#I should be writing essays and speeches rn

[monarchmercury]

me after reblogging 1 sherlock or doctor who post: “ok woah that was enough for today”

me after reblogging 20 marvel posts in a row: “ok I’ll leave after I reblog this last gif set. Ooo look at the cool fanart. I’ll just reblog 5 more…”

[mimiri22-6]

Ok guys, I'm gonna say something controversial so buckle up

Adam = Keith

Shiro = Lance

I take no criticism but I will take comments and questions.

I spent an actual hour writing in the tags. Holy shit I did Not mean for that to happen O_O

I can connect SO many parallels between Lance and Shiro, but I can't connect that many parallels between Shiro and Keith. Personality wize. Sorry, I just really wanted to make this because holy shit idk how it happened but I could have sworn this was universal and then they killed Adam and then everyone started making Adam the jokester between him and Shiro. Like, with what little screentime Adam got I could have sworn, I don't think he smiles. Like, that is not the Lance parallel between klance and shadam (i don't remember their ship name) this is just how it is. I could have sworn Shiro was the type of leader/person that could crack a joke, a dad joke, and lift the crew's spirits just by entering the room. Keith had to pull his own teeth to even get a motivating speech out. Yes yes it was his first time leading, but who was leading Keith through his blind anger episodes? Lance. The right hand man. The leader behind the leader. Lance was the Leader in the first fucking episode at the Garrison!!

☝️AND another point I just remembered, Shiro was the heart of the team before he 'died' he was the bridge for Keith, Pidge and Allura into the team. After he's gone, Lance is the bridge for the Entire team. The glue. The Heart of Voltron. He has a connection with every crew member. Maybe the least with Allura but he was constantly ready to be open with her. His door was open to her to have deeper conversations as shown in that one scene where she identifies his bayard as an altean broadsword. Keith? He left the team for a really long time, especially on his end. 'Keith what is Pidge's favorite band/food/color???'😳���🤔🤷 There's a reason there are So many fanfics of Lance leaving/getting kidnapped/dying and the crew falling apart. Sometimes not to the point of total collapse but enough for a noticeable strain stiffness and loose seams.

Like when Shiro vanished.

*sigh* this post started because i remembered the era of black paladin Lance and come across a tiktok along the lines of 'lancestans: he should have been the black paladin. hes a punching bag for the creators. hes a sad boi. he had so much set up. ect. (so on and so forth. I forget the rest) *cut to shiro* what about him, the real tortured, punching bag for the writers?' and I gotta be honest, that tiktok set this whole thang off.

I could go On and On And On! I have so many more examples, but I don't have the time for a 30pg essay rn. PLEASE ask me about my Lance and Shiro parallels/black paladin Lance reasonings! I wanna ramble about my boi touching the stars! 🤩

(also I get it w Keith, sometimes a leader is someone that learns to be one before they even want to be one, but also 1)Lance has wanted this forever 2)Lance is already close with everyone, he's an extrovert(not that introverts can't be leaders, I'm an introvert and I know all about introvert leaders) 3)Lance and Shiro get hurt the most, but still have that calming effect, wether you wanna admit it or not, Lance has those vibes)

[agreenseil]

hehehe writing a persuasive speech for my communications final rn

it's Why You Should Watch One Piece (backed by factual research about the pros and cons of TV shows)

i'm finally excited about it (two days away from my presentation date oops lol) so i'm zooming the research and outline now

i'm thinking of posting the doc link to my outline (it's full sentence, so it's basically a script/spoken essay) for whoever wants to read it

because i'm really excited to talk about one piece for class omfg this is why i chose this topic ahhhhh it only took me three weeks to actually work on it

anyway, back to work i go hehe o/

[nimchimpskyphd]

I could write a whole essay and maybe I should! But for now, NO IT'S NOT torture p*rn so please stop saying that. The writer/director wrote this when he was gravely depressed. The film is bleak, nihilistic and layered with social commentary.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD:

Who do you think the society was at the end? Just some random cultists? NO. The director showed their vehicles and attire for a REASON. They were RICH. There is a sociological point here as well as the very obvious psychological one.

Mademoiselle tells Anna that "martyrs see things that don't exist/aren't real" and YET she's part of this ring that continues hunting/stealing mostly WOMEN. She gives the reason for choosing girls/women in her speech and you can look that up online. Mademoiselle says the line but it doesn't register for her at all. It doesn't register for the others either because they desperately want to know what is life after death if anything. (There's also the critique of religious fervor and how belief systems can justify extreme acts of cruelty in the name of higher knowledge or salvation.)

Every person (again mostly girls/women) that these elites take and torture are done so "methodically" and slowly, broken down so that they can reach some nonexistent higher state and relate to those rich (who control for this entire operation in more than one country) that there is something after death. The idea is that the RICH care so much about what happens to them after they die that they do these wretched things to others (mostly the poor or lonely; easy targets) while not having the slightest guilt about how much they're HURTING others. This reflects real-world dynamics of power and control that the wealthy exert over the vulnerable. That's the crux.

It's not just torture p*rn and it never was, it never could be.

It's bleak. If you consider the social commentary reflecting current states of humanity (or most of human history in general), you'll sit with that hollow feeling until it fades. This emptiness can also pervade any time you pay close attention to real world events.

In the movie (open to interpretation), Mademoiselle discovers there isn't anything after death. She should have known that given her speech to Anna earlier but the light never turned on for her. Interestingly, she willingly turned off the lights as soon as it turned on. Much can be said for that as well. She resigns herself, partially undresses (nothing revealing; there is nothing sexual here), and gives a final word to "keep doubting." It's so utterly hopeless and selfish because she now knows/understands there isn't anything but instead of doing anything at all to change what she's helped bear immense responsibility for she takes the easy way out and the cycle continues. It wouldn't be surprising to think she didn't consider anyone she hurt, that her only concern was herself. The same can be said for the entire room of people waiting downstairs.

It is absolutely bleak and if you think it's just gore or horror, my god you have missed the point so completely that it wouldn't surprise me if you equally missed the point of Men 2022 and think it's an anti-men movie.

NONE of this had to happen. That the last martyr might have made one of the members (not the elite rich who don't get their hands directly dirty, but the lower elite who work for them...) do something about this if they cared, if there was humanity in a single one of them. It's curious to think this exact scenario might have already happened... Who was there before Mademoiselle and what happened to them? Who will come after her? Her final words "keep doubting" will make sure that it does and the grim reality is that she couldn't have stopped it anyway even if she wanted to. They're all too rich and powerful. IT WILL CONTINUE and it's all pointless because they will never gain what they're looking for.

Anna and Lucie and everyone else they broke down died for nothing - as is true any time the rich and powerful choose power over people. It's possible a scenario exists like this today. If not this exact one. There are plenty of horrible things ongoing specifically paid for and controlled by the rich.

The clips of Anna and Lucie playing at the end is all the more heartbreaking because they were children and found whatever happiness they could in each other. If not happiness, some comfort (and for Lucie - perhaps for the first time). Their entire lives could have been this way if not for the absolute inhumanity of others.

[thelittlebeekeeper]

my head is v e r y sore and I reckon it's down to me holding my shoulders tense but literally why am I stressed

[amysteriousmessenger]

have you ever done rfa headcanons with a stressed out mc? because of like deadlines and stuff? cause that's the state I'm in rn and I need comfort ;-;

this is my second time writing this because my laptop deleted it ;-; I hope this is okay and I added V and Saeran because I’m a saeran simp <3 

RFA + Saeran and V with a Stressed Out Reader Headcanons

Yoosung Kim with a stressed out Reader Headcanons

Yoosung’s in the exact same camp as you, screaming. He spent the entire semester in front of his PC playing LOLOL and getting bullied by Seven, so now his deadline has creeped up on him. Yoosung absolutely understands the stress of a deadline coming at you fast and not being sure as to whether you can complete it in time.

The best thing that Yoosung can do for you is to do his own work. The two of you spend a straight 48 hours in the library, only taking breaks to go home and sleep and get food. You book out a private room and just mutually get your heads down. 

 Yoosung’s actually really smart, he just doesn’t apply himself. If you’re stuck on anything, he’ll try to help you even if he doesn’t know anything about your course. He’ll also run around the library finding you specific textbooks you need if he needs a walk or if he’s on his way back from getting you both a coffee. 

The life of a student is a hard one, but the two of you just keep reminding each other than you just gotta get through this one deadline and then you can sleep and play to your hearts content once again!

Zen/Hyun Ryu with a stressed out Reader Headcanons

It’s times like this that Zen thinks maybe he should have applied himself more in school, or at least got his qualifications, because he feels a little deflated at the fact that he can’t really help you with your work when you need it. He just looks at your laptop and textbooks and draws a blank. He hates seeing you so stressed, and he hates that he’s useless to help even more.

He figured that, if he can’t help you work, the next best thing would be to help you relax afterwards. He tries to keep out of your way, the best he can, but he gets a little sad and feels neglected, so he’s a bit like a puppy when he can sense you’re close to finishing up for the day.

 Zen thinks a nice, hot bubble bath would help you relax best. He’ll run you one when you close your laptop, leading you to the bathroom where he’s already sprinkled some rose petals and sweetly scented body oils into the steamy water. 

He’ll help you in, and then sit on the side of the bath and give your shoulders a rub, commenting on how they must ache after sitting at your desk for so long. It’s no secret that Zen has ~Magic Fingers~ and he massages away the tension in your neck as you melt into the soothing water. 

He’ll hum and sing little songs to you as he does this, finally happy that he can help you in his own special way. Ignore his comments about stress ageing you quicker, he’s just saying it as a pre-emptive measure rather than implying you have stress lines.

Jaehee Kang with a stressed out Reader Headcanons

Jaehee exists in a permanent state of stress, so she entirely understands what it’s like to have to meet deadline after deadline after deadline. If you tell her that you want to sit with her so you can share her concentration and get work done, she’ll put on a fresh pot of coffee. She’s also ready with the eye drops and painkillers for when your eyes get strained, but she’d really rather you not get to the point of needing them. 

Jaehee reminds you that you need to look after yourself, make sure you’re taking breaks and eating enough. She doesn’t want you to follow in her steps of pulling an all-nighter, so she doesn’t disturb you so you can get as much of your work done as possible. If you want her to, she’ll also gently reprimand you when you’re getting distracted or off task. She doesn’t like telling you what you can and can’t do, but she knows it’s going to help you in the long run. 

She’ll aim to get all of her work done at the same time as you, so the two of you can at least have some time to unwind together afterwards. She’ll put your favourite musical (of Zen’s) into the DVD player and you cuddle up with one another in recovery. She’ll also try to pull you in for an early night of sleep since you’ve been staring at a screen all day and doesn’t want you to get a headache. 

Jumin Han with a stressed out Reader Headcanons

Jumin never really gets stressed out over anything. In fact, the only things you’ve ever seen him get stressed about are you and Elizabeth the Third. He doesn’t really have the need or see the point in getting stressed over things, especially deadlines. Jumin will absolutely go off on a speech about correct time management and planning before you have to interrupt him and tell him that that’s not the problem. 

Having a Mensa-level IQ, Jumin’s probably already decently knowledge on your area of study, or offers to pay for you to have a tutor. Jumin’s honestly not the best person to be around when you’re stressed by deadlines because he really can’t relate to the panic, he’s too good at being a businessman that he gets everything done on time or, most usually, early. 

You do have to remind Jumin that not everyone can function and organise themselves as well as he can. 

However, it displeases him to see you stressed so he’ll at least try to help with that since you won’t let him help you academically. He’ll share a bottle of wine with you in the evening after you’ve finished for the day to help take your mind off of your deadline for a bit and will plan a small weekend getaway for the week after your assignment due date to reward you for getting your work done in time and to help you relax. He’ll also book you a spa day in one of C&R’s own establishments so he can guarantee you’re getting the best treatment. 

Saeyoung Choi with a stressed out Reader Headcanons

This man lives with more existential fear than anyone. He knows what it’s like to be Stressed TM. Seven’s an absolute genius with an IQ that could rival Jumin’s if he cared enough, so he’s never had to worry about academic worries, even when he was in University. 

If you ask him to, and maybe even if you didn’t, he’d be willing to hack your college or University’s database in order to either get the essay questions in advance so you know what to revise, or just straight up get the answers. He knows what frightening deadlines are like and he doesn’t want to see you suffer.

If you say that you don’t want him to hack your university because that’s, y’know, illegal, he’ll earnestly take a look at your paper and try to help. Seven has such a weird widespread collection of information in his head that he can just straight up tell you the essay or directly get the research essay that best fits your argument online. You said he can’t hack your university database, you didn’t say he can’t hack other databases for information. 

If you passed out asleep at your desk, you’d absolutely wake up to find your work finished and submitted. Seven will deny doing it, claiming that the alien mothership must have taken your laptop and completed your work, but he has a shit-eating grin plasters on his face and he’s oh-so-innocently fluttering his eyelashes. 

Saeran Choi with a stressed out Reader Headcanons

Saeran never really went to school, so he doesn’t have much experience with academic work but he picks it up very quickly when it comes to helping you!

He brings you hot chocolate and snacks and gives you a kiss on the side of the head every now and then to spur you on. He’ll also try to help you with reading through documents and essays for important information and anything that might be relevant to your course. From his time at Magenta, he’s very good at skimming through large quantities of work and compiling it into shorter documents so he’s absolutely a great person to have helping you. He has a similar IQ to Seven and is a genius in his own right, but he has to apply himself more to knowing about different topics because he’s never really had the opportunity to, but he’s always very interested to know about what you’re studying!

He’s very good at not disturbing you if you need peace and quiet, so he’ll busy himself with cleaning, cooking or going out in the garden so he can leave you without a distraction whilst occasionally dropping in to see how you’re doing and make sure you’re not getting too stressed out.

When you’re done for the day, Saeran will arrange the time to give you a little comfort evening with movies and a snack to make you feel better and help you unwind. 

Ray would absolutely just do your work for you, if you’d let him. He just wants to please you and see you happy, not swallowed up in stress in the same way that he has to be. He’d go without sleeping or eating if it meant helping you. Of course, you’re not going to let him do that, since you want him to rest properly, but he still wants to help. Ray would send you documents and essays when he’s supposed to be working and then exit the tab whenever anyone walks passed his room so he didn’t get caught. He just wants to ease your burden!

V/Jihyun Kim with a stressed out Reader Headcanons

He’s also incredibly smart, but probably wouldn’t have any major knowledge on what is it that you study but he’d help the best way he can. He’s the kinda person that would encourage you to read through the questions several times before you start answering and to not write anything down until you’re fully sure that you understand the source material and what is being asked of you.

He doesn’t like seeing you stressed and he’s helpful by nature so he’d ask if you needed help, and if you say no, he’ll give you space to get on with your work without interruption. V will make you food and bring your lunch with a coffee when it’s time to eat.

Like Jumin, he’d offer to share a bottle of wine to help you unwind when you’re getting too stressed in the evening, and if you can afford to take a break, he’d encourage you to do something creative like painting with him in his studio in order to take your mind off the analytical stuff. It doesn’t have to be good, it just had to help you relax and vent your frustrations!

V gets stiff shoulders when he’s been in the same position for long periods of time painting or waiting to capture a particular image, so he understands the usefulness of a good back rub and he’ll offer you one to loosen up the pressure in the back of your neck when you’re sitting at your desk. He’ll massage his thumbs into your shoulders and plant a little kiss on your lips when you lean your head back to look at him.

[ereh-emanresu-tresni]

Three ships: honestly I don't really tend to get too invested in shipping often, esp lastingly or non-canon, to have many off the top of my head lol. Anyway BOTW Link/Mipha, Tensura Rimuru/Benimaru, Yuru Camp Rin/Nadeshiko

First ship: regrettably HP but......... Vernon/Dobby

Last song: this is on rn

Before starting this last I can think of was

Last movie: Detective Heart of America: The Final Freedom

Currently reading: I started a reread of The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper awhile back but stalled out, should get back to that soon lol. Also recently picked up This Is It by Alan Watts, have had enough chillstep remixes sampling his speeches on in background for years lmao, figured it might be reasonable to finally properly read some

Currently writing: mainly bio essays 😓😓

Tagging @niimuue @cerolinda @thecreaturenewt

Tagged by @perpetually-weirdening

Three ships: MSR, Snackie, J/7

First ship: really dating myself with this one but... Elisa/Goliath

Last song: The Chain by Fleetwood Mac

Last movie: Ever After (Drew Barrymore as Cinderella 🩷🩷🩷)

Currently reading: King of Scars. Still. Having a hard time with now far flung the stories are so it's taken me like 2 months to get halfway through

Currently writing: my first MSR fic (or fic, period) in 20 years. Should I be working on my actual book? Probably. But I'd rather write porn lol.

Tagging @phillippadgettwrites @jewish-mulder @ereh-emanresu-tresni @agent-troi

[homestuckhomestuckhomestuck]

A term of art is “a term that has a specialized meaning in a particular field or profession.”

Examples:

The silicon carbide gems sparkle with more "brilliance," a jeweler's term of art, than genuine diamonds.

Today, popular-priced beer is not terribly popular, and the term of art for the category is ‘subpremium.’

I had not encountered the phrase before, but understood intuitively that it was a programming term of art transposed onto the larger text of the future.

The judge sided with the prosecution, saying that "presumption of innocence" is "a term of art" that does not actually mean presuming the innocence of a defendant.

‘Psychopath’ is one of those terms of art that many of us probably use too freely.

-

Slang is “1. language peculiar to a particular group: such as

a : ARGOT

b : JARGON sense 1

2 : an informal nonstandard vocabulary composed typically of coinages, arbitrarily changed words, and extravagant, forced, or facetious figures of speech”

I’ve also seen “shibboleth” used in sentences similar to this. Related to- dialect, lingo, style of patter. Usually informal, in vague contrast to terms of art, and has been associated with developing in speech rather than formal writing. Think thats changing with internet. “It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-groups in order to establish group identity, exclude outsiders, or both.” -wikipedia

Examples:

In the 1920s, Black jazz musicians – marginalized in a predominantly white musical arena – developed a subculture with a rich slang, and turned bad into a compliment.

Pay attention to their idioms and their turns of phrase, to their slang.

"Chicken" is slang for someone who isn't very brave.

Cupcake is coast guard slang for a ‘sweet(er) instructor’ during training. Or: ER slang changes when it gets popularized on television. “Frequent flier” is slang for someone who visits the ER a lot.

-

Jargon has basically two meanings/ways this word is used right now. One is: “the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group.” It’s between formal and informal, but associated with something like an “industry standard.” Terminology (i suppose in like the platonic ideal) is made to make specialized work easier/faster/clearer to speak about, that can informally be used (as it is rn) as a way to key in OR show off whether someone knows what they are talking about, and sometimes necessary in the sport or field when talking about the subject to other people. Can also be called argot, getting to that in a sec. There’s medical jargon, legal jargon, tech bro jargon, military jargon, engineering jargon- whatever.

People trying to blow off people or show off a little too much when they perhaps shouldn’t be or the side effect of the above leads to jargon’s second definition: "obscure and often pretentious language marked by circumlocutions and long words.” “Confused unintelligible language.” //an academic essay filled with jargon. Incomprehensible business briefings.

Terms of art can turn into jargon but jargon refers to less specialized codified meaning than the term “term of art” and has a more codified kind of meaning to it than saying “style.”

Examples:

For years, computer makers and retailers touted their wares with an onslaught of technical jargon and specifications.

Yes, there is jargon in math, like any other field.

The third option, which comes under the heading of "non-structural" in federal jargon, is to give people incentives to move out of poorly protected communities.

Abandon jargon-filled mission statements and get a clear purpose, a simple set of goals.

They're written in very easy to understand language, essentially free of a lot of jargon.

Economists will be at ease with his use of technical jargon and proofs, while the uninitiated may struggle to keep up.

In design jargon, "appetite appeal" describes the level of sensory stimulation that food packaging should have in order to attract consumers.

-

For completion, the lesser known word argot. Definition: “the language used by a particular type or group of people : an often more or less secret vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a particular group.” Seems to be used most closely to “style” but a mite bit more specialized.

Examples:

He has been bombarded by thousands of scathing messages—known as being "flamed" in the argot of cyberspace.

Every generation develops a new argot to separate itself from the one before.

Not sentences alone but entire paragraphs as beautifully and intricately constructed as a Rube Goldberg machine, with cliché backing into argot flirting with Broadway slang, Yiddish and British pretension side by side.

Calvin Kasulke’s Several People Are Typing, which is told entirely in Slack chats, so perfectly captured the specific argot of that medium, and went so far with its bizarro premise but managed to deliver.

In the United States, basic mental-health care remains a luxury item; there’s a reason that the most fluent speakers of the trending argot tend to be wealthy and white.

The thieves of the city have a language, or argot, peculiar to themselves.

Although some of this argot relates to combat, much of the military slang comes from the everyday lives of people working together in close quarters and in isolation.

The hypnotizing argot of the art world is familiar to anyone who has ever tried to decipher a gallery press release or encountered a nebulous artist statement.

There is music here; a switchboard youth who giftedly blends slang with argot; even, it has been reported, an interior fountain.

Suffixes and productive semantic devices such as paraphrase, however, are not found in this argot.

[headspace-hotel]

types of poems I’m angry at!!!!!!!!

what up my sleep schedule is off the shits, I’ve had to workshop about 75 poems in the past few weeks, I’m losing my mind because I have many deadline and few brain, my poetry class is so goddamn time consuming when I have speeches to write, essays to finish, tests to study for, and chapters to not actually read because I haven’t actually done the reading for most of my classes in weeks because I have no goddamn time, AAAAAAAAAAA, anyway

I have really strong opinions!!! here is them

poets should be allowed only one (1) poem about spring throughout their entire lives so they know to use that shit wisely!!

every poem longer than a page is bad ur just smokescreening the fact that you can’t write a single hard hitting line. @ literally everything in the poetry collection I’m reading rn

actually I think every line of a poem past like the 8th line should have to be unlocked like equipment in a video game

no one is allowed to say “beautiful” or “beauty” in a poem again, ever

no one is allowed to say “dream” in a poem again, ever

for every poem you write about a toxic relationship you have to write one about tardigrades because I would really like to read about more fucking tardigrades instead of MORE FUCKING RELATIONSHIPS

no one can use even the most oblique biblical references until they have reached poet level 5 (attained after writing 400 poems, one of these must be about a tardigrade) (yes this includes references to heaven, sin, angels, and god of any kind). all such biblical references should be cited with a specific bible verse and you may NOT reuse verses. also you have to use the weird books of the Bible in the middle like the sex poem one that no one talks about, you have to earn your way up to genesis and exodus and the gospels and the shit everybody knows

every time you are tempted to say the word “something,” or “anything” substitute a specific species of endangered bird

every time you are tempted to say “someone” or “anyone” substitute either darth vader or george washington.

nothing is infinite. it’s either 3 and a half inches or it’s nothing

cut off the last 3 lines of your poem it doesn’t need them

no more poems about depression. come up with some new problems goddamn it. ghost termites. visions of sugarplums dancing in your head. expired cheese. miley cyrus flashing before your eyes when you open the cabinet above the sink. nondescript sludge. your dick is blue raspberry flavored and your new gf doesn’t like blue raspberry and says it’s not even a real type of raspberry anyway. please

poems about small towns HAVE to be a little depressing and weird NO exceptions

extended metaphors are illegal now, punishable by up to 20 years in prison

if you get the urge to write a rhyming poem, sit in your bathtub and eat paper towels off the roll until it goes away

if you want to mention any bodily fluids in your poem you have to donate a vial to science for every mention. oh, you want to compare your tears to something? get ready to cry bitch.

if you want to write a sonnet don’t

your love poems must be proportional in number to your poems about the other basic human emotions: road rage, sluttiness, confusion, bonk your sibling with cardboard tube, feral lust for shredded cheese at 3am, insatiable desire to correct strangers on the internet, and stupid

as a further common-sense regulation, you have to imagine all your love poems as being read to you by an amorous jar jar binks

you MAY write about birds but you MUST commit. if you write a poem about a type of bird you must write at least one poem about all other bird species.

you can reference only the weird obscure fairy tales that were too fucked up for Disney to do anything with. and jack and the beanstalk, that’s also valid.

how to incorporate current events and issues into your poem: dont. smear your body with mud and think about what you’ve done

how to write about your ex: don’t

how to write about any emotion ever: don’t

actually if you’ve ever written words and adjectives and stuff fuck you im small and sleepy and i cant read

[castiel-kline]

KitKat’s Random Rewatch Part 3

4x16 On the Head of a Pin

Full disclosure I have not seen this episode in a hot minute and don’t remember most of it so these notes are gonna be real interesting. Let’s go.

Oh my god Sam looks like a baby I feel bad for laughing. An angry baby, but a baby.

Hey season 4 Cas how you doin king <3

God the way he turned off the sirens is iconic

Oh noooo “goodbye sister” went straight to my soul, man

This is the first time we see a dead angel’s wings isn’t it. Dang.

Sam’s driving? That’s rare.

Sam, Dean does not have issues with getting angry don’t tell him he needs to be!

Oh heyyyy Uriel

Is it bad that I’m cackling at Uriel not taking Dean’s shit? I’m not having a very Dean positive day but GO OFF KING WHEW!

Ughhhh I wanted Uriel to come back so that s15 Cas could interact with him bc they have such an interesting dynamic here

“Our garrison” 🥺

Okay I’m actually feeling emotions about Dean fuck

S4 Cas really doesn’t blink huh

Ahhh written by Edlund. Makes sense.

OH SNAP they just left with Dean and Sam was NOT having it

Dean it’s okay you can do itttt

Why is Uriel showing so much emotion? Is that why he’s the funniest angel in the garrison?

God the jokes were so good in early spn I’m cackling

OH THIS IS THE EP WHERE HE SAYS FUNNIEST ANGEL IN THE GARRISON AM I PSYCHIC

Cas sweetie Uriel just laughed in Dean’s face if emotions are the doorways to doubt why is that allowed??? Also was Cas tortured before this one bc I’m... worried about that based on his mannerisms. AHHH

“I would give anything not to have you do this.” Fuck.

Oh yes that’s right Alastair actually scares the shit out of me I forgot

Oh snap Ruby’s in this ep too?!

S4 Sam... unhinged... he’s like half worried for Dean’s mental health and half overconfident it’s a funky mix. Fun and fresh.

Alastair’s really good at pushing Dean’s buttons huh

That creepy slowed down cover of Paint it Black would fit this scene SO WELL

Ruby’s demon eyes looked really cool idk what it was but it was cool

EW did Ruby just call him Sammy? That is rubbing me the wrong way ahhh

Ruby’s evil smirk... she was such a good villain actually she knew EXACTLY what she was doing

The shots of Cas just listening to the screams... damn

ANNA! Hey girl

Anna’s asking the real questions

“What you’re feeling... it’s called doubt” and Cas’ face in response? I’m SCREAMING

She’s holding his hand... 🥺

Oh shit he snatched it away

I am about to start fucking crying because Cas said he didn’t want to fall and he looks terrified. Not to rant but like... this is why him falling shouldn’t be romanticized for a ship. Bc he NEVER FUCKING WANTED TO

Okay I’m probably only thinking about this because I’m applying to film school but HOW did they shoot this part of the torture scene? Did they actually dump salt/something that looks like it down Christopher Heyerdahl’s throat? HOW DID YOU DO IT TELL ME YOUR SECRETS

oh shoot this is when we found about the first seal??? The controlled horror in Dean’s eyes... a point for Jensen

THE LEAKY PIPE AHHSLSKSKSKSKS

I forgot he broke out like that my god that was creepy

Oh fuck yeah Cas fighting with telekinesis why did they ever drop that

YALL THERE ARE TEARS IN MY EYES ALASTAIR PUSHED CAS ONTO A THINGY STICKING OUT OF THE WALL... THE FINALE MEMES ARE GETTING TO ME AND NOW IM CACKLING

Oh god I had to gif it I am dying

Okay back to the reaction I hope my grainy gif got a giggle out of you :)

Is this an angel exorcism!!!! This is coollll

Oh hey there powers!Sam

I could actually write an essay on Sam and Cas interactions in season 4 there is SO MUCH to unpack in their facial expressions

Sam said “now I can kill” and Cas looked like... idk if it was betrayed or disappointed? AHHH MUCH TO THINK ABOUT

also random observation but Sam and Dean killed each other’s Hell torturers and I have no idea what that means but it was probably not an intentional parallel

Awww Sam’s worried about Dean in the hospital... PROTECTIVE SAM ALERT HELL YEAH

Also in the context of Sam’s faith him yelling at Cas like this is truly something. SO much to unpack

Uriel buddy I think you’re lying through your teeth right now

UGH Cas having emotional turmoil on benches surrounded by snow will never not make me go feral. But feral in a good way.

HALO CAS IMAGERY I AM OFFICIALLY GOING WILD

“I’m considering disobedience” AND IM CONSIDERING LOSING MY MIND CAS STAHP

^^also again not to rant but I am a little concerned for someone who can watch Cas have moments like this and walk away thinking it’s because he’s ~in love~. Pretty obvious to me it’s WAYYYY deeper than that.

OH MY GOD THIS CAS AND ANNA SCENE IS IN THIS EP TOO??? Edlund popped off

Also Cas looks so scared of emotions I’m having an actual attack. Verging on a mental breakdown no joke

OH THE LEAKY PIPE SPEECH CAS I LOVE YOU TO PIECES

Okay WHAT HAPPENED to “the only thing that can kill an angel is another angel” WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO THAT

Cas’ face while Uriel’s monologuing is killing me

“For the first time in a long time... I am.” AHHHHH

and there’s that gorgeous shot

ANNA YOURE SUCH A BADASS WOW

god I’m really having a breakdown about early Cas now send help

Dean don’t be an ass Cas is going through it rn

Fate was wrong buddy Sam was the one who stopped the Apocalypse

Dean is having a legit crisis and it’s actually making me sad what’s happening

And a single man tear to end the episode what a RIDE

Okay I’m giving this a 10/10 that episode did not have to go that hard but it did. And now I am having 50 million simultaneous crises because I adore late seasons soft dad Cas with my entire heart but DAMN did the writers miss opportunities with him. Early Cas really does hit different.

Anyway if you made it this far I hope you enjoyed my ramblings! If you’ve got any episodes you want me to do let me know! I’m on break from school in like a week so I should be able to watch some TV ;)

[nocturnical]

oh come on Louise Glück

After lit twitter erupted this morning, I had a chance to start reading thru Louise Glück’s Nobel Essay & ugh...

I’m cutting because I rant a bit but TLDR: I encourage you to read critiques of Glück’s speech from the black community today & IF you go back & read her work, Blake’s work, etc., do so with a critical eye.

I’ve read a little bit of her catalog & I liked it because it reinforced some of my ace/feminist feels, but will be reading more critically going forward.

First off, I am aware of Blake’s bullshit & give no excuses — same with Lovecraft, Bradley, etc. There are parts of this complex human person that are trash & you should be aware of it & critical when reading his work, if you choose to do so. Some people choose not to at all & that is valid af. I purposely read stuff that makes me want to fight the author all the time, it’s self-destructive & I don’t recommend it.

However, I genuinely like a lot of Blake’s work, same with Lovecraft, but definitely come at it with an awareness. This looks like taking extra time to read, so you catch anything that may be coded & critiquing certain aspects of the work more harshly than others, among other things. & being prepared to use what you find to critique all aspects from plot to character development.

Anyway, from the part of Glück’s essay/lecture that I read, her read of Blake’s poem is — to put it mildly — real yikes & beyond that, the poem itself is deeply problematic, especially in modern context.

Considering the context of the country of origin, the time period, & the state of humanist thought at the time, I can grudgingly understand what Blake was trying to do BUT even for the time he was operating with a lot of white privilege & the perspective is icky & & &. I could dive in & critique this poem pretty harshly, but also nobody should waste their time reading my opinion rn because I’m a white woman also coming from a place of privilege & there are tons of better, more comprehensive critiques available from others online rn.

All that aside, this is a super important conversation. I read widely — including indie authors — & have seen echoes of the same deeply flawed approach in contemporary works & it never fails to make me cringe. So, it’s especially problematic to have someone like Glück bring this poem up as if it was benign, because the lack of criticality can give people the idea that it’s okay to write a modern version of it. 

& her read of it comes across at absolute best naïve, uncritical, & problematic. But that’s really too generous because this isn’t an uneducated woman, that’s what really gets me about this. This is a highly educated person who has been a part of the academic poetry establishment for decades.

& to me, this brings intent into the whole debacle. Like what the fuck was she thinking? This can’t be a big old oopsy doodle can it? 

I’m uneducated trailer trash & there is no way in hell I would bring up that poem formally without rigorous, researched critique. ESPECIALLY for something as important as a Nobel speech/essay & ESPECIALLY right now in a sociopolitical climate that has just began to touch on & process so much abuse & exploitation of the black community over decades, centuries. 

Ugh, I’m so disappointed & suspicious of it, but somehow also not surprised at all. 

[mariemariemaria]

I hope this doesn't come off as rude but what news sources do you trust for news? Here in the US the BBC is considered a good source but it's become clear to me that it's heavily biased.

This is such an interesting question. I get my news from a lot of different places. Channel 4 news is a popular one hour long news show in the UK which is fairly unbiased as far as I can make out, and it often covers stories that other news sources wouldn't. BBC news is very big here in the UK as well, but I do not trust it to be impartial. There have just been too many incidents when they've edited footage in a particular way to show Boris Johnson in a favourable light. I tried to make excuses for the BBC, because I didn't want to be one of those people who criticies supposedly 'neutral' news sources, but it's gone on long enough and needs to be called out.

As for newspapers, of course they are going to have bias and a particular agenda. The Sun/The Telegraph/The Daily Mail are all right wing nationalistic newspapers in the UK, and I will never trust them to give me news (even today, their headlines have all been about how Corbyn doesn't watch the Queen's speech, which is not the most important issue in this election). The Belfast Telegraph is the Northern Irish edition, and it is very biased in favour of unionism and almost always has a section written by some right wing bigot whose biggest concern in life is the growing popularity of the Irish Language. But then again there are papers like the Irish Times/Irish News which would be favourable towards Irish nationalism.

The Guardian is another popular paper in the UK, which a liberal/centre-left bias. It's online articles aren't stuck behind a paywall, but the paper itself is v expensive and so it has a mainly middle/upper middle class readership. Idk whether I'd trust it or not. Probably, but not all that much. Just today I bought an edition of 'The I' because it was cheap af. Haven't read a great deal of it yet, but it seems alright.

Sorry if this comes across as really rambling and long. I'm on mobile rn and answering your q was a form of procrastination from writing essays. And I'm also sorry that this is such a Brit-centric response, but I hope you understand why. We don't get American news media over here, but I have heard the horror stories about Fox News. Overall it's a tricky question to answer, especially at the moment. I suppose people believe what they want to believe, and I am no different. It should be fairly obvious to most adults that newspapers will have a particular bias, and that some political commentator's opinion may not necessarily be the whole truth. What is really insidious is when TV news is unashamedly biased in favour of one side over the other. I think it's different in the US, but in the UK we have rules governing how the news should be reported on TV and radio here.

(Speaking of radio, I do actually trust BBC Ulster when it comes to news. But that has quite a small audience I'd imagine.)

Edit: ok I've only just seen your whole question. Before I'd only seen "what news sources do you trust" (thanks tumblr!). All the crap about newspapers is probs v irrelevant to your question but I'm gonna keep it in anyway. But yeah overall as someone who has lived in the UK all her life, I do not trust the BBC to give me impartial news. Even Sky News, which is generally considered to have a right wing bias, is more trustworthy than the BBC imo. The only news source I really fully trust is Channel 4 news.

[thegeminisage]

some more merlin thots

i am gaining invaluable information on how arthur reacts to shock, which is to say, he totally bluescreens

the ending of 3.12 and the opening of 3.13 he was in so much shock he stopped functioning

in 2.08 when he got a big shock he repressed hard right up until the moment he got to uther and could let it loose

i’m trying to think of other examples but it’s escaping me rn...still, even though i don’t know how it goes in canon yet, i’m inclined to say that when arthur gets a mental overload he tends to shut down and/or stew on it

i like that about him actually because most of the time he’s an impulsive fucking idiot (see: accidentally volunteering to kill gwaine LMFAOOO) so it’s nice to see him like...not slow down, necessarily, but taking time to process big shit

i feel like the very best way to reveal merlin’s magic would NOT be in the last episode so that he had plenty of time to sit with it. let it sink in nice and deep

(i do know it’s the last episode but let me dream)

if i had been writing this show i would have had him find out and then be split up from merlin for awhile. maybe even like multiple episodes. a nice little two-parter might do the trick

let him work out allll his feelings beating up trees or crying into gwen’s shoulder or whatever. his probably very mixed feelings because the people who think he’d be disgusted and betrayed with merlin are right and the people who think he’d accept it in the end are right and the people who think he’d be scared of merlin are right and the people who think hed be disgusted with HIMSELF (lowkey me, at least in an ideal world) are ALSO RIGHT because with a thing that big of course there’s gonna be mixed feelings. my guy would have a whole boatload of emotions. maybe he could try to kill uther again to work out some of those feelings because it worked to great effect last time

anyway, eventually merlin comes back and arthur knows and he knows arthur knows and arthur knows he knows he knows

and probably merlin would also have mixed feelings - should be scared? apologetic? defiant?

but since merlins been doing the emotional labor this entire series arthur could for once let the axe fall first and go on to make a big speech about whatever his final feelings are after he’s gotten them sorted out (probably non-murdery ones)

this has been my essay thank you for reading

[orlamccools]

give!! info!!! was it aeneas!!!

it was Aeneas!!!!! Putting all the stuff under the cut bc it’s a Lot and tbh it’s jsut a summary of the past week or so, also slight warning bc there is some mentions of s*x

ok so last friday we went to the climate protest together bc our student org was protesting w the climate strikers and bc we had agreed to sponsor the group so they could come on campus. during the protest, the group kinda threw me to the wolves and had me deliver the speech which was really exciting but also incredibly nerve-racking bc I am a Very Anxious person. He really helped hype me up for it and after he congratulated me for doing it!!! After the protest i went back to my room bc I was hot and sweaty and tbh Disgusting, but like on the way back, he texted me and invited me to come out drinking w him and our mutual friend. I had to turn him down bc i was Gross and also i had to write an essay, but i gave him a rain check so we might be doin that sometime soon

so skip ahead to monday. we have a shared class mondays and wednesdays, and so when i get to class he’s already there, and as i walk him he smiles at me. we talk for a bit before the professor walks in, and the dude who sits on the other side of me hops into our convo and interrupts me. i was just sorta like “.........ok whatever bro” but like he was like yo, this is a private conversation, and also don’t interrupt her, i want to hear what she has to say, which was like !!!!!!! class passes normally after that

and then we come to today. so i get to class first and like i get to our seats and he comes in a few minutes after and we start talking and stuff as we normally do, and then the professor walks in. We’re reading a short story anthology rn for that class that definitely deals a LOT w sex, so he broke our class into small groups, and my group was assigned to look at sex in one particular story. this group also was consistent of me, Aeneas, and the dude from monday. so he hadn’t read the story, so Dude and I start talking about it, but like whenever he gets involved in the thing he asks me, not the other dude. THEN we were talking abt how in the story, the relationship was pretty healthy and the sex was like...realistic in the sense that both people involved liked each other and had a sense of comradery to them. he then turns to me, and was like, “yknow more people should be friends like us before they get involved like that” and internally i was like “yeah totally these things are super important to have a healthy relationship!!’ but internally i was like BITCH WHAT THE LIVING FUCK GSJDKGHEURHGOSDHJIURIWEUHGFJ GJSHGUHWUGHHDF ARTUUOIWUFSADKNASBDFWIEUQBFREOUIREGUIOAJSDANF bc that..........thats like gotta be him testing the waters and seeing if id be down to going out w him

class ended normally and i’m gonna see him again on friday for the weekly group meeting but im litcherally shooketh because like...........i’ve never had anyone be this blatantly interested in me before. so yeah that's the tea thank you for reading and pls let me know if you wanna know more bc im literally on cloud 9!!!!!!

[the-little-prophet]

BDRP Questionnaire 2019

Posting this on Charlie since I actually talked about him quite a bit! Let’s gooooo

Characters: Berlioz, Hades, Kiara, Nala, Andrina, Merida, Charlie, Apollo, John, Su, Ashleigh, Nemo, Jun

Pick one of your characters and talk about their growth (we recommend choosing an older character, but it’s up to you!) What about their story has surprised you? What are you proud of? How have they changed from their original inception to now?

This one goes out to Charlie. I pitched Charlie very deceptively-- claiming he was a prophet, aligning him, at first, with Calliope, making it look like Charlie’s magic was of the classical, Cassandra-inspired kind. But all along, I knew that what I wanted Charlie to be was more of this sci-fi/fantasy blend as an homage to his movie’s sci-fi bend too. This year, I got to actually reveal that Charlie is a time traveler after two years!! This is very exciting for me! I’ve enjoyed being able to lean into Charlie’s new image systems with this reveal, even though I’m out of my depth and breaking like 67 different time travel rules, probably lol. Still, it’s been great to take him to that place, and to invent Future-Charlie as both a deux ex machina and an expression of identity/choice/free will etc etc. I did not have Future-Charlie in mind when I created Charlie, so that was something I was proud of coming up with!

Pick another character and talk a little about where you WANT them to go. What are your plans for them going into the new year?

I’m going to talk about Nemo if only because everyone else feels like a spoiler lol. Nemo, as a relatively new character though, is still full-speed-ahead on his initial goals that I outlined for him in his application. Now that Nemo’s been established in the school and he has this little group of buddies, I want:

To focus on his wing. I want Nemo to push himself, get himself in a spot of trouble, potentially injure himself.

Reveal his wings to at least one mundus friend

Continuing to infuse his posts with body image issues. This is a slow build kind of plot that really is like...the broth of Nemo’s plot-soup, lol, while training for his placement is the chicken and belonging at school is the noodles….it needs to be this throughline more than like, para a, para b, para c. at least for now.

Pick a thread or a plot that you’re proud of and talk about why you loved it.

I could pick a lot of threads here lol it’s honestly so HARD. But I think I want to shout-out to the Charlie/Jim first kiss thread because it surprised even me and Hannah. We initially planned for the first kiss to be just that-- one kiss, then we done, Jim and Charlie go on to be friends. But like in the best of cases, Jim and Charlie’s palpable chemistry actually informed more of Charlie’s arc and opened up avenues previously closed to me/Charlie since Charlie had been so SHUT to the idea of love. So! I really loved that thread. Also because like, I literally made Charlie experience the big bang after his first kiss. And THAT’S the BEST way to use magic in my opinion. Like when you can infuse magic with an emotional catharsis-- I think the other time I did that super well was similar actually, when Herc kissed Kiki’s cheek and she grew a tree in his room lol. So yeah! Some of my best writing in that thread, amazing chemistry, big surprises. It was an absolute pleasure.

In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 strengths and talk about why you think it’s one of your strengths.

-Image systems. I dragged myself for this, but I think it’s something that really helps me find a character’s voice and make myself excited to RP them! Also, I think it’s what people like about my writing sometimes. Maybe. IDK, lol. -Complex Emotion: I’m stealing this from my mentor who said I’m good at creating complex emotion and so you know its true. My most introverted characters get the bulk of this naturally--they are introspective and feely and give themselves the space to think and feel. But I really want to try to inject more into my extroverted characters. I think I’m doing well for Nemo, who had undiagnosed anxiety and so that informs a lot of his personality in very interesting-- very OPPOSITE-- ways as Berlioz; Nemo struggles with being alone because ‘alone’ means he gets too in his head. That’s been really fun for me and why he’s quickly become one of my fave voices to write (I know, u all thought it was because I am in love with Jimin (true), but no its bc Nemo is an anxious, big feeling baby and he’s always so Alive to me, plus i was made to write a fairy it was always my destiny.)

In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 areas of improvement.

-Dialogue: PERSONALLY I feel like I’m not great at dialogue. Some posts are better than others and I think I’m good at like…..texting dialogue? IDK. I feel like I struggle in paras though to craft good dialogue. It’s just, rn, average dialogue. Of course not every post needs to have hilarious, punchy, great dialogue. But do my characters sound different? Am I doing all I can to create rhythm and speech patterns? -Filtering: Im being very picky rn, because actually I don’t do this too much, but I do it enough where I’m like, I gotta go read some really stellar writers adn ban myself from using “Feel” and “think” for like a whole month. What I’m talkinga bout is like: Ber realized/ Ber thought / Ber knew. That kind of writing is totally fine, but that’s about it. I need to come up with more creative ways to talk about feelings and abstract concepts!!!

-Character: I know everyone is probably like………….how dare lauryl put this here. But listen. I don’t think I struggle with character on RP. But outside of RP? Oh boy! The THING about RP is you MUST create a character, that’s your vessel for writing here, and so you do all that development plus u got the four years of worldbuilding informing that character, and literally EVERYTHING CHARACTER DRIVEN ITS...THERE IS NO OTHER WAY.  Outside of RP though I think I have struggled because my natural affinity is worldbuilding and shit like that. I’m type 5 baby, I am attracted to characters who let me poke at things I don’t know anything about, like even Jun, part of it really is like, petitions and grocery store management lmfadsofij. SOOOo idk I just need to be able to focus on crafting characters that are compelling vessels for the cool shit I like to do outside of RP.

Pick one of your plots, or even just a character, and come up with a list of 3-5 “mentor texts” where you can look for inspiration or research, then write a short (2-4 sentences) why you picked those texts. JOHN DARLING BREAKS INTO FAERYLAND 1. Call Down the Hawk/Raven Cycle: It’s no coincidence that my reread of Raven Cycle last winter played a pretty big part in inspiring this new version of John. The descriptions of the magical forest Cabeswater and the hunt for Glendower have the same kind of contemporary fantasy vibe that I really like for John. And of course, Ronan’s dream magic is very much intertwined with the faery realm feeling like a dream (and Ashleigh, obviously, as a dark faery who can manipulate them). More than that though, the attention paid to the psyches of each character and how they drive the plot forward is just… /chefs kiss. 2. The Mabinogian: I want to draw from these classic Welsh/British stories and incorporate them in creative ways! Or just as, like, motifs are something. :) I have tried to do this but would like to be a lot more intentional, instead of just being like lmao let me look up some random shit for this one reply~ 3. The Hazel Wood: This book deals with characters coming into the real world from a book world! This kind of goes along with the Mabinogian as I kind of ish want to do something similar, only treating the Mabinogian as a historical, cultural text as opposed to a fiction. This book also focuses a lot on fairy tale tropes (like numbers) which I really want to incorporate in John’s stuff. I want to ideally write some of my own fairy tales-- I have one in mind actually through Ashleigh but it’s related to John too since he’d the scholar of said stories.  

And now, a wishlist!

-Exploring Nemo’s disability. This is slightly challenging for me since we don’t have many fairies, but I’m brainstorming some ideas and hope to really kick it off in January, leading up to his Talent Placement Test.   -I really want to have a lot of town-centric plots for Jun. Would love to rp with the police officers! I want to have Jun try to get some ppl arrested tbh ahah, like, Fflew for loitering, or maybe reporting Mitte. I would love some arch nemeses tbh-- Mitte does seem like a good one. AND I want to submit at least three petitions next semester!! Maybe i should make that two!! Still!! -Do some Bonfamille plots. I already have something I’m really excited about and have already planned here so this is a teaser… -Keep writing essays. The fairies have been great, getting me really inspired to do these.What’s been an amazing mental exercise, and why I cannot stop writing these, is thinking about how the political philosophy of Pixie Hollow informs how it functions: technically, socioculturally etc. It’s really fun for me to basically build a communist thought project and then enact it for real. I feel like I’m learning a lot about...well, societies, lol, and how the material factors endlessly bleed into, and shape, ideas and beliefs (and vice versa). Also, I literally have to do these because when Nemo is IN the Hollow and I want to write him getting a glass of water, I’m faced with a lot of technical questions: do fairies have running water? Does he have to get it from a stream? How do they keep things cool? Etc etc. And that’s why I go off on these, and I’m excited to keep doing them, as many as I can, with feedback from my fellow fairies. Also, do want to do ones that are NOT fairy related, so we’ll see about that. -Write John backstory. He’s gone on a few other adventures and I’d like to actually one-shot those maybe lol. -Alternate Charlie Timeline: This is something that’s bopping around in my head and I haven’t found the perfect way to make it happen, but I want Charlie to travel to an alternate version of his life and get stuck. When I figure out the right way to do this, my partners will also get to rp alternate versions of their characters lol. That’s fun right!! Of course it is, we do it all the time with AUs, but this one obvi be more personal and more closely tied to canon.

OPTIONAL: Why do you RP? First and foremost, I RP because it’s writing for the sake of writing-- joy for joy. I think this is even more important this year as I’ve had to focus on mentorship writing outside of RP. RP became the place where I didn’t have to think so hard about making everything make sense, lol. It gave my brain a break so I could be less judgmental of myself and just have fun and do the most ridiculous stuff...and some of my fave stuff iS ridiculous because of that...like Nemo and Sindri making flower crowns or the ASC nonsense. It’s this kind of light, fluffy, low-stake (but still High Stake) stuff that provided me endless joy when I needed it the most. Second of all, I RP because I really want to invest in people’s creative energy. I think doing so gives back to myself. Building canon, helping people brainstorm, seeing people grow-- I feel like a proud mom when I get to have this kind of mentorship role myself. I talked to MK about this, but even though Sam left to go off and do greater things, that’s like-- to me, it was a lot like he was graduating from this weird BDRP school I’ve helped create. I felt nothing but pride and happiness for him and really felt like, if BDRP was to explode tomorrow, I ACHIEVED the thing I set out to do when, four years ago, I sat on my computer and drafted BDRP’s mission and vision and committed myself to this admin role. And THAT’S what I want ideally-- for BDRP to be this collaborative place that doesn’t focus too much on what makes sense, on sitewide plots that force people into roles. I have always wanted plots like ASC and John’s search for Excalibur to be able to exist side by side, and I think we’ve done that. Now we just have to tend this garden, don’t we, haha? May BDRP bear many delicious fruit.