#wrote 2 paragraphs of my coursework

[cult-of-the-eye]

Guys I am so proud of myself:

I recognised that I was feeling like shit so I did something about it to make myself feel better!!

(i wrote it down and cried)

I also had some fun!! I went on a walk!! I watched a movie!!

I did it guys!!! I dealt with an emotion in a healthy way!!!

[website-com]

heres my thing i wrote specifically because my teacher wrote a huge paragraph about this exhibition on historical mens fashion (sorry to link a vogue article, i do so only for the photo i need) specifically the following photo;

in which she discussed the dress on the left at LENGTH, around 200 or so words at least, talking about how revolutionary it was for harry styles to wear this dress on vogue. not mentioning ONCE even in passing the dress on the right worn by billie porter a full year prior that kicked up its own media frenzy a year prior.

this pissed me off to no end so i submitted the following for one of my module essays, sorry some of the citations are so lame and there are so few they had to be from coursework. and sorry i couldnt discuss more i only had 500 words give or take

skip the first two paragraphs if you only want to see the rant.

Module 2

2.2 How has masculine dress changed throughout history?

A great quote to describe the history of western masculine fashion ideals comes from a symposium by Dr. Valerie Steele on the colour pink and its history, when she discussed how the colour officially became feminine in the west she said; “The reason pink became feminised, that colour became feminized, was that it left the masculine wardrobe.” (1:23- 1:30). This quote quickly encapsules a reoccurring trend in attitude toward fashion trends that is repeated throughout history in regard to what clothing is considered to be ‘masculine’. The item is masculine until it is considered feminine. 

Another example of this rule of this given in the High Heels, Wigs, and Beauty lecture is the feminine appearance of a heel or a high boot. Both of these attributes originally were associated with masculinity because they were practical (as most modern masculine fashion is, anything impractical is feminine), their length protected the leg and the heel could be used to anchor a horse rider’s foot to the stirrup, giving them better control. As well as aesthetic achievements of the heel increasing the wearers height, a masculine ideal.

Women originally adopted heels into their wardrobe to add masculinity to their style, and once they started to do so it was observed that the heel could serve to enhance the appearance of the wearer’s legs and rear end the style was quickly sexualised and lost all staying power in the masculine wardrobe. While there are ways for men to dress in an erotically evocative style the heel became synonymous with a sensual sexuality, that is not compatible with a strong masculine sexual energy. And as a result, heels left the masculine wardrobe in the west. 

The fashion cycle has been trending more androgynous for quite some time now, and with the revitalised memory of historical queer, androgynous male icons such as Prince and David Bowie coming back into the public conscious with their deaths, as a contrast to the heavy heterosexual masculinity of the early 2000’s, androgynous male fashion is coming back into style. Coming off of the backs of black, queer American men such as the dress displayed at the end of the LACMA’s collection Reigning men, worn by black, gay, androgynous champion and icon Billy Porter to a 2019 red carpet event, who has worn many dresses to events before and since. That same exhibition also highlights how feminine fashions have even been adopted by white cishet men such as Harry Styles on the cover of Vouge, which at the time kicked up a huge media frenzy. Him being an excellent contrast to Billy Porter, who dresses the way he does as a product of his pride in his identity, as Harry Styles, as an ex-boyband member, is someone happy to mold himself to fit whatever aesthetic is most marketable, even if to outsiders his choice is a perceived risk the amount of backing he received from his core audience is undeniable evidence in the shift on public opinions of masculinity that have been built by queer people for the past few decades. 

But ultimately, as is often the case, he reaped all the benefits and cultural relevance from left leaning media built off of a history of androgyny built and fought for by queer black people while their efforts are quietly forgotten. While his iconic cover is an example of a shift in public opinion, attaching him to the head of the movement is wholly attributed to the wrong source.

Steele, Valerie (19 Oct, 2018) “Pink: The history of a Color” The museum at FIT www.YouTube.com. Last Accessed 24/10/2022

King, Emerald (2022) “High Heels, Wigs and Beauty” HAF234, Masculinities, University of Tasmania, Tasmania

https://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/reigning-men-fashion-menswear-1715-2015 2016, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036

i recommend the pink: history of color video, its very fun and interesting.

given more time and space i wouldve explored the neutralisation of mens bodies and fashion and the power this holds, the relationships race and sexuality play and butchness in non-men i think. my other 3 essays all included butch and stud women though so dont be sad. the rant also left no room for a conclusion but this was not an essay it was a short response, feel free to look up my lecturer whos name is included in my citations to see her cosplay which she advertised in every class she taught. also feel free to notice that she only cosplays japanese characters in traditional edo or earlier clothing. i think thats weird for no reason other than i do not like her

[that-bookworm-guy]

'Write two paragraphs minimum.'

Well, look, here's my problem. You're asking me to start writing an intro to a story. You said minimum which gives me wiggle room. It's 500 words, that's my final offer.

Who ever marks my work, is gonna love me because I get carried away. I've done three assessments (they're short) and I've written 1500 words tonight.

One asked me to clarify what a term meant and I wrote 400 words. Look, in my exams at school, the general idea was, if you could, write everything you know. I was that kid who asked for extra paper because I taught myself to hand write quick and basically waffled loads, in hopes that I would pick up as many marks as possible.

My relgious education GCSE was litterally me writing so much stuff and backing it up, that I filled up my exam paper and over half of the extra paper booklet.

My pyschology A-level exam was so many full essays and I was in my element.

I got told off by my art tutor for writing too much in my coursework book.

I also managed to fill a whole A3 sketchbook in graphics in about 2-4 weeks because I had no issues with the writing part that other people struggled with.

I have a project I love working on, and it's hard to tear me away from it.

I never learnt to write things in short. Literally, never. I can't summaries anything at all. Have you noticed that I can't summaries my stories in less than about three paragraphs??

Something asks me to summaries in a sentence and I have to write a paragraph just to make sure it's enough.

I'm just glad no one has removed marks from me for writing too much

[omgreading]

2020 Goals Update #187: July 5th

Began putting away my clothes in my cube organizer

Watched a few episodes from SOA S4

Read A Court of Thorns and Roses for 1h 1m 45s and reaad 66 pages

Went to bed

Got up and watched a few more episodes of SOA S4, I am nearing the end of it

Read A Court of Thorns and Roses for 1h 34m 56s and read 100 pages

Watched an episode and a half of Queer Eye S5

Read A Court of Thorns and Roses for 1h 43m 36s and read 104 pages

Wrote a paragraph in my journal

I spent a lot of time reading today and it was nice. I went to bed around 6 AM and was bored when I got up around 2 PM. I’ve been switching back and forth between my book and TV all day. I’m actually about to eat something while watching TV and then I will probably finish my book.

Tomorrow, I need to continue to work on my room. I did a little this morning, but then I slacked off for the rest of the day. I also need to submit a financial aid appeal to a school and begin this week’s coursework.

[elsaclack]

Hi :) This might sound weird haha but I adore reading you talk about your writing, it's really inspiring and I feel like I learn a lot of things every time I read you talk about it (you know I'm a fan of your style haha). And anyways while I was reading your answer to your last anon, this struck me: "when i was outlining that chapter i think the only line i dedicated to the actual fight itself was “and then they have a crazy knife fight (good luck future me)”" and I wanted to ask you (1/2?)

(2/3?) do you have like any tips for writing a multichapters fic? I guess from what you wrote here you outline the whole thing before you start with it? Or it depends or the story and sometimes you just go with the flow and see where it goes haha? Do you mind sharing some of your writing process of multichapter fics? :3 Bc I tend to get "bored" really easily and if I don't finish something in one sitting I usually never ever finish it. But also I'd like to learn how to take my time sometimes

(3/3) and idk maybe learning how to properly "get ready" to write something long would help haha. I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense at all but yeah in any case just thank you for blessing my nights with your fics and killing me over and over with feels, I'm sure I said it before but you (and all of the amazing writers this fandom is blessed with) are a true inspiration!!!

you are SO sweet to me i die fhflkdsjf

i’m gonna go ahead and throw 100% of my answer under the cut because i haven’t even started yet and i know this is about to be. So Long. i am sorry in advance lmao

there are a couple of different aspects to this ask that i want to touch on so i will be as brief as possible but as i have proven twice over tonight alone, i am really not capable of that lmfao

i’d say first and foremost, the biggest thing you can do to help yourself in this arena is figure out how to best discipline yourself. which SUCKS it’s like the worst most mom answer ever but in all honesty, developing discipline in writing is what separates the “i could write a book” people from the people who actually do write books. everyone is capable of writing, but not everyone has the discipline or patience to do so. long-form narrative requires even MORE discipline than a one-shot (or even a long one-shot) because it’s like you said, it requires the author to come back over and over and over again to write new material and edit existing material and figure out a way to cohesively connect everything they’ve written into one consistent narrative, and some people have a much harder time with that than others do. there’s nothing wrong with that either way!! the world needs short stories just as much as it needs longer stories. but if you’re wanting to work on writing longer-form narratives, working out a way to best discipline yourself should probably be your number-one goal.

that kind of brings me to my next point (and also ties in part of what i was talking about in that other ask) - comparing your writing style, your progress, your everything to other writers will only lead to heartache for you. when i first started reading and writing for b99 i came across a specific author (who is now one of my dear friends) whose fics were just. next-level works of art. and while i read through just about everything she’d written for b99 and LOVED every single one of them, i found myself getting more and more down on my own writing, because i knew i’d never be able to write like her. but the more comfortable and confident i got in my own writing, the more i realized that it’s less about writing more like That Person and more about developing my own style (my favorite comparison to make between my writing and hers now is that hers are like beautiful and intricate fairy tales, and mine are more of a smokey back room at a bar where a guy is sitting alone at a table and he says “come here and listen to this story.” they’re both Very Different, and perhaps have varying audiences, but one is not inherently Better Or Worse than the other). all of this to say, if you’re working as hard as you can and being really disciplined but still find yourself struggling with writing a multichap, THAT’S OKAY!!! there’s NOTHING wrong with that!!! your writing, however short or long, serves an INCREDIBLY important purpose within the fandom as a whole and no matter what, there will ALWAYS be an audience for your writing.

so okay as for the actual Advice!!! i actually have a couple of steps that i usually follow prior to actually Writing the first chapter of any long fic i’ve written (or am in the process of writing...@king and lionheart yikes). i have yet to really find any consistency in how i think of ideas for multichaps - so far the idea every multichap i’ve written has come from a different source (which is actually kind of Frustrating for reasons i won’t get into). but basically once i actually have An Idea, i’ll take a day or two to kind of think it over and flesh it out as much as possible. if it really starts expanding in detail and an actual Story constructs itself around the idea, i’ll move on to the next step, which is to find a few trusted mutuals here on tungle.corn and say “heyyYYY CAN I YELL ABOUT AN IDEA I HAVE FOR A SECOND” and then spill everything i’ve thought of so far. usually i can tell if an idea will live or die based on these conversations - if the other person is Into It and we start sort of developing the world within the chat, i know it’s time to really sit down and make an effort to pursue the fic. in that case, i will go and copy&paste that part of our chat into a google doc and i’ll build an outline in a separate doc. i used to despise outlines and i would refuse to do them in high school, but once i got into writing as a hobby and i started pursuing longer narrative forms, i tried once or twice to write a multichap without an outline and i just forgot a lot of the details i originally wanted to include, which left me feeling really frustrated with myself and with my writing. i came to realize that outlines kind of a necessary evil, so in writing them i made them as fun for me as possible (i.e. the “good luck future me” line from the king and lionheart outline i mentioned lmao). now i love them and i have them open at all times while i’m working on writing a new chapter.

so i know that i started this off by saying that writing multichaps requires a special kind of discipline, and i stand by that, but also...writer’s block and real life responsibility and just plain exhaustion are all Very Real Things, and they take precedent over keeping up with a publishing schedule (if you’re so inclined to make one of those for yourself). when i started writing king and lionheart, i didn’t know at that point that i would be headed back to school in the spring, and thought that i would have all the time in the world to write. right around november, i realized that i would be going back to school - that’s about the time i took an unofficial hiatus from writing king and lionheart, because i knew trying to keep up with writing that fic the way that i want it to be written and all of the intensive and demanding coursework was going to kill me. taking a step back from posting and coming back to it later is okay. i know i talk a lot about feeling guilty for not having an update for king and lionheart (and the cancer au before it) but in all honesty i know that it’s okay for me to take some time and deal with my real life. and, you know, it’s also okay to lose inspiration for a while and to take a step back until that inspiration comes back. i think it’s that fear of not being able to take longer breaks between updates that scares a lot of people off from even trying to write a multichap - as the queen of procrastination, i am here to tell you that it is 100% okay to start a multichap and to take a break and come back to it when necessary!

writing a multichap is very much like running a marathon - it requires a different kind of energy than a 400 meter sprint or a 1k fluffy oneshot. it’s gonna hurt and it’s gonna suck and there are gonna be times when you’re ready to just quit writing altogether. but there will be parts that are really fun and really easy and you’re gonna get some really great views along the way - and at the end when you cross that finish line and you’re able to check that “complete” box on ao3 before you post the last chapter, you won’t remember the parts that sucked. trust me!! i wouldn’t write as many as i do if the actual shitty parts of the writing process negated the good things that come from writing it and sharing it with other people!

it’s also worth noting that just because you get bored with an idea doesn’t mean that you can’t pick it up again later!!! honestly the first 2 or 3 paragraphs of on your heart like a tattoo sat in my google docs for MONTHS before i randomly decided one day to open it and take a crack at finishing it, and to this DAY i’m still getting people regularly commenting on it. every idea has its purpose and its place, even if it doesn’t always immediately seem like it.

i really hope this helps and i’m sorry if it doesn’t!!! you are such a kind and wonderful person and i absolutely adore you

[storytellersumayyah]

The Happy Jar (28/02/22)

1. I wrote a little drabble that was actually quite fun and people seemed to enjoy it too!

2. My coursework got the all clear (by that I mean the paragraphs that needed checking are "okay") which means all I need to do is put in a word count and it's done

[the-ultimate-bean]

Why I sometimes take long to read some books

Alright, so let's get the elephant out of the room: I love to read. I don't own that many books but I can always be found reading in my room or in the library. I mean, I write stories, why wouldn't I read. The story 'A Heart So Fierce And Broken', was so engaging that I finished it in 2 days.

This gives people the belief that I read all books so quickly. This is not true though. The most recent book I read, 'As Old As Time', took me a month to reach page 20 out of the 482. We could blame me for studying for my tests as I need the grades to go to university in September but that isn't the case. Okay, maybe a little. But again, not a major element.

This has happened before. Storytime. I had to find a book about post-colonialism and marxism for English Literature. I had been advised to choose between three books: 'The Color Purple', 'The Help', and 'White Teeth.' The first one of these books was good. I never want to read it again because of different reasons but it was good. The second one I had read before and I was happy to read again and that was the book I wrote my coursework on. The last one though. I finished the first chapter and I immediately brought it back. I didn't like it. But why?

This is different for many people but I think this is for many people. When a book is confusing or not engaging, you don't want to read it. Simple. With 'White Teeth', I read the first pages and I knew that I wasn't going to like it. I found it boring and I knew that it would take me months to finish. With 'As Old As Time', the first chapter confused me, I wasn't into the story. That's why I couldn't get further. Another book I didn't like but did finish is 'Pride and Prejudice. I can already hear the literature students 'boo' me. Classic book. Didn't like it. I was excited to read the book because I heard so many good things about it. I read it and I was both confused and bored. Two things I don't want when I read a book. I'm pretty sure I skipped several paragraphs.

So, you might wonder, "Why the fuck are you talking about this?" I wanted to. I was also excited to hear your opinion. What do you think? What reason do you have for putting a book back early?

This was the Ultimate Bean. Peace out.

[howtowriteanintroductionfor708]

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[shahansohail-engl-1120-57]

Portfolio SLO Reflections SLO A: Rhetorical Situation and Genre 1) I used three different genres for my SWA#2 which I thought were easy to explain. I picked the genres of form, label, and guide. The first genre: form is used in my future field of pharmacy because it’s used to prescribe patients medication. The second genre, label, is used on prescription bottles with all of the patient’s information so that the right person receives it and can properly use the medication with the instructions on it. The third genre is guide, for which I used a prerequisite coursework guide. It basically helps and guides people to stay on the right path so they can be accepted into the pharmacy college. 2) The genre I picked for MWA#1 was form because it was my favorite. The reason is I could fully understand it and also be able to explain the genre with great detail relating it to other forms in the field. I was also able to use it to the fullest by describing the genre conventions it maintains and breaks. An example of genre conventions maintained would be using columns and rows or boxes for information to filled in like all other forms. A genre convention broken was the requirement of the pharmacist’s signature and name in front of each medication being prescribed whereas most prescription forms require name and signature only once at the bottom of the form. 3) Different genres I used this semester were essay for SWA#1 and research for SWA#2 as both assignments required a different approach and result in different outcomes. Although both required the analyzation of genre, one was rhetorical genre and the other was just simple genre used for movies and books. 4) I learned that I would be using these different genres a lot more in the future for my career such as using prescribing medication and using forms. I learned new things and now know a lot more about pharmacy. 5) I don’t have any questions about genres anymore as it’s clear to me now what it means. What surprised me about genre convention breakage is a how most pharmacy forms are not identical and different and break different conventions such as lesser amount of required information. SLO B: Writing as a Social Act 1) I think my definition of writing as a social act remains the same as from ENGL 1120. I think it means guiding or informing someone or in a community about some specific topic through your writing basically understanding the shared goals importance within the community. I think the main purpose is to benefit others and make them more knowledgeable through the information provided. Everyone in the community needs to know their roles and goals within it and be able to effectively use them. I think that with the information I used and provided in my SWAs and MWA1 can all be seen as a social act which can help others who need more information about the given topics of prescription forms and prescription bottles and help them further in the community. 2) Thinking about pharmacy as a discourse community makes me think I can approach others in the field more easily and be able to get more information out of them. Understanding the genres in this discourse community such as the language, writing and any others means of communication that makes life a lot easier. It’s easier to connect with others and share information and ask questions that would be confusing. I think all information I used to explain my genres would be sufficient to clear any misunderstandings and help in the field of pharmacy in the future. 3) Interreacting with a published piece of literature can be seen as writing as a social act because it’s from your point of view and shows your opinions and understanding of the piece of literature. Using your understanding of the literature and writing about it might help someone else who could be confused about the work. In SWA1 I explained the genres of the Canterbury Tales which could be seen as writing as a social act. This accomplished the goal of informing others about the genre and the literary work, so they have more knowledge about it. Just basically shows the importance of these genres within the discourse community of pharmacy SLO C: Writing as a Process 1) The SWAs build into the MWA1 through the usage of the same genre used in SWA 2 for me. I picked the genre form from my SWA 2 and used it in my MWA 1 with changed purpose and explanation. 2) Proofreading is the easiest writing process for me as it goes by a lot faster than everything else because most of my work is already finished. I barely have any errors, so proofreading seems the easiest and fastest writing process to me. 3) Looking at MWA 1 I think I need to focus more on the research portion. I think I could’ve made a lot more claims and provided evidence for them in MWA 1 if I did more research so in order to do better on MWA 2 I have to research more. 4) The peer and instructor feedback on the assignments helped me out the most in perfecting my assignments. It helped me edit out mistakes and revise and add missing information. Peer review really helped me in the final draft of MWA 1 as I made comparisons, edits and provided evidence for my claims. Without peer review I might have left these important details out which would have negatively impacted my grade. A comment by my peer review that made me surprised was to compare my genre of prescription to a fake prescription form. This helped me add more to research and also gave me a new purpose of why the genre form is important to know about in order to avoid being taken advantage of with fakes. SLO D: Grammar and Usage 1) Looking back at the SWA assignments I didn’t have any issues with grammar or organization. There weren’t any grammatical errors or mistakes because of the proofreading and revision I did. Everything was organized greatly because of the headings and subheadings which made it easier to gather and use information for MWA 1. I only had a couple of grammatical mistakes that I fixed in MWA 1 which were pointed out during peer review. I had also used subheadings in the MWA 1 which peer pointed out are not to be used in the final draft. Although the subheadings helped put information in the right section of the paper, it could’ve made my final draft look different than everyone else’s or just too similar to SWA 2. This made me organize everything neatly and be more formal in the final draft. Looking back at SWA 1, I think I my MWA 1 was a lot more formal and had better research and evidence. Although it could’ve been better, my organization skills and formality had evolved a lot from SWA 1 to MWA 1. 2) I think the best assignment I feel most proud of in terms of organization would be SWA 2 because of the headings and subheadings I used. I could easily find and use the exact information I need by looking at the subheading. I think I excelled in sorting everything out in this assignment as I used everything carefully. I think I could use peer review again in the future assignments as it helped me out a lot for the MWA 1. SLO E Reflection: Using genres and relating them to field of interest was a great way to learn about the unique terminology used in the profession of pharmacy. I learned a lot more than just the definitions of the words used. I learned about prescription labels, forms and lot more through the research and was able to understand their importance. Explaining the language used in this career was easy as I used visual representation as well as in-depth explanation of why certain words are used. MWA 2, helped me incorporate certain words and terminology used in pharmacy into my own writing which helped me get familiar with them. I was able to find the right sources for my paper using certain words used in pharmacy. Being able to differentiate and understand most of the complex terminology used in the field helped me with my paper and also helped me gain more knowledge about the field of pharmacy. Reading different academic styles during my research actually changed my view on different problems which helped me change my thesis and argument. I wrote in formal register in my argumentative paper to show credibility and also to explain my opinion on the evidence. I wrote in conversational register mostly in the intro and conclusion paragraph to assimilate to readers and make it easier to understand my main argument. I like writing in high register because its more formal and gives the authored more credibility when talking about more argument-based topics. SLO F Reflection: I think writing in different genres has helped me become a stronger writer because it helps you establish a connection with reader and also makes it easier for them to understand the organized information. SWA 2 was a great steppingstone as it helped me with both MWA 1 and 2 because of the amount information I gained from doing the assignment. It helped me learn about the ongoing problems in the pharmaceutical industry and the solutions to those problems. Understanding genres can be great in my field of pharmacy where professional documents are used a lot on a daily basis. They could be also be useful when applying to the college of pharmacy where professional documents are required. I did improve in navigating and using keywords on databases which can save me time and provide the right sources. Skills I’ve developed in 1120 would be useful in my future courses where I have to write papers. SLO G Reflection: SLO G was one of the most important parts of my research as it is basically means using technology. I used my laptop for most of my research as it was easy to access databases and find the right articles and journals for argumentative essay. I did this using the UNM databases such as Academic Search Complete and Jstor. Both databases were extremely helpful and were available through most devices such as computers phones. Exploring all these perspectives of others helped me make my argument even better by including counterarguments and also understanding why someone made certain points. Using technology, the assignment was a lot easier as I could freely add more points through research online. I ended up changing my topic twice because of the amount of information I found. The counterarguments that had a lot of claims and evidence to back it up caught my attention early on and helped me make changes to my topic and I ended up supporting and using the counterargument to my first thesis and topic as my main argument. I think my paper still lacks more statistical evidence even though I added a lot, but I think it more stats would be great for my topic. I think it can help people understand the ongoing problems of prescription cost increase and have them question why it’s happening. 4. Did you discover anything new about your personal beliefs through your writing this semester? I learned a lot of new things about the major I’m pursuing in and how people feel differently about. I also learned that there are stereotypes in place for pharmacists, but they are not all negative and made me realize that I can grow and learn a lot in this field. SLO G really helped me with this assignment and I learned that technology is a great and easy way to learn about topics and to open your view and look at problems more clearly. SLO H Reflection: I mostly integrated other ideas by paraphrasing and citing the information in argument. I cited the sources by using the authors name in text and also using MLA citation page at the end of the paper. I also using citation generators from the databases as they were provided. I learned that MLA style is easy to understand and use without much complications. It’s really important to cite and give credit to the authors instead of stealing their work and calling it your own. Another reason is that citing them shows evidence was provided by experts which further your argument’s credibility. I used perspectives of other authors in my second last paragraph where I cited Halpeny and used her counterargument perspectives into my arguments because it made them more effective and seemed to make the argument look better. Including counterarguments further shows the author knows the that the opposite position exists and again shows the author’s credibility and strengthens the argument overall. At first it made me look at my argument differently but after looking at more research I found how to defend my arguments using other research. I think other than citing to avoid plagiarism, the reason I cited certain sources are because of their credibility which can further back up my claims as evidence. Their research and work shares similarity with my topic and using their perspectives shows that I did my research and shows responsibility. SLO H helped me learn to use other perspectives effectively in my arguments. SLO I Reflection: I learned a few research techniques from the library that helped me out in my research online. The techniques involved the usage of database. I was told to limit my terms to be more specific so I could find better results. Another technique was databases that could relate more to the topic whether it’s scientific, grammatical etc. The database I used the most was academic search complete because my topic was broad, but this database and the techniques helped me limit results. I had to evaluate and analyze each source before adding them to my final draft. Deciding whether sources were high quality was easy by using databases that always provide great sources. Another way to check is looking at the number of times it was cited and also if it’s a primary or secondary source. I discarded some sources from my final draft because they were contradictory and lacked evidence. I only added information that I thought would help strengthen my argument such as in my second and third body paragraphs, I looked for keywords such as price increase, healthcare etc. and often found sentences and statistics that would fit perfectly in these body paragraphs. When searching online through databases, the keywords I added were often highlighted or bolded in the actual article or journal. I ended up using primary, secondary, public, closed and online sources but couldn’t use print sources. The ones I used added more perspective to my paper making it more credible. SLO I was effective in my paper as it helped my analyze and evaluate sources before adding them in my arguments. Doing so saved me time and also helped me add only relevant sources. SLO J Reflection: Genres such as articles, journals, labels and broachers are common in my field of pharmacy. I think understanding genre conventions can help in writing because they provide an insight in the field and provide more information to help you learn. Understanding genre conventions does help with interaction of new materials in the field. An example would be the genre of label that is used a lot in the field of pharmacy such a s on prescription bottles. Learning more about it helped me interact with all research that is already out and helped me create my argument. Just having knowledge about these genre conventions helps shape thought and perspective about them. I do feel a lot more confident writing when I know genres are malleable because I think I can add more changes. Engaging with websites, articles and journals helped me research in my area of interest as they’re typically used in the field. I learned that it’s easy to research online but knowing about the conventions and genres can make it a lot easier and save time as well. Using databases to research and including my knowledge of genre conventions was the most helpful this semester and help me grow as writer.

Shahan Sohail

[tastydregs]

This Grad Student Used a Neural Network to Write His Papers

Back when artificial intelligence development company OpenAI created the text-writing algorithm GPT-2, it initially said it was too dangerous to release into the world.

Of course, it eventually did did release a full version of the neural network. By and large, it turned out that people were more interested in using GPT-2 as an AI dungeon master than churning out the endless torrent of fake news and propaganda that OpenAI had worried about.

But one evil genius slipped through the cracks: Tiago, a student who’s getting his master’s degree in business, told Futurism that he been using GPT-2 to write essays for his coursework.

He was willing to share his story — and copies of his AI-generated essays — on the condition that Futurism didn’t share identifying information beyond his first name.

“I don’t know if it qualifies as plagiarism,” Tiago told Futurism. “I figure no, maybe, but that’s not a gamble I’d like to take right now.”

Below is Futurism’s conversation with Tiago, which has been lightly edited for clarity.

So, you used the AI algorithm GPT-2 to write one of your homework assignments. I have to say, that’s an incredible move to pull off.

Tiago: Well, not that amazing. I would say, all my friends that work in tech and the STEM fields don’t understand how poor the business school curriculum is in general. It’s not as much a feat for GPT-2, I’d say, as proof of the poorness of business school’s curriculum.

You couldn’t write an essay on science that could be anywhere near as convincing using the methods that I used. Many of the courses that I take in business school wouldn’t make it possible as well. However, some particular courses are less information-dense, and so if you can manage to write a few pages with some kind of structure and some kind of argument, you can get through. It’s not that great of an achievement, I would say, for GPT-2.

What was the actual assignment?

We did a presentation on some kind of business case, and then we had to do a follow-up essay. Three to five pages on that business case, and what it meant. It’s weird to explain.

I would have to say also I’m more pessimistic than the average business school student — those courses that revolve around the business cases are not as fact-based as courses you might be used to. Because business cases are not like a theorem, they’re more like a parable.

It could be “how innovation is important” or something like that. You can take any conclusion that you want, and if it makes sense and if it fits in the more general narrative, you are assured a passing grade. It’s very far from publishing an academic essay — I’d like to stress that point.

What gave you the idea to use GPT-2 for this assignment in particular?

I read an article about a student contest for essays on climate change. One of the entries was not a student, but a journalist at The Economist who used GPT-2 to write an entry. It was a very close experiment to my essay.

At that point, I started looking up how I could use GPT-2 to write essays in some of my classes. However, I do not have a technical background at all, so it was too much for me.

One thing that was made available between that time and the essay that I wrote was a tool, Talktotransformer.com, which makes GPT-2 accessible to everyone through a web browser. I don’t know the details, but that’s what made it possible for someone with a non-technical background like me to use GPT-2 to write my essay.

How did you actually write the essay? Did you have a game plan going in, or did you basically put some writing into TalkToTransformer and hope for the best?

Basically, I wrote the outline of my essay, with a few sentences or a paragraph per section, each with a point. And then I fed the first sentence of each paragraph that I wrote, fed it to GPT-2, and I got a full paragraph.

I had to iterate a few times to get something that was close to what I was looking for, and then I put it back in my word document and went to my next paragraph.

So you provided one sentence per paragraph, sort of like a topic sentence, and let the algorithm fill it out?

I wrote the structure and one sentence per paragraph. All the information that was in that final essay was in that structure, but the sentences were added by GPT-2. It added false quotes sometimes, or false information about the companies I was talking about. I found adding words like “innovation,” “synergy,” and stuff like that made the essay sound more suited for the course.

I did it for two essays in two different courses. What I figured as I was doing it was that if I write my first sentence in a certain way, it increases the probability that the paragraph will look how I want it to. So, if I use the words that are in a lot of business review articles, then the probability of similar words and similar points being made in the generated paragraph was increased.

What did you think of the output? Did it seem believable to you? Did you have to fix any errors?

I would write the first sentence of the paragraph, let’s say the point of the paragraph is “Starbucks has innovated by raising the quality of its coffee.” I would write a sentence that encompasses the whole point, and then I would feed it to GPT-2, and then I would get a paragraph. I would generate again until I get something that I found more or less believable.

Some sentences would generate paragraphs in different tones. So, for instance, if I used some keywords, it would write a quote from the Starbucks CEO like what he would say in a shareholders meeting. But if I wrote it slightly differently, it might produce something about how to make coffee.

So you didn’t change the paragraph at all once it looked about right?

There was light editing. Removing a sentence from a paragraph or adding it elsewhere. Sometimes GPT-2 would start a quote without ending it, so I would have to remove it.

Or it would make some bold claims that I was not comfortable with because they were factually false. Those I would remove.

And how was it received? Did the paper get a passing grade?

Both times I passed. But there was not much feedback on one of them, just a grade. And the second one, there was a grade on relationship to the subject, whether it got the point across.

It did get an okay grade. I don’t have the grades for other students, but I think 80 percent of the class passed. It’s hard to tell. I passed and some students didn’t, but I was far from the best. I was clearly one of the worst ones that did pass.

It was okay for me because I’m at the end of my masters and this was one of my last classes. For me, it was just pass or fail.

Were you nervous at all when you were submitting the work? Were you concerned that you’d be found out?

I was confident enough to turn it in. However, I then was looking online and found out there’s a really easy way to find out if an essay was written by GPT-2. It’s to feed it to GPT-2 and if it’s able to predict the next words, then it was written by the AI. It’s easier to find out than normal plagiarism.

I knew that the business school had software that they were using to look out for plagiarism in all the essays that are turned in to their online platform, which is how I turned in my essays. So I was slightly worried that the company that sold them the anti-plagiarism software would have made an update.

I don’t think the professors even considered the possibility of GPT-2 writing the essays, but I was slightly worried that the company making the software added a module. But not that much.

Were you surprised when you passed?

Not really. I think it’s hard to get across to people who didn’t study in business school how poor the standards are for essays that are turned in. I think the professors are too proud to think of the possibility of AI writing an essay. But it was really easy to do.

I think it will become an issue for business schools in the future, and unfortunately for students, it’s easily solved through anti-plagiarism software.

I know you’re basically done with school. But if you had more ahead of you, would you do this again? Or was it more of a fun experiment for you?

Yeah, this is something I’d do again. You just can’t expect a good grade. The final essay is pretty poor, it’s just not poor enough for the professor to fail you.

More on GPT-2: Now You Can Experiment With OpenAI’s “Dangerous” Fake News AI

The post This Grad Student Used a Neural Network to Write His Papers appeared first on Futurism.

[oh-my--dais]

My completely unsolicited advice for doing your GCSEs (or any other official examination for that matter) - it's super long so if you cba to read, just read the bold :)

1. PRIORITISE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH!!!!! Please read the whole but because the story is important bc there are mini lessons as well. My God, I wish someone had told me this as I was doing my GCSEs. This one's coming first because it is by far the most important. I had some family shizz going on which spun me into a spiral of depression, to the point where I didn't even care about things happening in my life. I completely dissociated from my friends, and when none of them did anything, I felt even more depressed and the anxiety started settling in that they didn't like me. And whilst I hope this doesn't happen with anyone else (my friendship group was fairly toxic and everyone was very self-absorbed, so that could have been partially responsible). But at the same time people won't be able to know what's going on if you don't tell them you need help.

Anyway, I lost contact with all of my friends and I hung out with them because they were there and I didn't want to be alone, but I wasn't invited to any of their gatherings. In the end, after my exams had finished, I told my mum about how I was feeling, bear in mind I'd completely shut everyone out of my life, and she got me seeing a therapist, who I still see on occasion. But it helped SO MUCH, I wish I'd done it before the exam season started because I literally didn't have any motivation to get out of bed, let alone revise. So go speak to someone, it can be a close friend, a parent, a sibling, or even a teacher, don't think you have to get a therapist if you can't afford one or anything. But telling someone about how you're feeling will definitely help.

Bear in mind also that I didn't even realise how bad I was being affected until recently after I got out of my funk, I genuinely thought I was fine at the time (the reason I spoke to my mum was that I was having awful panic attacks before my exams, which were partially brought on by the insane amount of coffee I was drinking to counteract the insomnia).

Wow that was long.

Tl,dr; Speak to someone about the way you're feeling, and recogise that you might not be doing ok and keep your friends close.

2. Don't be afraid to cut out parts of your essays. This is so so so so so important when it comes to essay writing. Even if you think it's a good point, don't be afraid to cut it out. Examiners want to see that you're able to be consice and are able to select the most important parts. English literature coursework, my draft was SEVEN PAGES, front and back, three times the word count, and my teacher just handed it back to me and said that she wasn't marking all that but so far it's very good. So I went home and cut out 6 of the 9 body paragraphs and guess what?

One hundred per cent!

A similar thing happened in my actual Eng Lit exam where I only wrote two body paragraphs and when I told all my friends they kinda looked at me like "errrr" because it was obvious that I hadn't written enough but guess what?

One hundred fucking per cent, again, the first person to do it in my school for 5 years.

So get your points your main points and select the ones which you can put the most analysis into (because that's where you get your main marks).

3. Choose your A-levels wisely. Please please please, for the love of God, DON'T do what you're good at at GCSE. Do subjects which you enjoy and are genuinely interested in, I don't have an anecdote for this one, well I do but I think that's just the main point: if you just do subject purely because you're good at it, you will HATE it at A -level, trust me on this, choose subjects which you wouldn't mind reading a non-fiction book about, or enjoy learning about/would learn about outside of the syllabus.

4. Schedule your revision timetable around your extracurriculars. If you cut out your hobbies/are changing your regular routine too much, you aren't going to be able to stick to it, and set a limit for the amount of revsion you're allowed to do each day and have rest days ever so often (I did 4.5 hours a day with a rest day every 4 days).

5. Practice papers are your best friend. Exams aren't testing what you know, they test whether you're able to apply that knoweldge to other situations, this is something you'll definitely need to know for maths. A boy I know got 11A* in his exams (bearing in mind that the standard for most schools are 9/10 GCSEs i.e. he took an extra exam for which he taught himself the course), and he said that he only ever revises by doing practice papers. He isn't just one example, everyone who I know who got at least 6A*s said that they just used past papers.

I also watched a Ted Talk about how practice papers are the most effective revision technique.

Hope this helped :D

[sayrj]

Year of Exams

Two days ago I bought some flowers from the reject corner of the grocery store and a very fancy notebook. I had just lost out on an apartment I wanted, a change I had been counting on. Housing that I might actually want to live in. This post is an extension of the notebook - two products of growing anger that the main reason I am in Kansas is the last thing on my list time and again because of the banalities and dramas swirling around me.

The first thing I’m putting in this notebook will be conversation notes, which I won't document here. I take notes religiously, not because I take great notes (I don’t) but because it helps me to actively pay attention when I am reading or in class. But I’ve realized I talk to people all the time and never document any of it beyond post-it notes, which is absurd because so much of why I moved here was to talk to people. I will also write about my thoughts related to my research, starting with thoughts about my exam fields, which this post and hopefully the posts that follow will reflect, with some omissions and additions. It’s not meant to be a transcription. Then, and more often than not, I want to post about what I am reading, with or without commentary (1).

I need a space of my life that is about my project even though I “don’t have one.” I need an outlet that doesn’t have to be aesthetically beautiful or well written, and something that is distanced from the rest of my social media that requires (”requires”) balancing the personal, entertaining, and political, always with great care for the “friends” who can see this or can’t see that. I want to be one-note, selfish, and rambly. This space is public enough for a level of accountability, I think, but still private enough in the sense that I know no one will realistically be reading. Posting here also doesn’t require any distracting web building on my part, which I know could easily bog me down instead of lift me up.

So now (and something I’ve been avoiding thinking about as I “get settled” for six weeks), my fields... I’ve been playing with them self consciously because they do feel like huge commitments/opportunities to get familiar and find where I fit, but also, and most importantly, because the idea of trying to be an expert in anything is nauseating (2). 

But I’ve been playing with (in blips, nothing sustained) my bookshelves. All these giant presences in my life, little rectangles staring at me in my tiny, used-to-be-a-porch bedroom/office/storage facility at the co-op I’ve been staying at for almost a year now. I actually stacked up all the fiction I have on my desk to get it out of the way the other week. So first, a recent revelation. Last spring and this spring I’ve TA’d for my advisor who assigns Du Bois and Richard Wright early on to mostly first years in an intro American Studies course. It’s my favorite week. It inspired me to assign Invisible Man + the same Wright reading to my students last summer. It reminds me of taking my senior folklore class where I read Richard Wright, Alice Walker, Ralph Ellison, Randall Kenan, and Ernest Gaines all for the first time. This was the same year I read Toni Morrison’s work too, just (”just”) Beloved and Paradise. Part of what I loved about American Studies as an undergrad was all the literature. What isn’t given any space to breathe seems to bubble up elsewhere, screams like a kettle too. It punctuated my last bit of time there in a very particular way I didn’t expect (thinking semicolon, maybe ellipses). I looked back at the stack of fiction on my desk and thought “not everybody’s bookshelves look like this.” I’ve been breezing past this influence when thinking about my research interests, even as it shows up everywhere else.

So I owe it to myself to take this more seriously. I am still hesitant, though, because then I wonder where does Poe fit, and the “closets of their own” I wrote about in a paper ages ago when I was still checking off boxes (3)? Where does Lemus fit, the author of the book I’ve spent a year writing about with hopes of publishing (4)? And the quieter worry that I’m straying from the queer studies work I promised, or at least promised myself. That word that’s been ripped away from me, before I was born it looks like, that makes me wince when I read it, shift in my seat when I hear it, increasingly disenchanted. Ashamed to use it. 

I remember the first theory, if I can call it that, I learned in an American Studies class. A term pulled, not out of an explicit piece of theory but from a short piece by Wil Haygood that talks about the “ears of whites” being “placed at awkward angles” (5). The class was on the ethics of stand up and we talked, sort of, about what it meant to have one’s ears at “awkward angles.” That concept is something I have carried with me for some content-specific reasons. More broadly, though, and leading to how I found what I think might be another field, it taught me a particular freedom while reading. I have been taught and teach others now the skill of pulling central arguments from texts. But what about that tiny word, in this case a phrase, that lights up? Or something “off topic” or secondary that feels central? Something that stretches you or preoccupies you. Along with recognizing that tilt of the head, the power of that twinge of discomfort... focusing on that single phrase gave me permission, a model, that I could latch onto things, notice things, value the details, zero in and then magnify.

Last June, I read Seth Kotch’s book on the death penalty in North Carolina (6). I don’t remember why I read it at that particular time so intently, just that I ordered it specially from the Raven and picked it up after dropping off Kelsey Carls after our Kansas City commute. The part in particular I’ve been consumed by is less than a paragraph, a tiny moment that states that burglary was a capital crime in the state until the 1940s because it implied rape, at least (”at least”) attempted rape (by a black man, towards a white woman). The potential was actionable, conveniently leaving the white women’s virtue in tact. 

What I have been struggling with is whether this is a striking fact that expands my understanding of the already substantial existing scholarship discussing black masculinity and white womanhood, or if this a jumping off point? 

In this and a stack of other texts the logic has its foundation in public (white) sentiment. I am interested in the distribution of surveillance and privacy, and the power surrounding it that is so consistently rooted in vague “feelings,” unsubstantiated “fears,” that are given more credit than any material reality. And does this recurring, viciously powerful “public sentiment” mean I can, or should, show up at the door with all the affect I’ve been torturing myself with reading?

I don’t actually agonize over figuring this all out or making all the right choices on the first try. But there is finite time and finite money, and I have to start somewhere, and I’m excited. It’s already March for heaven’s sake. Nothing else I write here will be this long or I’ll never get a move on.

__________________________________

1. What I don’t need is a public diary and what I definitely don’t need is another venue to wax about teaching, funding, coursework, or various dramas. All valid, all important, all interrelated, and all hard to keep from eclipsing conversations about my work.

2. And I mean anything. I can come up with an excuse for why anything is not appropriate. Anything that feels like it’s none of my business, anything that feels stereotypical or trendy, anything over my head, just anything. Which leaves me with nothing, which makes sense. Because it doesn’t feel right that I would be or aspire to be an expert of any kind. Because people like me shouldn’t be experts (or, inevitably, pretend to be experts) in anything. So that’s a cloud over everything that’ll choke me to death if I let it. 

3. Poe, The Murders in the Rue Morgue.

4. Lemus, Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties. The helicopters, ya’ll, damn. 

5. Haygood, “Why Negro Humor is so Black.”

6. Kotch, Lethal State: A History of the Death Penalty in North Carolina. 

[theibblog]

How to Ace English Literature and not die in the process

I recognise that I’m no more qualified than the next IB student to give advice on subject-specific success criteria. However, since English is my favourite subject and I have spent approximately 6 of my 17 years consciously, not forcibly, studying the art of quote analysis, I’d like to think that I might have at least some useful, first-hand tips on ‘How to Ace English Literature’.  (For the record, I am currently writing my English Waiting for Godot IA, hence the more pessimistic, Samuel-Beckett inspired second half to this title.)

Improvements that make sense:

Context – I cannot emphasise enough just how undervalued knowing an author’s background is to the study of literature. After all, 25% of marks are based on your ‘Appreciation of the writer’s choices’. Throwing in a quick; ‘Beckett intends to portray hierarchy as absurd bc Hitler came to power’ or ‘Dickens wants to undermine the class system bc he was a poor boot-blacker’ should hit the criteria every time. As a starting point, I recommend wider reading – gaining a broad knowledge of ongoing events, topics of interest to the author or prevalent philosophies of the time.

Language Analysis – You know the drill; embed the quote, pull out a specific word to support your point, explain the connotations of the word, evaluate the effect of said word… I find that going with your instinct, choosing to analyse a word that captures your attention, a word that seems strange or out-of-place or evokes a particular sense of emotion or imagery, will often allow you greater insight into an author’s intentions and perhaps, to an extent, cause you to be more invested in what you write.

Interpretations – Make sure to analyse quotes and view ideas from different perspectives. Whilst the word ‘ginger’ to me might mean ‘yay, represent’ or ‘mmm, ginger biscuits’, others link the word to hot-headedness, being soulless or ‘Ron Weasly’ – clarifying perhaps more serious differences in interpretation can serve as a good way to fully develop analysis and show progression of ideas.

Writing formally – In attempting to formalise and improve your writing style, once again worth 25% of marks, it is important not to lose clarity of expression. If the word doesn’t fit, then it shouldn’t be used - this is where using thesaurus.com can cause issues. Words have subtleties of meaning, which mean they really can only be used in certain places. The best way to improve in this respect is to read, read, read, so that it becomes easy to place words in context. (There really is a lot of value in taking this point on board – whilst many people have the right and often insightful ideas, studying English is all about being able to effectively express and communicate these ideas)

Improvements dictated by the exam system:

Markschemes – Check them out: In general, aim to show good understanding of the whole text (good overview), answer the question (be specific), identify and explain the effects of particular techniques (stick close to the text), organise and develop your argument (plan) and write well (grammar, vocabulary, register). (http://www.thinkib.net/englishalanglit/page/2874/criteria)

PETAL Paragraphs – I have doubts about introducing this point. However, as a method of verification, rather than as a full-proof structure to follow, I advise checking work against the ‘Point, evidence, technique, analysis, link’ requirements. Ensuring that you have made a point, backed it up with a quote, identified a literary technique, analysed the effect and writer’s intentions and linked it back to the question can really be useful. However, I find that beginning with this structure can be limiting, unless returning back to basics, refining writing style and expelling poor habits.

EXAMS – In fact, as I wrote this post, I realised that even I was not entirely sure which exams I would have to sit at the end of my 2 years and which coursework I would need to submit. So, here’s the breakdown:

- Paper 1: Analysis of an unseen passage (The Unseen exam)

- Paper 2: Response to a question based on the works studied

- Written assignment based on the works studied in translation (a 1500-word essay on a question of your choice)

- Two oral activities presenting analysis of works read

Flashcard Quotes & Ready-made Analysis – almost like annotating, writing down key quotes, identifying techniques, effects etc. in advance is a great revision and preparation technique, although this goes against all my impulsive needs to say that English should happen naturally and is best on-the-spot, exams dictate otherwise

In general, the more research you do and the more seriously you approach the subject as a worthwhile academic process - sidestepping misconceptions of English as flimsy, subjective and over-emotional - the more you will get out of it. There really is an art to writing well, formulating reasonable, evidenced arguments and to understanding the finer details of a text, that is hard to achieve.

[thehobblefootalchemist]

11 Questions

I got tagged by @actingwithportals! Thank you, this was fun :D

1.) How many works in progress do you currently have? Hmm...currently....five I think? Three fanfics and two original projects, though one of the original ones is technically done and just requires a metric hell-ton of editing. Then there’s the cacophony of ideas crowding around in the back of my head that I haven’t officially gotten to, yet.

2.) Do you/would you write fanfiction? Yep, I quite happily write fanfics!

3.) Do you prefer real books or e-books? Hands-down I prefer real books, but I’m not above acknowledging the usefulness that was being able to carry around downloaded textbooks on the Nook that somebody gifted me during my college years. Still though, whenever possible I always purchase tangible works. It’s hard to articulate but I love the substance of them.

4.) When did you start writing? I was in second grade--our teacher had this thing where every Tuesday we would take half an hour to write little stories that we would then share with the class over the course of the week. And that was, pun intended, all she wrote: writing became my Favorite Thing To Do and that’s never changed, only become more and more cemented.

5.) Do you have someone you trust that you share your work with? Mmhm! There are several mutuals on here whom I share my stuff with before I post it (or not post it, sometimes), and a few family members and irl friends have either read or listened to me talk aloud about my original stories.

6.) Where is your favorite place to write? Before I got my cat it was in the downstairs rec room on our futon, but since the lovable hellion has been living with us it’s been my room (so I can bring him with me to keep half an eye on him while I’m zoned out in the Writing Haze, and not have to worry about him being naughty somewhere in the house in the midst of me being distracted--he kips at the foot of my bed whilst I’m hunched over with my headphones on).

7.) Favorite childhood book? I avidly followed A Series of Unfortunate Events while it was being published and still love it dearly, and pretty much grew up on Harry Potter. I was also an unabashedly huge Warriors fan and still own all the 6-book sets and most of the super editions.

8.) Writing for fun or writing for publication? Both! And in the case of the latter, it’s always the former anyway as well for me. I can’t not enjoy writing, I’m just not built that way.

9.) Pen and paper or computer? Computer. Unless there’s no way for me to quickly access it, I’ll always always go for my laptop rather than use pen and paper. Fingers-on-keys just keeps up with my brain far better than trying to scrawl something as fast as possible before it disappears out of my head, and even then my mind is still usually at least half a paragraph further down than my poor hands.

10.) Have you ever taken any writing classes? No, despite my degree in English Lit I’m almost solely self-taught--none of my coursework ever included any classes on how to write, just the examination of already-existing works. The closest I could say I got to one was an online elective I had one year that involved creative writing, but it was more an exercise of already existing skill than a "here are tips for doing it” sort of deal.

11.) What inspires you to write? It sounds cheesy but honestly, everything. Writing’s my calling in life and the thing I’ve known since I was seven that I was Supposed To Do, and I can’t not. The media I consume, the things and people I see, some cosmic compelling -thing- I comprehend the edges of every now and again, it all becomes words in my brain and they proceed to fall out of my fingers.

Tagging: @pseudinymous I’d love so see your responses to these if you want to answer them, and any other of my mutuals that write that actingwithportals hasn’t tagged!