodge it somehow even though we know better.

If I do reread this at some point it's definitely going to be in a more spread-out way, when I can chart things, not all at once over a week lol. Glad I know what's covered here, and especially the stuff about Patroclus, but I don't think I'll return to this as fun reading ever.

Selected quotes (I marked a bunch more than these, but that was mostly for note-taking or interesting character portrayals, not the lines themselves. These are all stuff that I just think are good wording on their own):

They cast the anchor-stone and tied the ropes to stern, then disembarked in breaking waves.

Book 1, similar to the example above I just appreciate shared imagery- are the breaking waves the literal stuff at the coastline, or the men leaving the ships in groups?

...Do not allow forgetfulness to seize you when the honey of sleep releases you.

Book 2, i like "honey of sleep".

...All these men were now too old for war, but good in council, just as cicadas settle in the trees fill the woods with sound as sweet as lilies.

Book 3, good imagery and i got an actual laugh out of ancient Greeks also seeing cicadas as nice or nostalgic.

When two men walk together, one may see the way to profit from a situation before the other does. One man alone may think of something, but his mind moves slower. His powers of invention are too thin.

Book 10, "powers of invention are too thin", thin like worn cloth or bad armor, i just love how evocative it is.

They missed their drivers, who lay on the earth, more dearly loved by vultures than their wives.

Book 11, the first "they" is horses, but mainly it's that last bit. I viscerally reacted at that thought, it's so good at calling up a sense of sympathetic disgust.

Patriotism is the one true bird.

Book 12, this is someone disparaging an omen, but it's so strange and direct of a phrase that it's stuck at me.

"Yes, Mother, Zeus has granted me that prayer. But now what good to me is any of it? My friend Patroclus, whom I loved, is dead. I loved him more than any other comrade. I loved him like my head, my life, myself. I lost him, killed him. Hector slaughtered him,

Book 18, this is Achilles in the midst of his grief. I love both the despair and the acknowledgement that his own actions led to Patroclus's death, even if it was Hector's spear that did the final action. It's a moment of responsibility when Achilles has spent most of the story basically sulking.

...Even the wisest people are roused to rage, which trickles into you sweeter than honey, and inside your body it swells like smoke-

still Book 18, just after the above quote. Very very good understanding of the tricks anger has on people.

[beyondthescorewithrafi]

The coexistence of sports and politics: the dynamics of soft power in 21st century sports. 

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Sports we all love it, it’s a way to disconnect, forget about all your worries; win, lose you create a real bond with your specific team whether its football, formula 1 or even ping pong these sports make us feel alive; gives us a special feeling that only live sports can give you. What if I told you that sports you love are being used by governments and multi-billion-pound companies to shoehorn their own agendas and ideologies all for their economic benefit. Some may be surprised but this a concept that has been going on since the roman empire. The use of sports to enrich culture and shift public focus away from negative activities. Especially in the 21st century this has been a popular method in commanding power, Machiavelli once said in his book the prince ‘It’s better to be feared than loved’ but in this generation it’s better to be both. This way of commanding power without using the typical strategies of hard power such as military; is usually referred to as soft power.  

Soft power is a theory first discussed by Josef Nye in 1995. Soft power is the opposite to hard power as soft power is defined by the ‘ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments.’ (Brannagan, 2018) Knowing this it is clear now why governments and big organisations target mega sport events as it gives ‘opportunities to increase their soft power.’ (Brannagan, 2018) So why would you want to gain soft power? Why is it more important than hard power? Military control in the 21st century is outdated and can cause much more uproar and headache; as seen in many conflicts for power around the globe. This is why soft power is equally or even more important way of commanding power and ‘the hosting of sports mega-events brings with it an unprecedented global media attention.’ (Brannagan, 2014) Which is what governments who want to increase their soft power are looking for; as seen with Qatar for the 2022 world cup but more on that later.  Although in the context of the 21st century soft power has always been prevalent since the dawn of time, and it is important to see how soft power was used in different world context. 

(PUBLIC DOMAIN)

I want to take you back to soviet China. In alliance with the Soviet Union by the late 60s and early 70s chairman Mao could sense the soviet’s losing power and regarding their relationship as non-beneficial. Mao knew that a relationship with the United States would allow them acceptance into a new modern era; as innovation is a key component motivating China. Even president of the United States Richard Nixon in 1967 wrote ‘We simply cannot afford to leave China forever outside the family of nations.’ (ANDREWS, 2018) And equally chairman Mao believed ‘ties with the Americans might serve as a deterrent against the Russians.’ (ANDREWS, 2018)

 Both China and America opened secret communications ‘but the real breakthrough came courtesy of a public encounter between a pair of ping-pong players.’ (ANDREWS, 2018) Surprising right? During the 1971 table tennis championship held in Nagoya, Japan. And the relationship between China and America started building and it all started with A fresh faced 19-year-old American ping pong player. Glenn Cowan hoped on a shuttle bus carrying loads of red shirt Chinese players. ‘Most of the Chinese eyed the shaggy-haired American with suspicion’ (ANDREWS, 2018) as most of China’s population was taught to hold a prejudice towards the Americans. ‘But Zhuang Zedong, the team’s greatest player, stepped forward to shake Cowan’s hand’. (ANDREWS, 2018) Zedong spoke to Cowan for a while through an interpreter later even presenting the American with a gift: ‘a silk-screen picture of China’s Huangshan mountains.’ (ANDREWS, 2018)  Cowan a ‘self-described hippie’ returned the gesture gifting Zedong a t-shirt ‘emblazoned with a peace symbol and the Beatles’ lyric “Let It Be.” 

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Although at the start of the tournament the Chinese players were told explicitly to not contact any American players but after gaining knowledge on this encounter between cowan and Zedong president Mao saw this as a political opportunity. Stating ‘Zhuang Zedong is not just a good table tennis player, he’s a good diplomat as well.’ (ANDREWS, 2018) The famous trip began on April 10th 1971, with an American team full of diversity ‘including everyone from the hippie Glenn Cowan to a college professor to a Guyanese immigrant to a pair of high school-age girls.’ (ANDREWS, 2018) This team wasn’t inherently ‘good’ they were ranked 24th in the world and had to beg for loans and funding to even make it to the table tennis world championships but without a doubt this team inadvertently became the most important American diplomats in history. 

Through this case study soft power is not just a concept being adapted by 21st century, example like this remind us that sports and politics have always co-existed. China was one of the first to manipulate sports in such a way that it would benefit them politically and economically resulting in politicization of sports which in the present-day other nations and companies are using this as their fore front of gaining soft power. This is evident through Qatar who hosted the 2022 world cup. 

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The Qatar world cup was surrounded by controversy from the moment it was announced. From the 2015 FIFA scandal where it was discovered former president Seb Blatter had taken bribes and ‘donations’ from both Russia who hosted in 2018 and Qatar who hosted in 2022. To other concerns around human rights, weather and infastructure. So already off the jump Qatari officials were hoping for a much better image of Qatar to be portrayed, so that’s why they looked towards sports. ‘Saudi Arabia sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal told BBC Sport recently that its unprecedented investment in sport - estimated at £5bn’ (Roan, 2023) he stated for such reasons such as: ‘boost tourism,’ ‘create jobs’ and ’provide sports federations with growth potential.’ (Roan, 2023)

But there’s more to meets the eye with the Qatar 2022 world cup. Qatar and the middle east in general have a poor reputation from a western perspective. Many people know it for its ‘woeful record on human right’ (Kyle Fruh, 2022) and as well as ‘women’s and LGBTQ rights.’ (Kyle Fruh, 2022) So how does a country and region make themselves more appealing to the west? By hosting the most coveted football tournament of all time the World Cup. ‘Global sport is one of the most effective mechanisms for promoting better understandings of Arab and Eastern cultures’ (Brannagan, 2018) for a person who may have prejudice towards Arab countries and culture it forces them to take part and acknowledge it. Due to the football being hosted;  it brings that middle ground inviting loads of different people around the world to tune and take part in the culture and traditions. Its fair to say that ‘Qatar, World Cup 2022 was as much a societal project as a sporting event’ (Næss, 2023) testing the waters to see what the people take in, all in the aim of gaining soft power.  Qatar have been on this relentless path to gain soft power due to ‘its military influence being very limited’ (Brannagan, 2018) when lacking hard power, you must gain some power in another way, and this was Qatar’s attempt of gaining soft power. 

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Although Qatar took all the right steps in gaining soft power, we can argue that it backfired more than helping the countries reputation. Qatar’s main pursuit for soft power was to ‘strengthen its reputation and attractiveness across international society,’ (Brannagan, 2018) and although it showcased the middle eastern culture you can argue due to the mass media attention it did not strengthen their reputation positively it further damaged it. Especially in the media where sensationalism and negativity sells; as more and more time passed, we kept on uncovering negative and poor acts committed by Qatar. One we specifically highlight is the treatment of migrant workers. It was often described that the ‘working conditions of the labour force in the construction industry – often compared to a slave’ (Brannagan, 2014) which further supported the point that middle eastern countries are human rights violators. Ultimately yes, the Qatar world cup bought many eyes to the country, but it did not do successful job changing the reputation and view of middle eastern culture in the west.  With academic such as Næss, H.E stating ‘FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM as an example to demonstrate why history, relation and scale enrich the understanding of how states use major sporting events for soft power purposes.’ 21st century sports have taken loads from soft power, but it still has a far way to go to perfecting that pursuit, especially in the slippery slopes of the digital media age. 

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Sportswashing is a term you have heard of before. The term has come to light in recent years especially during the build-up to the 2022 world cup. But what does it mean? ‘Sportswashing is a complex phenomenon, which is tightly related to many different phenomena, such as concept of soft power and other forms of “washing”, such as green- and pinkwashing’ sportswashing specifically ‘refers to a strategic effort by states, corporations, or other entities to leverage the positive associations and global appeal of sports to cleanse their tarnished reputations’. (Miettinen, 2024)  Yes, you can make the argument that the 2022 world cup was a sportswashing scandal but we want to take a specific look into another pollution infecting our sports and that is fossil fuel companies. 

Fossil fuel companies have been in attempt to clean their reputation since the dawn of the time this is often referred to as greenwashing. However, in recent times fossil fuel companies have adapted sports in to their strategy to clean their reputation. It is stated how companies have started to invest around £4bn "in an attempt to divert attention from their role in fuelling the climate crisis and harming human health”. (Roan, 2024)  It was found ‘that football had the most partnerships with the energy and petrochemical industry (58), followed by motorsports (39), rugby union (17), and golf (15).’ (Roan, 2024) These aren’t inherently small owned business either’ a lot of it ‘is coming from massive state-owned fossil fuel sponsors’. (Roan, 2024)  Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco ‘was the biggest fossil fuel sponsor of sport.’ (Roan, 2024)

In age where we a conscious about looking after our environment how does these big oil companies get away with openly destroying our planet? We can see money is the main component of this but also the sports. ‘When sports provide a useful function, they are usually ‘co- opted by politics’ (Murray, 2013) and this can be clearly seen with vast amount of investment these fossil fuels companies have poured into various sports in the attempt to clean their reputation. Inherently this strategy does work; as the average sports fan show no interest in where the money for their sport is coming from, they are simply there to indulge and enjoy their chosen sport. If their sport is still being invested in and funding is still available, they are happy and are highly unlikely to question the source of the funding. This could be explicitly shown by the recent take-over of Newcastle United where 93.8% of Newcastle United Supporters Trust members supported the club's takeover by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) as they saw the financial power and backing to be more important than the source of where the investment is coming from, and this can be easily relatable to ‘winning hearts and minds.

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In the terms of soft power Fossil fuel companies have succeeded well in gaining it. the fact the biggest oil investment comes out of Saudi Arabia and has an estimated £4bn invested in the most successful and watched sports within west, shows how much leverage and soft power they have gained; all in the name of sports. They have single handily made deals in the west to boost their economical climate and built relationships with well-known companies; building relationships across the pond which puts them in a situation where they are controlling these western sports and using them for their benefit. Slowly building a monopoly of various football teams, Formula 1 teams and many more. 

In conclusion, soft power may be a political theory however we believe that sports have done well to adapt it to its specific context. With China using sports for diplomacy back in the 70s; this was the first case of how powerful sports really is in influencing international politics. Those ‘Chinese and American ping-pong players paved the way for the restoration of China’s seat on the United Nations Security Council’ (Murray, 2013) which during the Soviet Union would have never been though of but sports made it possible. That was the original blueprint, and we saw it be translated with many other 

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mega sporting events such as the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2018 world cup and the 2022 world cup. In the case of Qatar, we think that they were unsuccessful and unlucky in their pursuit of soft power as their reputation did not improve while hosting the world cup; you could pinpoint this on the social media and digital era. Finally, with the use of sports/green washing reflected by the large investment into sport industry by fossil fuel companies; has done well learning from soft power. Saudi oil companies have been successful in using sports to clean their reputation; still going on to make gigantic profits while laying down important international relations within the west. As they are massive stakeholders in major sports such as many football leagues across the world and in the major motorsport federation in the world; formula 1. Throughout the dawn of time governments have endorsed ‘international sporting competition as a testing ground for the nation or for a political ‘system.’ German Nazis, Italian Fascists, Soviet and Cuban Communists, Chinese Maoists, western capitalist democrats, Latin American juntas – all have played the game and believed in it.’ (Murray, 2013)

furthermore, you could argue that the sporting institution has learnt to much from soft power. Traditionally adopted by governments in a way to control their reputation however sporting federations such as FIFA, UEFA, the FIA have found the use of co-opting and manipulating soft power all in the name of making profit. Selling mega sport events to the highest bidders, no matter how unethical and how strange it could be. For example, the world cup is a summer tournament and has always been hosted during the summer months since its creation. However, it was decided that it should be changed to be played in the winter due to the harsh summers in Qatar making it unbearable for players to even run around for even 5 minutes. This shows there was no actual thought about the traditions of the world cup and there was no thought about players or fans. Sports hugely benefits from nations pursuit for soft power as it’s a way to skyrocket their profits.

Bibliography

ANDREWS, E., 2018. How Ping‑Pong Diplomacy Thawed the Cold War. [Online]  Available at: https://www.history.com/news/ping-pong-diplomacy [Accessed 2024].

Brannagan, P. a. G. J., 2014. The FIFA World Cup 2022. Qatar’s soft power gamble.

Brannagan, P. a. G. R., 2018. Qatar, global sport and football’s 2022 World Cup finals. In Leveraging Mega-Event Legacies. Soft power and soft disempowerment: , pp. 89-105.

Kyle Fruh, A. A. a. J. W., 2022. Complicity and Corruption. Sportswashing: , pp. 101-118.

Miettinen, H., 2024. Sportswashing effects on nation brand. 

Murray, S., 2013. ports diplomacy in the modern diplomatic environment.. Moving beyond the ping-pong table, Volume 9, pp. 11-16.

Næss, H., 2023. A figurational approach to soft power and sport events. The case of the FIFA Worl. 

Roan, D., 2023. Why is Saudi Arabia spending so much on sport?. [Online]  Available at: https://www.bbc.com/sport/67713269

Roan, D., 2024. Fossil fuel firms 'spent £4bn on sportswashing' says report. [Online]  Available at: https://www.bbc.com/sport/articles/cvgxe2n05v3o

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Insectopedia, by Hugh Raffles

Do not judge this book by its cover! Despite what the name would suggest, this is not a comprehensive encyclopedic volume that encompasses insect knowledge related to matters like species, classification, diets, orders and general factoids. No, no, this is a different branch in the world of insect exploration. The passages, stories and analysis of 'Insectopedia' are more philosophical, anthropological (based on human society and culture) rather than locked into a box of science and research (though they do play a big part of this book). Compared to the previous literature showcase, 'Sting of the Wild', this book is far more unconventional and explores a wider range of topics, but having read it twice now, I think it offers something that very few other works can. It's one thing to outline insect facts, research, discoveries and their place in the world; it's another thing entirely to examine how insects impact the world & humanity, how humanity impacts insects, how cultures, traditions and ideas can be shaped through our hexapod friends. This book embraces the eclectic and shares it as a multitude of essays and stories that truly highlight how curiosity and fascination can develop into passions, discoveries, introspections, livelihoods and in some cases, obsessions. This collection of musings and insight is also reinforced by a citation heavy note section and bibliography and countless anecdotes across 26 chapters (named alphabetically).

In a sense, it resonates like a collection of short stories or a scientific journal publishing with a great scope of content and findings to comb through. My personal favorite chapters are the ones on 'Languages' (see Picture 5) and the 'O' chapter (not pictured), which deserves to be experienced fresh. All I'll leave you with is the name of that chapter, 'On January 8, 2008, Abdou Mahamane Was Driving through Niamey...". Both are among the longest chapters this work has to offer, but there are many more bite-sized chapters that offer stories that are short and sweet. There's little to no connectivity between each chapter and though the material may bounce back and forth wildly and some chapters barely reference insects (though nature is still an important focus), reading earlier chapters will likely reinforce appreciation for the subject material in the later sections. All that said, I think this book would be best recommended for those entering high school or university and to those who like their material dry and matter-of-fact, but also engaging (somewhat like a passionate lecture). Once again, the subject matter is the onus for a small age-gate or maturity-gate for this book, but it is a small gate. In particular, chapters C, J, Q and S are intended for more mature readers, but if you can understand and handle the subject matter, great knowledge will be your reward (for example, Chapter 'C' is 'Chernobyl', featuring a woman who examines radiation-induced insect deformities).

I know I've been somewhat vague on the exact information that can be gleamed from Insectopedia, but this is a deliberate choice. The material in this book should be read with an open mind and there shouldn't be any spoiled surprises for the journeys and insights discussed from cover to cover. If you seek examples for the type of material this book has to offer, Pictures 3-9 offer the tiniest gate to sample what Insectopedia can offer (and as prefaced at the beginning of the book, "The minuscule, a narrow gate, opens up an entire world" - Gaston Bachelard). You will not find identification guides in it nor will you find ways to distinguish one insect order from another, but it may grant some enlightenment or stir passion, discussion or a curiosity to further explore the ideas presented within and how they've evolved since the book's publishing in 2010. This may provide a great starting point for any students in need of a thesis topic! I suppose Picture 10 (presented by the Knight and a glow-in-the-dark Caterpillar) summarizes it far better than I could. I may have expected something more conventional in the beginning, I am definitely recommending this book and I'll be reading it again after I explore some of the papers within the bibliography. For me, this was the surprise of the year, and while there are times where I think it may be to eclectic (nearing "all over the place"), I was exposed to many new areas of study and I appreciate the stories and points of view I would never have heard had I stuck to only the usual material.

For additional insect literature, you may visit the Blog Resources page.

[nursingwriter]

Abstract   In this essay, we discuss the ethical and legal dilemmas in counseling.  While many people talk about the benefits of counseling, there is no question that mental health professionals are often confronted with tricky and complex legal and ethical issues.  In this article, we discuss some of those issues, how counselors confront them, and what legal obligations attach to them.  We begin with an introduction of the American Psychological Organization’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, and then discuss potential scenarios where practitioners may face ethical dilemmas.  Because every counseling relationship is unique and because counselors help people in a wide variety of different areas, the overview will not include every potential ethical or legal dilemma.  However, once you have finished reading the overview, you should have a comfortable working knowledge of the types of scenarios that could be legally or ethically troublesome for mental health practitioners.  Furthermore, the article will also provide you with an example of a properly written academic essay.  The basic structure provides a template for correct format.  As a result, in this article, you can expect to find: an introduction, a hook, a thesis statement, a structured body with evidence and analysis of that evidence, a conclusion, and a reference section.  Additionally, any sources used in the essay will be properly cited and referenced in a works cited/ bibliography/ references section. Therefore, the essay serves two functions: informing readers about ethical and legal dilemmas in counseling and providing an example for a properly written essay.   Related Topics   Professional Ethics- Almost all professions have stated ethical guidelines, and, for those that do not, there are often unstated ethical expectations.  This essay would discuss the basic ethical principles that guide most professional relationships, as well as delve into ethical guidelines that only apply in specific professional situations.   Counseling Relationships- The goal of counseling is often to help people improve their interpersonal skills, which often begins with the development of a good relationship with the counselor.  This essay would explore what type of boundaries are appropriate in a relationship between a therapist and a client.  It would look into whether there are different perspectives about what type of boundaries a therapist should establish with a counselor?   Power Imbalance Between Therapist and Client- Many people are aware that therapists and clients have a professional relationship, but in a therapeutic setting it is not unusual for clients to feel like they are talking to a good friend or confidante, rather than a professional.  In addition, outside of the relationship, the client may actually have more power and influence than the therapist.  This essay would explore whether there is an inherent power imbalance between therapists and clients and whether that imbalance exists in all therapeutic relationships.   Outline   I. Introduction   II. Body   A. Counselors   B. Legal obligations   C. Ethical obligations   D. Beneficence and Nonmaleficence   III. Conclusion   Introduction   According to Dictionary.com, counseling refers to “professional guidance in resolving personal conflicts and emotional problems.” A wide range of people serve as counselors in their professional capacity, from psychologists and psychiatrists to attorneys, clergy, crises counselors, and social workers.  While each of these professionals may rely on a slightly different set of professional ethical rules and guidelines to govern their counselor-client relationships, all of them have to be prepared to deal with potential ethical and legal dilemmas that can arise from the counseling relationship.  Most of these dilemmas focus on the counselor’s role as helper to the client, and are designed at ensuring that the counseling relationship is always guided by the client’s interests.  However, in some circumstances a counselor’s legal and ethical obligations may actually require the professional to engage in behaviors that could lead to harm for the client.   Essay Hook   Because they are situationally-specific, determining legal and ethical guidelines for counselors can be extremely complex, requiring professionals to seek guidance from others in their field when confronted with particularly difficult dilemmas.   Thesis Statement   However, when broken down to their most basic precepts, the legal and ethical obligations of counseling require a counselor to work to further a client’s best interests, except for very specific situations where working to help a client achieve their goals could create a lasting harm for a third-party.   Body   Counselors   Counseling is a very broad term and can encompass a wide range of different relationships between professionals and clients.  In fact, in many places, one need not even be a professional to qualify as a counselor.  For example, in many states clergy can play the role of counselor, even without any training to be a counselor.  In addition, in some states crises or emergency counselors can receive training and be permitted to provide counseling that is specific to an emergency scenario; for example rape crises counselor and suicide hotline counselors are often lay people with no professional counseling training or experience.  Attorneys are often referred to as counselors, as well, because they are expected to give their clients professional counsel and advice.  However, there are five professions that generally come to mind when one hears the term counselor: psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, social workers, and advanced psychiatric nurses (Cherry, 2019).   Each group of counselors has a different set of training and qualifications.  More importantly, each group is governed by a different professional body.  This means that their professional ethical guidelines, and, in some instances, their legal obligations, may differ slightly.   When many people think of mental health professionals, they think of psychiatrists.  Psychiatrists are medical doctors who have focused their practice on psychiatric care.  Psychiatrists can diagnose and treat mental illness.  What differentiates them from most counselors is that, as medical doctors, psychiatrists can also prescribe medications to their clients.  While psychiatrists can provide counseling as part of their treatment services, most modern psychiatrists do not work as counselors, but, instead, either work as part of a treatment team or refer their patients who need counseling to counselors.  As medical professionals, psychiatrists are under the auspices of the American Medical Association.   Although often confused with psychiatrists, psychologists are not medical doctors.  Instead, these doctors, who have non-medical doctorate degrees, have received training focused specifically on psychology and mental health.  Psychologists must have a PhD or a PsyD in order to operate independently as psychologists.  In addition, most states require new psychologists to initially participate in supervised practice at the beginning of their careers.  Psychologists provide both group and individual therapy sessions.  In most states, psychologists cannot provide medication, though they often work with psychiatrists and other medical doctors when a patient needs medication as part of a treatment regime. The professional organization for psychologists is the American Psychological Association.   Licensed counselors consist of a rather varied group of people who are not psychiatrists or psychologists, but who have usually obtained additional graduate training in counseling.  The requirements to become a licensed counselor vary from state-to-state.  However, there is a national organization, the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), which can grant the title National Certified Counselor.  Many, but not all, states require counselors to have NBCC certification in order to be licensed counselors.   One of the largest group of practicing counselors in the United States consists of licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs).  These professionals have some type of post-graduate training in therapy, which may or may not include a Master’s degree in social work, as well as internship or supervised clinical experience.  The National Association for Social Workers and the Association for Social Work Boards are two professional groups for social workers, though states have different guidelines about how individuals become licensed social workers.   Advanced psychiatric nurses are another group of healthcare professionals that may provide counseling services.  These nurses hold Master’s degrees or higher in nursing, with an emphasis on psychiatric nursing and mental health issues.  They are, more or less, nurse-practitioners who serve the same functions as psychiatrists.  They can assess and diagnosis disorders, provide therapy, and even prescribe medications in most states, though states can vary tremendously in their recognition of nurse practitioners as stand-alone medical care providers.  The American Psychiatric Nurse Association is one of the professional organizations for psychiatric nurses.   Legal Obligations   Attempting to determine a counselor’s legal responsibilities can be very difficult, because each state has its own rules and laws governing what type of counseling behavior is legal or illegal.  In addition, these legal rules may not all be located in the same part of a state’s code.  Health and safety regulations, professional licensing regulations, family codes, and even criminal codes may all dictate a counselor’s legal obligations to his or her clients.  Each of these different laws can create different legal obligations, which depend on a number of factors, including where a therapist and a client are located.   While some of these details may seem like minutia, these differences can have a profound impact on clients.   For example, homosexuality was once considered a mental disorder and conversion therapy for minors identifying as lesbian or gay was somewhat commonplace. Research has revealed that this type of therapy is very harmful to children, and, as a result, 18 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia have banned conversion therapy for minors; however, it remains legal in 32 states and 4 U.S. territories (Movement Advancement Project, 2019).  This is one example where the location of the counselor and the client can impact what type of behavior is considered legal in their relationship and helps demonstrate how changing societal ideals can have an impact on the legal obligations of counselors.  It also highlights why it is difficult to provide blanket statements about the legal obligations of counselors, since those obligations can and do vary from state-to-state.   Looking at one state’s legal guidelines for counselors provides some insight into the legal obligations of counselors.  Texas’s ethical guidelines for counselors are contained in Part 30 of Title 22 of the Texas Administrative Code §§ 681.41-681.51.  Under these legal rules, licensed counselors: are prohibited from making false claims about their services; must obtain informed consent from their clients; cannot pay for referrals; cannot have sexual relationships with clients or certain other individuals during the period of therapy and for a specified time period after the therapeutic relationship concludes; cannot engage in activities for personal gain at the client’s expense; must set professional boundaries; must not give or accept gifts from clients; cannot counsel people with whom the counselor has a previous personal relationship; must keep accurate records; and can breach confidentiality to prevent a client from harming himself or others. While these laws are specific to the state of Texas, they are representative of the type of legal obligations that counselors have around the United States.   Ethical Obligations   In addition to legal obligations, a counselor may have professional ethical obligations that are related to the counselor-client relationship.  The nature of these obligations may depend on the type of professional counselor involved in the relationship, but the ethical obligations are fairly consistent across the counseling professions. An examination of these ethical obligations reveals that there is an over-arching theme that the role of the counselor is to help the client and that the counselor is obligated to put the client’s interests above the counselor’s interests, at least in regards to the therapist-client relationship.   According to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct published by the American Psychological Association, there are five general principles that should govern the counselor-client relationship: beneficence and nonmaleficence; fidelity and responsibility; integrity; justice; and respect for people’s rights and dignity (APA, 2019).  The American Counseling Association has a similar, but slightly different list of general principles, which includes: autonomy; nonmaleficence; beneficence; justice; fidelity; and veracity (ACA, 2014).  While there are some differences in the guiding principles, looking at the rules of various professional organizations makes it clear that professional counselors really need to focus on three main areas: beneficence and nonmaleficence; conflicts of interest; and respects for people’s rights and dignity.   Beneficence and Nonmaleficence   The saying “first, do no harm” is often associated with the provision of healthcare, and it is an important one to keep in mind when thinking about a counseling relationship.  The goal of a counselor is to help the client, and, part of helping the client is avoiding doing anything that would harm the client.  This general principle is embodied in some way in the ethical rules for almost every professional counseling organization.  However, while this principle may seem very straightforward, it can actually become a very complex issue when one deals with the realities of actual counseling scenarios.   Returning to an example first seen when looking at the legal obligations of counselors, the issue of conversion therapy is one where beneficence and nonmaleficence may be subjective, depending on the personal views of the counselor.  While most mental health organizations have recognized that anti-gay conversion therapy is harmful to minors, there are certainly mental health practitioners that continue to believe that being LGBTQ is harmful to their clients and sincerely believe that conversion therapy is beneficial.  In states where conversion therapy is not prohibited, would these practitioners be engaged in maleficence to provide conversion therapy to minor clients?  If not, does it matter whether the parents of the minor requested conversion therapy or whether they brought the minor in for therapy to help them adjust to being a member of the LGBTQ community?   Likewise, many counselors work with people who are involved in relationships.  If two people enter into a counseling situation with a counselor, for example a couple seeking marital counseling, then the counselor has obligations to both clients.  Is it unethical for a counselor to suggest or encourage one partner to leave the other, when the counselor has been hired to provide relationship counseling?  In that scenario, a divorce or separation may be beneficial to one client, but harmful to another.   Finally, as confidantes, counselors are often the recipients of information from their clients that can place the clients in legal jeopardy.  In most instances, confidentiality laws preclude the counselors from revealing that information to law enforcement.  There are generally exceptions to those laws if a client reveals something in counseling that suggests that client is going to hurt himself or others.  However, descriptions of past activities generally fall into the confidential material category.  One notable exception is descriptions of crimes, particularly sexual crimes, against children.  In many states, mental health professionals are mandatory reporters and are required by law to report child abuse, even if they only learn about that child abuse because of a relationship with a client.  This can expose clients to significant criminal punishment, as well as upheaval in their personal lives.  Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that, while a counselor is generally prohibited from taking actions that could harm a client, there are notable exceptions.   Conclusion   With all of the different types of counseling available, and each rule or territory having its own laws regarding counseling, it is impossible to create a single list of the legal and ethical rules regarding counseling.  However, it is very apparent that ethical and legal dilemmas are most likely to arise when a counselor’s personal interests or beliefs conflict with a client’s personal interests or when a counselor’s legal obligations conflict with a client’s best interests.  In those scenarios, it can be difficult for even the best-intentioned mental health professional to determine the right course of action. https://www.paperdue.com/customer/paper/ethical-legal-dilemmas-counseling-2173375#:~:text=Logout-,EthicalLegalDilemmasCounseling,-Length9pages Read the full article

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4. Depiction - Analysing Baudrillard’s Three Orders of Simulacra in Gaming

“We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.” (Baudrillard, 1981). This is a quote from Jean Baudrillard, a French sociologist and philosopher in his book Simulacra and Simulation. In this book he talks about a concept that he created called the 3 orders of simulacra, these 3 stages represent how reality can evolve and change, and through each stage, can be complete lost altogether, from the start being the closest version of reality, to the end eventually detaching completely. I want to use this concept and link it to how video games use this theory.

Its important to understand the difference between reality and realism when transferring the concept of Baudrillard theory. To me, my own interpretation of reality is what exists in the real world, something I can touch or feel, smell or hear, something real that can be in front of me in a true form, personally that’s my idea of what reality is. With realism, its about how reality can be represented, its not something that is inherently real, but tries to imitate, or use methods to come across as something that is real. An example of this would be crime fiction books, it creates stories about people who have committed murders and how they try to get away with it, none of it actually happens, but it depicts life accurately and has a very close connection to reality itself as these actions do and can happen.

Using Baudrillard concept of the 3 orders, we see this happens with different games and genres with the first being The counterfeit, the counterfeit resembles something trying to represent the real world and reality as closely as possible, reality will be the purest form of itself, if something is trying to copy reality, for example a farming simulator game, that would be a counterfeit, this is because farming games use reality as the bases of its gameplay, real world physics, controls, imitation, it is essentially trying to mimic reality, which is the first order of Baudrillard concept.

The next stage is the Series, or production stage. This is where the realism starts to slip in games to emphasise or exaggerate parts within the game for entertainment value or visual stimulus, the game still has elements of the real world but make it dramatic. An example of this would be the Need for Speed racing series, the cars, the scenery can closely resemble the real world, however the driving, the speeds the cars go, the crash physics, are dramatized to make a more entertaining game to play, its reality but moulded.

The last stage is the simulation phase, the simulation phase, at this stage it doesn’t have a connection to reality, it doesn’t reference reality anymore because it is its own reality, its what Baudrillard called simulacrum, and what he describes as a hyperreality. The Sims for example could be subject to this, a fake life where the player can have jobs, relationships, hobbies, completely different lives to that of their own reality, it’s a whole new life of its own completely inside of a video game, a complete simulation. (Gitartia, 2013)

The Baudrillard quote I mentioned at the start, to me, means that with more and more content the world creates, not just in a video game setting but in all other aspects of life, proves that in some form we are becoming more and more out of touch with reality, the meaning gets lost in the sea of information, and there is so much information around us now that the search is more difficult than ever. Its not always a bad thing, but I think in regard to video games could be detrimental in some areas.

Bibliography

Baudrillard, J., 1981. Highbrow. [Online] Available at: https://gohighbrow.com/jean-baudrillard/ [Accessed November 2024].

Felluga, D., 2011. Modules on Baudrillard: On Simulation. Introductory Guide to Critical Theory.. [Online] Available at: https://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/english/theory/postmodernism/modules/baudrillardsimulation.html [Accessed November 2024].

Gitartia, 2013. Simulacrum and Hyper-reality in Video Games; The Sims.. [Online] Available at: https://gitaartia.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/simulacrum-and-hyper-reality-in-video-games-the-sims/ [Accessed November 2024].

Kang, D. Y., 2014. Jean Baudrillard. The orders of Simulacra.. [Online] Available at: https://kangyy1.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/jean-baudrillard-the-orders-of-simulacra/ [Accessed November 2024].

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Choosing the right capstone project software tools can significantly enhance research, data analysis, and project management. Whether you’re working on a technical, research-based, or business-oriented capstone project, using the right tools can streamline your workflow and improve efficiency. This guide will help you select the best software tools based on your project’s needs. 1. Define Your Project Requirements Before selecting any software, identify what your capstone project requires. Consider the following: - Research & Writing – Do you need help with organizing references or structuring your report? - Data Collection & Analysis – Will you be conducting surveys or analyzing large datasets? - Project Management – Do you need a tool to track tasks and deadlines? - Presentation & Visualization – Will you be creating charts, infographics, or interactive models? 2. Research & Writing Tools For organizing research materials and writing efficiently, consider: Zotero / Mendeley These are excellent for citation and reference management. Capstone projects usually require that you use numerous sources. Capstone project software tools can help you organize them into libraries, folders, and even tags. As a result, it becomes much easier for you to find the different sources in a straightforward manner. Also, since they allow you to track your sources, it reduces the risk of committing accidental plagiarism. Another great advantage of those capstone project software tools is that they can help automatically generate citations in various styles. You just need to specify whether you need the generation of citations using APA, MLA, Chicago, or any other style. This is important to ensure that your capstone project is accurate and consistent. Additionally, use these capstone project software tools since, with a single click, they can generate bibliographies or reference lists. Hence, you can save a lot of time and effort and avoid making mistakes. Mistakes associated with the manual generation of bibliographies or reference lists include: - Incorrect spacing between elements or inconsistent indentation - Misspelling names, incorrect initials, or errors in the order of authors Some reference and management tools can allow you to collaborate with other team members. That means it is possible to share libraries. You may choose Zotero over Mendeley because it is completely free and open-source. Hence, almost anyone can access it. Also, it is preferred by many for its simplicity, being highly customizable, and having a very active community of users. In terms of being highly customizable, Zotero has numerous plugins and extensions available. Conversely, although Mendeley’s free version has limited capabilities, it has premium options. What’s more, its ease of use is slightly more complex. As well, it comes with a social networking feature, allowing you to connect with other researchers in your field.  Grammarly Suitable for grammar and style improvement. According to a study by ResearchGate, almost 65% of students using Grammarly agree that it helped them understand the rules of grammar. Also, 55% of students reported that it is easy to use the tool, while about 60% agree that it provides clear feedback on errors. Grammarly can help you go beyond basic spell-checking by identifying a wide range of grammatical mistakes. These advanced mistakes may involve punctuation mistakes, subject-verb agreement, verb tense, pronoun usage, and more. As one of the best capstone project software tools, use Grammarly to improve the style and clarity of academic writing. It can help you improve the structure of your sentences, choice of words, and the academic tone. The software offers tone suggestions, such as formal versus conversational. These corrections can help your writing be concise, professional, academic, and more impactful. Grammarly is also excellent as it provides explanations for its suggestions. Thus, you can learn from the mistakes you made and refine your writing skills over time. The premium version of Grammarly allows you to check for plagiarism. The tool has access to billions of web pages and academic databases that it uses to compare your text against. As a result, you can avoid committing plagiarism that is unintentional. You can access Grammarly across various platforms. You can access it as a browser extension (when using Microsoft Word or Google Docs), mobile app, or desktop app. As you use Grammarly, you can view insights into your writing, such as word count, readability score, and vocabulary diversity. To achieve the best results, you should combine the use of Grammarly with manual proofreading. Scrivener This is useful for long-form writing organization. As one of the best capstone project software tools, Scrivener’s design allows the handling of large, complex writing projects. You can use the tool to organise your research, drafts, notes, and revisions all in one place. The following is how Scrivener allows for the organisation of your capstone project. First, it has a sidebar that organises your project into folders and subdocuments like chapters, sections, etc. This allows you to navigate and manage large documents more easily. Secondly, the tool features a split-screen view. Hence, you can work on two parts of your document simultaneously. For instance, you can engage in referencing research as you write. Thirdly, Scrivener also features a corkboard and outliner. Therefore, you can visualise your project using virtual index cards (corkboard) or a structured outline to plan and rearrange content. Also, the tool is excellent for enabling research integration. You can import, store, and organise research materials, including PDFs, images, and web pages, directly into your Scrivener project. Still, the tool allows you to add comments, footnotes, or annotations directly in your text. In addition, you can link specific sections of your writing to relevant research materials. In terms of drafting and revision, Scrivener provides a distraction-free writing environment. This should allow you to focus on the work at hand. It also gives you access to powerful revision tools, including snapshots. Snapshots allow you to save versions of your work and easily revert to previous drafts if there is a need. Using this tool also can allow you to set daily or project-specific word count targets to stay on track. And it is very easy to compile your finished capstone work into many different formats. Take the time to go through the Scrivener tutorial to learn the basics. Overleaf This is a LaTeX-based academic writing. LaTeX is a typesetting system popular in academia, particularly in STEM fields, for its ability to produce beautifully formatted documents. This typesetting system is also excellent as it can allow you to easily write complex equations and mathematical expressions. You use the LaTex syntax.  You can also use it for the production of professional-looking tables or figures. The system is also advantageous as it provides pre-built templates for various academic documents. These include academic papers, theses, dissertations, research papers, CVs, and more. Because Overleaf is cloud-based, it is possible for you to collaborate in real time with your advisor or peers. It features built-in version control, which should help you track changes and revert to previous versions. Using the platform, you can leave comments and chat with collaborators directly. Furthermore, Overleaf allows integration with BibTeX and other citation management tools. Lastly, the tool is capable of producing high-quality PDFs that are ideal for submission and publication. The formatting is highly consistent. To get started, use one of Overleaf’s templates and learn the basic commands you will need for your capstone project. Likewise, use the preview pane to see how your document is formatted in real time. 3. Data Collection & Analysis Tools If your capstone project involves data, these tools can help: Google Forms / SurveyMonkey These are useful for creating and distributing surveys. Both these capstone project software tools support multiple question types such as open-ended, multiple-choice, Likert scales, and drop-down. As well, they allow you to add images, videos, and section breaks. As a result, your surveys can be more engaging and easy to navigate. These capstone project software tools also allow you to create conditional questions that change based on previous responses (more advanced in SurveyMonkey). Allowing for branching logic helps make surveys more effective. The tools are also great as they generate shareable links. You can easily share your survey via email, social media, or embedded links. They also enable multiple users to collaborate on survey design and collection of anonymous responses, ensuring privacy. In terms of data collection and management, the tools allow you to view responses as they come in. In addition, they enable the exporting of data to Google Sheets, Excel, or CSV for further analysis. However, remember that Google Forms has no response limits, while the free plan of SurveyMonkey limits the number of responses. SurveyMonkey’s limited to 10 questions and 40 responses per survey. Google Forms and SurveyMonkey also provide basic charts and summaries of survey results. But, if you want access to more advanced analysis features like trend analysis, you should use the premium plans of SurveyMonkey. Lastly, note that Google allows integration with Google Workspace tools such as Google Sheets and Google Drive. On the other hand, SurveyMonkey integrates seamlessly with tools like Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, and Slack. SPSS / R / Python (Pandas, NumPy) These capstone project software tools are useful for statistical data analysis. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS): This tool is widely useful in the fields of social sciences, business, and health research. It has a graphical user interface (GUI) that makes it relatively easy to use. That is even if you have limited programming experience. Moreover, as one of the best capstone project software tools, it offers a comprehensive set of statistical procedures. These procedures include t-tests, ANOVA, regression, and chi-square. Also, SPSS is great as it provides tools for data cleaning, transformation, and manipulation. What’s more, SPSS allows for data visualisation, which is the creation of various types of graphs and charts. SPSS is compatible with different data formats, including Excel and CSV.  However, a potential limitation of SPSS is that it can be expensive for individual use. However, the good news is that many learning institutions tend to provide access. Additionally, unlike programming-based tools such as R or Python, SPSS is less flexible for advanced statistical modelling. R: This open-source programming language for statistical computing and data analysis has extensive libraries. These libraries are for statistical tests, machine learning, and data modelling. The vast library of packages includes dplyr, tidyr, and caret. It also has powerful tools like ggplot2, which are vital for creating publication-quality graphs. Still, using R provides you access to a large user community for support. As well, the script-based approach that R adopts is essential to ensure your results are transparent and can be reproduced. However, if you are not familiar with programming, you have to face a steeper learning curve than SPSS. Additionally, because it requires writing code, it may not be ideal for you if you prefer a graphical interface. Download R from CRAN and RStudio (an IDE for R) and learn it through free resources like R for Data Science. Python (Pandas, NumPy): This is a general-purpose programming language that is widely in use in data science, engineering, and machine learning. It has powerful libraries for data analysis, such as Pandas and NumPy. Pandas is a powerful library for manipulating and analysing your data. It is suitable for cleaning, transforming, and analysing your capstone project’s structured data. On the other hand, NumPy is a library for numerical computations. Hence, it can be particularly useful for you when handling arrays and matrices. Python also has libraries like Matplotlib and Seaborn, which you can use to create graphs and charts. In addition, the tool works seamlessly with other Python libraries for machine learning like Scikit-learn and web development like Flask. However, as a beginner, you may find it difficult to use Python as it requires knowledge of programming language. Also, compared to R or SPSS, Python is not as specialised for statistical analysis. Install Python from python.org, use Jupyter Notebook or IDEs like PyCharm for data analysis. Learn Python through platforms like Kaggle or DataCamp. NVivo This refers to qualitative data analysis software that can help you manage, code, and analyze unstructured data. It is in wide use in fields such as social sciences, humanities, health research, and market research. This is how NVivo can help you with data organisation. It features a centralised repository, allowing you to store all your qualitative data (text, audio, video, images, PDFs) in one place. Unstructured or qualitative data may involve interview transcripts, field notes, documents, policy documents, news articles, and audio/video recordings. You can import data from various sources, including surveys (e.g., SurveyMonkey), social media, and bibliographic tools (e.g., EndNote). In addition, the software allows you to assign labels (codes) to segments of your data to identify themes and patterns. Still, it is possible to organise codes into hierarchical nodes (categories and subcategories) for better analysis. In other words, it allows you to better explore the relationships between different themes. You can search for specific patterns or relationships within your coded data and compare data across different variables or groups using matrices. As well, the software allows you to collaborate with team members by sharing projects and merging changes. You can always track changes and maintain a history of your capstone project. NVivo also makes it possible for you to analyse textual data for word frequency, sentiment, and thematic patterns. Moreover, the software allows you to create visual representations of your data, such as word clouds, bar charts, and heat maps. And you can Map relationships between nodes, cases, and attributes. It is also possible for you to export your analysis results to Excel, Word, or other formats for reporting. Apart from its free trial, the tool offers discounted rates for students; check with your institution. 4. Project Management Tools Managing deadlines and team collaboration is easier with: Trello / Asana These are suitable for task management and tracking. Trello is a visual, card-based project management tool that uses boards, lists, and cards to organise tasks and workflows. However, Asana is a task and project management tool that offers a more structured approach with tasks, subtasks, timelines, and project views. Here is how Trello promotes task management. It allows you to create boards for different projects or phases of your capstone. Also, you can organise tasks into lists (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Completed/Done). As well, you add cards for individual tasks with descriptions, due dates, attachments, and checklists. For Asana, you can break down tasks into smaller, manageable subtasks. After that, you can assign due dates to tasks and subtasks and organise tasks into sections within a project. In terms of promoting collaboration, this is what you should know about Trello. It allows you to add team members to boards and assign tasks to specific individuals. It also makes it possible to discuss tasks directly on cards using comments. Asana also has those same features. However, Asana allows for the use of @mentions to communicate with team members. In terms of integration, Trello integrates with tools such as Google Drive, Slack, and Calendar. On the contrary, Asana integrates with capstone project software tools like Dropbox, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom. Notion This is an all-in-one workspace for notes, databases, and planning. Using Notion, you can create rich-text notes, meeting minutes, research summaries, or project documentation. You can also use this capstone project software tool to build databases for tasks, research materials, timelines, or references using tables, boards, calendars, or galleries. The all-in-one workspace of Notion is also excellent since it provides you with pre-built templates. You can use the templates for project management, meeting agendas, or academic planning. The Notion also promotes task management since it enables you to create task lists with checkboxes, due dates, and assignees. It also makes it possible for the visualising of tasks and workflows using drag-and-drop boards. Furthermore, with calendar views, you can track deadlines and milestones. The tool also promotes collaboration. You can share pages or entire workspaces with your team. In addition, real-time editing is possible, and you can discuss tasks or ideas using comments and @mentions. Still, Notion allows customisation. You can build pages using customisable blocks (text, images, tables, embeds, etc.). Likewise, you can connect databases to create dynamic relationships (e.g., link tasks to research materials). And if you are dealing with recurring workflows, you can save custom templates. Microsoft Project This tool is useful for advanced project scheduling. You can use it to visualise project timelines, task durations, and dependencies using interactive Gantt charts. It can allow you to define relationships between tasks (e.g., finish-to-start, start-to-start) to create realistic schedules. Moreover, Microsoft Project also allows for the identification of the sequence of tasks that determine the duration of a project. Hence, you may identify potential bottlenecks. Microsoft Project can also help in terms of resource management. It enables you to allocate resources (e.g., team members, equipment, materials) to tasks and track their availability. It also allows automatic adjustment of task schedules to avoid overloading team members. Furthermore, it is possible to monitor project costs based on resource usage and task progress. All in all, this is important to help you optimise resource utilisation and avoid over-allocation. Still, using Microsoft Project makes it possible to track your progress. You can set baselines to compare planned vs. actual progress. You can also rely on visual dashboards to track key metrics like task completion, resource utilisation, and project health. The use of this tool can also be useful as it allows integration with Microsoft Teams. For that reason, you can collaborate with your team in terms of communication and file sharing. Other Microsoft tools you can connect the Microsoft Project with are Excel, SharePoint, and Power BI. You can also link it to third-party tools like Jira, Trello, or Slack when you use third-party integrations. Lastly, you can access your project from almost anywhere when you are using the software. That is possible when you are using Microsoft Project Online or Project for the Web. 5. Presentation & Visualization Tools For creating professional presentations and visual elements: Canva / Piktochart These best capstone project software tools are suitable for infographic and poster design. Canva and Piktochart are both beginner-friendly, with intuitive surfaces that require no design skills. Besides their drag-and-drop interface, it is also easy to use them as they provide thousands of pre-designed templates for presentations, infographics, posters, and more. Read the full article

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Convergent and Divergent Thinking and Creativity 6 1.4 The activities which can be used to nurture high-level thinking skills 8 1.5 Annotated Bibliography 11 References 14 1.1 Introduction Nurturing high level thinking skills require the use of programs and activities that enhance independent thinking/freedom of thought. This includes developing the ability to exercise convergent and divergent thinking in interpreting new and old concepts. Convergent thinking limits the thought pattern to specific experiences. It uses prior knowledge to get meaning of phrases and interpretation of situation. Divergent thinking is not limited to prior knowledge. The person is free to explore new ways in finding solutions and interpretation situations. The discussion below reviews educational journals and websites on how to develop high level thinking styles including divergent and convergent thinking styles. It also reviews literature on the relationship between convergent and divergent thinking and creativity (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). The paper also discusses activities that can nurture high level thinking skills, using the Bloom-Anderson’s Taxonomy. The research seeks to assert that creativity is a process that can be nurtured to develop high level thinking styles and that divergent and convergent thinking are attributes that enhance creativity. 1.2 Review of Journal Articles and Websites on how to Nurture High Level Thinking Skills The article: ‘Convergent and Divergent thinking styles’ elaborates the distinction of the two thinking styles. Hudson (1967) conducted a study on school boys and concluded that conventional measures of intelligence were insufficient to measure their abilities. The test only gave credit to problem solving that produced the right answer. Form the study, Hudson concluded that there are two forms of thinking/ability called convergent and divergent thinking. He defined convergent thinking as the ability of a person to gather material from different areas so as to focus on a problem in such a way as to produce the correct answer. Convergent thinking is appropriate for scientific fields such as mathematics and technology due to the need for consistency and reliability. Divergent thinking was defined to include broad thinking/creativity in elaborating ideas promptly by a stimulus. This style is appropriate for artistic pursuits and study of humanities that require broader thinking, insight and elaboration of ideas and concepts. The article used images to make the two concepts easy to conceptualize. Use of examples of disciplines to illustrate where the two concepts are applicable enabled the reader to have an easy understanding and gauge whether they are divergent or convergent thinkers, based on what subjects they perform well in and their hobbies and interests (Atherton, 2013). Read the full article