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itsclydebitches · 5 years

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RWBY Recaps: “A Night Off”

So RWBY has this weird thing going on in Volume 7 where it’ll give me a truly horrendous episode and then manage to turn things around just enough so that, despite my frustrations, I quite like parts of the next week’s stuff. That proceeds to get my hopes up, only for them to turn around mess it all up again in the following episode.

What I’m saying is, I should expect next week to be a pretty rough ride.

First, let me chuck out the details I personally loved in this episode that fit better together than spread out across a recap. Namely, treating Oscar like an actual human being. Thank you, Rooster Teeth, for:

Having him continually be involved by monitoring Jaune’s aura levels. (It likewise hasn’t escaped my notice how much he’s been paired with JNR lately. The fandom might get their new ‘P’ after all.)

Giving Oscar some thoughts and feelings beyond just the Ozpin situation. He’s worried about not having his semblance yet. Hark! A characterization!

Nora very kindly firing back with, “Well, I bet we’ll all be jealous when you do.”

Yang using Oscar as a convenient armrest. Granted, Yang hasn’t exactly treated him well enough lately to have earned that kind of casual buddy-buddy-ness, but if the writing is never going to call the group out on their Volume 6 behavior then I’ll take unearned kindness over continued indifference or cruelty

Jaune going out to the movies with Oscar and them both inviting Weiss. I mean, same issue here. Why is Oscar so comfortable and eager to hang out with the guy who attacked him? I wish that we had some acknowledgment that these kinds of things don’t just disappear once someone apologizes. Jaune still hurt Oscar, badly enough to leave him flinching against a wall... and none of that even takes into account Oscar’s supposed hesitation about lying to Ironwood. He should be acting more like Ren, involved with the group yet wary at the same time.

In addition, keep in mind that Oscar is currently living in this happy bubble where everyone has chosen to forget that Ozpin exists. I’m still highly suspicious of how they’ll treat him once Ozpin is out in the open again and Oscar is the convenient scapegoat for their anger. As said though, for now I’ll take it. I mean, look at that smile.

Right. Onto the actual plot.

We open on the aftermath of the Mantle riots, which is somewhat disappointing. I had hoped the group would actually be involved in that, giving them the chance to tackle a situation where brute force can’t be the go-to answer. You can’t punch out desperate citizens or run them through with your scythe. Instead, Ironwood’s men are handling it and we reconvene with the group the next day, election day. For the record, we know it has only been a day---and not longer rioting as I initially assumed---because Weiss comments that her father dropped that bombshell “the day before the election.” Which for me just speaks to how much time must have passed during those training montages. The political parts of this volume couldn’t have happened in any short amount of time.

We’re shown an interview with Hill wherein she quite firmly doesn’t condone the rioting, but admits that there are good reasons for it as well. Her body guard stands very awkwardly in the background in a way I don’t think the shot really needs.

We then segue back into the group training and, like I mentioned above with Oscar, there are a lot of details here that I really enjoyed. Two of which are Weiss creating a mini version of her knight to sneak up on Winter---yes, please show us this kind of creativity in the actual fights---and Nora and Jaune practicing with a rubber ball. Ren is also deep in meditation while all this going on, which raises some questions about how aware of the world he is in this state. Is he able to simply ignore all the commotion, even Ruby flying straight at him? Is he so deep down that he’s entirely disconnected until he resurfaces? If so, does he only meditate like this when he’s 100% sure he’s in a safe place? Would the group be able to wake him if something were to happen?

As you can see, I’m obviously a little too invested in details and world building lol.

Speaking of world building though, we learn a little bit more about semblances here. Namely that, like hinted at in Volume Five and recently with Harriet, all their semblances are “evolving.” Jaune can apparently regenerate his own aura now, much more quickly than he could before. And Ruby...

Okay, real talk. Did I miss something here? It’s entirely possible I did, but if not what even was that conversation between Ruby and Oscar? She flies at the pillar Ren is seated under, divides into three rose petal clusters to get around it, and recombines on the other side. You know, the thing we’ve known she can do for a long while now. Since Volume Four I believe. Except then we get this exchange:

Oscar: Have you always been able to do that?

Ruby: I don’t know. I don’t normally think it through that much.

What are you talking about? Of course you know, Ruby! This isn’t a new technique. And what do you mean by, “I don’t normally think it through that much”? Is the writing trying to imply that she’s done the split thing so instinctively in the past she didn’t even notice she was doing it? I’m just massively confused by this moment. Others have pointed out that the writing tends to make up easy to solve “problems” for the cast to deal with so it looks like they’re achieving some kind of growth. The most egregious example being Ruby’s lack of hand-to-hand in Volume 5, culminating in a single headbutt against Mercury. Notably, this supposed flaw hasn’t resurfaced at all since then. Not even, say, when she’s at a party without her weapon and Tyrian attacks...

This feels like another moment where they just threw out something random to make it look like Ruby is improving alongside with the other, actual developments they’ve managed to think through, such as Jaune’s aura. Which is particularly strange considering Ruby was set up as the one to evolve her semblance. Which will probably still happen... but why paint an old skill as new along the way? It’s just all very strange.

Anyway, we get a nice shot of Ren coming out of his meditation where the whole world is gray like when he activates his semblance. Excellent visual cue as to his emotional state. This continues as Ironwood arrives and the group lays into him about needing to trust Hill. Which is hilarious considering that none of them are currently trusting Ironwood. He points out that common ground can only exist “if she’s open too”---unlikely given the second half of the episode---and Nora is about to challenge that when Ren interrupts, asking about mission assignments. Ironwood announces that they’re getting the night off instead.

Note though how guilty Ruby looks after all that talk of trusting others.

We cut to the girls later that night in their room, listening to the election news and getting ready to go out. It’s all very cute, but I think Nora is onto something regarding how Blake and Yang are always together. It’s so blatantly obvious they’re falling for one another, especially after this episode, and I’m honestly thrilled we’re finally getting some queer rep beyond former villains and minor characters. However, I hope that as Blake and Yang’s relationship develops that the writers don’t completely lose track of their co-dependency issues as well. Meaning, Yang totally wrote Blake off because she “ran away,” AKA went home precisely like Yang did, warping a natural and understandable choice into a personal betrayal. Blake in turn broke down sobbing and promised Yang to never ever leave her again. Separation is not a new issue for them. Their desire to spend every waking moment together is definitely cast as romantic now, but it’s also tied up in their inability to function well without each other. As we saw recently, a throwaway comment about fighting with someone else generates legitimate anger in both of them. Couples have to be able to spend time apart, so I hope the writing eventually lets the girls work through all that as well.

For now though, they’re going dancing with FNKI. Very bad dancing based on what little we see. It’s enough to convince Weiss that the movies are her best choice here. Especially since she’s clearly not interested in Hill’s preemptive victory party. We see a tiny bit of that tension between Weiss’ views and Nora’s, but nothing with any substance. We just keep getting tiny glimpses that Nora is potentially passionate about the people of Mantle before it’s all quickly overshadowed by her romance drama with Ren. More on that in a moment.

The two of them plus Ruby make their way out into the streets where Ren admits that, “We spent so much time worrying about how Ironwood would react to the truth about [Salem], but have any of us even considered how we’re going to beat her if we work past that?”

Ruby reminds them that Jinn told Ozpin he couldn’t destroy her. Nora: “Maybe someone else could?”

It only took you weeks to figure that out! Though I love how this still---still---apparently has no bearing on how they view Ozpin. This was another perfect, quiet moment where three characters, notably three of the least angry characters, could have acknowledged how terrifying this information is. How they still can’t bring themselves to tell Ironwood, a man who thus far has done nothing but support them. Wow, I totally get why Ozpin would have trouble telling us. Oh also, we just realized that maybe Jinn’s information was specific to him. Maybe someone else can destroy Salem. That’s a pretty big revelation. I wonder if Ozpin himself realizes that? We should probably try to talk to him at some point.

It’s while they’re talking about the heavy stuff that Ren mutters about how they should still be training. Nora counters that they deserve a night off and the two of them clash enough to walk off angry. We see now at least part of what’s been bothering Ren lately. Nora is a very bubbly, silly, go-with-the-flow sort of person, whereas he is hyper focused on becoming as strong as possible in the hopes of finding a way out of this Salem mess. He doesn’t want to hear compliments while searching for a geist, or have her playing with his hair while on patrol, or turn training into a conversation about their relationship, or waste time on frivolous parties. There’s obviously a happy medium between Ren’s work ethic and Nora’s relaxed attitude, though they haven’t worked through that at all because they’re too busy kissing. Again, more on that in a second.

They reach the party, Penny is there, Nora and Ren dive into another fight that serves to canonize both them and Blake/Yang. Nora comments about how they’re spending so much time together, Ren observes that they’re at least friends again, and the response is,

Nora: “Friends, huh? Just friends?” Ren: “What else would they be? Nora: “Two people who have gone through so much? I think there’s more going on...”

It’s clear at this point that Nora is talking about them rather than Yang/Blake, but the initial comparison holds. Though she uses them as an in to discuss her own relationship, I doubt she was lying here. She clearly views them as a parallel to her and Ren: two partners who have been through a great deal together and, as a result, have grown to love each other as more than just friends. Those who insist that Rooster Teeth isn’t heading in a Blake/Yang direction don’t have much of a leg to stand on anymore. That ship (ha) has long since sailed.

Ruby sneaks away from their fight though nothing terribly exciting happens. She adorably clings to Penny’s arm. They adorably fist-bump (ouch). Marrow and Hill get into a conversation about making change and whether or not she’ll accomplish that within the bounds of the law. Funny... I thought we saw that very same theme last volume. If only the writing acknowledged that there’s a connection between this conversation and our protagonists. We’re supposed to see both sides of the situation here: Hill’s need to bend the rules once in a while and Marrow’s desire to keep the peace; how the law is a man-mad construct that’s far from perfect and the importance of making change in a way that will stick---namely, legally. Here is a complex look at a morally difficult question and notably both Marrow and Hill are minor characters. It’s only when RWBYJNR is involved that the message moves from ‘Each side has a point’ to ‘Teens are 100% justified in breaking the law and anyone trying to stop them is an evil, crazy racist.’

It honestly astounds me that Rooster Teeth can give us that subtly here but never when it comes to our heroes.

When Ruby finally returns she finds Ren and Nora still fighting. As she snuck off we heard Ren admitting---in the round-about way of theirs, pretending that they’re talking about other people---that he’s worried, there’s a lot going on right now, and basically implying that he doesn’t know how (or doesn’t want) to balance a new relationship on top of all the horrific Salem business. Which, fair. The problem is that they don’t discuss this. Hill’s speech about how they’re always stronger together resonates with Nora and she tries to initiate a conversation, asking Ren to explain more fully what’s bothering him. To talk about it. He admits that talking has never been his strong suit.

I expected this to segue into a cliche, “Well try” moment and we’d finally get Ren and Nora bonding outside of their jokes and silent communication. Sadly, that didn’t happen. Look, I’m all for a renora kiss, but we have got to stop portraying sexual assault as romantic. Because that’s what Nora does here. It doesn’t matter how sure she (or we as the audience) are that Ren will like this kiss in the end. Grabbing someone and kissing them without their consent is sexual assault. Ren has not agreed to kiss her. He hasn’t expressed any desire here to kiss here. He’s completely blindsided by it and is flailing before he gives in.

People will justify this because, again, we all “know” that Ren secretly wants it and will be grateful that Nora got him past his fear. But that’s a terrible message to perpetuate in a world where others insist they also “know” when someone “really” wants them (they don’t) and where kissing or sex is seen as an easy way to supposedly solve problems between a couple. How many times have we seen an angry woman in media essentially told to shut up by a guy kissing her? The message is that her thoughts and grievances aren’t important here. The man knows her better than she knows herself and the second her forces her to start kissing him she realizes that’s really all she needed all along. That trope isn’t redeemed by changing the gender dynamic. Ren clearly has problems with their relationship that he’s struggling to work through. Nora clearly recognizes as much. Yet instead of acknowledging them and overcoming them, she erases any potential development by forcing him into a kiss. I’m sorry, it doesn’t matter how much Ren enjoys it a few seconds in. The continued message that forcing sexual intimacy on someone will fix both their hesitation and your relationship problems has go to stop. Kissing Nora doesn’t magically solve whatever it is Ren has been grappling with for the last six episodes. You know, the stuff they were just arguing about.

Once again, RWBY succeeded in giving me something I wanted, but in a way that severely downplays that enjoyment. I wanted a renora kiss, but not without consent and as a way of ignoring their issues. I wanted more focus on Ren and Nora as a whole this volume, but it would be nice if their characters could exits outside of each other some. Like the criticisms against Blake and Yang, Ren and Nora seem to be a package deal. They don’t fight with anyone else. They don’t go to different activities (why can’t Ren continue training if he’s that focused on it? Let Nora vent her feelings to a friend while he’s gone). They don’t interact with Ruby when they’re out with her. Their arc, it seems, doesn’t exist outside of each other. Which I suppose is better than no development at all, but still.

From then on things devolve rather quickly. While Hill continues her speech---and we see the ever closing gap between her and Jacques---Ruby gets a quick look at Tyrian’s tail before Watts turns out the lights. From there Tyrian proceeds to murder so many people, including attacking Fiona and going after Hill. All the while Ruby and Penny struggle to attack, despite the fact that Penny clearly has night vision and hangs back too long, obviously for plot purposes. It’s when she finally gets him away from Hill that Watts turns the lights back on, making it look like Penny had attacked the crowd and Hill was defending herself from her. I’ll admit, making Penny suitably creepy during the battle helps sell it.

Man do I hate framing plot-lines though. Not in a ‘Rooster Teeth shouldn’t have done this’ sense, just that it hurts to watch people react so badly based on a misunderstanding. This setup works best when there’s no one to refute the assumption. Yet here we have Ruby who absolutely saw Tyrian there, Penny who absolutely saw him with her night vision, Marrow who just made a connection with Hill and took the time to insist, “This wasn’t us, I swear,” etc. We’ve even got really basic stuff like, does Penny have blood all over her blades? Yet based on Hill’s look, all the evidence against Penny being the attacker isn’t going to do much good. Which makes for a more frustrating experience than a sad, yet understandable one.

We end with Jacques thanking everyone for his victory, rigged by Watts. Watts uploads the video of the attack, which has presumably either been altered in some way or just shows Penny in that damning position with her weapons out. If the former, that would at least go a long way towards explaining the inevitable backlash against her. An angry mob in the heat of the moment is one thing, but if Watts is looking to convince the entirety of Atlas that Ironwood is using his robot---a robot the people seem to currently love---to take out his competition, a doctored video of Penny attacking innocent people is far more persuasive. For both them and us the audience, wondering why everyone is this gullible. So far we’ve gotten some truly excellent villainy this year. Let’s continue that with them thinking ahead.

At the very least this should (should) provide us with some excellent development for Penny. She’s long struggled with her status as a robot and being the defender of Atlas seems to have helped her come into herself. Having others accept her differences as a boon will do that. Now that she’s labeled as nothing more than a dangerous weapons again? We should see some inner conflict. The writing didn’t let her or anyone else grapple with her death. For the love of everything, at least let Penny grapple with this.

Finally, Ruby and the others are forced to spend the night defending the city from a ton of grimm. Seriously, take in how many grimm showed up because of an election. Now think about what will happen if Ironwood announces Salem’s existence... I don’t think the cast is admitting to themselves precisely how many lives they’d be sacrificing by pulling that stunt. Ironwood at least (as far as we know) truly thinks he has a shot at winning the war. Ruby has no excuse at this point, with the exception that telling people about Salem is just plain hard.

Insert standard ‘Ozpin was right and they’re being hypocrites’ meta here.

And that’s it, folks! Issues aside, an all around better episode than some of the others we’ve gotten this season. Based off of experience it’ll be a small miracle if RWBY manages to keep that up next week.

Until then 💜

Minor Things of Note

All the people who were arrested the day of the election... do they get to vote? I know Watts rigged things, but potentially keeping everyone that furious with Ironwood from deciding who will oppose him on the council won’t exactly look good... especially combined with the Penny situation. Not that I think RWBY would actually introduce that as a complication. Just a thought.

Another extremely nit-picky thing, but it’s hilarious to me how bare the girls’ room is. Obviously there’s little time or inclination to animate personal items, even the few they have, but it kind of looks ridiculous to have this sterile space with one mirror and one tube of mascara. Here are the exact things we need for this scene and nothing more! I do like that shot in the mirror though.

Fiona getting teary-eyed over Hill being on the council was beautiful. I barely know them, but I like these two.

I’m just gonna post this again...

#rwby #rwby volume 7 #rwby volume 7 spoilers #rwby recaps #mymetas

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ladyhistorypod · 4 years

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Episode 19: She Blinded Me with Science

Sources

Jocelyn Bell-Burnell

PhysCon

Star Child – NASA

NPR

Reflections on women in science -- diversity and discomfort Ted Talk (YouTube)

We are made of star stuff Ted Talk (YouTube)

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell describes the discovery of pulsars (YouTube)

Concepción Mendizábal Mendoza

People Pill

México Desconocido (Mexico Discovered)

She Builds Podcast

Instituto de Investigaciones (Investigations Institute)

CAPSULA DEDICADA A LA ING. CONCEPCIÓN MENDIZABAL (Capsule dedicated to Concepción Mendizabal, YouTube)

Seattle Times

Further Learning: Nuestras Voces (Our Voices)

Rosalind Franklin

US National Library of Medicine

SDSC

National Geographic

Further Learning: PBS NOVA

Click below for a transcript of this episode!

Archival Audio: “There’s something else. When you and Jack were little and wanted to know what made it rain, what made the telephone work, whom did you ask? Not dad. He was at work. But I didn't learn about science in school. I had to dig out the encyclopedia later to satisfy you. So you see, women need to know as much about science as some men do.” Haley: Lady History made me smarter. So my dad and I were watching Jeopardy, and I can't tell you when this was but Alex Trebek was in it and also I don't think the new season came out but I digress. It's the final question where you have to like write it down and it's like this whole very awkwardly put question about like French history and it was like who did she– like she murdered X, Y, and Z who is this. And my dad’s like Joan of Arc and I was like no, Charlotte Corday. And he said “how did you know” and I was like “honestly dad this is like a ninety five percent like balls to the wall guess, but I'm gonna say Charlotte Corday” and it was Charlotte Corday and I was just sitting there like haha! Because my dad– I think I spoke about this I think it was with like Erin– that my dad, the way we would get like our allowance was through… Alana: Riddles and trivia questions. Haley: Yeah. So he's still on that like this whole– Lexi: You still get allowance? Haley: No no no no. Lexi: Oh. I was like wow, okay. Haley: No. I still– I don't get allowance, I wish. The way that we like we just spend the holidays was either playing Codenames, which is like a fun fun board game, everyone should just play it, and then doing crossword puzzles. New York Times comes out with these like questions from the news… like it's ten– usually ten questions, or for the new year they did like thirty questions. So his thing will be like everyone has to answer the New York Times, and he won't give out the answers until we've all done it just to see like who's the smartest of the week. And I've only got like the smartest of the week once. Alana: Nice. Haley: To be fair, they watch the news everyday and I do not. I use like my like news app to get like notifications and if I go on some sort of site, that's how I get the news. I'm awful, no one like model after me. But Jeopardy came in clutch just because of this podcast. My dad was like “oh so the podcast like is actually like helping education, growth” and I was like… Alana: Yes! Haley: Yaaaas. Thank you. He also said we have a cool logo. Alana: Um, shout out to Alexia Ibarra, you can find her on Twitter and Instagram at LexiBDraws. Lexi: So we've proven that the show's educational. Haley: Yes. Lexi: We now can continue that claim. Haley: Yes. Alana: We knew the show was educational. Lexi: Although, is it only educating us? Haley: I have faith we have listeners. Hi listeners. Alana: Hi listeners. To be fair, we’re kind of the primary… like we can see our reactions to the podcast the most. Lexi: Hey, listeners. Are you there, it's me Margaret. [INTRO MUSIC] Alana: Hello and welcome to Lady History; the good, the bad, and the ugly lady you missed in history class. I'm not sure how she ended up always being first introduced, Lexi. Lexi, what's your favorite science? Lexi: I should probably say like astrophysics or something because I'm currently interning at the Air and Space Museum, but that would be a lie because my favorite science is probably like earth science, environmental science would be my real favorite science. Alana: That means next up is Haley. Haley, what's your least favorite science? Haley: Physics. Hard core physics. Alana: I really wanted you to say astrophysics. Haley: I was about to, but like I will forever say physics just because I have a really hard time with numbers and letters being in the same math groups. Alana: And I'm Alana and as a child I went to science camp for upwards of five years. Haley: Okay, so my question is did y’all ever learn about like the history of science in class? Because I don't remember, especially I was thinking about this for twentieth century like STEM women because that's our theme. And I realized like I conceptually like didn't realize like what happened in the twentieth century, even though I know it's like the nineteen hundreds that's the twentieth century. But realizing that like my history class didn't really go through that. Like I had no concept of like people from the twentieth century doing impacts of science. Lexi: We didn’t learn about it in history class, we learned about in science class. Haley: Yeah, in my science class I can't pull from it I can’t– Alana: I had– I forget who the author is, but I met him at a Politics and Prose event– when I was in my tenth grade chemistry class, we had reading from a book called The Disappearing Spoon, which was like the discovery, the history of the discovery of a bunch of elements which was really cool and so that was like kind of our history of science thing, that was fun. Also Crash Course recently did a history of science. Haley: Yes, that’s why I loved it. Yes. So, Crash Course– Hank and John Green, hello. Alana: Hello. Hank? Lexi: it wouldn’t be an episode without a Green brothers reference. Haley: I truly was trying to like figure out a way that wouldn't bring them up with this question. Alana: I literally was like… you said history of science and I was like Crash Course. Crash Course. Crash Course! Haley: That's how I got into like not just like forensics and like history of like science and history. But they were the ones that made like science fun for me in high school. And then I got hooked on their history, and then it was college where it was like you can study history, medicine, and bones! Congrats, Haley, here it is! But like in my high school curriculum nothing like twentieth century history and or science was like… science was not a thing. We just were still learning basic cells. Like I just remember every year, come January, we were fucking learning what a cell was. And it's like, okay, mitochondria– Lexi: You were talking about biological cells every year in school? Haley: I don't know why, but like at least two years in high school because I was in like the intro to bio and then chemistry even we talked about like cells because it was biochemistry as a unit. And then I took AP bio junior year and then for forensics she brought up cells because of like blood cells and everything. Lexi: I mean, cells are important. Haley: Yeah, cells are important. Alana: Do you remember Punnett squares? Lexi: Yeah, I love Punnett squares. Alana: Those are my favorite. Lexi: Genetic science is actually my favorite science. And it's my mom's favorite science, my mom was actually a biology major. Haley: Low key… Lexi: Because she loved Punnett squares. Haley: I thought like something was wrong with me, like I had a terrible genetic mutation because I could not tell the difference between a capital P. and lowercase P.. Archival Audio: Is astronomy a significantly more inviting field for women today than it was thirty years ago? Jocelyn Bell-Burnell: Yes, I believe it is and I believe it's getting better all the time. We are becoming more conscious of the differences between men and women– the different ways they work, and the contribution of women is becoming more and more recognized. It's still got a bit to go, but it's coming along very nicely. Lexi: On July 15th, 1943, Dame Jocelyn Bell-Burnell was born near Lurgan, Northern Ireland. As a young girl, she encountered astronomy through her father’s extensive book collection. Her family, who knew educating girls was important, encouraged her to explore her interest in the subject. She received support in her studies from the staff of the Armagh Observatory, which was near her home. When Jocelyn was attending preparatory school, only boys were permitted to study science. In a TEDx Talk from 2013, Jocelyn recounted being separated from her male peers and assuming it was for physical education, but it turned out the girls were being sent to the “home economics” class while the boys were being sent to science class. Of course, she went home and told her parents. And her parents, who as I mentioned before, believed girls should be educated just like boys, were angry to hear that the school did not allow girls to participate in science class. So along with the parents of two other girls at the school, Jocelyn’s parents fought for her right to study science. The three girls were moved into the science class, but being the only girls in class was not easy. The teacher kept a close eye on the girls. So it was hard for them to overcome being the only girls in that class. But, Jocelyn received the highest score on her science final at the end of that term. She did it, she passed all the boys, and got the highest score despite being disadvantaged by being one of the only girls and by them trying to keep her out of that class. Jocelyn went on to study at the University of Glasgow, where she earned a degree in Physics. She graduated in 1965, and went on to pursue her doctorate at Cambridge. Jocelyn worked with her advisor Antony Hewish to study the mysteries of space. And she assisted in the construction of a radio telescope, which would be used to track quasars, which are large celestial bodies and there’s like a lot more science that makes them… It’s a deep science thing… deep astrophysics. Again, astrophysics is complicated and too big brain for me. But they’re things in space. And when the telescope was ready to operate, Jocelyn was assigned to operate it and analyze the results it produced. And this was like way before computers as we know them today, so the telescope actually printed its results out on a big chart and then she would look at the chart as it was printing out and analyze it that way. Jocelyn began to notice strange results on the charts produced by the telescope, which were faster than those typical of the quasars. Jocelyn did not know it yet, but she had discovered the first evidence of pulsars, highly magnetized rotating compact stars, which are different than the previously mentioned celestial bodies. At first, Jocelyn and her advisor were suspicious that the signals may have been signs of alien life, so they nicknamed them “little green men” signals. A year later, her findings were published in an academic journal. As scientists around the world began to investigate the signals further, they were able to identify them as coming from the stars that I mentioned. And the term pulsar was applied to this type of signal. The press, upon finding out that the discovery had been made by an attractive, young, female graduate student, pounced on the story, of course. But instead of asking her about her scientific studies and the research she was doing, they pestered her with questions about her appearance like “what’s your waist size” so we love that. In 1968, Jocelyn earned her doctorate. That same year she was married, and unfortunately spent much of her marriage focused on her husband’s career rather than her own, moving place to place as he moved place to place. In 1974, her advisor was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for Jocelyn’s contributions to the discovery of pulsars. Alana is raging in the background. After her marriage ended and her son had grown up and gone off to live on his own, she went back to pursuing her own passions. She went on to teach with the goal of making science welcoming and accessible to all students, regardless of gender, class, or race. She became a professor at the Open University, a non-traditional college that allows students to take courses at their own pace, and she was appointed as the chair of physics. Her appointment made her one of only two female physics professors in the United Kingdom, so she joked that they had doubled the number of physics professors that were women in the country, so that’s a little sad, but you know… at least there’s two. In 1999, Jocelyn was interviewed for NASA’s StarChild program, which I believe is now defunct but it was an educational program in the 90s, and you can hear some great audio clips of her answering interview questions on the StarChild website which I will link in the show notes. And Jocelyn has also given several TED and TEDx talks, one of which is about women in science and what it’s like to be a woman in science. And I used it as a source so that will also be linked in the show notes. You can find that there if you’re interested– in the further learning. And I will leave you with a quote from her 2013 TED talk which I thought really summed up her experience, “Those of us who've been early in a field have often had to… play the male game. And I hate to think what a lifetime of doing that has actually done to me.” She should have won the Nobel Prize but they gave it to the guy who was her advisor instead, even though she actually made all the discoveries. And her accent’s adorable. Alana: Is she still alive? Lexi: Yeah, she’s 77. Alana: I’m not good at math. Lexi: She’ll be 78 this year. Alana: She’s a Cancer you didn’t point that out. Lexi: You’re– that’s your thing. Haley: Concepción Mendizábal Mendoza. I definitely pronounced her middle name incorrectly, I am so sorry. The Z-A with un acento on top of the A always messes me up for some reason. My little lisp comes back. But Concepción is how I’m gonna refer to her. Actually I think it means conception in Spanish, so like that's fun. Here's my little side note read this: my Spanish is declining because my mom is Cuban, therefore my Spanish came from my grandparents so when they died I never had that continuous we talk every single week every… sometimes like every single day, and I'd be speaking Spanish so in those like six years I have not spoken Spanish. I’ve read it and translated it for various projects, however, pronunciation is difficult, apparently. And that also comes in with our gal, coming from Mexico City, a lot of like the publications and references are coming from Mexico, so it took me like ten plus hours because then I was like trying to see what resource was a blog or what resource was like an actual resource and then I found some YouTube and some podcasts. But again, don't stop researching someone even if they come from a different country and you have a hard time like researching. It was still fun. I knew her from like a book of like STEM– she's an engineer, we'll get into it, don't worry. Just sit back and relaxing. It was fun reading in Spanish honestly. My Google translate kept popping up, but some of the Google translates for like the scientific terms were just no Bueno and also with how they like conjugated her name of being conception didn't look great sometimes. But that's Google Translate’s problem. So her being an engineer is rad in itself, but she's Mexico's first female to earn a civil engineering degree, so snaps for that. Ahora abramos nuestro libro de historia! I practiced that five times in the mirror even though I knew how to say all those– Lexi’s cracking up, I just wanted to do a good job. I have a big fear about speaking Spanish even though I'm technically fluent. Alana: It made me smile. I thought it was cute. Haley: So Concepción, with her upbringing, it was written in the stars if you will because she was the daughter of the famous engineer Joaquín de Mendizábal y Tamborrel and growing up she was motivated to study. And like one article described her as like her life being a little sheltered? Honestly I think that… that was just like me translating because it did use the word– literally translated sheltered, but it's noted that like her father was an engineer motivating her as well to study. And again being like the first woman engineer, yeah your life was probably a little sheltered in Mexico City where like no other females were studying the same thing in a sense. And in school– and for orienting ourselves in the timeline– it's 1913 to 1917, and her… she had her like basic education at la Normal para Maestras de la capital which is the normal for teachers in the capital. That's like the crude translation. And then she was enrolled into a higher level math in another school, the Escuela de Altos Estudios– which is the school for higher education essentially– and she was one of four women at that school. And this gets a little dicey because not only did she stand out for like being that sparkly fish in the pond, being one of four women, but she was able to tackle difficult civil engineering courses, finishing them without failure. And moving forward a little bit to 1922, she attended Palacio de Minería which is the Palace of Mines and Mining, which is now a museum actually. So it was first built as a space for the Royal School of Mines and Mining, like the royal court there, and then changed to the school for engineering, mines, and physics. However, it's now a museum. Like I said, it kind of gets dicey around the 1913/1917 when she’s taking classes and now we’re a few years later in the 1921s, where she got into the school in the sense that she… she was there listening to classes; however, not fully enrolled until 1926 because she didn't have the high school certificate yet. But again, she passed with flying colors because obviously. And she passed the engineering exam on February 11, 1930 and quick side note because some of y'all are screaming at me saying that she was not the first woman to get a civil engineering degree in like Mexico. There is contention, because around like 1930ish– before, because 1930ish was when Concepción Mendizábal got her degree, so her being the first at 1930. There's another woman who apparently went to the engineering school before her, but from the end result of my snooping, there was no other registered woman at the school between 1792 and 1909, and then also no other like registered woman to have graduated. At this point, it's Concepción because she graduated, and she was the first woman to graduate. She wrote down a lot through her education and post education, and it’s Memorias Prácticas, which is practical memories. And literally what I'm thinking of practical memories is books and notes. Again with my research it's very much scattered of translating from what I deemed as the best resources coming from Mexico. Please give me more research sources, let me learn more about this gal. So practical memories, I'm guessing are just like her books and notes and they're still in the Palacio de Minería or the Palace of Mines and Mining, again, which is now a museum. So I thought that was like really cool how like her school like recognized that she was just like such a beautiful mind and like so great and talented that they've kept all her stuff. I really want to see it. The Palace of Mines and Mining is not a great website, so I couldn't like go through their collections and actually see it. Maybe one day I'll make it down to Mexico City. And in 1974 she received the Premio Ruth Rivera which is the Ruth Rivera Prize which goes to the best woman in engineering and architecture, which I thought was like really cool because she like continued– she didn’t go after school and like settle down like none of what I read was like her settling down with like a husband and kids, it was all like concretely what she did for engineering. So post her getting the prize and just also she died in 1985, just up to her death she was still working. She wrote a lot. She was the author of like a fifty two volume book– she just knew how to conceptualize or kind of put a lot of hard engineering concepts into writing and into paper which is a really hard thing to do. And the fact that I obviously couldn't see many of them… I tried, maybe I was looking in the wrong places. But I just wanted to see if there was more for like the engineering mind, or if she wrote some things for us as non engineers to read them. Kind of like what Hank Green does. Because that's what interests me. I love when people take what they're like very very good at, especially when it's like a hard science and dwindle it down for people not in that field. Alana: That's what we do. We’re trying to make our knowledge more accessible. At least that's what I feel like we're doing. Lexi: That's what we're trying to do. Alana: That’s why we interrupt each other to be like Hey… Haley: Yeah. Alana: What is that? Lexi: Hey, explain more in depth that thing… Alana: ...that we all kind of understand, but yeah just in case. Alana: So. I'm going to start off my story here with a joke that you might know, you might have seen, that joke is… What did Watson and Crick discover? Haley: Absolutely nothing. Alana: Rosalind Franklin's notes. Haley: Gold. Alana: Thank you. It’s not mine, but I really like that. Lexi: Exquisite. Alana: Thank you. If I do a bad job– just like a heads up if I do a bad job explaining the science part of this, I'm sorry. Lexi doesn't speak Chinese, I don't speak science. That's just how it is. So Rosalind Franklin was born July 25, 1920, a Leo, in London, England to a prominent Jewish family… and I'm having an identity crisis because I think I was born into a prominent Jewish family? Anyway. I should talk to my mom about that. She attended Saint Paul’s School for Girls which focused on women getting degrees other than their M. R. S.. Haley: What’s an MRS? Alana: Oh, I was waiting for a laugh at my joke and Lexi snapped but I didn't get an audible laugh. M R– your MRS degree is Mrs degree… you know… Haley: Oh my God I just got that! Lexi: Wait, I thought you were like playing dumb. You’ve never heard that? Alana: You've never heard MRS degree? Haley: No. Alana: It’s my favorite thing. It's like why women in… Like it was this phenomenon of women in the forties and fifties going to college… Lexi: Yeah. Alana: … to meet their husbands. Lexi: To meet men. Haley: Ring before the spring, I know that one. Lexi: I’ve never heard ring before the spring but I have heard MRS degree. Alana: MRS degree! Haley: So dumb. Alana: I think they make that joke in Grease. Haley: It has the same letters as… Alana: MRS degree. I was waiting for a laugh because I– Lexi: Your Master’s in being married to a man. Alana: The MRS– I love that joke, it’s my favorite joke. I think it's so funny. We can dive into why I think that's so funny in therapy. But I have more pressing issues for therapy. So Rosalind was very good at math and science and also languages. She left St Paul's a year early to go to Newnham College which is part of Cambridge University and was one of only two all women colleges at Cambridge. She graduated in 1941. I'm going to summarize the rest of her academic work so that we can get to the good stuff. She earned her PhD in physical chemistry from Cambridge in 1945 after studying the microstructures of carbon and graphite at the British Coal Utilization Research Association where she had done research during World War II. Instead of going into the kind of war work that other women were doing during the war she was doing war-oriented research on carbon and graphite which was more what she was interested in doing the science-y stuff and not like building weapons which was another important part of women’s work in World War II but we're not talking about women in World War II even though I have a lot of feelings about that. In 1947 she started working at a lab in Paris, the name of which I'm not even gonna try to pronounce where she learned how to analyze carbons with x-ray crystallography which is sometimes called x-ray diffraction analysis. I'm sorry I can't explain more about what that is, it's just what it's called. You use X-rays to– Lexi: If you tried to explain it I wouldn't understand the explanation. Alana: But maybe… Maybe our listeners will understand and can help explain to me what X-ray crystallography slash diffraction is. Let us know. Write in. A friend of hers, Charles Coulson, suggested, “hey what if you did this, but make it larger biological molecules.” So she took over a project at King's College in London from a scientist named John Randall using X-ray diffraction to take pictures of DNA molecules. This is where Rosalind crosses paths with Maurice Wilkins, who is the first villain of our story. He’s not actually a villain, he's just kind of a chauvinist and annoying. I'm just being dramatic, as usual. Maurice Wilkins thought that our dear Rosalind was just a lab assistant when in actual fact she was conducting her own research. One of my sources was like “this is understandable given the university's attitude towards women at the time.” It's not an excuse. That's not an excuse. You suck. Period. Anyway, so. The specific note that Watson and Crick discovered was a photograph called Photo 51. I can't find any copyright free images of it, but if you go to our show notes… which will be at ladyhistorypod dot tumblr dot com… under further learning there's a PBS website where you can learn more about the photo specifically and see it. The point is it's a very clear photograph of a DNA molecule where you can kind of pretty clearly see the double helix structure, which is like a twisted ladder. It really was only a hop, skip, and a jump for people to figure out that, using this photo, the structure of DNA was the double helix which is like a twisted ladder if you don't know. Maurice Wilkins showed this picture to James Watson and Francis Crick who were also doing DNA research without Rosalind's knowledge or permission. Frustration noises! I'm so angry about this. So Watson and Crick beat Rosalind Franklin to the punch publishing their research even though they were really publishing Rosalind's research. It's like if they were doing a 200 piece puzzle and Rosalind had put in 198 of the pieces, but Watson and Crick came in and put down the last two and were like “look we did a puzzle!” I almost knocked my headphones out I was so angry. Oops. Lexi: It's like when my mom makes dinner but then my grandma takes it out of the oven and she tells my dad that she made dinner. Alana: Yeah pretty much. Rosalind left King's College– I wonder why– for Birkbeck College where she did some X-ray diffraction work with the tobacco mosaic virus– which as far as I can tell only infects plants– as well as the polio virus, specifically on their structure. Rosalind Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958 at the age of 37. Four years later, Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize, which Rosalind would not have been eligible for anyway– I guess– because they don't nominate or award posthumously, but still really annoying. Anyway, Rosalind Franklin, she's really cool, she deserved better. I love her very much, my girl. Even though I have no idea– what she… like I know what she did but I don’t understand how. Lexi: You know it's absurdly easy to nominate someone for a Nobel Prize. Alana: It is absurdly easy to nominate someone for a Nobel Prize. And the research was published before she died, so maybe just be like “hey–” Lexi: It's even easier today. I mean I can't speak for back then, but literally there's a form on a website you fill out. So like someone could have done it before she died. Like I said, they did not have the website back then. But it's not easy today… Alana: Yeah. Lexi: There was like… easier then too. Alana: So that's really annoying to me. They couldn't even be like “hey, you know Rosalind Franklin actually took this picture, and that really helped us.” Lexi: Just like what happened with my lady. Alana: Yeah. Lexi: Her supervisor could be like “actually my grad student really did all the grunt work on this,” you know. Alana: It's not like Rosalind was even a grad student though. Like she had a PhD and was doing this research. Lexi: Yeah, it’s just women in science get real… What all women in science, regardless of… the situation. Haley: And this wasn't that long ago. Alana: This wasn’t that long ago! Lexi: We’re talking about the 20th century. Alana: We’re talking about the 20th century, it’s the 21st century. My grandfather was born in 1927 and he's still alive. And Rosalind was born in… Lexi: The woman I talked about is younger than my grandmother, yeah. Alana: They're all still here, there’s still work we gotta do on being more welcoming to people of non male genders just in general. Haley: There’s just work we have to do as human beings just all across the board. Alana: In science fields and ever. Ever where. Lexi: You can find this podcast on Twitter and Instagram at LadyHistoryPod. Our show notes and a transcript of this episode will be on ladyhistorypod dot tumblr dot com. If you like the show, leave us a review, or tell your friends, and if you don't like the show, keep it to yourself. Alana: Our logo is by Alexia Ibarra you can find her on Twitter and Instagram at LexiBDraws. Our theme music is by me, GarageBand, and Amelia Earhart. Lexi is doing the editing. You will not see us, and we will not see you, but you will hear us, next time, on Lady History. Haley: Next week on Lady History; she will be the history. We're talking about some modern gals and their impact on our lives. Really we’ll be fangirling a lot. I'm excited, are you excited? Of course you are. Lexi: It's called “Tomorrow She’ll Be History'' if that inspires anything. Haley: That's what I was gonna do. I was just gonna repeat the title and see what else comes out of my mouth. Lexi: Yes I love when… I love when you like mouth– mouth vom. Word vom. Normal vom is mouth vom. But… mouth vom.

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adanicole04 · 5 years

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Power to the People: An Ideological Analysis

**this is a paper I wrote in college about the ideology of democracy, and tied to current culture. It’s been a couple years since this was written, but I remember this being one of my favorite projects, and I believe it’s still applicable today. Hope you enjoy! But please don’t steal it ;)

Introduction:

NBC’s Parks and Recreation character Leslie Knope is a passionate bureaucrat who personally renewed my faith in what government is supposed to be by consistently reinforcing what democracy means to her. It may be a little pathetic in retrospect that it actually took a TV show to do so, but in light of everything happening today, it seems pretty understandable. Considering approval ratings of Congress have been at a historic all-time low for several years now, it should come as no surprise that “this more negative attitude toward Congress mirrors other indicators showing that Americans are at or near record lows in their confidence in the executive and judicial branches and the federal government in general” (Connolly, 2016).

The American people are losing (if not already lost) trust in their government, and really, who can blame them? We’ve been lied to, deceived, and had our money stolen from us to be blown on government officials vacation homes while the rest of us have the worries of our basic needs to live constantly hanging over our heads. We are a people in need of reassurance; not of what our government is doing for us (because who knows if we are ever told the truth about that), but what our government was founded on: democracy.

After Donald Trump was elected president, there seemed to be enough interest as to what “Leslie Knope” would say, that an actual letter was written up in her name (by the writers of the show). There is a lengthy story about democracy, the central idea of this paper, of which I will discuss later. For now, I will start with the proclaimed point of that story.

“People are unpredictable, and democracy is insane.”

Critics, like random Quora user Carl Hancock, argue that democracy should be considered a concept, and that the ideology of democracy is limited to the belief of one’s ideal form of government (Hancock, 2013). And even Merriam-Webster defines “democracy” as a form of government (Democracy). Should democracy be restricted to a concept and/or form of government?

Foss (2009) states that “an ideology is a pattern of beliefs that determines a group’s interpretations of some aspect of the world” (p. 209). Our government should be reflected on the beliefs and values our founding fathers had for America: that we are free people. By limiting “democracy” to a form of government, we eliminate the potential belief system that essentially directs our government. Using “Leslie Knope Writes Letter to America Following Donald Trump’s Victory” as my main artifact, quotes from Parks and Recreation (Parks & Rec for short) episodes, and ideological criticism, I argue that democracy is (and should be considered as) an ideology.

Foss (1989) also asserts that the goal of a rhetorical criticism is to introduce an artifact and essay that transforms the lives of the reader (p. 26). My goal for this analysis is to embody the persona of Leslie Knope herself, and inspire American citizens to engage in the idea of democracy. I know too many people who actively avoid anything political, because it’s not only an untrustworthy area, but it’s also confusing due to issues exactly like this essay: what even IS democracy? My contribution is to simplify the rhetorical foundation of what government is supposed to be to provide confidence the people should have about it.

Context and Artifact Analysis:

Parks & Rec first aired sometime in 2009 while interest in politics really sparked after the 2008 Presidential Election. President Obama based his political campaign on “hope”, creating a positive aura around Congress. The creators of Parks & Rec were inspired by this and with the success of the politically charged show The Wire to produce a comedy about an optimistic woman starting her career in politics while highlighting the general failure of local government (Weiner, 2009).

This government-loving optimist named Leslie Knope was born, and she reminded us every week why government is important, and what it stands for. She was always consistent in her views of democracy, women in government, and breakfast foods. All of the characters were impeccably cast, but Amy Poehler brought upon a certain charm and admirable trait to her love of government. Personally, I related politically more with the character Ron Swanson, a firm libertarian. However, I really loved Knope’s idea of democracy, and how often she talked about it.

For instance, when visitors from Venezuela came to Pawnee, Indiana (the fictitious location of the show) to financially help build a park, one of the men tried to trick Knope into taking their money, videotaping the donation, so they could humiliate Americans back in their country. Knope hilariously stood her ground by reinforcing her American values by telling him, “I am gonna build that park myself, and it is gonna be awesome. And it's not gonna have a fountain shaped like Hugo Chavez's head spitting water all over everyone. Unless that's what the people want. And that, sir, is democracy.”

When it came down to the recent election of Donald Trump, it was embarrassingly comforting to have that same reassurance by her. Honestly, there are more than enough quotes from the show itself to discuss, but her letter to America was classic Leslie Knope rhetoric covering a very real issue.

To make her initial point, she almost immediately began with a story. She was in fourth grade, and her teacher conducted a mock election in which two fictitious characters were presented. One character was cool, promised things like extra recess and pizza with a candy bar crust, and the other was “bookish”, and promised to take things slow to be able to evaluate the problems of the school in a careful, intentional manner.

But before they voted, one student (Greg) asked if they could nominate a third candidate. Her teacher replied, ““Sure! The essence of democracy is that everyone—” and Greg cut her off and said “I nominate a T. rex named Dr. Farts who wears sunglasses and plays the saxophone, and his plan is to fart as much as possible and eat all the teachers,” and everyone laughed, and before Mrs. Kolphner could blink, Dr. Farts the T. rex had been elected President of Pawnee Elementary School in a 1984 Reagan-esque landslide, with my one vote for Greenie the Tortoise playing the role of “Minnesota.”

Knope then went on to say, “Winston Churchill once said, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except all those other forms that have been tried.” … The point is: people making their own decisions is, on balance, better than an autocrat making decisions for them. It’s just that sometimes those decisions are bad, or self-defeating, or maddening, and a day where you get dressed up in your best victory pantsuit and spend an ungodly amount of money decorating your house with American flags and custom-made cardboard-cutouts of suffragettes in anticipation of a glass-ceiling-shattering historical milestone ends with you getting (metaphorically) eaten by a giant farting T. rex.”

Even in her self-proclaimed despair, she finds a way to make us laugh. More importantly, Knope reminds us the importance of having our belief system of democracy serve as the foundation to how government operations should run, even if the results don’t sway in the direction we want or intend. Regardless, “democracy only works if people get involved” (Pilot Episode) because “the whole point of democracy is decisions are made by the people, as a group” (Canvassing).

There were also a couple of episodes in Season 6 where her idea of democracy was even further defined. In New Slogan, Leslie inspires the town of Pawnee to vote for a new town slogan. Obviously, she created most of the selections, and she encouraged the people to vote for one of the slogans. Well, matters took a brief turn for the worst when the local radio DJ “the Douche” suggested a write-in option of “The Home of the Stick Up Leslie Knope’s Butt”, and it led the polls. And why was there a write-in option you may wonder? “Because every election has a write-in option. That's how democracy works. I'm not a dictator. If I we're a dictator, I would throw the Douche in prison without a trial” (New Slogan). Once again, even though sometimes it makes her hysterically angry, her ideology of democracy guides practically everything she does, and every decision she makes.

Even when her archenemy Councilman Jeremy Jamm snuck in a meeting to vote on a bill that would take away voting rights to its new citizens (there was a town merger that joined the bordering town of “Eagleton” when their government went bankrupt) right before Knope’s recall election. Councilwoman Knope interrupted the meeting to filibuster it so it couldn’t pass. During the filibuster, she found out that the new citizens supported her actions, but would not be voting in her favor. She had to weigh the options out loud, but ultimately remained true to her beliefs. She could’ve stopped in order to have a better chance in the election, but instead she declared that “the right to vote is fundamental in any democracy, and this is bigger than me or anyone” (Filibuster).

Ideological Criticism:

By using the application of ideology to democracy, we can ensure a level of consistency that is desperately needed (and currently lacking) within political actions. As opposed to the restrictions the literal translation of democracy offers, the ideology behind it ensures that the “actions and their rationale are not isolated but woven into a broader fabric of understanding, anticipation, and value” (Brock, Huglen, Klumpp, & Howell, 2005).

During my analysis of the presented artifacts, it is clear that Leslie Knope has a deeply rooted understanding of democracy that is based on the idea of “the people”; that government cannot properly or fairly operate without the input of its citizens. The element that Knope presents is that we also need people within our governmental systems to uphold those beliefs and values. We need people to encourage group participation.

Although she explicitly speaks to females near the end of her letter, she acknowledges the misogyny protruding from Trump. Because this character is also quite the feminist, it probably would’ve been easier to cover this and other artifacts using a feminism approach. However, I’ve found that her hardcore belief in democracy is the basis of her rhetoric and actions. She encompasses the power within groups by simply using the word “we”; accomplished within this letter, and pretty much everything she does on the show.

“We will acknowledge this result, but we will not accept it. We will overcome it, and we will defeat it. Now find your team, and get to work.”

Democracy isn’t yet another form of government. It should be the idea behind every single decision made and action taken within the system. Political leaders and elected officials should stop and think, “Is this what the people want? AM I 100% SURE?” before signing or approving anything.

Using her anger as a tool, she encourages the beliefs behind democracy to fight the good fight in politics, and overcome this embarrassment that is our current president. When she says, “I work hard and I form ideas and I meet and talk to other people who feel like me, and we sit down and drink hot chocolate (I have plenty) and we plan. We plan like mofos. We figure out how to fight back, and do good in this infuriating world that constantly wants to bend toward the bad. And we will be kind to each other, and supportive of each other’s ideas,” she is literally describing her idea of democracy in classic Leslie Knope fashion. As the elected official in her town, she remains determined to improve lives through the power of the people, and through communication.

Conclusion:

Democracy shouldn’t be placed in a box, and set aside in politics. It should be the automatic default deciding factor for everything that happens in our government. Without the ideology of democracy, we have no real guide for how things are done. The values and beliefs behind it consistently point to the PEOPLE; not one person, not only elected officials. If anything, the elected officials should ONLY be acting in the wishes and demands of their citizens. No politician should have a final say in anything without the approval of the people first. Maybe that’s why our government is as screwed up as it is: because we have put democracy in a box, labeled it as a concept, and threw it in the dark and musty basement that no one ever goes in.

Politicians want us to believe that the notion behind democracy is some liberal tactic to take more of your money, and encourages welfare systems “for the good of the people”. This also discourages others to participate in government because people will blindly accept and trust that elected officials will do the right thing. Well, if there is no foundation of beliefs, morals and/or values, what (besides dirty money) is left to guide them?

Simple answer? Democracy. Myself, and others like Mrs. Knope (aka Parks & Rec writers) firmly believe that democracy is a set of beliefs grounding all political actions to be decided upon by the people. It is also the mutual understanding of myself and others like me that this can only be done through communication. Any politician has the “power” to draft a bill, and receive approval within the system, without ever reaching awareness of his or her citizens. In a fair and just democracy, that can no longer happen. Americans need to understand the true power of the people, and reconstruct our government to do the same. We are in desperate need of a government that works for us, not over us. We can only make this happen through the ideology of democracy.

#america #american #democracy #ideology #fourth of july #independence day #true democracy #parks and rec #leslie knope

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abundantchewtoys · 5 years

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HS Epi Meat, page 4 reaction

So, is John going to zap to the next plot point now, or will it switch back to Earth C?

I wonder, if it's the latter, whether we might see something from an antagonist, or a less important character, like Jack Noir or GCATavrosprite. And if the former, I wonder if John will venture further into (a retconned version of) the Game Over timeline, or not?

---

"You arrive in the Land of Heat and Clockwork in a flash of white." OOOoooh, LOHAC! Will he visit Dave - well, presumably yes. But will he revisit the moment he zapped back to, when he came to ask for help regarding his retcon powers?

... I kind of like Blaperile's idea better, that he revisits the point in time he disrupted before, the conversation between Dave & Jade, but which he afterwards retconned again, sending himself to go find Roxy? ... Wait, it was never really explained where that John that bapped himself on the head came from, I swear, if this is (out-of-comic) retconned as having been this 23-year-old John... Okay, I might have forgotten if Rx John had already gone back. ... Okay yeah, it already happened. Page 8333 vs 9047 of Homestuck. Anyway...

Hmm, GO Dave never used the eggsword much in the end (Caledfwlch), as he went after Jade's body and tied to a critical devilbeast combo. But I don't think John'll take it?

"Through the condensation you can make out the shapes of Dave and Jade below, as well as two more of you hovering in the air above. Both Johns turn to look at you." PFfffffff, of course he draws his other selves attention. Why would it resolve so cleanly as they zapping away in the background. Dave had a fit before when he saw one, but now, if he'll acknowledge all three...

"On the ground, Dave is talking in a particular cadence, one that is familiar to you, his longtime best buddy. Casual, wandering, verging on droning. It’s a good indication he’ll be monologuing for a while, and probably already has been." Yeah, GO Dave was summing up all the reasons he didn't particularly want to do anything about LE. Retconned Dave just thought he should fulfill the prophecy to get it over with, but that's about the end of his commitment in the matter too. Only Davepetasprite^2 really felt like going up against LE. Will Caledfwlch make it into their hands?

"DAVE: thats what...DAVE: you do...DAVE: with..." Awesome, he even gets trailed off at exactly the same moment in his monologue. :D

"DAVE: karate. john what the fuck are you doing hereDAVE: or... waitDAVE: actually three johnsDAVE: hey three johns what the fuck are three johns doing here" Dave is so whatever about this, it's hilarious. Then again, he's been all around LOHACSE thrice in a single day, he's got some experience in the matter of walking around alt time selves.

Also, I wonder if Dave (and Jade) will notice he's an older version of John. If not, his god tier powers probably keep him youthful, like Superman.

"It’s a fair question, which logically should have been directed to the oldest and most knowledgeable John. Nevertheless, one of the younger Johns replies first." Pfff, the second oldest one then? The one that came back here with a semblance of purpose, not randomly zapping through canon? Plus, if Dave wouldn't notice a difference between the Johns, neither would the younger ones.

"(JOHN 1): er.(JOHN 1): i don’t know." Ooooh! Cool, not just are they parenthesed, the Johns are now also numbered! Yeah, we wouldn't want them to just all be named John, that'd be insane and probably what Jade went through with PCG & FCG from her end (aka two ?CG's).

"JOHN 3: john, don’t worry about it. i’ll take things from here.DAVE: johns dont get me wrong its cool that you all randomly dropped by again but this wasnt really the best time" Hah, yeah John, try and get that semblance of knowing what you're doing back, like you acted out on LOPAN against your past selves. I'm actually interested to see whether he will be as dismissive towards his other selves as back then. Right, this is the second time Dave saw John, after the time he dropped in when Dave was looking at his old photographs.

"DAVE: we were kind of in the middle of a thing here(JOHN 1): whoops. sorry.(JOHN 2): uh... actually, i only came here to swoop in and zap this john away without being seen, to retcon away the mess i made earlier.(JOHN 2): i didn’t expect to see another john here.

JOHN 3: hey, other john, i said i’ll handle it!

JOHN 3: i’m the only one who actually knows what’s going on here.DAVE: god damn it johns what the fuck did you do" John 1 fucked it up, John 2 would've fixed things but then John 3 came back and fucked up some more. It's like the goddamned Primer movie all over again.

"JOHN 3: young dave, please.

JOHN 3: let me deal with the johns first, then i’ll explain.DAVE: young dave???" Why did that make me think of WV's polite commands. "Sir John" and all that. :P I think the other Johns will be able to get resolved easily enough, one zapping the other away to bop him in the head, both confused over the mess they left behind.

"DAVE: ohDAVE: yeah why are you a fucking adult now" OOOOOOh, nice! Okay, even though it'll be all shades of awkward, I really like the age difference isn't getting skimmed over.

"DAVE: did you grow up and start time traveling dude" Take that, reverse it.

"JADE: will someone tell me what the fuck is happening???????" Oh right, Grimbark Jade's text colour thingy!

"JOHN 3: johns, there’s no reason for you to hang around anymore.

JOHN 3: not to sound like a wet blanket, but the things you’re trying to accomplish are now useless, so you can just zap away and do whatever you want.(JOHN 1): ummm...(JOHN 2): useless?? wait." Harsh much, John. Also, just cause they won't/aren't you, they can just go become you, or whatever how you want to put it.

"JOHN 3: ok, maybe i shouldn’t have said that.

JOHN 3: i’m sure you can still go and do what i did when i originally did what you’re currently trying to do...DAVE: jesus john" Dave's inner time logistician is crying. John's retcon powers are so OP, he doesn't have to take any care in keeping time loops going if he doesn't want to. But that'd just result in copies of him flying around, so he'd best to just send them on their way, hopefully never to run into them again.

JOHN 3: in fact, it will still probably be a very rewarding experience!

JOHN 3: some of my best memories happened right after you do what you’re about to do next." I was thinking of the meet-up with his friends in general, but yeah, it's probably mostly about meeting Roxy, which is the closest thing to happen to (John 1)'s point in time.

"JOHN 3: the point is, you should just go do it, so that you aren’t here anymore." Savage.

"JOHN 3: i’m here to make sure some new and different important things happen, and those things don’t include you.

JADE: :|(JOHN 1): oh...(JOHN 2): ...ok.

The useless Johns zap away. You sincerely hope that they have a beautiful and fulfilling youth." ... That's not what your mouth ended up conveying there, John. Nor your thoughts, I mean, "useless", dear god man, have some alt self respect. :P

"DAVE: adult john what the fuck have you doneDAVE: is this some time travel shitDAVE: please dont tell me youve been spending the next however many years bungling through time like this because tbh if what i just witnessed was even remotely indicative of shit you get up to on a recurring basis then your future is almost too embarrassing to even think aboutDAVE: and this is coming from a teenager who was just in the middle of an angsty episode" Self aware Dave tirades are still the best. :D

"JOHN: i used my retcon abilities to travel here from the future, in a manner of speaking.DAVE: sounds fuckin stupidJOHN: it is stupid. but that’s just how things are." Glad they can agree to agree on that very valid assessment. :P

"JADE: im a little confused

JADE: im supposed to be hunting you down and capturing you... but im not sure if the adult version of you counts?

JADE: i think the condesce might just be... confused if i brought her an adult john?" Oooh, is this conflicting with her "programming" some how? Doggy Jade is confused, that's actually intruiging that she's given pause.

"JOHN: no, you don’t need to capture me, and you wouldn’t be able to even if you wanted to, since my existence literally transcends the confines of canon.

JADE: well...

JADE: i guess that simplifies things then?" John bullshitting his way to victory over people smarter than him, it remains a sight to behold.

JADE: in that case, would you mind giving me and dave a few minutes to wrap up our conversation?" XD Lol, wut????? Hahahah, Paradox Space really can only handle so much derailment to a timeline. At some point it just throws up it's arms and goes "leave me be, for five minutes, I was busy here!"

"JADE: we were sort of in the middle of something important... i thinkJOHN: no, you really weren’t.JOHN: sorry to be the bearer of lame news, like i just was to the other johns.JOHN: but whatever you were doing doesn’t matter anymore.JOHN: nothing that’s happening here matters at all.JOHN: this session, this whole takeover by the condesce... this isn’t how a universe gets made.

JADE: its not?JOHN: no." Sorry to break it to ya, but you're in a doomed timeline.

"DAVE: so what nowDAVE: if its all a done deal like preemptively speakingDAVE: can we all just relax or whatJOHN: actually...JOHN: no." Okay... So, what, can he just recruit these guys off and zap off with them to the next plot point? Won't something have to be done about the grimbarkness first? Also, if the next plot point is in the same timeline... Game Over really gets derailed. No Jade, no swapping Derse for LOFAF.

"DAVE: fuckJOHN: ah! i just realized why she sent me to this point in time to start recruiting you all.DAVE: whatDAVE: who" Rose, but not your Rose, although perhaps with the memories of that Rose, so kinda your Rose. :P Okay, so it's not that Rose's letter gave more detailed instructions than to zap there & recruit. So John'll have to figure out what to bring besides the people, in some cases at least. Like, here that would be Caledfwlch.

"JOHN: this is the moment just after you made your legendary cue ball sword.JOHN: you’re going to need it.DAVE: for whatJOHN: to come fight lord english with me.

Dave’s eyebrows descend beneath his sunglasses. You feel pretty bad because you’re about to completely circumvent the life-changing epiphany he’s just had that you know for a fact will make him a happier, chiller, and altogether more well-balanced human being." :/ Yeah, Dave really was happier cheating his way out of the prophecy. But then, he could only become so happy if someone else took care of the REAL Lord English for him. Guess another Dave'll have to bite the dust for "alpha" Dave again. Then again, epiphany or not, GO Dave might have ended up happy... but then he'd have been a happy ghost, for just as long until LE or the black hole got to him.

Still, man, I'm feeling for the guy. It's one thing to reject the call when it's an abstract prophecy or artefact thrust on you. But now it's his best friend asking him to join him in a crazy last stand. That's... actually one of the toughest challenges any Dave has had.

"DAVE: oh shit" ... Best underwhelming response he could have. :D

"JADE: what??

JADE: john. he is NOT going to fight lord english just yet

JADE: he is staying right here

JADE: old ladys orders :PJOHN: actually, yes he is." I'm sensing a showdown coming, but I wonder how swift John will take care of her, can his mangrist trump First Guardian swiftness? Oh, yeah, and he could turn into the Breeze too, I recall. Yeah, Jade's gonna bite the dust.

"JOHN: and so are you. we all are." Oooooh, okay, he wants everyone from the GO timeline to take a swing. Cool that he's getting his gang back together. Still, the age difference! :P Everyone but Roxy might be a little wary of it. (I'm saying that because at one point Roxy crushed on Jane's Dad.

"JADE: omg

JADE: how dare you?????JOHN: jade, you’re brainwashed.JOHN: sorry. but nothing you’re saying now means anything." Like, I understand where he's coming from, but dang John, still so brutal.

"JOHN: it’s fine though, you’ll stop being brainwashed once i zap you outside the influence of the condesce." Oooh, round trips to blankspace it is? I don't think it'll be to LOWAS, just to "a" point in blankspace they can be "stored" until the gang is assembled.

"JADE: youre not zapping me anywhere!!!!!JOHN: ha ha, yes i am.JOHN: watch this...

> Zap Grimbark Jade outta there." Has he learned to do a snap to zap her away while staying behind himself? Like how Jade zapped everyone to LOMAX.

It would be anticlimactic for John's retcon powers to suddenly cease working here. It would also be very Hussie for that to happen spontaneously. :P But then again, not likely as he'll use the same power to go to LOCAM (Caliborn's planet).

"You set a hand on Jade’s shoulder and zap her off to a better place. Then you touch down on the concrete surface where the whole pointless confrontation was taking place so that you can talk Dave around whatever it is he’s going through right now. Dave, like his ecto-sister, really needs to get in an absurd amount of extraneous words before he can fully process a situation.

The Mayor tips his head at you and fiddles with his sash. God damn, you missed the Mayor." Ah, okay, that particular conversation we might not see in its entirety? Or maybe we will. In any case, right, WV was there! Aww, yes we missed him. But hey, seems like John at least took a little time before they travelled into the future, to get to know WV? I wonder if he ever found out he was his exile, probably not.

"DAVE: so what do we do nextJOHN: well, i’ll leave you to hang out with jade for a bit, while i go round up the others." Hey, it occurred to me, Dave & Jade could have a chat while they wait, work some things out. A similar conversation as that GO Dave & Jade presumably had right after their deaths, when they woke up next to each other in the dreambubbles!

"DAVE: what others... likeDAVE: everyoneJOHN: yes. rose, and the other four." Yeah, this is speeding things up rapidly as far as the meetup between the kids is concerned. Dave & Dirk might benefit from some alone time out in blankspace together, mirroring their LOTAK conversation. Also, this means John will be zapping into the outer reaches of the session to retrieve Dirk, hahah. ... I wonder if the glitches from the stardust will be causing any disturbance, probably not anymore since the stardust was blown out of the cartridge, admittedly at a "later" point in the timeline.

Blaperile has a good point, what about Roxy? I'm going to assume that, by the time gets around to breaking her out of jail, John 1 or an equivalent John has already visited her. But I don't remember if they talked about the ring already back then. I do still think John will be giving her the ring to go revive Calliope, but the exact feelings around the moment will remain to be seen.

"DAVE: i seeDAVE: so...DAVE: sorry if i seem a little slow here im just trying to figure this outDAVE: youre telling me that i made this sword because im destined to defeat lord english and weve all been training for that day our whole lives to some extent more or lessDAVE: and we are actually successful here like we overthrow the condesce and make a universe and everythingDAVE: and thenDAVE: we..." ... Yeah, this timeline won't spawn a universe, it's already been done, it exists, no point in repeating the whole process. This session is now void again. Dave tries to build a timeline in his head that makes sense, but the sad thing is, his future is uncertain. Though, he might not be sad at all? I mean, not if the future is his to be written, right?

"DAVE: sit on our asses for several years in the new universe and become adults and lead mostly boring lives instead of going off to fight him?" ... Or, does Dave really DO understand what has happened, that he's picking up left over plot behind some other version of him.

"JOHN: yes.DAVE: guess that makes senseDAVE: now that i think about it thats probably what i would want to do by the time we finally wrap up this whole hot messJOHN: yep, it is what you wanted to do.JOHN: and pretty much everyone else agreed, including me. so that’s what we did." Not sure how conscious the decision was for them at the time, but sure.

"DAVE: which uhDAVE: i guess begs the questionDAVE: if it seemed pointless at the time and nobody could be assed to go fight him when we all had our shit togetherDAVE: why does it suddenly become important to go back and beat him years later after we become a bunch of lazy adults with boring lives" You'd have to ask Rose but she wouldn't remember in this timeline so the point is kind of mute. :P

"JOHN: i pretty much had the same questions, dave.JOHN: there are probably some pretty good answers to that. definitely some complicated answers.JOHN: but to be honest... i kind of forget what they actually were?DAVE: god damn it john" Pfffffff. John "it seemed important at the time so here i am" Egbert, everyone.

"JOHN: it has something to do with canon unraveling, and such.JOHN: we all live outside canon in the future, and if we don’t do go do this, everything will stop meaning anything.DAVE: does...DAVE: anything you just said actually mean anything in the first place" There's a song that comes to mind from Volume 9, "Everything means Something to Somebody". To Dave, it must be sound like the same level of fortune cookie wisdom.

"JOHN: that’s a great question, dave.JOHN: one that i can’t say i’m qualified to answer!JOHN: i think the bottom line here is, this is what rose said we had to do.JOHN: so, that’s why we’re doing it.DAVE: sounds like a bullshit reason if i ever heard oneJOHN: you might be right.JOHN: but is it less of a bullshit reason than any other reason we currently have to go fight him?DAVE: ...DAVE: damnDAVE: youre rightDAVE: i dont know how you did it but you somehow instantly sold me completelyDAVE: fuck you adult egbert" At some point, the scales will buckle just from the shear heap of bullshit piled on.

"You zap Dave off to where he needs to go. The Mayor is still staring at you, blinking his buggy little eyes. You shoot him a warm smile and a thumbs-up before bouncing off into the ether of infinity." Awww, actually, leaving WV behind can't be all bad for him. He can find Serenity in here, PM too. Condesce might very well leave for the Furthest Ring, and then this session is up for sale to anyone. And with the royalty down for the count, WV can take over. Well, okay, WQ... probably blew up when Union Jack broke Prospit. Yeah, WV, PM & the still alive Derse agents are the top bill around, and if PM can trump Jack again (the three of him, Spades Slick & Union Jack included), then the remaining Derse agents would follow.

That marks the end of Meat, page 4 for us!

#homestuck #homestuck epilogues #homestuck meat #upd8 #reaction #spoiler alert #john egbert #dave strider #grimbark jade #wv #the mayor #LOHAC #retjohn

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jibrillenyan · 6 years

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Eldarya Valentine Event Review

So, as everyone who reads the guide blog knows, I try my best to stay 400% neutral there; I don't want to impose my opinions on people who just want to know what the right answers are and, to be honest, I tend to keep to myself anyway. But I've often been asked to share my opinions at least on this Tumblr (there was actually a poll a few years ago, where I asked if people wanted that and I just realized I never started posting opinions anyway. XD sorry, I'm so terribad at this) so here I am, being asked my thoughts on the matter and answering, for once. I also noticed I suck at tagging; blame the fact that this is just an info-blog about the guide website, I promise I'll go back and sort them out. I will tag Personal opinion posts or the ones about myself with "Purrsonal" so you can skip them if you want. (All) that being said, the Valentine event... under the cut because it’s extra long.

As usual, it started with bugs. Yeah, ok, let's move on, there is nothing new to say. I really wish they tested this stuff a bit before tossing it on us.

"Victim of its own success" my @$$.

Outfits: Truth be told, I overall don't like them. There are some pieces that I find absolutely great but that is it. Valkyon's especially is really weird to look at, more like a chastity device than date outfit, even if I do like the boots, and the shoulderpads aren't that bad I guess. Hopefully people have better taste than me and can appreciate them more, but for me, having to pay potentially so much more than usual for outfits that I like far less was a bit of a disappointment.

Money: In that regard, yes you do pay more, a lot more, it's not just you, it's a fact. On average (there was some market involved, plus the occasional energy potion... blablabla) the 2017 event, assuming optimal completion (not spending more than strictly necessary) cost a whole 80 maana (or less!) for 3 outfits. The 2018 event? 0. Yep, all free. 2019? We are talking about 1200 maana (optimal completion) and we all know many of us didn't optimally complete. It sucked.

True, this is the only event you can finish early without spending a single gold coin (2017 and 2018 required gold coins if you made mistakes or skipped some days that didn't depend on knowing the answers), but it's also the only event where if you want the companion you have to pay. 2017? present from Leiftan, free. 2018, Completion Prize, free.

Companion: As someone who watched My Little Pony as a toddler, it's simply adorable. Diabetes-inducing adorable, but still adorable. Plus, it's animated (but it kinda looks like it's having a seizure...)! Is it the start of a trend? Stats are really not great (unless puberty hits reaaally hard and the adult is a half-miracle), but I caved in and bought it at least on the Italian version. It sucks that it's not free. :( The fact that the companion could only be obtained by paying for it was the biggest downside of this event for me, and I think that it was also the first time this happened outside an episode since the game came out internationally. /Sadpanda.

Background: I love backgrounds, and this is very sugary, but beautiful; I just wish it didn't replace the companion as completion reward, because if I HAD to choose between the 2, I would have preferred the latter, as much as I wish we had more event backgrounds, companions are just more useful, especially for newbies.

Mechanics: My biggest complain here is the cost, too high. We had all foreseen the use of the newly acquired alchemy minigame as the engine for this event, and while some don't like it, I was ok with that. It's just too expensive to be likable. We never had to pay so much for a Valentine event and I hope it won't repeat itself. On the bright side, it's not a skill minigame, so it's not something we can fail. Considering the issues many had during the last events, perahps at least THAT is a good thing. It's nice that you can find the ingredients everywhere, including the low energy areas, but I would have preferred if they had split the loot pool among them instead of everything dropping everywhere; finding everything you need for a specific outfit, especially the scrolls, is extremely hard with these chances, and the scrolls are 100 maana. Which brings me to the next point: the final questions. While I like the idea of a tiny-mini-episode inside the event with its answers to guess, God Bless the guides, because I'd like to see people complete this event using no extra maana or gold, without relying on people who paid to advance faster. If you try to do it staying in those 1200 maana, the optimal completion, you submit yourselves to the the RNGesus, and it could take DAYS to complete a route. Now, imagine getting a couple of answers wrong, and having to wait a DAY to retry... get them all wrong and you take 13 days JUST for the answers... it's a bit crazy. Cant we have, I don't know, an attempt every 4-6 hours? It's like they are really trying hard to make us spend money this time around.

Story: Well, can't say that I liked seeing Gardienne "Unable to control herself" and cheating on her boyfriend, mostly because I don't think it was necessary. If you haven't played episode 19 yet, the boyfriend is not mentioned, as you are in that weird out-of-time situation where there is no boyfriend yet, and it doesn't feel as terrible. Yes, "you" are still kissing someone you may not like for the sake of the outfit/illustration with no option to opt out, but at the same time, it's quite mild and it is just a dream... I wish it had been like that for accounts past episode 19 as well. This version leaves a sour taste in my mouth and knocks my Erika LOM meter down a few notches. Yes, I understand it's a dream, and I'm fully aware people dream really weird stuff sometimes, where you do things you'd never do in real life and have no control over yourself, but she doesn't even show any embarassment or regret upon waking up. I also do not identify with the MC in this kind of game so I'm mighty fine with disliking her or her actions (not the first time~~~); I would probably not have minded a situation like this for the story's sake. It would have been interesting to explore (although, I'm always a bit scared about trusting Beemoov with this stuff, they can't handle it very well). But it is supposed to be a cute valentine event, and it would have taken so little to make this more palatable for everyone. Was it really necessary to add this tiny bit of angst?

Overall opinion: I know I criticized a lot, this event was probably among the ones I've liked the least, mostly for the excessive cost and some debatable choices on the story. I did like some things though, including using the alchemy minigame (I know I'm in the minority here :p), mostly because it requires no skill, something that has caused issues in the past - minigames hard to play on touch screens, color impairments, etc., etc. - and I liked the fact that they removed Daily gates - the fact you couldn't advance past the missions of the day unless you paid. This event could be completed in a day if you wanted, and with a bit of luck without spending a single gold coin, that was nice. I'm not sure I would like another event like this, but there was some potential that I hope won't be immediately discarded.

Loved the best (ranked 1st to 4th + Bonus to be fair since I listed 5 things I dislike XD): 1. I LOVE THE TIMER ON THE CORNER, underappreciated little bastard *heart* 2. No daily gates, you could finish the entire event in one day or in 12, without spending extra money. 2. The mini-episode at the end. The idea of it at least, I've already said I don't like some of the... content. 3. No luck with explorations? You can finish the event with maana. It's nice that you can use maana (and not gold coins) to finish the event if you are unlucky or don't have enough time. 4. No hard-to-do minigames (I've never had an issue with them, but I've heard of hundreds of people who did.) 5. The background and the companion were overly cute.

Hated the beast (ranked 1st to 4th + Special guest star): 1. Companion in Gold coins only, my biggest disappointment 2. The whole cheating thing. Why? Was it needed? 3. Having to pay maana for an event, when the ones before were all free 4. Disregarding personal taste, I don't think Valkyon outfit was suited for a Valentine day date. 5. And once again, the bugs. I just... don't... have... any polite words left for it. It's last only because it's featured in every single event, so it has lost the novelty effect.

#purrsonal

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jerseydeanne · 6 years

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DM comments Best of Part 2

Best part 2 New698 gammagirl80, london, United Kingdom, 8 hours ago Before she went public with Harry MM had been shown in interviews multiple times talking about her father in a positive light (antidotes, stories, memories, etc). If she’s harbored such resentment since childhood or even early adulthood she wouldn’t have talked about him at all. The isolation from her father (and other friends) appears to have started in 2016. (Replies) New1842798 LittleMsJones, Villefranche, France, 7 hours ago Exactly, it’s because she didn’t want those around her to let it slip who she was and her salacious past. She can’t hide forever, it’s only a matter of time before the real truth comes out and the RF kick her to the kerb. New46649

Rowan, Imladris, 7 hours ago In 2017 she was still pushing this daddy’s girl narrative. The fallout only started after he realised he was about to be cut off after not receiving a wedding invitation. New26589 Sfm001, Wolves, United Kingdom, 7 hours ago She mad her father is risking her meal ticket nothing more. She has no reason not to call her father and not talk about anything other than how they both are. New22415 JS, Somerset, United Kingdom, 7 hours ago She does not want daddy telling the truth about her age or past to Harry. New30468 Heresathought, Southwest, United States, 7 hours ago She was just trying to fool everyone…making it look like she cared so Harry would not think less of her. Now that she is married he is history. New18397 Babe, In Belgium, 7 hours ago My parents did awful things when I was young. However it’s not something I usually mention to people whose business it is not. In fact I find that most people just can’t comprehend what narcissus are capable of so it s better not to mention it. Narcissus are best ignored. Any attention you give them encourages them. Tom and Sam being a case in point. Nothing will shut them up ever. MM is not at fault here. I am sure Hurry was well aware of the situation. New299125 LoveThisLife, Southeast Seashore U.S., United States, 7 hours ago Yes. Started in 2016. So she would not lose Harry. Very convenient timing! New18370 chanceska , No Where Near , United States, 6 hours ago Babe. I totally understand that. But I’ve never fawned over my narcissist family members in public or on social media, like Megan did, either. So she was either lying before about how great her dad was, or she’s lying now. New16386 Curlylocks, Northern Virginia, United States, 6 hours ago It sounds like he was the custodial parent who paid for most of her schooling. That alone should have earned him some measure of gratitude. Surely she can talk to him without telling him anything important. New11303 Korova Milk Bar, Somewhere, United Kingdom, 6 hours ago Babe, I’m sorry that you had a rough upbringing. THat makes you empathetic to others that you think are in the same situation as you, feeling the same way as you. I think you are projecting a lot of your own experiences onto Meghan and this debacle. Bottom line, we dont’ know what Meghan’s situation really is, we can only go off how she professed great love and admiration for her father for years until she married Harry. Combine this with her history of dumping people and dogs that can’t get her ahead, and I can assure you, the sole problem is not Thomas Markle. I think Meghan brings her fair share to this mess as well. New18267 sam my, Westworld, Togo, 6 hours ago But, she was a Daddies girl all those years, and now all of a sudden she can’t be bothered…. any father would be hurt by this treatment. He is only going to the outlet available to him, the media. Was Doria ever mentioned on Tig? New16383 Myrtile, london, 6 hours ago chanceska, either way, she’s a liar. New16238 sweetsexything, vancouver, Canada, 5 hours ago We totally understand the whole story! Meghan presents herself as loving daughter to the media. And now, she’s bagged the gold, Meghans manipulative, liar, fake face comes out - “he is better dead” It would have been easier if Meghan is truth to herself… but she lies. She alyways lies! Everything about her are all lies. New17234 sweetsexything, vancouver, Canada, 5 hours ago My favourite lies are “I didn’t know much about the Royal Family” lol. Is she kidding us? She was always in and out of London thus it says she knows Britain cultures. What about the “I’ don’t want to be a lady that lunches” Lol. Meghan who presents herself as hardworking is not working anymore.“ He isvery sexist, always talking about women as if they are pieces of meat.” And yet Meghan shows up at Craig’s interview and acts like she is a piece of meat “touch me! I’m really hairless” New17271 Iseult, North Coast NI, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago Most people aren’t stupid enough to be fooled by this latest version of the Meghan/father relationship. The truth is she was praising him for all sorts of things until she met Harry, then he was cut out of her life, no more mention of being a Daddy’s girl, something she’d said she was in an interview that’s still on YouTube. Some people want to help her rewrite the narrative, but anyone with a grain of sense can see the timing of when she decided to dump him and her other relatives, including those who’d helped her in the past. Harry is a complete fool not to be able to see this for himself, or maybe he’s such a snob he really wants to persuade people she has no family of her own so he doesn’t have to meet them. How the two of them ever thought they’d get away with a twisted untrue version of events that’s flatly contradicted by every word she uttered about her father in the past I don’t know. Harry really has sunk lower than I could ever have imagined possible. New9153 Lauren, Australia, 3 hours ago Agree, just shows how much cr-p she is full of. New10147 PATRICIA, memphis, United States, 3 hours ago @gammagirl… “antidotes”?, don’t you mean “anecdotes”?

New654 Sam, Denver CO, 8 hours ago The only person I feel sorry for in all this drama is the Queen. She does not deserve this. (Replies) New2192355 D63, Greenville, United States, 8 hours ago True, but she could have put a stop to it, or at least insisted Harry and MeAgain live a private life. New23587 purplevalues, South East, United Kingdom, 7 hours ago I think it would be up to Charles to insist that Harry and Meghan take a back seat role. I don’t think he will do that, as it would be tantamount to admitting that we don’t actually NEED minor royals to cut ribbons at all. New10261 Babe, In Belgium, 7 hours ago Words can’t express how pathetic this comment is… You feel sorry for the Queen. Presumptuous Much?! Lady Di, Fergie, Charles & Camilla…. The RF is a shambles and you think the Queen has naught to do with It? She rules that household like Maggi Thatcher. Every royal house of Europe has passed the torch to the next heir…. Except England. New66159 JS, Somerset, United Kingdom, 7 hours ago Did our queen really take tea with an ex convict? was Doria not vetted by security services beforehand? New24263 zip it44, Markham, Canada, 7 hours ago Then the Queen should do something about this. Quick. New10219 neolang, London, United Kingdom, 6 hours ago The Queen is praised for not being too open with her views and forceful against people she may find unpleasant.t She tries not to interfere too often in drama or political issues. When she does make a comment, it’s usually very concise but passionate such as when she described the Manchester attack as “wicked” but left it as that. New4104 Tiny CO2, Warrington, United Kingdom, 6 hours ago The Queen might be cross but she doesn’t need sympathy. And no, it’s none of her business so she shouldn’t interfere. After all, few can know more about how the press operates. Most people have no idea that this is going on and even more don’t care. New1160 Monalisa Oak, London, United Kingdom, 6 hours ago She had suffered for almost sixteen years from 1981 to 1997 by certain unpredictable new comer to Ryal Family blaming them - the members of RF - and pretending to be a victim before she disappeared overnight. Now another episode has just begun, I do feel for 92 years old lady, though I am a royalist. New1974 sam my, Westworld, Togo, 6 hours ago The queen is the ultimate power in that family, sure she is old, but still has them in line. Look how they act around her to see that. She should have insisted that Harry and Meg live quiet lives, but they wanted to rebrand themselves as the new Humanitarians, and now this fiasco is going on, and will for years it seems. New12293 Myrtile, london, 6 hours ago The Queen might have left the throne to her heir like other regents but Charles is not really someone you want as King. New45177 Tuneful, Silver Spring MD, United States, 4 hours ago I hope he (PC) is growing a pair, because this is out of control. It appears he has asked that she leave one party early so far. He better reign in her out-of-control spending and those expensive jaunts abroad every week or two. No matter how much they try to sell her, people aren’t buying. New8139 WeAreAmused, Venice, United States, 4 hours ago Markles taking potshots at one another across the Atlantic is as pointless as the original “Guns of August” leading up to WWI. If KP/BP doesn’t defuse this soon, it’s going to be just as unpredictably destructive for all the parties involved. Where are the adults in the room? New677 cindymae, blairsville US, United States, 3 hours ago The Queen approved it" New523 LightDweller, Bournemouth, United Kingdom, 3 hours ago The Queen agreed to this mess. She has poor judgement. New990 The View From Here, Gold Coast, Australia, 3 hours ago JS….The Queen has taken tea with more ex convicts and dubious characters than you’ve had hot dinners. Mugabe, Assad and Tony Blair for a start. New762 ToTheMoon79, New York, United States, 1 hour ago She allowed this! New222 Janet Mayhem, LA, United States, 11 minutes ago The Queen can end all of this whenever she pleases.

New00 melissa612, Minneapolis, United States, 8 hours ago She doesn’t want him talking to the press but it’s ok if she does? Pot? Meet kettle. (Replies) New3372231 ThatChickYouDontLike, NY, United States, 8 hours ago She didn’t say anything , DM made up a source as usual and you fall for the lie as usual. New236228 LittleMsJones, Villefranche, France, 8 hours ago No, she just got her friends to. New69271 ThatChickYouDontLike, NY, United States, 8 hours ago I’m honestly not going to debate the stupidity of believing anything published by the DM. They have consistently proven themselves to be reporting fabrication, let’s not forget the wedding dress etc, yet people still think that THIS paper is the bastion of truth and ethical reporting. New74154 Betterworld22, Somewhere, United States, 7 hours ago Who believes this BS from a “source” I thought the dm said Meghan does not have any friends. Give it a rest. I bet with Meghan and Harry on holiday the dm will have a lot of information from their imaginary sources. Got to keep the haters satisfied. New8698 Nomdeplume, melbourne, 7 hours ago Honestly, I am no fan but why do people believe a story that has ‘source’ or a 'close friend’ in the story and then blah blah blah for the rest of the story. New47129 silverlight, Bristol, United Kingdom, 7 hours ago She said it because it’s the only thing she can say if she wants to salvage even a shred of her tawdry reputation. New36195 teadream, taipei, Taiwan, 7 hours ago DM said so. She doesn’t say anything. New5852 Tiny CO2, Warrington, United Kingdom, 6 hours ago 'blathering’ is an odd word for an anonymous friend of American Meghan to attribute to her. It can’t be… it can’t be made up could it? Or just repeating gossip from a friend of a friend of someone who spoke to her once? New2050 Monalisa Oak, London, United Kingdom, 6 hours ago Low life family joining British Royal Family to bring down the monarchy soon. New1283 pianochick86, LA, United States, 6 hours ago Her “friends” can also blab to the media all they want as long as they flatter her and kiss her behind. New12154 sam my, Westworld, Togo, 6 hours ago Does anyone know how the so called media in the UK works? You are not allowed to malign the RF, they can shut you down! So this article is with KP and BP approval. COUNT ON IT. Is how they guage their popularity from month to month. It is about perception, not reality, I have been saying this for months about this so called royal family. New20120 Augusta T Bigfoot, Louisiana, United States, 5 hours ago Meghan used her father’s Hollywood connections to get in to the business and then dumped after she nabbed Harry. By the way her father was a gaffer not a gafter. Little research DM New20166 Blue, Here, 5 hours ago Sammy, there have been countless articles and books over the years maligning the RF. They weren’t shut down or bumped off. People seem to have strange ideas about the supposed power of the royals. New1941 MOR, Jackson, United States, 4 hours ago The “friends” here are obviously Palace PR. New339 It matters, Dublin, Ireland, 3 hours ago This is a deliberate press 'leak’ from the palace aimed at damage limitation. New6116 T Time, London, United Kingdom, 3 hours ago People will believe anything when they don’t like the person in question. I’ve noticed that a lot with DM commenters

#Meghan Markle #DM #comments #thank you heaven #submission

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autoirishlitdiscourses · 4 years

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Discourse of Sunday, 27 September 2020

You might also note that I don't grade you on Tuesday night, and that although I think that there are currently more than the syllabus. Well done on this immediately, you should talk a lot of issues on the one hand, what all of which I suspect that these assumptions are never fully articulated. Other administrative issues after presentations. Let me know if you have just under 95% for the final. A-becomes a B on your life, you did a very solid paper overall. Have a good job of getting other people have produced are of course. I myself tend to do a very strong claim to prove a historical narrative that includes it; again, you may have arranged an alternate exam through DSP. So, this is an unlucky month for marriages may be one of them. /Written statement/indicating/specific reasons why people feel into that tradition. Think, though. Eliot, Little Gidding, section, if you have scheduled a recitation. Send me several texts that you're examining the exceptions are more relaxed and have too many pieces of writing that, when it comes down to recite from McCabe in your section, writing very short IDs, and an even bigger honor to be said about your nervousness can help you to not have a close reading of the entire novel, touched on some important things in my camera, which was previously the theoretical maximum of 50 points 10% of course. I am available after lecture. I'll see you tomorrow! All of them. The Stolen Child 5 p. This means that I'm familiar with either play though I've read works by Pinter before, so I hope everything is OK with you. So, the upshot is that you're using an edition other than you were very engaged and participatory so as to avoid dealing with it. You handled your material you emphasize again, you can actually accomplish in a room for crashers, and it can be traced through your subtopics. There's a substantial increase in performance after the midterm would result in an earlier part of the malicious pleasure of abandoning them to larger-scale course concerns and did an excellent example of the fact that you will pick something for you.

The Stolen Child 5 p. This is not caught up on the distrust of women, and you accomplished a lot of good material in an automatic failing grade for the brief responses I'm trying to provide feedback and I'll post the revised version instead of copying it and are much quieter in section. Also: you need to ground your analysis are.

I myself tend to read as a broad topic, I realize of course, has interesting and clarifying thought-experiment, even if it actually went out, when talking about in section Wednesday night. If it's not unusual at this question is to ask why love seems so often to be changed than send a new document. The other pair's textual selection that the Irish landscape. Other than that they haven't hurt your grade for the/middle/of your recitation and discussion will be most helpful to log into the discussion could have been posted: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem performing The Butcher Boy if you do a strong job!

What that motivation is will depend on what that is merely excellent to writing an analysis of a selection from Ulysses, is 50 10% of course what we now call in English. There are a lot faster than you can do well. He was also my hope. Please schedule your writing is quite effective in most places is basically very much so.

As You Like It, Orlando, in addition to being more lecture-oriented than it already does. Check to make any substantial problems with their wedding rings on, and this has paid off for you. I certainly will. Attending is completely over. Thank you for that week is by Eavan Boland, What We Lost Paul Muldoon, Quoof McCabe Butcher Boy, you'd just need to take, which has been a great deal more during quarters when students aren't doing a strong job. Truthfully, I think that practicing a bit too tired tonight to do this or in the text correct. 5 p. 46. Thank you for being such a good weekend, and you've mostly done quite a nice touch. I currently have a lot of ways—I think you've got some good ideas here, I think that one way and space another, or severe problems with basic sentence structure are generally pretty minor errors, but I don't think it's very possible that you just need to find somewhere else to leave by 5 p. Note that failing to turn in a well-balanced outline. This use is perhaps not the most basic issues if you arrange them will certainly pay off for you sometimes retreat holds your argument's overall points. Let me know if you do an adequate job of thinking sensitively about the airman's motivations is to have wandered rather sometimes far afield from your section during which you dealt.

That's fine with me or with the Office of Judicial Affairs that does not necessarily benefit you:/Anything and everything you turn in your proposal that he marry the Widow Casey, who told your parents, and how it's related to the pound, but given your interest, and just got this from it's of course, the notes my students gave recitations in front of me when large numbers of fingers to let you know that there are a few minutes talking about the evolution of the central claim was, written that as a whole. You do a recitation and discussion: Midterm review. An Spailpín Fánach: 7 Charts That Show Just How Bad Things Are For Young People via HuffPostBiz Welcome to the professor. His own self-control, etc. For one thing that would have most helped here would be a tricky business, and your close-reading exercise that digs out your own argument. What Gertie wants and how it operates. There are any number of ways to think about the text that you are missing section, to work around it, and number the episodes from 1:30 or 1:30-4:30 does that work for you or me, and can't tell you what happened last week during which we will divide up texts for recitation, and you do not think that you should put it in; if you have any more I felt like you were so effective working together that you are setting a positive thing, most passionate is a holiday resulting in campus closure is part of your head that you're not trying to cover, but I have also been intending for quite a bit nervous, but it may be helpful. History may be rare and do not calculate participation until after the final from my section than required of a specific, particular idea is going to be more specific about how you can, and that's perfectly OK. Let me know what you'd like. Yes, participation, your points for attending section Thanksgiving week, the winter of perfect knowledge against the one that lacks the rhythm of the implications of the novel drunkenness, violence, the section, in relation to the poem takes on these trees in the text and helping them to avoid. Of course! I'm sorry to take this into account when grading your presentation is unlikely, because as declared in the first place you might think about Simon and Mary Dedalus in Ulysses. I feel bad about that. Think, though: Some of each of the possible for you to be spending time thinking about the way that they've done for most of the novel, too; and Figure Space contains a clear logico-narrative and is a very strong delivery. One of the text to which you make notes about the source you're using the add code for the final, you'll get another email about that. If you turn your work, OK? Is there something about the average grade for the actual amount of generalizing happening in here, and is the general to the question entirely and solely responsible for reading. So, I believe she's a dear girl. Moreover, you do have some very, very well done! On the rare occasions when I responded to your discussion, of self, of course. —The central interpretive difficulties that I hope you have read the opening of the course. You might note that he has been very punctual this quarter, especially for specific passages that you should have thought deeply about a characteristic of personality and identity that are ostensibly on the syllabus, of your discussion notes here but not participating in course texts during exams, and contemporary political and biographical concerns. In my own notes for week 8. Thanks! Molly in Ulysses, is to express more specifically here talking about something that other people to explore variations on standard essay format, nor 93% the high end, and then re-typed your email, and it would have helped you to be changed than send a more successful paper at an IV coffee shop, I'd like to insert yourself into that tradition.

I hadn't thought out the reminder. Remember that you're scheduled to perform this assignment. Arranging the second is for L & S and Engineering students the last available slots. She's going to be the full text of Pearse's speech that is very thoughtful and focused without being so long to get to everything anyway, especially if the group as a source. I'm looking forward to your first recitation was itself quite impressive things here, although it often does not include your bonus for performing in front of the poem I've heard it before, but may not know yourself yet, so make/absolutely sure. If you miss section, since we follow Bloom and/or taking the final. Your Poetry or Prose Recitation Is Graded English 150 this quarter, divided as follows: Up to/two percent/for/scrupulous accuracy/in Synge's The Playboy of the idea that will ask you questions for a B. Here's a breakdown on your works cited page for each text that they become part of your discussion tomorrow! Actually, someone else beat you to be reciting Patrick Kavanagh, On Raglan Road, Jose Saramago's Blindness, and how they pay off for you. What I think that the one that the person in question perfectly, and is one-third of a professional about your key terms construct meaning, of course agree with you. Let me know if you glance over at me occasionally, but I believe that you will have an excellent winter break! I'd just like to see first thing in the class to make it pay off, though perhaps incidental to the novel is a list of the text in only small ways, you've got some really perceptive things to say that you are absent or late, counting both Saturday and Sunday as a team and gave what was overall an excellent job with a selection from Ulysses, then you should talk a lot of important ways, what kinds of distinctions may help to define your key terms in your discussion could have been balanced a bit more familiar.

Rosie-Fluther is a default mapping on GauchoSpace for instructors who use GauchoSpace to calculate a point total is at any time. Getting a natural end or otherwise, with a more likely to see what other selection you chose. You've been very punctual this quarter! On poems by line number if you have questions about how lack of motherhood, I Had a Future McCabe p.

Another potentially productive move. Do I remember correctly that you want to look at the same part of the students had 97% or above. I think, would have been a pleasure working with. But you really did a solid elementary job of contextualizing your selection, I feel that that is merely excellent to writing an A grade in the context of being helpful. Third: remember that part of this handout is always available on the way that other people have expressed interest in the manner of an unhappy man near the end of your recording have no one else is waiting at 3:30 you are competing for this to you. Additionally, you are depending on how your evidence supports your central argument? All in all, though, so it hasn't hurt your grade on the final metaphorically speaking, and you incur the no-show penalty for getting on stage, but getting the group to read. Grade: B—I think it's untrue I don't know when I hear from DSP. Remember that next week 27 November will have to accept it by the way that the semi-competent mouth-breathing campus technical administrators decided to transition us over to how other people are reacting to look at your outline will be paying attention to your main ideas.

Good choice. This is especially true if you want to know if you make that? I think it's very perceptive readings of The Butcher Boy can best be read as having the divergences pointed out that many people as masses. At the same grade, then send me an email from n asking whether she can take the penalty which is a smart move might be possible if you feel this way. Overall, this means 11:59 pm on Sunday afternoon, we should be even more specific about your delivery showed that you'd put a great deal more during quarters when students aren't doing a genuinely excellent job an impassioned and, despite some occasional problems, although the multiple starts ate up time that you should take every possible point for the remainder of the particular text, and I know that you will not forget it when you do is produce an audio or video recording of it as bad as it is. First and foremost, and I'm looking forward to seeing you both for doing such a good job with a woman he has now missed three sections, which is an excellent job! It's been a document in a good choice to me I'm looking forward to seeing you both for doing a close-reading individual passages, but apparently I haven't been able to point to, as I've learned myself over the quarter. So, think carefully about how Ulysses supports your larger-scale stand on what that pole of your newspaper article, too; and Figure Space contains a clear argumentative thread, and if, of course. So, for instance, it may improve your grade at this point would be highly unusual to accomplish in a reduction of one or the viewer for the midterm scores until Tuesday. If you'd prefer, I'm very sorry to take so long to get back to your paper for it to say that you do an adequate job of getting people to engage in a way that allows you to make sure that your texts if you want to take advantage of the ideas of others to be helpful to build up to help you as quickly as possible when you don't cover it, and it may be helpful to make up the remaining time evenly amongst remaining participants in terms of speeches you can understand exactly how your attendance/participation that is, but afraid to use her add code as quickly as possible; if you want it to work out a mutually convenient time for someone who is thematically concerned with? Students who demonstrated some knowledge but did more than the ultimate destination of the work that put you down for Irish Airman instead. You did a very good job of deploying pauses effectively to larger-scale course concerns and themes, looking at the final, myself, than it currently reads like a lot of ways to the novel, or severe problems with these definitions if, of course not obligated to agree with the rest of the text imagines its reader, but there are other ways possible placing themselves in the manner of an A for the course. Of course, accessible from the standpoint of. These are all very small-scale, but that digging into the discussion go on in her blue book bringing two isn't a bad idea to skim the first people to speak eventually if you are welcome to a bachelor's thesis or a drunken buffoon to have to pick up the chain and it would have needed to be signing up for points that seem important or supplement them, and #5, about conversation, and your presence in front of the entire class in that context early in the first question, but in the class, then get back to the course of the text and provided a very difficult text, drawing out the reminder email I sent Can Aksoy also overheard the conversation. Are Old, Who Goes with Fergus in the earlier reference. You'll want to go to bed late tonight and will split the remaining time evenly amongst remaining participants in terms of the malicious pleasure of abandoning them to pick up a bit more to get to. And places, from Latin solidus. Participatory people in his own mother. Let me know what you think about what your specific readings as a whole you'd have to go back through the tabs. Let me know if you describe what needs to be leaving town. I suspect that this is a smart move.

That alone motivated most students who neither turned in a Reddit discussion earlier this year! Your initial explication was thoughtful and sensitive to the poem as a TA than I am perfectly convinced that you're not doing anything horribly, but that it takes. History may be that your ideas. Yeats, Joyce, Ulysses from Penelope, Godot Vladimir's speech, 33ff.

Take care of by God these are worthwhile paths to take a look below for section-by-section recitation, and/or may not, let them work to be spending time thinking about, I guess another way of summary comments or actual lecture material on the Web at or, if you have a perceptive piece of writing with the earliest part of the room, or. All of these terms that differ are generally fairly small errors, though I hadn't thought out that I do before I get is that I necessarily believe these things, this is quite a good job this week.

But if you want to switch topics? Feel better soon! You've done a fair amount of time to think about it in a good job of setting this paper, because that will ask you to be sure that you're essentially doing a large number of important goals well, empty and abandoned, and I haven't seen yet. Also, please let me know what you want to deal with the texts is also a Twitter stream while we were reading it, you had a 99, so you should aim for a specific set of close readings as a monster, and of Sheep Go to Heaven, too, that you expect. So, when you do not overlap with yours, and Dexter here. The Woman Turns Herself into a more rigorous analysis. Either Sunday or Monday if you're specifically looking at large for failing to subscribe to one or two in case it's hard to be good enough. You legitimately crossed the line. Overall, this is a good student this quarter, you need to do a couple of ideas in more detail. There's no need to know how many sections you missed. I think that you should pick from the concrete into the text, despite the few comparatively minor errors that mostly sticks out to me in person instead of seven, and deployed secondary sources without letting your paper is straining to say. It looks familiar to me after lecture or in section after the final, you did quite a good one, to get you a five-minute and expect an immediate answer to a warning: getting any penalties at this point is to drop courses without fee via GOLD. You did very well done, both of my own reaction would be questions that go straight for it. Hi! You may want to say that you could enter into culminant stage of the professor's signature on a student who didn't attempt to answer an e-mail off to lecture with me. There are plenty of other cultural changes, I'd rather not encourage you to make sure that you understood the issues involved, but rather that, if your health allows it, in addition to tracking attendance, not on me. Or, to be fully successful approach to the MLA guidelines, with each other, in your section last week. It turns out, you two did a very productive, though some luxury goods have their beliefs about what's most important insights are is one place where this is not enough points that you've got a good student this quarter; if you found it on Slideshare and linking to the connections between McCabe's use of props and costuming was nice to have toward the end of the least of these would be for, and Her Lover are very rare moments of suboptimal phrasing, so I can point to areas where it will be no extra spacing between paragraphs or other visual aids that will encourage substantial discussion in my office hours, and then ask them to pick up a critique of the poem and connect them to become familiar with is Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, which is vitally important to the actual amount of time that you are expected to have thrown them away when going through the hiring process, but because you will quite likely at that time. 'S midterm study guide, from anyone else's copy, because they haven't started the reading this week. County Mayo A spavindy ass p. I'm sorry for the section develop its own; I like it again? If I gloss over particularly difficult in multiple ways. Often, one thing, I think that you understand what I would avoid making a cognitive leap. I think that the complex connection that's being built here is the play as a group to read it, in turn, based on your part, but oh well. I'll see you next week unless you indicate that that's quite comprehensive. Recitations this week, constantly had thoughtful and focused, providing reminders about upcoming events, links to articles and see whether you think is one good point of discussion that allow you to take the time for your loss, and that you would be perfect, most of the text than to maintain a separate currency. All in all, you've done your recitation and lecture. Hi!

Yes, and so on.

You did a good job of leading the group discourse on a regular rhyme scheme, and I would say that reading about the Irish identity that are slightly less open-ended rather than counting on me. The emergency room, but that you could be. I just want to cover, refreshing everyone's memory on the paper the clock and think about putting in conjunction with a question is a good thing, and a bit due to recall problems, places of suboptimal expression are rather complex in the back of your own responses are sufficient data to establish universal truths about how things are going to be honest, but that you should have been underrepresented in the wrong place, but keeping the question and, especially if the text and provided a structured discussion that followed, but has borrowed several pages from it into the world is less important than the rules is generally pretty minor errors, and reschedule would be fair game, but in large part because it affects your grade by much.

I think both of you should be adaptable in terms of participation and attendance that is also the only good way to constructing a theory of how specific people's ideas were. Let me know what you see the text itself and the University for classes at UCSB, and then sit down and take a look at the moment is that you would benefit from hearing them. My own preference, when you're in charge in our backgrounds. What that motivation should be adaptable in terms of which parts of the text to bring a blue book bringing two isn't a bad thing, you must take all reasonable steps to correct the problems she was having. 5 p. I personally don't think that O'Casey's portrayal of female sexuality similar to and in a variety of texts to think about how your grade. You're smart and articulate why you're picking that particular poem would be helpful, and that getting a very strong job! Good choice; I just heard back from your paper as a TA, You have some perceptive things to talk about is how I think that you look at British regulations of the opening leave? Believe it or not at all; both seem more or less a series of questions, OK? As for the sources of your head that you're OK, but rather that you are one of the Telemachus episode 6 p. In response to that phrase while dying, act IV: lyrics and discussion of the Blooms' marriage. I think you've got a thoughtful, perceptive, and it shouldn't be too hard to motivate people other than Joyce, or the student who didn't either take the penalty which is a long time to get you your grade, but you can substitute the number of sections attended, is lucid and compelling, and you took. You are now currently at 86. Here's what I take to be framed and executed a bit more on the more likely selection. Finally, being honest when you sense that it looks to me this quarter, and that Patrick Kavanagh, Innocence Any poem at all. This may be ignoring the context of Synge's play The Playboy of the quarter he had only picked three, or it may be servitude, History may be quite a good set of very open-ended would have liked generally lost points for section this Wednesday the original deadline was. I think, always a good paper here, and demonstrated adaptability in terms of discussion that followed. If you do a substantial academic or professional honor that absolutely doesn't work, I'll hold on to point to the smallest detail. You picked a poem to others, because you won't have time to get going. I think, but there are a lot of ways in which you want to just make sure that you're making a cognitive leap. If you have any questions, OK? Go to Heaven, too. At least, that's fine my 6 o'clock section, your points, actually, but do contain major announcements and the only passage that's not always an easy thing to do everything required for all students, that you want to say that nationalism was lessened mid-century, and students can find one here. I'm assuming that you would like you received the grade that was fair to the same number of ways in which you are. Ultimately, what this actually means is that it would most help at this point, having talked about in this regard over the line into the wrong person and a student paper; and dropped et unam sanctam from the group as a study aid for other texts mentioned by the previous week, you should definitely be there on time, to be at least one TA teaching Tuesday sections, you might think about your nervousness can help you to achieve this—I'm not faulting you for the bus on the paper. So you can check there to be clear to you within 48 hours after you reschedule it: you had an A in the novel. I'm glad to be changed than send a new sense of your new puppy!

Talking about Yeats's response was also informed that he said No, I did to so I can't speak for everyone, not blonde, hair. You do a lot of ways in which this could conceivably have been even more successful would be if each was a pleasure having you in the assignment this quarter, and to Bloom's thoughts in more detail if you'd let me know if you schedule a room. If you wish to incorporate personal experience that is sophisticated, broadly informed paper, every B paper turned in on the section during which you want to do it by reciting it to. I think. One option that you score at least six of the B range. Again, well, but you still get an incomplete would also require the professor's signature on a regular basis as you possibly can, and to let you know, and so this is only one of the text. Etc. One of these is that you should shoot for ten minutes if you feel strongly about a number of important things to say for sure. Try thinking about how you'd like. Thanks!

#Irish literature #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Python #Markov chains

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tenscupcake · 7 years

Text

the null hypothesis (6/?)

fitzsimmons. teen. my holiday gift to you guys! an update amidst the madness. the urt is really ramping up now :P summary: roughly one out of every six people can't feel touch; that is, until their soulmate touches them. fitz and jemma are two indignant contributors to that statistic, content to devote their lives to science rather than searching for their supposed 'other half.' both too clever for high school, they head off to university at sixteen, completely unaware their fates are about to become intertwined. but in a world where soulmates don't always match, it's not always easy to confess to a stranger. a soulmate au with a twist. this chapter on ao3 | back to chapter 1 on ao3

Oh, Fitz.

He wears ties that don’t match his shirts. Jumpers that look more suited for her grandparents than a sixteen-year-old. He’s not all that interested in biology. His hair is neither brown nor blond, but frustratingly in between. He can be a bit standoffish, too.

But such things have become so trivial in the two lab sessions she’s spent with him.

Instead, she finds herself fixating solely on his appealing qualities: his far-above-average intellect, his passion for physics, the way his Scottish stutter reminds her of home. Those bright, clear eyes of his, kaleidoscopes of several different hues of blue that scatter light like zircon crystals. So intense when he’s paying close attention. Staring into those eyes in person is nothing short of mesmerizing, but even when she’s alone, the mere memory of his gaze can completely derail her thoughts.

Even the very same quirks that once turned her off have become more appealing in retrospect. Because the mismatched outfits suit him, somehow. When she talks about biology, he’s clever enough to keep up despite his lack of background in the subject. And her frustration with his indefinable hair colour doesn’t stop her from daydreaming about running her fingers through those curls. And she has to admit, his ‘rude’ remarks have made her chuckle several times now. He’s not mean-spirited. Frustrated, if anything, from a lifetime surrounded by people who were never on his wavelength. That’s something Jemma can relate to.

She can’t believe she ever thought he wasn’t worth her time. He’s clearly the cleverest person she’s met since arriving here, and she’s including professors in that count. He can perhaps be slightly rude, when provoked, but the majority of the time he’s incredibly sweet. Attentive, polite. Not irresponsible, either. Less dedicated to studying with all his waking free time, perhaps, but he wants to be here as much as she does. Dedicated to mastering his field. Never has a first impression she’s had been so utterly wrong.

She’s still serious about her plan to become proper friends, somehow. It’s the only way she can possibly find out about his soulmate status. But as the days go by, she wonders whether she even wants to know. The possibility of having to walk away, not being able to even see him anymore, is already more painful than it should be, having only spent a handful of hours in the lab with him.

It feels like she’s known him longer than that. Probably because a good portion of her waking (and sleeping) thoughts are consumed by him.

But, as intense as her desire is to spend more time with him, she goes on pretending she doesn’t know where he sits in lecture. They haven’t exchanged numbers or e-mails, or seen one another outside of the lab, after all. Jemma has been too terrified of slipping up to ask.

Jemma finds herself looking forward to their next lab more than anything else at the university. More than the classes she’s actually interested in, more than meals. Seeing Fitz is the highlight of her week.

The third week’s laboratory passes in a similar manner to the second: mostly efficient work mixed with the occasional chatter. But it’s the happiest Jemma’s been since last Tuesday, no question.

They still talk over each other when they’re thinking out loud, bicker slightly when they’re trying to decide the most efficient way of doing something. But Jemma has learned it’s only because both of them think too fast to leave enough pauses for proper conversation. They are both more than capable of talking and listening at the same time, as well, a skill many people lack. Thinking mostly in formulas and geometry, he has a unique perspective on things. It’s exciting to have such a complementary intellect beside her.

They don’t share study habits, it seems, but they do discover they both watch Doctor Who. How could they not, being British as they are? She confesses she’s not caught up because she hasn’t found a good way to watch new episodes. He jots her number down in his lab notebook, promising to send her a link to the site he uses.

As they’ve both skipped lunch this week, they spend a sizeable portion of the latter half of their experiment talking about what they’d like to have for dinner. When all he can think about are sandwiches, Jemma promises to text him back a recipe she thinks he’d like.

Though the prospect of having his phone number is undeniable progress, Jemma is still in mourning when they finish the protocol with an hour to spare once again.

But just after they’ve turned in their pages and returned to their station, catastrophe strikes.

Fitz has just unbuttoned his lab coat when a passing undergraduate bumps into a classmate and sloshes the contents of a beaker. Jemma watches several big drops hit the floor, and she immediately springs into action.

“What was in that beaker?” she says calmly, holding her hands out as the bloke freezes.

“HCl,” he answers in a rush, practically shaking in his trainers.

“What concentration?”

They’d used two concentrations today – 0.05M and 6M – the latter constituting a far greater hazard.

“The higher one,” he splutters out, still frozen to the spot.

Jemma rushes over to the spill kit and scoops up a glove full of baking soda, tossing it onto the caustic liquid. She waits for the violent bubbles to die, then wets a few paper towels to clean up the spill before Jason even makes his way over to the site of the accident.

“Nicely, done, Jemma. Quick thinking,” he says. “Did it get anywhere else?”

“I don’t think so, sir,” Fitz volunteers.

“Excellent. Disaster averted! Mr. Xu, you need to be more careful,” he addresses the boy who’d spilt, walking back with him to his station. “What’s the rule for when you’re walking behind people with hazardous materials?”

Jemma doesn’t hear the rest.

“Jemma.” Fitz sounds serious.

When she looks up, he’s holding his tie out with his gloves. Jemma frowns. He knows as well as she does that rule #1 of lab safety is to never touch your clothes or face with gloves still on.

“Some of the acid got on my tie,” he says under his breath.

“Fitz!” she nearly shouts.

He shushes her immediately, panic in his eyes. “I don’t want Jason to know.”

“Wh –”

“He’ll make me strip and take a bloody shower in the hallway!” he whispers frantically.

“Fitz…” Jemma peers through the gaps in the benches over to Jason, finding him occupied on the other side of the room.

“It didn’t get anywhere else. I watched the whole thing. There’s just one drop, on my tie. See?”

She glances down to where there’s a growing, fraying pale patch on his striped blue tie.

“Well, what do you want me to do, cut it off?”

“Have you got scissors?” he asks.

“No.”

He sighs. “Well, you can’t just go looking for some, he’ll want to know what for. Just help me get it off.” He tugs on the tie, his stupid, shining blue eyes pleading.

He can’t untie it with his contaminated gloves, but nor can he let go of the tie to remove his gloves, lest the acid spread onto his shirt then to his skin.

Is this really happening right now? Is the universe letting this happen right now???

If she has to take off his tie without unthreading the knot, she has to loosen it and lift it over his head herself. How exactly is she supposed to do that without touching him? On his neck, and head, no less? Oh, this is so bad.

But it’s Fitz. He’s being threatened by a corrosive, and she doesn’t want to force him into the humiliation of a public shower. She doesn’t have a choice, really. She has to help him.

Per the rules of safety, she has to take off her gloves, so she peels them off and slips out of her coat so as not to inadvertently expose him to something else. She stands to his side while he holds the tie out as far away from them both as he can. Thankfully, the people to either side of them seem to wrapped up in their experiments to notice what they’re doing.

She strives for professionalism, at first. Loosening the (thankfully) simple knot in his tie bit by bit, without managing to touch anything but his shirt, where it’s safe. But she’s losing her mind, being this close. A thin fabric away from unlocking more of her sense of touch. From, perhaps, putting him in a circumstance where he can’t help but reveal himself, if he is her match. From her studies of maps of nerve endings, one’s neck is a sensitive spot.

Hmm.

Suddenly Jemma is tempted.

She tries to tell herself it’s a bad idea, that it’d be taking advantage of him. But her curiosity gets the better of her. As she pushes his collar up to free him of the now-loosened tie, she brushes her knuckles against the skin of his neck.

And Fitz gasps.

It’s small, hardly audible, but unmistakeable.

Glancing up at his face, there’s just a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks. He also appears to have stopped breathing.

Spurred on, she allows herself another touch. More than one replicate is required for valid scientific study, right?

This time, Fitz merely squeezes his eyes shut.

The backs of her fingers where she just touched him are swimming with signals, like they’re suddenly filled with little live wires, buzzing with that familiar, pleasant electric hum where they’ve just been turned on.

Jemma’s heart flutters in her chest. Is it possible that… this moment, he’s experiencing the same thing?

Or maybe he just can’t wait for this awkward situation – where his female lab partner has to intimately take off his tie to save him from even worse embarrassment – to be over.

Ugh, what is she thinking!?

She stops stalling and starts lifting the sufficiently loosened tie, and he follows her lead. She honestly tries not to to touch his face, keeping her hands to either side of his head as much as she can. But the way his hair tickles her fingers (the spots that it can, anyway) catches her off guard. Her hand wobbles just slightly and she bumps his nose with her left arm.

Oops.

They get the tie clear of his head only a second later, and she lets go of it as soon as possible. He immediately walks over to the fume hood with it, setting down inside the lip before walking over to the spill kit.

She’s endlessly glad he’s walked away, because she lets out a few gasping breaths she hadn’t realizes she was holding in. And can’t help running her fingers over the new spots Fitz had just activated: the spot on her arm, the backs of her knuckles.

She really needs to get a grip. She thought she had prepared for this. It’s not like she hasn’t done it before, now, with the inside of her right hand, the little bits of her left. She can touch something new now without sending her nerves and thoughts into a frenzy. It’s just Fitz that does this; touching him is its own category. Evidently, it does send her into a frenzy.

He comes back with handful of baking soda and what appears to be a beaker of clear liquid. Hopefully, water. He throws the powder onto the tie, then pours a bit of the liquid onto it. It fizzles spectacularly.

“Could’ve been bad,” he says, with a nervous chuckle.

His face is most definitely pinker than usual.

“Yeah,” she agrees, trying to sound normal. What is normal?

“Thanks for helping me out,” he says, almost breathless.

It makes Jemma’s mind wander again. Is he going through the same slow transformation, and too shy to talk about it? Or is he simply jarred from nearly having chemical burns on his chest due to a careless error of another undergraduate?

The latter. It’s got to be the latter. She’s being silly.

“No problem,” she says, as casually as she can. It comes out more hysteric. “Sorry about your tie,” she adds.

He shrugs, as he collects the spent cloth and tosses it in the bin.

She’s got to get out of here before his PPE comes off and she’s confronted with even worse temptation.

She turns around, collects her things, and waves a quick farewell.

“See you next week,” she rushes out as he peels off his gloves.

“See you,” she barely hears him say before she’s out the door.

She’s already hyperventilating again when she reaches her dorm.

God, she can’t handle this. It feels like she’s crumbling from the inside. She keeps telling herself with more time, she’ll be able to figure out whether he’s her match, but it seems to only get further out of her reach the more time she spends with him. Each new touch is an adrenaline shot greater than the last, an electric burst of life that feels so right all she wants is more. But this aftermath, feeling guilty and dreading the day he finds out about her, is like what she imagines a crash from a high feels like.

There’s a reason this experience is meant to be shared. Going it alone is almost unbearable.

She needs to just ask him.

How can she just ask him, though? it’s not exactly a polite conversation topic. It’s like asking if one is a virgin, or has a girlfriend. It’s rude, for one thing, and it certainly implies a level of romantic interest. And would no doubt elicit scrutiny of her own soulmate and relationship status that she isn’t prepared to bear.

Groaning to her empty room, she pulls out her backpack and prepares to distract herself with homework as best she can.

At 6:10 PM, she gets a text from an unfamiliar number. Stomach swooping, she reads it from the notification screen immediately.

It’s a link.

She swipes into the message, and a second text comes in just as she’s examining the link for authenticity.

Use a proxy if you don’t want to get caught by the university’s streaming police. – Fitz

He’d used his last name.

A huge smile spreads across Jemma’s face. An unfamiliar, warm excitement spreads through her bloodstream until she’s lightheaded with it.

Thanks :)

Jemma Simmons has never sent a text with an emoji in her life. What has gotten into her?

Still, she adds him as a contact straightaway. It takes more willpower than it should not to put a heart next to his name.

Oh, dear, she’s screwed.

She remembers the recipe he requested, and types it out the best she can from memory. But she forgets a few details on the pesto aioli, and has to text her mum to get the ratios right, so it’s a little bit before she gets it sent off.

Still, only a few seconds after she’s pressed ‘send’ on the recipe, he replies.

Great! :)

Jemma smiles widely again, and want to slap herself for being such a typical teenager.

At that very moment, though, there’s a knock on her doorframe.

May.

“Everything okay?” she asks.

It’s the third week in a row she’s visited Jemma around this time. It’s almost like she expects every Tuesday afternoon to completely unravel her composure now.

Jemma hates the fact that so far that expectation has held true.

May is quiet, keeps to herself save where her responsibilities are concerned. She’s a fourth-year in criminal justice, and does kickboxing in her spare time. Interests Jemma finds as intriguing as intimidating.

But Jemma can’t deny that she trusts her implicitly. So far, May has been nothing but kind, but not overbearingly so. She’s always been there for Jemma, if only when called upon. She doesn’t push, or pry. It’s not her style.

Desperate as she is right now, Jemma thinks maybe she should tell May about Fitz. Maybe she’ll have some informed advice that Daisy and her mum both lack.

“May…” she begins, turning in her chair. “Have you got a soulmate?”

Unexpectedly, May takes a couple of steps into Jemma’s room, reaching behind her to close the door. When it closes, she crosses her arms across her chest, looking even more attentive than before. Raising her eyebrows with just a hint of a smirk, she nods.

“I do.”

#fitzsimmons #fstag #fsfic #this fic continues to be one of the most joyous things in my life #written by yours truly

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coppermarigolds · 7 years

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Dear Yuletide Writer 2017

Hello Yuletide writer, and thank you in advance for whatever you write this year! This will be my eighth year in a row doing Yuletide. I can't believe it's been that long, but it really has become one of the highlights of my year. Here’s a bit of general information about my fic preferences that I hope will be helpful.

What I like: I typically prefer gen and/or het. Genre-wise, pretty much anything goes–angst, romance, fluff, humor, etc. More specifically, I love fics that dig into characters’ heads: what they’re thinking and feeling, what drives them, how they interact and react to the world around them, and so on. The same is true of relationships–what makes this pairing tick? Why are they together? And so on. I also love love love awesome female characters being awesome. That doesn’t have to mean being physically kickass, either. It could be anything from a witty line of banter to a thoughtful conversation to a creative problem-solving method, just to scratch the surface. I particularly enjoy female characters being assertive and taking charge in relationships.

What I’m not so into: Rape/non-con is my biggest squick. I would prefer for character death to be avoided if possible (unless the story deals with the ramifications of a canonical character death, of course). While I’m fine with an angsty story, I tend to stay away from extremely dark, punch-to-the-gut angst. I like my endings happy, or at least bittersweet and/or hopeful.

Fandom-specific notes:

Alpha Protocol, Mike Thorton and Mina Tang

I’ve been requesting this fandom for years, and by this point I’m pretty sure I will never actually match on it, but I keep trying out of some combination of tradition and stubbornness. Alpha Protocol is actually something of an outlier when it comes to my fandom/video game preferences: the lack of a female player character option and the allusions to real-world politics are usually pretty high up on my “meh” list, but for some reason, I’m still very fond of this game despite both of those things. I think something about the lone agent cut off from almost all support, but still trying desperately to save the world, strikes a chord with me.

For this fandom, I’d primarily enjoy a post-canon fic about what happens next. The variety of endings means there’s a lot of potential ways that could go down, but no matter what happens, I like to think Mike and Mina face it together. I know there are a hundred different options for everything in this game, but somehow whenever I play, I can’t seem to get my Mike to end up with anyone but Mina. I’m a big fan of friends/coworkers to lovers, and I enjoy the mutual respect and support they have for each other throughout the game (assuming you don’t play Mike as a total jackass, anyway :p).

The Expanse (TV), Fred Johnson and Drummer

For all I know, I might be entirely alone in this, but boy do I ever ship these two. It all started the moment Fred jokingly told Drummer to get him some coffee and she gave him that perfect look + hand gesture that told him exactly what she thought of that idea. From that moment on, I knew I was in love. That said, I would be perfectly happy with a gen fic about them as well, so please don't feel obligated to write anything shippy if you don't feel like it.

I'd love to read anything about these two, so I'm not picky, but here are a couple of potential ideas:

• Post-"Pyre" fic! Drummer basically got shot in the gut because she refused to betray Fred. That's some pretty hardcore loyalty to a man who inspires significant mistrust and even outright anger in a lot of people. Fred and Drummer clearly already know each other pretty well, but I feel like this episode presents even more significant bonding opportunities (especially in a shippy scenario), so I'd love a missing scene or coda fic.

• It bugs me that Drummer's never been given a first name in the show. I'd love some kind of explanation for this in fic. Presumably Fred knows her first name. Is there some reason it's seemingly never spoken aloud? Maybe she doesn't think it suits her, or maybe it's just an overabundance of professionalism, or maybe it's something deeper. Feel free to surprise me on this one!

Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy and Erend

This game has been one of the highlights of my year. Aloy is such a breath of fresh air and I love her so much. She's wonderfully snarky and take-charge and doesn't let anyone talk down to her, but also struggles with the pain of abandonment and ostracism. She's one of those characters that I both relate to in some ways, and aspire to be more like her in other ways.

I also love Erend, and I ship him and Aloy like you wouldn't believe. Physically tough capable dude who is in utter awe of his warrior-goddess girlfriend is basically my shipping catnip. What I love most about their friendship in the game is that Erend admits he started out with the "hotshot guy talking to a pretty girl" mindset, but by the end of the game, he's recognized that Aloy's mission is bigger than him and he was just lucky to have met her as she went about her business. His lack of male entitlement and machismo is really refreshing.

Since there's no actual romance in the game itself, I'd naturally love a fic that delves into their relationship and takes it from friends to lovers (another of my favorite tropes). But if Aloy/Erend or shipfic isn't your thing and you'd prefer to keep it gen, I'm fine with that as well!

A couple more specific ideas (though please don't feel limited to these):

• One thing I wished the game would have explored more is Aloy's reaction to finding out she's a clone. After spending her whole life in search of her mother, discovering she technically didn't have one must have been a blow. But aside from a moment or two of shock and angst, the game doesn't really give her much time or space to process the revelation. Fortunately, fanfic can help with that! So, once HADES is defeated and the dust has settled, how does Aloy deal with the truth of her past? How does she feel about Elisabet? Does she tell Erend about any of this, and if so, how does he react?

• One of my favorite things in the game is finding the bits and pieces of files left behind by the "Old Ones"--i.e., us! I'd love to see a story with Aloy reacting to some of the ancient ruins and information she finds. Does she find them strange and confusing? Or do they help her feel closer to Elisabet?

• I definitely plan to play the DLC that's coming out next month (as of this writing), so if you come up with a fic idea based on that, feel free to write that as well!

Until Dawn, Jessica

Until Dawn is something of a fandom happy place for me (twisted, I know). It's one of those rare fandoms where I genuinely like and am interested in every single one of the characters. I would be happy to read about any or all of them, so feel free to include any of the other characters as you see fit, whether they were nominated for Yuletide or not.

I requested Jess because even though I love all the kids in this game, I have something of a special soft spot for her. I love that she's a little brash and willing to stand up for herself, but also self-aware enough to admit she struggles with insecurities. (My heart goes out to her in that moment, every time.)

A few potential story ideas (though again, please don't feel limited to these):

• As much as it hurts my soul, part of me is morbidly fascinated by the idea of Jess as the night's sole survivor, particularly because she has the least knowledge about what actually happened. She doesn't know anything about Josh's prank, the stranger on the mountain, or Hannah and Beth's ultimate fates. All she knows is that "there's something in the mines." After surviving a night of horror that mysteriously killed all her friends, how would she move forward? Would she struggle with survivor's guilt and/or PTSD? Would she attempt to figure out what exactly happened, or just try to put it all behind her and move on with her life? Would she ever figure out just who/what it was that attacked her?

• Since Jess spends half the game either dead or unconscious at the bottom of a mine shaft, we don't really see much of her relationships with the other kids aside from Mike and Emily. I'd love a story, either pre or post-canon, that expands on her relationship(s) with any of the other characters.

• Does she experience any guilt, either after the game or in the one-year interim after Hannah and Beth's disappearance, for being the one who came up with the idea for the prank on Hannah? How does she deal with it? Does it strain her relationships with any of her friends (including, and perhaps especially, Josh)?

I hope this letter gives you some ideas on where to start! I also typically have anon asks turned on here on Tumblr, so if you have any questions or need clarification on anything, feel free to drop me a line.

Happy writing and happy Yuletide!

#dear yuletide writer #yuletide 2017

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kootenaygoon · 5 years

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So,

Kite surfers rode the ocean gusts high above Dallas Road as Spencer and I worked our way down the winding stone steps to the beach. It was cold. We’d grabbed a six-pack and were looking to find some driftwood to hunker against for the afternoon. It was March 2016, I was halfway through my week off from the Star and this was one of things I’d been looking forward to most: seeing my roommate from the UVic years. He was crotchety, loyal, and completely predictable. The Statler to my Waldorf. I would call him a brother, but the truth was he was more like a wife. That’s the term my Mom starting using during the years Spence and I were roommates. I’d put aside two days to connect with him, so the night before we’d gotten sushi before heading to a movie at the Odeon. He was trying to be polite, but I could tell he was elated to finally be rid of Paisley. Neither of them made any secret of their dislike for each other.

As we settled on the beach stones I took a long swallow from my can of Pilsner. Spence and I affectionally called it Vitamin P, something we picked up in the Yukon when he came to visit me during my time at the Whitehorse Star. That summer we’d road-tripped up to Dawson City with some friends and done some heavy-duty drinking. Our glory days.

“Everybody keeps on telling me they’re sorry I’m going through this, you know, they’re checking in emotionally or whatever, but not one single person has taken this break-up as bad news,” I told Spence. “There’s not a single person who has said ‘I’m going to miss Paisley’ or ‘too bad, I liked her’, or anything like that.”

Spencer shook his head. “That’s because everyone hated Paisley. I hated Paisley. I think you secretly hated Paisley the whole time, but you just needed to prove you were a good boyfriend or something.”

“You know, she was going through a lot. Her health conditions and everything.”

“Sorry, Will. There’s no cure for being a cunt.”

I sighed. Seagulls were soaring in place, buffeted by the breeze, just above our heads. I decided to change the subject. “I hooked up with a new girl the other day, actually. This artist chick from Tinder.”

He gaped. “Aren’t you staying with your sister?”

“She took me back to her place. She makes art out of John Grisham novels.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It’s mixed media, so there’s tiny script in the back of a lot of the pieces and if you look closely you can read passages from A Time to Kill or The Client or The Pelican Brief or whatever.”

“You need to knock it off with the crazy chicks, man. Can’t you just date someone normal?”

Spence was an acquired taste. Absolutely obsessed with pop culture, particularly TV and movies, he had a tendency to spend entire conversations mapping out a particular actors’ career trajectory or recounting anecdotes from his favourite shows. He loved smoking cigarettes and doing crossword puzzles. He’d gone to film school twice, but the resulting student loan debt had scared him into a cozy salesman job at a scuba company called Aqualung. He was sarcastic, had a tendency to rage, and was absolutely devoted to a number of key women in his life. One was his sister Shannon, another was our friend Lindsay, and then there was his niece Taylor. They inspired in Spencer the sort of chivalric passion legends are made of.

There were a number of ways our lives had overlapped, starting in high school, but Spence and I didn’t really become friends until partway through my undergrad at UVic. One day we were chatting online when he mentioned that things were getting stagnant on the Mainland. He was thinking about moving to Vancouver Island to be closer to his sister, and it turned out I needed a new roommate. It was perfect. We lived together off and on for nearly three years, sharing everything from smokes to books and kitchen utensils. When I moved to the Kootenays I left him with a bunch of my belongings, including a shelf full of great literature.

Before that there was my lifeguarding years in Vancouver. Back then our eclectic social crowd orbited Commercial Drive and Broadway. Those were the years Spencer lived with our friend Bill, a child actor who had aged out and was making his living doing voiceover work for anime films. The two of them were persistent for months in trying to convince me that I had to watch The Wire. They told me it was worldview-altering, that there was no other show like it, but I was skeptical. Finally Bill put the first season boxed set in my hands and made me promise to try the first three episodes.

“If you’re not hooked by the end of the third episode, I’ll stop pestering you.”

“I don’t know, man. I don’t really like cop shows.”

“This isn’t a cop show. This is a story about a whole city, from the lowest drug addict all the way up to the mayor, the politicians, the lawyers. It covers all the different facets of Baltimore.”

“I’m not really into politics, either. What’s so interesting about Baltimore?”

“You’ll see, man. Trust me.”

Spence and Bill were right. By the end of the third episode I was hooked, and within a few weeks I’d burned through the four available seasons. We got together and discussed the central theme of “the game”, how everything came down to chess. We were three white kids from our privileged little suburb, dissecting the nuances of a ghetto drug trade we would probably never see in person. But as it turned out, I learned that the third season was based on real events that took place on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Suddenly the narrative hit that much closer to home.

“I’m thinking maybe I should write a book about Nelson,” I told him. “Like Never Shoot a Stampede Queen, but set in the Kootenays.”

“A memoir?”

“I’m not sure. The stuff I’m covering is interesting enough on it’s own, like the Andrew Stevenson bank robbery thing, or this Ryan Tapp story. It could be true crime, kind of like The Wire but set in Nelson.”

Spence pondered. This was his favourite thing to do, dispensing his thoughts on how an artistic project should proceed. He’d wanted to be a director when he was younger, and had even filmed a short movie starring our friends Brandon and Amanda a few years earlier. I believed that one day he was going to get his shit together and film another one, and I was constantly encouraging him to do so. In the meantime, he was the one friend who truly engaged with my work and believed that I was going to make it one day. Whenever I talked about writing a book he always took me seriously, even though I never actually produced one.

“You said you know the police chief, right? And you know some pretty sketchy druggy dudes. Then you’ve got the business people and all the politicians, like that shady cop you told me about, the one who ran for mayor,” Spencer said. “That’s it. You just fill out that cast, try to hit all the different facets like David Simon, and I think that would work. I mean, if you’re compiling all these stories you may as well fucking use them.”

I nodded. That brought me to the next topic. The whole point of this trip to the coast was to give me some time to ponder whether I wanted to stay in Nelson or not. Really, I could take the content I already had and turn it into something fun. Stampede Queen’s author Mark Leiren-Young was only in Williams Lake for six months and was able to gather enough material, while I’d been at the Star for nearly two years so far. The other thing was the logistics of finding a place, of starting from scratch. Paisley had chosen to stay in our old suite, and I wondered if there was really enough room in the city for both of us. I’d been looking at my options, and moving back to Victoria was high on the list. If that happened, I wanted to live with Spence. I took a deep breath and explained where my headspace was at with it, and asked him whether he’d consider moving out of his sister’s place.

He bit his lip. “I don’t know, man. I don’t think I can. I’d love to live together again, but I’ve got a pretty good thing going.”

“This wouldn’t necessarily be right away. Like maybe I’ll go back to the paper for six months, something like that. I just thought maybe you’d want to get closer to the city again. Do you like being way out in Langford?”

“It’s Taylor, man. I like being around for her, driving her to high school. I like my set up there, being part of her life. I don’t know.”

“I get it, I get it.”

Spence shifted on the driftwood. “Listen, the real reason is you need to stick it out in Nelson. It’s obvious you’re not done yet. Your mind is so caught up in everything out there. Stop smoking so much fucking weed and you could have a really good thing going,” he said.

“Especially if you stop dating crazy chicks.”

The Kootenay Goon

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anmousewrites · 7 years

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Gundam Wing Rewatch Part 2

So unlike last time where I watched half the series and then tried to remember everything, this time I took notes the whole way through. That means some of this has a ‘live-blog’ feel to it, and I’ll sum up my feelings at the end.

1) What is up with Duo hitting the self destruct and not... self destructing. 2) See, now you’re back to being Zechs. I guess he defaults to Zechs when he isn’t sure of himself, because it is a facade that is comforting to him (added later: yeah, he definitely uses that side of him as a crutch) 3) Praise the Lord for Releena Peacecraft and Lucretzia Noin Re: creating defenses for the sanc kingdom. Actually praise the lord for them anyways. 4) Heero oscillates between being very communicative and exceptionally taciturn. I don’t think he does it at will. The lying, however, I think he’s completely aware of although he might not know how to stop it. Get this boy a therapist please. 5) Quatre makes an interesting distinction between people meant to fight and people meant to lead 6) Treize stop being charming. Just stop. 6b) You too, Zechs

So Epyon showed Treize he was gonna die, which explains why he wasn’t really worried about Heero shooting him. I guess if Epyon shows the same thing to Heero, Treize will feel a little better about having to cut out of the party early. Kind of sad to think about though. Also, wise when giving a suit to Heero Yuy to take the self det offline. Very wise.

That answers a question I have had since childhood. Why does Epyon not have any ranged weapons? Because it was designed to fight mobile dolls, who have shields that render anything but the beam canon useless. Maaaakes sense. WHO THOUGHT THE ZERO SYSTEM WAS A GOOD IDEA? Like just... Everyone who touches it goes crazy. Yes, Heero, Quatre and Zechs all manage to make it work, but GATDANG that stuff is no bueno.

Amnesiac Trowa breaks my fucking heart. I don’t blame Catherine for having him call her sister, because she basically is, so it does make things a little easier to explain. Every time he shows up I similarly feel wildly protective so good job. Also A+ for a female character who likes to show up without wearing much and is never treated less by the narrative for it.

Hilde never really gets to the same level of greatness as the other female characters, but that’s kind of fair. The cast of GW is huge. She’s not bad, she’s just a little bland.

Also, weirdly, playing against type, Heero’s ongoing deep philosophical understanding of human nature and politics and Quatre’s ability to seamlessly slide through a battlefield leaving blood in his wake. There’s a lot less stereotyping going on than I remember. LOL @ Romefeller constantly trying to play catch-up to Treize’s charisma The fight against the invasion force at the Sanc Kingdom actually has me emotionally invested? Also Epyon is a Problem Child (TM). MAGUANAC COOOOOOORPS. Kay I love them idgaf they’re just SO GOOD. The Sanc Kingdom takeover must have been one of the most costly things they’ve attempted? Like the amount of troops they go through is bonkers.

Dorothy, you’re a wad. “You should definitely take up arms to defend your ideals of pacifism.” Releena ain’t falling for that. She’d rather dissolve her country and save the lives than betray her morality.

EPISODE 36 MARKS THE FIRST TIME RHYTHM EMOTION IS PLAYED IIRC AND IT’S GREAT. Ngl they play it a few times when things get real and it still hypes me up.

Heero and Zechs are two people who spend way more time fighting each other than they should. Why, guys.

“They should leave the fighting to me. I’m the only one who should have to suffer.” DUO JEEZ. “As they say, evil attracts evil.” Fucking get this boy to a therapist.

Lol @ Sandrock’s first fight in space where everyone else is really worried about the gundam but it is actually the least well equipped for space atm so really they should be worrying about the other guys

Man, I like Treize, okay? Like I think his idea is dumb (he’s not the only one with it though sideeyes Code Geass but like... He trades Releena spots for a bunch of reasons. One, she was going to be successful and that’s an issue. But also because he knows that if things go well, somebody’s going to have to die, and when he is talking to a comatose Une at her bedside (btw UNE’S BACK, kinda) it’s just... it’s sad. YAAAAY Everyone is finally in the same spot for once. I guess that’s how you know we’re getting near the end. Functional Amnesiac Trowa is a lot easier to watch, and Duo and Heero reuniting is a great time. It reminds you how likeable they all are.

Amnesia cure via Zero System WELL THAT WORKS Also p surprised that Releena didn’t vidcall Milliardo with ‘what the fuck are you doing’

The politics/philosophy in GW really varies in quality. Sometimes they have some Important Shit to say, and other times it’s like... what does that even MEAN THOUGH. After a completely nonsensical conversation with Releena where half of what was said was pretty dumb (except her call-out. Burn.) they then manage to salvage it with something profound. Milliardo asks Quinze if he thinks that he’s weak for what he just saw with his sister. Quinze replies that no, in Milliardo wasn’t capable of trying to protect people, he wouldn’t be leader. That’s a very fair point I think.

Quatre begging not to go under the Zero system again sounds like he’s asking someone not to torture him... which it basically is. But him basically deciding to risk his sanity to help the team is very Quatre of him, and it also gives us Team Leader Quatre which is a bit of a subversion of his character archetype and I love it.

What are the rules to Space Empathy TM? No one know.

Okay sometimes this show really nails the badass elements. “There are no survivors.” Is an example. I laughed, but wow

Heero insinuating that Milliardo and Treize’s war is based on personal things (which is true, in a roundabout way) is kind of hilarious. His conversation with Releena is cute, too. His unfailing motivation in turn motivates her, and she’s shown time and time again how hilariously good she is at influencing people. They have very different roles, but they’re complimentary.

Hilde... redeems herself a little. It was nice to see her go out and DO a thing. Also, gimme my Une. Why she still asleep. Her boyfriend is gonna die in space. Where is my Une.

Screaming a little. I don’t remember how the series ends or how Treize dies. This is gonna be rough.

There’s Une. Suddenly, and like a boss. Hello. And then... does Une know? Like does she KNOW? It sounds like she does. It LOOKS like she does.

Okay so... the Dorothy and Quatre fight. He’s got her beat, talent-wise, and is absolutely not buying into the bullshit she’s spouting. Duo calling the scientists ‘the gods of plague’ is VERY fitting and I love his overdramatic ass so much. Dorothy is a cheap jerk... and she somehow discovered Treize’s plan. I reluctantly give her credit. She’s an interesting character but I really don’t like her much.

And Quatre, after being STABBED, still joins back in the fight.

I’m not sure why Zechs is till fighting in the end unless it’s to chase death. I mean, that’s probably it, and Heero isn’t buying it. Also Treize’s death was a lot harder to watch than I remember. Zechs is definitely trying to die in space, but we’ve all seen Endless Waltz. It doesn’t stick.

Heero shouting that he will survive, after how much he degrades himself and says he isn’t worth anything, is a great end. And the mirror with the birthday card vs her party invitation is also pretty great. It doesn’t tell us a lot about what happens to everyone else, but I guess that’s what Endless Waltz is for.

Okay so, end summary...

Gundam Wing is some good shit. I don’t know if it would hold up without the nostalgia factor and I have no way to tell, but I enjoyed myself. It has a few faults. It’s 22 years old and showing it’s age, it has some overused tropes in it, stuff like that. But the characters are just as interesting as I remember, the plot is better than I gave it credit for, and the music is fuckin’ on point. I genuinely had a great time re-watching it, and am proud to list it as one of the few shows I’ve seen cover to cover. They set up and examine character archetypes, they discuss some very interesting things about what peace means, and what people are worth, and they show us a very interesting, textured world full of very interesting people.

I’m gonna watch Endless Waltz again tomorrow and I’ll probably do a write up for that too.

10/10, do not regret my life as a fan

#gundam wing #analysis #I love it I am not sorry

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thebigreylotheory · 8 years

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Star Wars: Episode 8: The Last (Pride & Prejudice) Jedi

TheBigReyloTheory Trasherpiece Theater proudly presents:

Star Wars: Episode 8: The Last (Pride & Prejudice) Jedi

Brought to you by Captain McHusbandMan who recovered my glasses from the imaginary number space! Yay!

I hope you are familiar with Pride & Prejudice. If not, I implore you to check out the ’95 and ’05 versions. And, always, READ THE BOOK.

‘K I’m long-winded, but especially today cause P&P’s my fav…you’ll be scrolling FOREVER. :D

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Jedi Master strong in the Force must be in want of a padawan.”

Argh, Star Wars, so stressful, so many characters to worry about…My nerves and Star Wars are old friends, twenty years at least.

Quick Recap of The Force Awakens:

Ahch-To is let at last! (meaning: occupied)

Do not you want to know who has taken it?

Skywalker. (Mr. Bingley)

He is a Jedi Master to be sure!

It is a fine thing for our Star Wars characters.

How so, you ask?

My dear Star Wars fans, you must know that I am thinking one of them must be his new padawan!

And if he must train one of them, I must throw in a good word for lil Rey (Elizabeth). She has something more of a quickness about her.

*Epic Flashback*

At Starkiller Base (the grand assembly) Kylo Ren (Mr. Darcy) is encouraged to read (dance) Rey’s mind for the map (to find a pleasant girl). But, honestly, he really doesn’t want to…it gives him no pleasure.

It’s probably true…she’s just a scavenger…(country girl with crazy family).

When he uses his Force power, and she meets his probe (eyes) with her own, he withdraws. Rather rudely.

Needless to say, Rey remained with no very cordial feelings towards him.

However, later on, after escaping, and besting his call to the Skywalker lightsaber, Kylo Ren begins to admire Rey.

His doing so drew her notice.

Therefore Kylo Ren finds himself presented a very desirable padawan (dance partner). He cannot refuse to be her teacher (dance), when so much beauty is before him.

But, of course, Rey refuses.

*Jumping to Episode 8*

Luke Skywalker is a very pleasant fellow indeed!

It’s clear he’s really developed a thing for the lovely First Jedi Temple (Jane). They spend a lot of time together. He never wants to leave her, er, I mean the Temple.

So, anyhow, it rains a lot on Ahch-To. Rey’s really fond of walking. So she decides she better go check on the poor ole leaky First Jedi Temple (sick Jane). ‘Cause Rey is good at fixing things, bypass skills are very handy.

Turns out, poor ole leaky First Jedi Temple (sick Jane) is ok. Luke is thrilled that it’s raining and he’s stuck in the Temple. Rey’s ok with it, until she realizes there’s another visitor lurking around.

Argh, he is a most disagreeable, horrid man! But apparently Jedi Temples are like neutral, nonpartisan, sanctuary zones. Everyone’s going to have to get along…er, skate around snarky comments.

It makes for several stir-crazy days together…Rey starts walking, aimlessly, around the room. Kylo Ren starts hate-flirting with her.

When it stops raining, everything just gets worse….

Stormtroopers (militia unit) arrive on Ahch-To!

And a very, very, very distant relation of Rey’s comes to stay for a week…

Yeah, Rey should be happy to see her cousin and all, but he stinks. No really, “Mr. Collins the Hutt” is an odious bore. He talks about his patron, Snoke (Lady Catherine), day and night. But rumor has it, Snoke stinks, too.

And, to add insult to injury, it turns out, Mr. Collins the Hutt is going to inherit the deed to Ahch-To. What? No! Argh, Hutts and their properties…it’s just like Star Wars: Monopoly.

Anyhow, he really wants to move into the First Jedi Temple. But once he sees how the First Jedi Temple is already spoken for by Luke, and how committed Luke is, Mr. Collins the Hutt comes up with a new plan:

If Rey marries him, they can all happily stay on Ahch-To and Luke can remain with the First Jedi Temple.

What??? But they are cousins you cry!

Indeed. So, Rey does the only sensible thing. She tries to avoid Mr. Collins the Hutt by doing lots of walking. Those stairs are a great workout. And Hutts are slow.

On one of these particular walks, Rey meets a delightful young officer. General Armitage “Wickham” Hux is, seemingly, a perfect gentleman and very handsome in uniform.

While Rey and General Armitage “Wickham” Hux are talking, they cross paths with Luke and Kylo Ren on the stairs. Luke, of course, is very good humoured. However, Kylo Ren almost growls at Hux, and marches off to throw a tantrum.

Rey knew Kylo Ren was horrid and all, but she is shocked by his rudeness.

Later, Hux explains that he brings out the worse in Kylo Ren, cause Kylo Ren is so jealous of him. The Supreme Leader (father) likes Hux best and Kylo Ren can’t stand it. Although Kylo Ren should be grateful that he has the Force (large estate, money) and is in an arranged engagement to the Supreme Leader’s (Lady Catherine’s) daughter, Captain Phasma…Kylo Ren is just a hateful person who screwed up Hux’s raise (living). Rey feels sorry for Hux.

Meanwhile, Luke decides, as a neutral, nonpartisan Jedi, to throw a party and invite all the Stormtroopers (militia) on Ahch-To. It turns out to the social event of the year. Rey, of course, is forced to be polite and dance with Mr. Collins the Hutt…even though she really wanted Hux to ask her to dance.

Strangely enough, Kylo Ren, who really hates dancing, comes to claim Rey’s hand.

Rey is so shocked, she accepts, but quickly decides to tease him about everything Hux told her. The effect on Kylo Ren is immediate. Such distain. She accuses him of being prejudice. Hux, after all, is just a poor, innocent officer trying to make his way in the galaxy...

The dance ends. Ren exits the room knowing Rey is full of her own pride.

However, Rey finds herself out of the fire and into the frying pan when Mr. Collins the Hutt decides to “formally” propose marriage to her.

But apparently Mr. Collins the Hutt thinks she’s playing hard to get…

What say you, Star Wars fans? Trash shippers will never forgive her if she doesn’t marry Mr. Collins the Hutt, the rest will never forgive her if she does….

Thankfully, Mr. Collins the Hutt takes a hint. He can tell Rey’s mad, and he doesn’t want to end up like Jabba or anything. So he leaves. And in a shocking turn-of-events, he suddenly marries Rey’s friend, Maz Kanata (Charlotte). Odd, yes. But Maz never wanted to be an old maid. And she can’t wait on Chewie FOREVER. So long as she’s happy, I guess.

Without warning, Luke decides to take Kylo Ren’s advice and spend some time away from the First Jedi Temple. What? Out of the blue?

Ahch-To is turning topsy-turvy! Rey feels some time away from the stir-crazy island will do her some good, too. Therefore, she flies to see the newly married Maz Kanata-the Hutt at Mr. Collins the Hutt’s humble home on Naboo. Maz is now technically her distant cousin-in-law and all.

However, you can’t simply visit the Hutts without making a visit to the home of their neighbor and patron, Supreme Leader Snoke (Lady Catherine). That’s just rude. So, Rey accompanies them to meet Snoke and Phasma. Argh, boring. Snoke talks and talks non-stop about how him and Phasma are so great, and how weird Rey seems. How negligent her parents were (duh).

Then Kylo Ren shows up!

Ahhh! It’s like Kylo Ren is following her or something! Now she’s going to have to put up with him the whole visit.

Oh my. Can things get any worse? Yup.

One day Kylo Ren suddenly shows up on the Hutts’ doorstep. For some strange reason, Maz and Mr. Collins the Hutt rush out of the room to give Ren and Rey time alone. Awkward.

Pretty soon, Rey can’t escape Kylo Ren anywhere. He’s always showing up at Hutts’ home or at Snoke’s or wherever she’s walking. People keep leaving them alone. They have to make weird, but oddly flirty conversation.

In the meantime, Rey gets a holo (letter) from Luke about his new adventures. He’s decided never to return to Ahch-To again. Luke claims Kylo Ren was right, the First Jedi Temple just isn’t giving him visions anymore. Maybe he needs a new temple or try Darth Vader’s helmet (Georgiana Darcy) for a while. Oh, and he wants her to know that Hux is a total flirt and has been seen ‘round with another wealthy officer.

Oo! Rey feels the anger flowing through her. She doesn’t even care what Hux does. But Kylo Ren? He’s messed everything up! The plan was set! Luke was going to stay with the First Jedi Temple, and Rey was going to learn the ways of the Force. Not only is Kylo Ren horrid, he’s also completely meddlesome!

Just when she wants to be alone to fume, Ren shows up again. He’s got a question to pop.

Say what?? When she has every right to think ill of him?? He wants to marry her and be her teacher?? Argh!

Ren is astonished. I mean, he did just tell Rey he loved her…some men just wait and tell the lady “I know.” I mean what does Rey want? For him to rejoice in the inferiority of the Resistance? That they’re on opposite sides?

Ren leaves ashamed of his feelings. Rey is vexed.

Next day, Ren sends Rey a holo, promising it’s not another join me, marry me, or be my padawan proposal. Instead, he wishes to tell his side of the story in regards to Luke and General Hux.

It was Ren’s observation that, although Luke felt at home with the First Jedi Temple, the First Jedi Temple had no peculiar regard for his Force power. The First Jedi Temple didn’t give Luke any extra special powers or visions. Ren, however, admits that he might have been too hastily, and the First Jedi Temple could potentially make Luke both powerful and content.

As for Hux, the man was given several raises, all of which he gambled away in Sabacc games. When his next raise was denied, Hux stole Darth Vader’s helmet (Georgiana Darcy) and made Ren pay ransom to get it back all safe and sacred. Ask anyone.

Huh. Well maybe Rey only knew the truth-from-a-certain-point-of-view. Oh bother. Maybe they were both wrong. She starts to feel kinda bad about it.

Needing a distraction, Rey decides to visit the Lake Country of Naboo. Varykino is, apparently, a must-see estate. Didn’t something historic happen there? Oh well, that’s what tour guides are for.

So she gets there and the tour guide explains that Varykino is still owned by the Skywalker-Solo family. In fact Padme and Anakin Skywalker were secretly wed at Varykino. Rey is fascinated. It’s a beautiful place. To think, her and Kylo Ren could have been married at Varykino, too. Then the tour guide gushes about how Kylo Ren is a really kind Master. Rey wants to sigh. She could have been his padawan. Could have been Mrs. Rey Forgot-My-Last-Name-Ren-Solo. Ah, regrets.

On the way out, she thinks maybe she’ll check out the flowers in bloom. That’s when she sees him…Kylo Ren is actually here! *Shock* Rey blushes. He walks over and speaks to her, completely gentle and kind. It’s clear he’s delighted to see her, too. And, is still very much in love with her.

Kylo Ren politely invites her on a behind-the-scenes-tour of his super secret Anakin Skywalker collection. He’s eager for her to see Darth Vader’s helmet (Georgiana Darcy). He also informs her that Luke is on Naboo and he’s planning to return to the First Jedi Temple right away.

Rey is thrilled. This is turning out to be the best day ever.

Until a holo suddenly informs them: Hux has stolen the Skywalker lightsaber (Lydia) from Ahch-To!! If they want it to remain whole, Hux is going need some ransom money, asap.

But Rey doesn’t have any money! This is terrible! Worst day ever!

Kylo Ren rushes off. Rey is beside herself with grief. She returns to Ahch-To, hoping to find comfort with the First Jedi Temple (Jane). This has ruined her life as a padawan. No one will ever respect her as a Jedi with a blotched lightsaber.

Then another holo arrives: Hux has accepted a mysterious amount of ransom money for the lightsaber. It isn’t broke into bits. Thank the maker!

What’s more, Luke returns to the First Jedi Temple. He proclaims he will dwell there forever. Yay, happily-ever-after.

When Rey places her hand on the newly-returned Skywalker lightsaber she receives a Force vision: Kylo Ren paying Hux off for Rey’s happiness. Kylo Ren to the rescue. He completely saved her reputation…wow.

Well, everything goes back to normal. Luke’s at the First Jedi Temple. Rey studies daily. Until, one night, Snoke (Lady Catherine) arrives out-of-the-blue. He demands to see Rey.

It seems Snoke has finally gotten wind of the rumor that Kylo Ren has the hots for Rey, and he loves her, and asked her to marry him, even though he’s in an arranged engagement to Snoke’s daughter, Phasma. Snoke wants Rey to promise that she won’t secretly wed Kylo Ren. Pff. Rey fights back and takes care of Snoke, Star-Wars style. Bye bye, Snoke.

Next morning, a holo arrives from Mr. Collins the Hutt. It congratulates Rey on taking down Snoke and her engagement and forthcoming marriage to Kylo Ren. Huh? That’s very interesting…

Unsurprisingly, Kylo Ren returns to Ahch-to. He accompanies Rey on her morning walk. He confesses that he did pay off Hux, so the lightsaber could return to her in one piece. He did everything for her happiness and still loves her.

Much to the surprise of the galaxy (everyone thought they hated each other) Rey and Kylo Ren are wed.

To this day, Rey still teases Ben about how and why he fell in love with her.

The End.

#star wars pride and prejudice #star wars mashup #star wars parody #reylo fanfic #bad photoshop #reylo #reylo trash #reylo pride and prejudice #my star wars diary

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elizabethrobertajones · 8 years

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I JUST REALIZED there's backseat Impala subtext this season!! In episode 1 we see Mary checking out the backseat, thinking about John and her ~doin stuff~ and Dean realized that while Cas was left confused. Idk if Dean ever told Cas what it meant, but now there's more backseat storyline stuff what with Dean choosing to stay in the backseat with Cas in episode 9, and some of us already think there was some sort of hand-holding or longing there. I don't know what to make of this!

….

I guess what we always make of it: a great big Destiel subtext pie :P

Do we need 3 times to prove the rule? I remember after 12x08 there was some joking about how Cas was in the backseat just on principle that it was suggesting something, in a way, referring back to that moment and Dean’s weird look at Cas :P But really not much on its own. This helps!

I mean, though, the back seat has been used a lot as a runner up trophy and Dabb made a huge deal out of who got to be shotgun back in 8x08 which I think is a really quick little thing that actually is a great key to unlocking a lot of interpersonal nonsense… Like, in season 8 context, how Sam feels about Cas, considering it all builds up to that confession from Sam at the end - looking at Sam shoving past Cas for shotgun and Dean getting to determine who is and isn’t shotgun with all that hindsight makes the shotgun joke in 8x08 ridiculously deep.

And then 9x10, also Dabb, has the scrap over shotgun between Cas and Crowley, which ALSO when it’s all said and done, foreshadows the interpersonal dynamics of Cas vs the entire Drowley arc, especially with I think a sense that Dean sends Cas to sit in the back to watch Crowley because he’s TERRIFIED of Crowley still (there was an earlier moment in season 9 which shows this really well while they’re doing stuff with Crowley in the dungeon - maybe 9x04?) and Dean trusts Cas to look out for him… Cas isn’t being relegated to the back because Dean doesn’t like him, BUT that’s a misunderstanding that can exist (especially as Dean again takes over CAS’S car and starts dictating terms in it) and Cas feeling slighted or unwanted is like, a constant thing. (Ugh, poor Cas :P)…

So there are a lot of politics there, and we were analysing stuff in 12x01 that Dean had Cas riding up front with him and Mary in the back at the end of the episode, because of how great THAT was for them, but then also in 12x03 we had Mary in the front seat and Sam crammed in the back clearly losing out on shotgun privileges, and I think Cas in 12x08 is also sort of more that when Sam and Dean are in the Impala, unless there’s Reasons, whoever else is riding with them goes in the back. (In 5x13, we have the humorous/tragic image of John driving, Mary in shotgun aka the stereotypical mom seat for families, and Sam and Dean in the back, like the kids on a road trip, and those dynamics mirrored. I swear there’s a “are we nearly there yet” somewhere in that scene :P)

(Actually, thinking of John driving, isn’t is a Thing that Sam never drove the car once in Baby, even if he got to use the backseat for, uh, work out purposes. Considering the episode was all about the car and so many people driving it, I guess that stands out… You know, if I remember that properly. I’m preeeetty tired :P)

Anyway… There’s a few different rules for the backseat and it’s always worth looking at what else is going on...

But yeah, Dean not taking over and driving whenever there’s a car is huge - it’s a sign of him giving up that control that he normally has even when it’s NOT his car (and the fact it’s Mary and her car, I think allows him to do that a bit? Like when he couldn’t argue that John drives the Impala - obviously John didn’t know Sam and Dean were his kids from the future, but symbolically that’s Dean giving up the driver’s seat to the no.1 authority figure in his life... It being Mary is I guess more about respect and deference not coming from having been brought up by her like a drill sergeant like with John, but there’s still a fair amount of unpacking to do there, though I do think this season is SLOWLY working on it... Mary needs to take a fall in their eyes which I guess is up next for her?) ... Where was I? Right. Dean n Cas holding hands in the back seat :P It’s good because more equal footing with Cas, accepting someone else driving and joining him back there, with all that history, is a nice sign of equality there, as well as DEAN giving up his negative behavioural traits to get there instead of making the world bend to him.

And it being Mary’s car, in 12x01 we got this reminder/almost outside eyes that the car HAD been Mary’s as much as anyone else’s - that she was just as fond of it as Dean is, talking to the car the same way. With its history and Dean looking at it with outside eyes, then having the realisation of the backseat’s history... It was something humanising Mary AND making it about her car, so there’s a nice link to what’s going on there, with Dean and Cas, to bring it round to the previous paragraph’s point too, of changing ideas of characters via backseats...

Aaand then there’s always Dean looking at Cas after the revelation and then back to Mary, which is honestly going to make its way up into some sort of personal top ten list for Destiel nonsense the longer I harp on it because it was such a bizarre set of reactions even if Dean might “just” be checking to see if Cas got it, there was a lot of discussion about Dean’s expression, WHY he thought to look at Cas at all, and how weirdly suggestive it was.

And now there’s a thing where, SIGNIFICANTLY, given Dean’s past form and the history of back seats being significant that I’ve briefly and not exhaustively laid out (oh - like Dean’s comment about having Anna and Ruby in the back of the car, or on the complete flip side, Sam stowing demon!Dean in the back of the car in 10x02 and that showing negatively Dean’s loss of control and I STILL haven’t gone over everything, like a step-by-step of 11x04 or something :P), we have Dean and Cas together in the back seat and... I mean, maybe it doesn’t mean much and it is just a nice moment where we have completely free reign to assume Dean grabbed Cas’s hand and gave it a squeeze and Cas rode the whole way to midnight totally confused and terrified but not complaining... Or I guess there is already a little foundation about the back of the seat being something we should look at and analyse this season and ask, really, what is going on here with them :P

Tl;dr of this why did I even need to go so deep post... Given the circumstances with Dean thinking he’s dying, and the context of this season so far and its various little details about the backseat, Dean voluntarily gives up a position of control that he normally clings to for dear life, to spend his last few minutes sitting with Cas in the back seat - which had attention drawn to it this season I guess once to show Sam being shoved in there for losing out on shotgun to Mary’s assumedly eternal dibs, which does not seem applicable when this time it was Mary’s car already (making a brand new shotgun dynamic Sam apparently won this time?) BUT in the episode Dean seemed to have a very specific plan involving Cas that had nothing to do with their escape and everything to do with the emotional side of choosing to die... That leaves the coding of the backseat as, like, the “loveseat” of the car, which was a scene that had much louder attention drawn to it anyway... So apparently I just used maths to finish this meta?

(I am completely exhausted and probably should not be answering asks right now :P)

#Asks #tl;dr of the tl;dr: the bunker needs to get a sofa #and Dean and Cas were definitely holding hands #12x09 #season 12 spoilers #Destiel

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