#I think my philosophy teacher might have lost it

[sadlynotthevoid]

Danny Phantom characters as things I thought/said at college today

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Mr. Lancer: Philosophy is not about peace. It's about chaos and conflict. At this class I'm going to destroy yourselves.

Danny: I'm ten steps ahead of you.

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History teacher: Yes, Tucker did terrible things. He was a dreadful person.

Tucker: *whispering* I promise you I'm not.

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Paulina: So, morning or night?

Star: Morning. My brain just doesn't work at night. It's only useful for dumb things and then just fall sleep when needed.

Valerie: So, me at mornings, basically.

[piesa2]

i got a plant on sale and a book and dummy by portishead on cd :)

[fateandloveentwined]

wuxia and confucianism

Hey. Thought I'd answer the wuxia-confucian question very briefly. I did suggest wuxia being closely knitted to confucianism, but I do understand the other perspective of wuxia being anti-confucian. Quick answer only because I've got little time right now -- might add on to it later!!

confucianism

First the central themes of confucianism:

常 (cháng): Virtues of compassion and courtesy. 仁 (rén)、义 (yì)、礼 (lǐ)、智 (zhì)、信 (xìn)、忠 (zhōng)、孝 (xiào)、悌 (tì) (there are more). These in order in crude translation mean compassion, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, integrity, loyalty, filial piety, and respect to one's older siblings. These are the main ideas Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, wished to spread through his philosophy.

纲 (gāng): Order. This is about the relationships between people, the filial piety of child to their parents, the relationship between significant others, between friends and teachers, and expanding outwards in the sphere of influence in our circle of life, the patriotism and loyalty of a liege to his lord.

Understand that Confucius came up with these ideas in a time of war. He lived his life traversing different kingdoms and establishing his prominence by getting emperors to trust him as a consultant and employ his school of ideas. As such, these beliefs are very much centred around creating harmony and order in society, and of course entails the respect of commoners and lieges to their lords (because why else would kings employ his beliefs over other schools of philosophy if not so?).

wuxia

Moving on to the wuxia genre, the 侠 (xiá) in wuxia emphasises righteousness. xia, as people, are itinerants and rebels in the fictitious pugilistic society who tire of the power of the aristocracy and seek to use their own, often unlawful ways, to help others through 锄强扶弱 (chú qiáng fú ruò) -- helping the needy and going against the strong (the morals are debatable but that's me trying to sum up wuxia in 5 minutes off the top of my head rip).

conclusions

So I guess that's enough information for you to form your own conclusions, and here's what I think, at the very least.

Against Confucianism -- Subverting the power pyramid. Many of the heroes/xia's in wuxia are lawless rebels. They aren't good, upstanding citizens of the society. Hell, xia was first popularised from 游侠列传 (yóu xiá liè zhuàn) in the Han dynasty records, talking about how a "xia" went against the officials and helped the commoners in the name of righteousness. This goes against the confucian beliefs of respecting your lord and serving the kingdom.* That's why I can understand why some would consider wuxia going against confucianism.

Align with Confucianism -- Righteousness. Ultimately, however, wuxia is about righteousness and nobility and honour, defined by society and commoners and not by royal blood. These values of etiquette, decorum, and nobility were long ingrained in the hearts of all these chinese characters, from when the courtesy and etiquette rules were defined in the Zhou dynasty, and afterwards, from the Han dynasty on, when emperors heavily employed Confucian beliefs in education and throughout society because it helps in rebuilding a harmonious society.

Confucianism is about compassion and righteousness, the staples permeating and defining chinese culture in the last two thousand years, and it is these values that serve as the central impetus of the xia and wuxia genres. People are born into these values; as such they fight against the injustice they see, and thus engenders the lost xia's of every dynasty.

*And well, even Confucius wasn't that dead set on fealty to lords. Confucian highly venerated loyalty, but when the court is corrupt, they acknowledge insurgence over the mindless following of an emperor. This is a story for another day, one I would have to back up with more quotes and citations, but I hope this answered your questions, or even better, let you form some conclusions of your own :)

Confucian philosophy is only one aspect that has correlations/influences over the "xia" genre, there are many other interesting things to say about Taoism and Buddhism as well (e.g. Jin Yong's wuxia classics have quite a bit of Buddhist values in the characters owing to author preferences), it's definitely worth looking up on these things if you're interested!

initially reblogged under the original meta post on wuxia, xianxia, and cultivation differences, but i realised it was too long and would bury the reply, so please don't mind me opening a new post for this again.

feel free to ask and discuss!!

[cassiopeiasara]

"You're not a good person" + Hackle? 💕

Ada held the small package between them as she looked from the sky to Hecate then back again. “Now a good person would have already reported this and left it in the confiscation cupboard but I am not a good person.”

Hecate worried for a moment that it was Agatha across from her. There was no mistaking the twinkle in those eyes though. Agatha always looked sharp eyed much like a cat about to pounce the prey it’d been toying with but Ada? Her eyes sparkled like a first year who finally managed to flick their wrists without smacking themselves in the face.

Hecate tilted her head. “You’re not a good person.”

Ada shrugged. “I mean what is good really and who gets to determine such things. Is it just everything in the opposition of evil or a clear set of goals that—“

“Ada, as much as I enjoy discussing the philosophy of morality in witchcraft, I’m confused as to how this has anything to do with why you’ve decided to drag me out to the middle of a clearing at almost midnight.”

Ada adjusted her spectacles. “Oh I’m sorry, dear, are you cold? Here you can take my cardigan.”

Hecate almost said yes to the warm grey garment Ada favored more often these days but shook her head. “No, I just think you might have lost the plot somewhere along the way.”

Ada furrowed her brow in what would usually be a very adorable expression but Hecate was tired and still very confused so she couldn’t quite appreciate it as such.

Ada bit her lip. “Lost the plot?”

Hecate nodded toward the package. “What is that?”

Ada looked down and chuckled. “Oh yes! These are meant to be magical fireworks in the shapes of the teachers. I thought I’d see if one worked before I went through all the trouble of filing a report.”

Hecate’s eyes widened. “Why would you need me for this?”

Ada started to fiddle with the flap on the side of the package. “Well, we never did get our picnic the other day and there was meant to be that meteor shower and I just thought—“

Hecate’s heart skipped a beat as she hid a smile. “You should know me better than to think a bit of mischief is an acceptable date idea.”

Ada winked. “I thought perhaps it might make a difference if I was the one doing it.”

Hecate rolled her eyes. “Well, let’s see then.”

Ada opened the package and lit a purple wrapped cylinder. It leapt into the sky but teetered out a quarter of the way up. Ada huffed. “That’s a bit anticlimactic.”

Hecate took the next cylinder. “It’s probably best to be thorough.”

Hecate’s chosen firework made it half way up and blasted into the shape of something that might be a triangle.

Ada hummed as she tilted her head. “Could be Miss Gullet on a good day.”

Hecate chuckled darkly. “I suppose you might not be such a good person.”

Ada laughed as she lit another firework. “But I’m fun.”

[ome-magical-ramblings]

Lineages of spirits: ropes from men and spirits.

... Ignominy shall be their portion wheresoever they are found save (where they grasp) a rope from Allah(Spirits) and a rope from men.  Quran 3:112

The meaning of this verse was specifically for the Israelites under the Islamic rulership but I'd like to expand the meaning and give a more esoteric view on it, we as the Israelites in this verse as a practitioner and someone learning magic, witchcraft and so on.

Spirits and humans aren't infallibles and that's something we have to keep in mind when we work with all of them. There are always jump of faith, jump of faith that the person talking with you isn't trying to exploit you for money or the jump of faith that the spirit you're talking to have your interest in mind as you have their interest in mind. It's nice to look at it as two polarity but that's a false dichotomy and there are MANY influence into this sphere. Some people get too bent on the psychicism of "oh I can do it myself" or "Oh I don't need a teacher I will figure it out myself", the self-initiation, and so on. I mean I am kinda self-initiated but not in every part of my practice and that's the important thing is that we can't rely on the astral for it all, and you can't just take the human words for it all. The other side of it is someone human, of flesh and bones who can talk to us, and speak to us as human and not as some pompous persona on the internet but someone who speaks with us as a normal person. A teacher, lineage, mentor, passing person, or a friends on the path are also important because they ground us, give us an avenue to talk, and we have this back and forth conversation going on. What is worse that we can also get stuck in our bubble, echo-chamber, in our based and cringe literature or this and that. We can get so stuck on our teacher that we forget their flaws, or get so stuck about our school that we don't think that our practice can improve outside of it. You can see where I am going with in this case, we can't rely TOTALLY on spirit interaction because our whole vocabulary will become so distorted by our own pre-spiritual culture that the word we use to describe our own experience won't be understandable for other people. We can't get too attached to our lineage because we might lose the helpful instructions and guidance we get out of it, in the same sense the system become the "The System" that Valentine Tomberg had a very apt way to describe it:

mysticism is the YOD of the Tetragrammaton, just as gnosis is the first HÉ, magic is the VAU—or “child” of mysticism and gnosis—and Hermetic philosophy is the second (final) HÉ [...] A person who has had the misfortune to fall victim to the spell of a philosophical system (and the spells of sorcerers are mere trifles in comparison to the disastrous effect of the spell of a philosophical system!) can no longer see the world, or people, or historic events, as they are; he sees everything only through the distorting prism of the system by which he is possessed. Yes, autonomous philosophical systems separated from the living body of tradition are parasitic structures, which seize the thought, feeling and finally the will of human beings. In fact, they play a role comparable to the psychopathological complexes of neurosis or other psychic maladies of obsession. Their physical analogy is cancer. Am I against learning from teachers? no, Am I against learning from Spirits? no, but there is some subtleness in the whole situation that's lost. In reality we always need guidance even in lack thereof finding someone to teach us as a teacher always, we can see guidance. It's not wrong to be misguided but what's wrong is charging ahead like it's nothing. "No, this person doesn't know what they're talking about, I will do it my own way" which is valid but then you have to realize that we are all cycling and going back throughout the year and seasons aiming to "grow" and transform rather than dying and "perishing". To cap all of this off, learn, listen, contemplate, widen your horizon and don't keep yourself locked in either boxes, there's more to the world.

[thislovintime]

Photo via Pinterest. (While I'm not sure, I'm guessing this might be from Pacific Hills School.)

“Since September he has been teaching English, math, drama, Eastern philosophy and ‘Rock Band Class’ at Pacific Hills, a private secondary school in Santa Monica, Calif. A college dropout, Peter got the job on the strength of his interview with Dr. Penrod Moss, the school’s director. ‘I like to hire people who are independent and creative,’ Moss said. ‘I was impressed by his personality and his ability to speak.’ […] While Tork the musician still has dreams of one day returning to the rock circuit, Thorkelson the teacher is happily planning his next course, ‘Mao, Marx and Mama.’ ‘I’m doing something important,’ he says. ‘I never do anything less than important.’” - People magazine, April 5, 1976 “[Peter] landed a job teaching English, philosophy, drama, math, and a ‘rock band class’ in a private school in nearby Santa Monica in September of 1975. ‘I had no experience, no credentials. Some of the same qualities that got me the Monkees job got me the teaching job,’ Thorkelson said. His abilities to talk and to get along with people are his strongest assets, he added.” - The Bowling Green News, May 24, 1979 "[A]lso, you have to remember that, in this society, teaching is not regarded as a very important pastime by those people in charge of setting budgets and national priorities and that kind of thing. Because if it were, they’d be paid a vastly greater amount of money than they are. Not, you know, double doesn’t begin to get it. Triple, quadruple, that kind of thing maybe. And the fact that teachers are paid as poorly as they are indicates what the priorities are. Nurses make what garbage men make, that kind of thing. It’s not a, you know, it speaks… well… ill, it speaks very poorly and very loudly about our priorities. That’s not my business in the large sense, all I can do is play the games as they are laid out before me. And having some modest influence in the style with which I play them. That seems to be about it.” - Peter Tork, KTRU, August 28, 1983 (x) “I taught English and social studies. And sure, the kids probably saw me as a Monkee, but they got over that in a hurry. Once I lost my temper at the kids, they’d see I was just like all the others — and I probably lost my temper too many times, since I was in an angry state back then. I have a life now, that’s the difference. I have a spiritual core. I’m not Shirley MacLaine but I believe in greater or lesser worlds and consciousness. Most people think of themselves as cut off from each other; others know there’s a connectedness that can be tapped into.” - Peter Tork, The Boston Globe, August 10, 1989 (x) More about Peter teaching in older posts, filed under Tork teaching. There's a New Dimensions High School Alumni public group on Facebook, and in 2019, various alumni recalled their memories of Peter: - "We were lucky to have known him." - Joanie C. H., February 21, 2019 - "Was a wonderful guy and we [were] lucky to have known him." - Alison R., February 21, 2019 - "I was one of the luckiest student[s] the year [Peter] taught music. Peter, let me rock the violin for the graduation ceremony." - Mark L., February 21, 2019 - Another alumni, Ron M., posted a signed note from Peter, reading: "To Ron don't forget what I taught you best of luck Peter Tork ('Mr. Thorkelson' to you)" And, on a 2018 blog post at the Monkees Live Almanac, one former student, Mark, commented: “Best high school teacher I ever had […]. Tremendous empathy.” (x)

[egokillr]

hi babis 💞

after going hiatus i wanted to say i rlly miss the community on here and im FINALLY at a place where i have stable beliefs in my view of spirituality that align with me!!

i might not be on here as much as i used to be (bc life n stuff,) but i rlly wanna open this space back up to discussions and having a community yk!! :3 im open to talking thru inbox chats or if you’ve ever wanted to be friends, feel free to say something!! :) i luv tumblr tbh, i thought abt leaving bc i lost my passion for what i was posting but honestly i just think i need to post more of what aligns with me for now.

so, recently i noticed some ppl in the loa community looking into nondualism philosophies so i was like omg wuts that (creds to yall on yt and insta btw)

and basically it just fits my beliefs much more now and i feel a lot better!! i no longer believe in certain terms like subconscious, 3d or 4d, states, or rlly any terminology involving the law. i honestly don’t have any terminological beliefs anymore, i just believe we are all one god and that’s it. consciousness is the only reality, so nothing has to be done to manifest. you already have anything you want and thats it!

if you disagree with me that’s okay! you can do what u will and follow ur own beliefs, thats what we’re all meant to do!! 💖

anyhow, i think im less interested in teaching my beliefs, but more interested in advocating for people to find their own way and sharing experiences within the community. i love and appreciate all of my followers sm btw!! i rlly jus want to create a lighthearted community in here where we can talk abt manifesting/ shifting experiences and just chat abt all things :D im open to helping ppl casually too, im just less of a teacher/ coach kinda person imo.

extra lil info abt me recently:

lately ive j been making lil improvements in my life, and im superr excited bc im about to do a lot of traveling that ive been wanting to do for a v long time!! besides that, ive been working on my yt subs a lot and its become a rlly fun little outlet for me! ill link it jus incase anyone wants <3

anywaysss, to close this off, im excited to have my little blog on here and do literally whatever!! im open to a lot of things, just lmk!! ❣️🪬☮️

[lemonduckisnowawake]

You know, when I was younger I used to keep up with a LOT of story blogs run by friends and acquaintances. There was this one writer who posted a short novella with a fascinating scifi worldbuilding that sometimes I still remember, though I admit that the most memorable of their stuff for me personally was this urban fantasy world they posted one shots from. There was another blogger acquaintance/friend from class who had a pretty memorable superhero story based on emotions that was seriously fun to read. And another classmate who wrote for their novel project this unlikely friendship (it might've been romance) with really poetic writing. Some bloggers did tag games, sometimes they also posted seriously amazing art they did, some clasmates posted random things inspired by the great books from our philosophy/lit class, and some others posted life updates. And from every one of the 20+ blogs I stalked, there's a story or musing or poem that's been etched as a permanent resident in my long-term memory.

And more than that, I also remember this novel a friend wrote on google docs that they only shared with a few people that I still remember (and reread once just because the funky premise combined with their writing style made it so pleasant). And this poem another classmate shared with us about life and death that stuck in my brain enough that I accidentally plagiarized it for an essay's title (I apologized profusely, especially since I think the teacher complimented it, and they were more amused and flattered than offended, though). Then there's also the fanfics and other poems, the short stories and one shots shared privately that I still have some remnants of. And a collab project novel outline that never went anywhere beyond the novel I wrote based off it (that I still have!). I don't even really talk to them anymore, or have lost contact with almost all these people. But there were a lot of stories I read not shared to their blogs that sometimes randomly pop in my brain like "yeah, this happened and you read it."

All this, really, to realize for myself that no matter how "badly written" (we were like...15-18) or unfinished my stories are, or even if they're only shared to a few people, it still might matter a lot (or, in my case, stick like a fly to a flytrap) to one person. I sure know that the stuff the friends I have now share with me, privately or on a "public" but perhaps not far-reaching medium, are going to stick around in my head for life.

[panther-os]

Thank you so much for your lovely reply. I did a squee reading it would love to hear your plans and thoughts for the Uncomfortable-verse. Especially what changes this butterfly would make or what happens on the Agen-Tan-Padme guardian road-trip!

aaaaaaaah i'm vibrating i'm so glad you sent this ask! okay this is probably gonna be less coherent than my ao3 replies bc i have had. So Much Caffeine alsdjkflskdfjsd

under the cut because it got Long

(with a few minor clarifying edits now that I'm awake)

okay so like first of all the most important changes for me are what happens with anakin and shmi? i'm kind of thinking of sandwiching imi-verse in here where anakin's half-tusken and has a twin sister who was raised by their dad. also his sister and dad rescued his mom from the tusken marauders who grabbed her from the lars homestead and his dad was among the tuskens he killed after getting his mom down from the frame that was keeping her from dying.

so like shmi gets rescued and also gets away from cliegg (buying someone to free and marry them? hmmmm sounds sus to me) and reunited with her long lost daughter.

at the temple, anakin's conduct is reviewed and palpatine's all "clearly they hate you" but then the jedi find out anakin's been ducking his therapy appointments for years and hacking the system and mind-suggesting his therapist to keep obi-wan and the council from finding out. BIG HEKKIN RED FLAG. they keep Anakin at the temple for mandatory emergency therapy and send Obi-Wan and Aayla to Kamino while Quinlan keeps an eye on Anakin.

swapping padawans is just something that happens with jedi? like it's easier when obi-wan has someone to fuss over and knows someone he absolutely trusts is watching anakin. also just like??? accountability type things. you're not spending all your time with one master who might be Up To Bad Shit (qui gon) but you still have routine.

ANYWAYS obi gets a bad feeling in orbit above kamino and talks to aayla like "hey maybe you can do some of that spy stuff your master does" and then he goes in like he do like "oh that order of millions of identical human men". aayla runs into a very helpful clone trooper the same developmental age as her who doesn't know she's a jedi knight just that she works for them and has the fake identity credentials to back it up. it's bly, she runs into bly, who takes her on a paralell tour to the one the kaminoans are taking obi-wan on and she does her spy shit and scans the clone fetuses and finds!!! the chips! dun dun dun! but she can't find a lot except for that they exist and they're in a Not Good part of the brain.

obi-wan meets jango and shit goes down like normal except after he puts a tracking device on slave i aayla and bly come running out onto the platform like "uhhhh we have a Hekkin Problem" while obi's all like "no shit we do". obi goes to geonosis while aayla stays to figure out the chips and get things ready for yoda.

meanwhile! you asked about tan and agen and padme! they're doing just fine. there is no creepy looks or sly conversation about compassion and love or bad flirting about sand. padme and tan get along really super well and padme passes the time teaching him about makeup and hair and nubian fashion. sometimes she has jedi culture/philosophy questions and agen answers those a) not in a crowded food court when they're supposed to be undercover and b) like a teacher not like someone trying to impress and seduce her. when they get to naboo, agen isn't controlling about her security either. he defers to her and the systems she and the queen already have set up just like he did when establishing their undercover stories. he's there to help, not to take over.

they go to the lake country, they go on a picnic, agen teaches tan how to assess and repair shield generators and stuff, padme becomes agen's little sister and tan's big sister for pretty much real. they don't go to tatooine or to geonosis. a squad of clones DOES come to naboo to help agen and tan and they eventually name themselves Padma Squad after the same flower padme is named after.

obi wan sends his message to aayla to relay his distress call to the council since she's still his mission partner. bc padme would absolutely want to still be on geonosis if she knew it was happening even if anakin wasn't there and they weren't on tatooine. aayla sends the call to coruscant and yoda tells her he'll meet her on kamino to pick up the order of millions of identical human men just in case and would she please get them ready to go?

quinlan gets anakin's butt in gear to go save obi-wan and it's four jedi against dooku instead of one. anakin still kills dooku, but right then and after he's surrendered. this is important. all the other three jedi go "hey dude WHAT THE FUCK" and Anakin doesn't take that well and attacks them. this is the fight in which anakin loses his arm. it's quin who does it because anakin was about to use that arm to kill or seriously injure obi-wan. anakin is taken into custody, given medical care, and imprisoned in the temple's special cells.

palpatine bullies his way in to see him and he's all "i told you they would turn against you, they've always been jealous of and feared your power, i can free you and help you get revenge" and anakin is a sucker so he agrees. the grand inquisitor is still a temple guard and breaks anakin out and anakin goes on a jedi killing spree. palpatine keeps order 66 in his back pocket because he still wants to whittle down the order by the war and he still needs the everything else in place to take over the galaxy. this is important.

anakin is killed in the creche and the entire area has to be cleansed before the babies will stop crying. obi-wan leaves the order in his grief. padme offers him a quiet place to retire on naboo since he saved them from a sith ten years ago. she grieves the little boy she met on tatooine and what he could've become. she's the one who tracks down shmi to let her know. shmi grieves her son and clings to her daughter and partner.

the jedi and the clones go to war.

sidious gets a new apprentice, who i couldn't say yet. maybe he pulls komari vosa out of the ether? the 212th and 501st go under different jedi idk which ones yet. could be agen and quin, but also they're in the positions they are in canon (council investigator and undercover shadow, respectively) for good reasons, so most likely not. the 212th and 501st still get well known because cody and rex are exceptionally good at what they do. ahsoka is taken as quin's second padawan - aayla's little padawan-sister - and they most likely stay shadows but liaise often enough with the 501st that she still becomes their vod'ika. the clones grow as individuals and as a culture. when grievous is captured on naboo, he stays captured until palpatine finagles a daring escape with lots of collateral damage.

echo is blown up and captured at the citadel. umbara happens because the 501st is at the center of the action and krell is good at mindtricks and desperate to impress the sith. ahsoka and barriss aren't targeted for saboteur and framee because ahsoka isn't supporting the apprentice sidious wants. fives finds out about the chips. fives' general believes him about the chancellor and stops fox' blaster bolt in the air long enough for rex to stun fives (he's acting hella dangerous to himself and others) so they can smuggle him to kix.

palpatine finds out and triggers order 66 early.

there are more jedi. they were prepared after aayla and bly's discovery. didn't want to do risky brain surgery to get the chips out, couldn't find out what they were for, but knew it couldn't be anything good and they had to be prepared for the worst. almost all of them escape. clones aren't able to get inside the temple and clones already inside are quickly and non-lethally subdued. ahsoka is with rex and gets the chip out of his head in the middle of all the chaos. through usual fix-it shenanigans, something happens to rescind order 66 and something else happens to kill palpatine.

giddean danu becomes chancellor because i've always liked his design and i want a named, canon option that isn't bail, mon, or padme and feels like an actual good candidate vibes-wise. yarua also works, can you imagine being a separatist leader trying to fuck with a wookiee in negotiations? actually yeah that's funnier, danu can be vice-chancellor. mon runs but doesn't win, bail likes being a senator and doesn't want to be a chancellor, padme retires because canonically nubian senators are expected to have their people as their only family and - also canonically - she really wants a spouse and kids. also she fell for one of the coruscant guard (commander? hound? oc? who knows? but probably thorn, stone, or both (hmmmm jarjar/julia/stone and thorn/padme double dates there's a thought)) and doesn't want to ask them out as anything other than a fellow citizen.

echo is rescued by the bad batch and he and fives join them for a few last missions and then post-war shenanigans. after the war is officially over and the gar is officially disbanded and the clones are all officially citizens with military pensions and backpay, cody and rex join them. at some point, they run into boba who went back to kamino for some of jango's things and found an unaltered little sister and stole her. hunter immediately adopts them both.

and that is a lot more than i thought had for this au! ^_^ thank you for asking!!!! some of it was surprising to me, actually, esp the part about anakin still falling, but it feels True and Right and i'm definitely planning to keep it.

thank you again!! and thank you for the nice reviews you keep leaving me they're always a high point in my day ^_^

[fanboyzuko]

How do you think that the stories of how the first benders learned translate to modern times in atla? From some of the old stories mentioned in ltf it sounds like the first benders were nonbenders who knew their element well and found teachers to learn to answer it. But the modern understanding is that benders are born with their abilities, and that nonbenders have no hope of learning.

Is this another thing that could have been lost to time as humans moved on to learning from each other instead of their original teachers? It would tie in well with how mindset and philosophy plays a role in all the elements bending.

(and I realized as I was thinking this, it also has interesting implications for Toph who learned her bending from the badger moles. Was she inherently an earth bender from the start, or was she simply earth enough that when she met the badger moles she was able to learn?)

ooo you always ask such fun questions nwn

the true ins and outs of bending i think is best left undefined but! people of the atla world ofc have been trying to define it for as long as its been around! I have a few popular theories bouncing around in my noggin

so modern theorists who ascribe to the lion turtle theory would tell you that the ability to bend certain elements is directly tied to your ancestors and the elemental turtle they came from. Sure the first human benders had to learn from the original benders, but that’s because they weren’t born with the ability! After that, humans could learn from each other if they were born able to bend. Why are some people able to bend and some not? Hand wavy talk of spirits

And then there’d be theorists who call the lion turtles a pure myth and say bending is tied to the lands of the four nations. A mix of it being a spiritual gift of the lands and because its the homeland of the original benders of each element (and??? uhhh hand wavy see more moon at poles? idk lmao)

But then, of course, you have those who remember/know about the mixed elemental original benders and societies!

The Si Wong tribes definitely believe the ability to bend is a reflection of the state of the world and an individual’s connection to the spirits/element in question. The world became increasingly dangerous for airbenders, so there stopped being airbenders in the desert. Technology develops and there’s less dependency on sandbending for survival, so not everyone has to be a sandbender. Thus, by their theory, it’s possible for anyone to become a bender even if they weren’t born with the ability

As for the Northern Water Tribes’ bending philosophy hmmm probably something like a mix of all three... because they have a long history tracing back to before the lion turtles, but also lost that history for a time. They can see a loss of freedom in the world denying airbenders in the pole, but what prevents them from getting new earthbenders? Are they not a substantial, connected community through their ice? Is the mere threat against mixed benders enough to threaten even earth? They don’t know the answer!

With Toph, I don’t think original benders can bestow the ability to bend, but I certainly think meeting them under the right circumstances might have one previously thought to be a nonbender finding an element answering their call... Irregardless of if Toph was already bending a little before she ran away, was capable of it and didn’t know, or was actually a nonbender, meeting the badger moles and learning bending from them put her more in touch with her element than any modern earthbender. The art of embracing your element rather than treating it as a tool is certainly something lost to time in favor of humans teaching each other...

Hmmm that has me thinking of the Air Nomads now, though, and how of all the nations they bonded with their original benders and definitely learned their elements alongside them. Hmmmm...

[postcreditscene]

fuck this stupid baka life

Was i supposed to upload to this blog at least twice a week? maybe. It was July and Now it's September, so I should give a cute lil life update.

I've been directly rejected by two guys, epically might i add. Fit guy #1 decided he liked God more than me (fucking polish guys) and Fit guy #2 got with this stupid whore of a girl instead. Within that whole ordeal, Stupid Whore lost her boyfriend who she kept boasting to me about. That made me happy.

Fit guy #3 is what made me come back to this blog. Fit guy #3 will be referred to as LC from now on, because it's easier than typing all that bullshit out.

Some context, I've just started my a-levels (whooo), just turned 17, and just realized I need to kill myself. I actually achieved my goal of going to school, going every day for about a month until today where i went home early after finding out the tragic news that LC only likes Asian girls. Yes, i know, before you say anything i will go cry about it. I'm aware that on paper i fit the beauty standard, tall, pale, blue eyes and now only partially blonde hair. In reality, Im fucking ugly. Or at least not attractive to those who i find attractive. I'll get into more about this in another post because i don't want to talk about my cam girl days in my anorexia-suicide pseudomanifesto post rn.

Basically, after two periods of getting assfucked by the sheer amount of philosophy work my teacher set, I got up and took my sorry little ass to the common room. Yknow my day hadn't been going too bad yet despite the flare up of my arthritis until I had walked up to this group of girls and they were speaking, but paused and said 'she's here' when I approached.

They then proceeded to very kindly (I'm not even saying this in a sarcastic way, if you read this you know who you are and i think you're a really sweet person <3) inform me that LC said a girl in our year was cute. A girl who for all intensive purposes is the polar opposite of me. I gently excused myself from the conversation, not wanting to bawl my eyes out immediately after, ignoring the swarm of excited energy they had for their lucky friend.

I'm not jealous of the girl, she'd very kind and deserving of all the good things. I'm more mad at the whole fucking world. I'm mad that every damn day i get catcalled, stared at, harassed and yet the one (third) fucking time I wish a guy would just see me he doesn't. I'm condemned to this stupid whoreish tall body that no one will ever treat gently. I look like a bitch and should be ravaged like one my society, good for nothing but breeding and degrading.

This was kind of depressing but i quit therapy and don't have anyone to talk to about this.

[iwantjobs]

7/17/2024: Trang the anti-wrinkle expert starting with brushing teeth, floss, and scrap tongue after every meals (can't have a youthful face if all the teeth fall out in old age to collapse the facial skin. Plus, life will be hell as an elderly if you have no teeth left to eat the crunchy and cheesy food in your youth for mushy food and liquid are yucky on death bed). To push down the wrinkles from cutting deeper as I age, I Vaseline as glue and surgical tape. WARNING: Newborns, infants, and toddlers up to 3 years old might die from choking if the mothers, babysitters, grandmas, caregivers don't pick up the used little anti-wrinkled tapes on the bed, grounds, and clothes. A female vanity can kill your babies,ladies and men. So my advice is to do this anti-wrinkled technique when there's no children under 4 years old or else this jealous old spinster is out to kill your children and children you work in day care or babysitting with her vanity of anti-wrinkled tapes. Plus, Trang's anti-wrinkled tapes might choke and kill the fish if they are washed into the drains and sink so please invent tapes that dissolves quickly in water for fish , babies, and toddlers. This can be the alternative for botox. The tapes around the mouth area is excellent to prevent aging people to yank down their mouth to create ugly old people's frown permanently on their faces. F_gly. The taping and Vaseline can suffocate the skin area so do taping for an hour a day on wrinkles. Also The taping is excellent for elevated sun spots like the ones I have and even reduce the dark color in molee (my poor dark color of the sexy mole around the mole got reduced because I rather kill it than have deeper bitter wrinkles taking down my lips into a permanent frown. Can't have everything folks. The yellowness is the tumeric powder or curry powder I put on my chips-eating zits and aging skin exposed to sun. Trang at 51.23 Years old as a hardcore heterosexual female with eggs and baby making machine body philosopher who will get doind at home online masters and PhD in philosophy (or the female Freud), I can tell the evilness in people's wrinkles for I nearly died in the last 16.1 becoming a crippled, mental, lost my condo, and nearly everything since I was bullied and sexually harassed in a minor form by 3.1 lost children as my bosses at Starbucks in gay San Francisco after I took on an easy job by kind health insurance package after I abruptly quit teaching as a hight social studies teacher to save the world for my offer my life. 1.1 of those 3.2 are lost Jewish-related children (1 boss was American French German Jew who failed to report my back strain work in jury, and the .1 gay is the HR man named David, as the Star of Davis, who laughed a little laugh on the phone when I called in to say I think i was bullied by the gays bosses at Starbuck. I sent in an inappropriate sexual letter after I smoke pot threatened to sue if he doesn't report my bullying claim, he ended firing me which took away my health insurance to treat the work back strain and stress and revenge of mental illness. Anyhow, I am over it because I am on my way of healing as a hardcore heterosexual human as I am incing away relinquishing my genocide-gay-Spanish-as-2nd-language American citizenship eternally after I pay off my debts to America for their involvement in the Vietnam war. This will be my last post unless life and death. Take care folks. Peace via love and suing. You use a president in a democracy, not shoot him. Those who support the shooting of Trump, you are all lying hypocrites for that is what Putin, China ,Latin America, Africa, etc. do--thus get out of America and American democracy and go there. I am getting out to prove that I am not a hypocrite as the female Buddha or Jesus' father or God living as a female with eggs named Trang. I regretted my double-eye-lid plastic surgery at 19 for I can analyze how my eyes ages as the female Buddha now. I want no violence on gays, Jewish, Isrealis, Muslims, whites, and Asians, and blacks, and all.

[system-of-a-feather]

I would also like to add as a Zen Buddhist that a lot of Zen practices and traditions are built largely more around philosophy and one's internal relationship with themselves and as a result, Zen Buddhism frequently uses stories and allegories as a means of exploring complex hypotheticals and reflecting on the way things are. As a result, a lot of the common Buddhist folklore and tales are often used as discussion points in light heart and most Buddhists (particularly on the less orthodox Mahayana side of things) openly acknowledge that some of the figures frequently mentioned in the sutras and what not might not even be real and that the point of the stories and folklore is the lesson, the point and the meaning and less so the details

Additionally, generally speaking - and this is just as one Chinese Buddhist opinion - I think good thought and good practice Buddhist really wouldn't sweat literary goofs and satires of the culture and folklore too seriously because it 1) goes against the principles of detatchment and sweating it too much would inherently be upadana (clinging / attachment) and thus inherently bring suffering and 2) a bit more of an unorthodox mahayanan perspective, but everything and everyone is a potential learning subject and someone / something that holds inherent "Buddahood". Some are harder to see and understand than others, but generally the idea and understanding that everything has an aspect of Buddahood in it is a large reason why individuals should keep an open mind to as many things as possible and discard the dualistic thinking of "good and bad" and "disrespect and respect" as such judgements cloud an individuals ability to see things as They Are and revere and respect the Buddha nature in everything

In terms of "religion" and "worship" in some of the less orthodox side of Buddhism, a lot of "worship" focuses a lot more on the Avatamsaka sutra which states that Buddhahood is everywhere and that everything should be given the respect and acknowledgement of its inherent Buddha-nature (and yes, that would include silly satire and media)

I personally consider myself atheist with fantistical esoteric Buddhist philosophical beliefs, but I also wouldnt say someone would be wrong in saying I DO worship "Buddhahood" in terms of the Avatamsaka Sutra's understanding of Buddha / Buddhahood as I do think that is one of the few things in all my love for mythos and theology reading, that I ever felt naturally inclined to be worth revering

And since Im aware that Buddhist Jargon can get lost in translation to western audiences with Abrahamic perspectives, "Buddhahood" is not saying that everyone is The One and Only Buddha or anything like that. "Buddha" and "Buddhahood" in many sects of Buddhism is more so considered a great and enlightened teacher that provides insight into ways to bring ourselves closer to enlightment and freedom from samsara / suffering. When we talk about the Avatamsaka Sutra, we are talking about the innate ability for EVERYTHING in the world to be a potential teacher and aid to freeing yourself from suffering.

And yes, silly satire and media is included in this. So its ill advised to shame anything really or inherently cast anything as "bad" becauses it closes the mind off from potential insight that could be provided from the "bad" thing and thus trap you further into suffering and what not

(Disclaimer: following this philosophy and view is a lot of a chronic practice and challenge as perfect following would complete remove judgement from everything, including things I can not rationalize removing negative judgement from; this though is why sects can spend their entire life focused primarily on this sutra)

But ANYWAYS I'm largely rambling as just wanted to add some discussion points as Ive been doing some reading on Buddhism, its history and the diversity among it and a friend linked me this and I went "oh I have cents to add"

One nerd's musing about Chinese religion and "respect"

-I try to stay away from fandom discourse, but, much like how you can smell the stench from a dumpster fire without walking into said dumpster fire, I've noticed something that seemed to come up a lot in western JTTW + adjacent fandoms: "respect Chinese religion".

-Usually as a reason for why you shouldn't ship a character, because of fucking course it's shipping discourse too.

-And my first reaction is "Man, you are taking Chinese religion too darn seriously, more than people who are born and raised in China."

-My second reaction is "I mean, most of us are atheist/agnostic by default anyways, with a good number of what I'd call 'atheist/agnostics with superstitions': people who said they were not religious, yet believed in Fengshui or divinations and burnt incense at temples for good luck."

-My third reaction: "But why do I get the feeling that when you mention 'Respect', you are thinking about something completely different?"

-Then I reread an essay from Anthony C. Yu, "Religion and Literature in China: The "Obscure Way" of Journey to the West", and the metaphorical lightbulb just lit up over my head.

(Everything below applies more to Daoism + associated folk religions, but by the time most classic Chinese vernacular novels were written, the blending of the three religions had become well and truly mainstream.)

(The conception of gods differs from dynasty to dynasty. What I'm describing here is mostly based on Ming and Qing ones; if you went back to Han or pre-Qin times, most of these would not apply.)

(I am one of the "atheist/agnostic by default" people. I just have an interest in this kind of stuff. I am also just one Chinese person, and an actual Daoist/Buddhist/Religion Studies researcher would probably have a lot more valuable information and perspective to offer when it comes to contemporary practices and worship. Like any people on the internet: take my words with a grain of salt.)

-Even in the past, when society was far less secularized, Chinese gods are not omniscient, perfect beings whose worship is a solemn, humorless affair. Some's worship are Serious Business, but that has more to do with the sort of gods they are and the patronage they enjoy, not godhood in and of itself.

-And even the ones that you are supposed to "treat seriously" are still very human. To use an analogy I've used plenty of times before: you respect and fear them in the same way you'd respect and fear an emperor's official, or the emperor himself, because if you don't, you are not gonna like the consequences.

-However, unlike Jesus, the emperor & his officials were capable of being temperamental, flawed, or an outright asshole, divine or not. Ideally, they wouldn't be, and if you were one of the "serious" believers——people who actually got an official permit, became ordained clergy, and went to live in a temple, you were unlikely to think of your gods in that manner.

-But it wasn't a complete, utter impossibility. The lower you go in the pantheon, the closer you get to popular religion, the less "serious" the gods and their worship become. By that, I mean general attitude, not sincerity of faith. You still shouldn't be rude to them, but, well, they are more likely to take a joke in stride, or participate in the "vulgar" pleasures of commoners because they weren't as bound to Confucian moral standards or religious disciplines.

-To stretch the same analogy further: you should still respect your village head, they could still give your ass a good spanking for being a disrespectful brat, but you were not obligated to get on your knees and kowtow to them like you would do in front of a provincial magistrate, the emperor's minister, or the emperor himself, nor did they have the power to chop your head off just because you were rude.

-On the other hand, the emperor would never visit a random peasant just to help them fix their broken plow or treat them to a nice meal, but your village head could, and your relationship would probably be warmer and a lot more personal as a result.

-Your respect for them was more likely to stem from the things they actually did for you and the village as a whole, instead of something owed to this distant, powerful authority you might never get to see in your lifetime, but could change its course with a single stroke of a brush.

-Now exchange "village head" for your run-of-the-mill Tudis and Chenghuangs and friendly neighborhood spirits (because yes, people worshipped yaoguais for the exact same reasons), emperor + his officials for the Celestial Bureaucracy, and you'd have a basic idea of how Chinese religions worked on the ground level.

-This is far from absolute: maybe your village head was a spiteful old bastard who loved bullying his juniors, maybe your regional magistrate was an honest, upright man who could enjoy a good drink and a good laugh, maybe the emperor was a lenient one and wouldn't chop your head off for petty offenses. But their general degree of power over you and the closeness of your relationships still apply.

-Complicating the matter further, some folk gods (like Wutong) were worshipped not because they brought blessings, but because they were the divine equivalent of gangsters running a protection racket: you basically bribed them with offerings so they'd leave you alone and not wreck your shit. Famous people who died violently and were posthumously deified often fell into this category——shockingly enough, Guan Yu used to be one such god!

-Yeah, kinda like how your average guy could become an official through the imperial examinations, so could humans become gods through posthumous worship, or cultivate themselves into immortals and Enlightened beings.

-Some immortals aren't qualified for, or interested in a position in the Celestial Bureaucracy——they are the equivalent of your hermits, your cloistered Daoist priests, your common literati who kept trying and failing the exams. But some do get a job offer and gladly take it.

-Anyways, back to my original point: that's why it's so absurd when people pull the "Respect Chinese Religion1!!1!" card and immediately follow up with "Would you do X to Jesus?"

-Um, there are a lot of things you can do with Chinese gods that I'm pretty sure you can't do with Jesus. Like worshipping him side by side with Buddha and Confucius (Lao Tzu). Or inviting him to possess you and drink copious amount of alcohol (Tang-ki mediums in SEA). Or genderbend him into a woman over the course of several centuries because folks just like that version of Jesus better (Guan Yin/Avalokitesvara).

-But most importantly, Chinese religions are kinda a "free market" where you could pick and choose between gods, based on their vicinity to you and how efficient they were at answering prayers. You respect them because they'll help you out, you aren't an asshole and know your manners, and pissing them off is a bad idea in general, not because they are some omnipotent, perfect beings who demand exclusive and total reverence.

-A lot of the worship was also, well, very "practical" and almost transactional in nature: leave offerings to Great Immortal Hu, and he doesn't steal your imperial seal while you aren't looking. Perform the rites right and meditate on a Thunder General's visage, and you can temporarily channel said deity's power. Get this talisman for your kids at Bixia Yuanjun's temple, and they'll be protected from smallpox.

-"Faith alone" or "Scripture alone" is seldom the reason people worship popular deities. Even the obsession with afterlife wasn't about the eternal destination of your soul, and more about reducing the potential duration of the prison sentence for you and your loved ones so you can move on faster and reincarnate into a better life.

-Also, there isn't a single "canon" of scriptures. Many popular gods don't show up in Daoist literature until much later. Daoist scriptures often came up with their own gigantic pantheons, full of gods no one had heard of prior to said book, or enjoyed no worship in temples whatsoever.

-In the same way famous dead people could become gods via worship, famous fictional characters could, too, become gods of folk religion——FSYY's pantheon was very influential on popular worship, but that doesn't mean you should take the novels as actual scriptures.

-Like, God-Demon novels are to orthodox Daoism/Buddhism what the Divine Comedy is to medieval Christian doctrines, except no priests had actually built a Church of Saint Beatrice, while Daoists did put FSYY characters into their temples. By their very nature, the worship that stemmed from these books is not on the same level of "seriousness" as, say, the Tiantai school of Buddhism and their veneration of the Lotus Sutra.

-At the risk of being guilty of the same insertion of Abrahamic religion where it doesn't belong: You don't cite Dante's Inferno in a theological debate, nor would any self-respecting pastor preach it to churchgoers on a Sunday.

-Similarly, you don't use JTTW or FSYY as your sole evidence for why something is "disrespectful to Chinese religion/tradition" when many practitioners of said religions won't treat them as anything more than fantasy novels.

-In fact, let's use Tripitaka as an example. The historical Xuanzang was an extraordinarily talented, faithful, and determined monk. In JTTW, he was a caricature of a Confucian scholar in a Buddhist kasaya and served the same narrative function as Princess Peach in a Mario game.

-Does the presence of satire alone make JTTW anti-Buddhist, or its religious allegories less poignant? I'd say no. Should you take it as seriously as actual Buddhist sutras, when the book didn't even take itself 100% seriously? Also no.

-To expand further on the idea of "seriousness": even outside of vernacular novels, practitioners are not beholden to a universal set of strict religious laws and taboos.

-Both Daoism and Buddhism had what we called "cloistered" and "non-cloistered" adherents; only the former needed to follow their religious laws and (usually) took a vow of celibacy.

-Certain paths of Daoist cultivation allow for alcohol and sexual activities (thanks @ruibaozha for the info), and some immortals, like Lv Dongbin, had a well-established "playboy" reputation in folklore.

-Though it was rarer for Buddhism and very misunderstood, esoteric variants of it did utilize sexual imageries and sex. And, again, most of the above would not apply if you weren't among the cloistered and ordained clergy.

-Furthermore, not even the worship of gods is mandatory! You could just be a Daoist who was really into internal alchemy, cultivating your body and mind in order to prolong your lifespan and, ideally, attain immortality.

-This idea of "respect" as…for a lack of better words, No Fun & R18 Stuff Allowed, you must treat all divinity with fearful reverence and put yourself completely at their mercy, is NOT the norm in Chinese religious traditions.

-There are different degrees and types of respect, and not every god is supposed to be treated like the Supreme Heavenly Emperor himself during an imperial ceremony; the gods are capable of cracking a joke, and so are we!

TL;DR: Religions are complicated, and you aren't respecting Chinese religions by acting like a stereotypical Puritan over popular Chinese deities and their fictional portrayals.

[whatintheactualworld]

"What will you do now?"

The Commander in Chief stood before a visual of what could only be described as a cruel nightmare. His skeletal frame and darkened eyes alluded to his brutal past. A strict rearing, top performer at all that he had done, moral character of the most absolute, but somehow lacking in charm--always the underdog to a more handsome bright eyed charmer. Many shared his fate, but he proclaimed he would be different. He would rise above. He would do what needed to be done for the greater good.

Now he stands before me, presenting his legacy. A city of prosperity and livelihood set to flames. Bombs bursting in the distance. Homes reduced to dust. Natural landscapes corrupted by military arsenal. Animals fleeting. Families scattered and impoverished in the blink of an eye. Vacant faces. Dreams lost in a void faced with a reality most cruel. And for what?

"My dear brother," I chocked, recalling the years we spent together in the same household, under the same instruction, following the same moral code.

"There were many things we were taught, and I would argue that at times we were humbled by teachers that were harsher than necessary. But somehow you always missed the point."

"Your philosophies of love and forgiveness could not prevent the ravishing of our home." He proclaimed, as though proud. "Your ability to empathize with the enemy did not stop them from landing their deadly strikes. I've done something real here. I've sent a message."

"The only message that you've made here is that you are no better than them."

He ferociously stomped his foot. Turned to observe the dead city, knowing I would once again imprison him with harsh judgment.

"You would stand by and do nothing, but you say I'm the one who has lost his way. You say I lack compassion, but do you really care when you turn a blind eye and fill people minds with futile dreams? I equipped them with strength. I taught them not to fear."

"You gave 500 men a weapon to exact revenge for you." I said. "You think resorting to this will change anything? The wars will continue regardless. But you had a choice. We choose what path to take, and you chose to spill blood and to crush dreams. You think the children of this country were any different than us? Now they will remember what you've done here. You've opened the box and all these horrible things have been unleashed. You've done no good for us, for our home, or for yourself."

"Fine," he said solemnly, "I knew you'd see it that way. I don't know why I entertained the idea that you'd see me as anything other than the villian. You always have. You never appreciated what I'd done. One day you'll thank me."

"No brother," I felt my last desperate attempt to change his mind rising to my lips, "One day, when the darkness comes to consume your soul, I will mourn you. Because as many cruel and unforgivable things that we have seen, I knew you were the one who was worst hit by it. We have tried so hard to save you, to show you that with all of the horrible things life has shown us, there is just as much that is wonderful and so much beauty to partake in. We asked you to sing with us, but you only cried. We wanted you to dance, but you only ran. You just couldn't bear to move on from what happened. You just couldn't resist the darkness that beckoned you here. Even now, can't you see that you only walk full on into the dark abyss? Will you not simply turn around and see the light?"

"What a lovely metaphor," he smirked. "You have always seen life through rose colored glasses. You're one of the lucky ones,"

" It's a simple choice!" I declared angrily. "Chose hope. Choose love. Choose anything but death, or else remain in this cycle of madness forever. I'm going home. I'll return to mourn our parents' graves. I'll embrace my wife. I might even play checkers with the children. These frivolous things might mean nothing to you, but it means the world to my family. One day we'll die, but at least we'll have spent our time building a life full of love and not one fueled by hatred."

"I'll give you the last word, brother." He said with dismissive pride.

I lowered my eyes, once again feeling my face turn red as tears tried to well in my eyes.

"Just remember no matter how low you sink, you'll always have a soft bed and a warm meal at our home waiting for you."

He said nothing. I turned away, crushed, feeling dejected, feeling as though I was once again abandoning him to the darkness that clung to his heart. But it was his choice. And he made that choice every day of his life.

[pooma-education]

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

My Dear Students | Let’s reflect on the classroom teaching experience; has it lost its value?

'Are we making teaching and learning better and more enjoyable?' asks Nuggehalli.

'Why do we need classes on jurisprudence?

My dear students,

Today I want to give you some idea of what I have been telling my students about the value of classroom teaching. We are packing you like sardines in cans for hours on end; at the very least we must reflect a bit on what you and I, teachers and students, are getting out of it. I don’t mean I get a salary and you get a job at the end of it. I mean to ask if we are making teaching and learning better and more enjoyable or are we just sticking to something that has outlived its value. I am teaching legal philosophy this term. This is what I am telling my students. There are some references below that are specific to legal philosophy but I don’t think that will come in the way of your reading

Welcome to jurisprudence. I suppose we must begin by asking why do we need classes on jurisprudence? You can get your readings from the internet. You have talking heads on YouTube and Instagram delivering lectures on jurisprudence. Why do you need to sit in a collective physical space and why do you need me? If we don’t answer this question, we will not utilise our time properly in this term.

You need me because the texts will not speak for themselves. I won’t be doing my job unless you come out of the class with some insights into the texts you did not have before you entered the class. This is the challenge for me: to try to get you to think about things you wouldn’t have thought of if you were left alone with the texts. Hopefully I can get you to think about the text from different viewpoints, point out what the author is trying to get at, how that fits into the rest of the literature, how it adds to the existing state of knowledge, how you might want to agree and disagree with it, and why it’s interesting enough to warrant your attention and mine.

You don’t need only me though. You need each other. This is an even bigger problem than convincing you that you need me. I find that many of you have very little faith in your ability to contribute to class discussions. Perhaps it’s because you think you haven’t prepared enough or read enough. But, at least in jurisprudence, you will be made to do plenty of reading in the class. At that time, please have some faith in yourself and in your friends that you will come up with insights that will invigorate the discussion in the class. You will understand what’s been taught better because you will build on each other’s insights. Is this so hard to believe? Will it help if I tell you that in previous batches this has worked very well, that students who were seemingly diffident came out with perspectives and thoughts that helped everyone—me, their friends and themselves — navigate jurisprudence better.

You still don’t believe classroom discussions add value? Let’s take the example of just the last two classes. I asked you to look at the Speluncean Explorers case and tell me what the judges thought of the nature of the law and the relationship between law and morality. Some of you answered that if authority is the essence of the law, then necessarily morality can’t play a role in identifying legal propositions, because we need to maintain the sanctity of authority. Some others in the class said that it is precisely because authority is integral to law that people who apply law, such as judges, use moral principles while applying the law. The actual solution to this issue is not important right now, it’s just that I really liked the way many of you responded to the issues. You were thinking through the problem and you were using the classroom as it was meant to be used; as a forum for shaping thoughts, debating different points of view, and working with and off each other to arrive at insights you probably won’t get on your own. 

The most boring thing you can do is just sit tight and listen only to me. There is a certain point of time after which I find it difficult to listen to myself and so I have no hope that you will listen to me for more than a few minutes if I start on a soliloquy. Here’s what I would like you to do. Keep aside your previous years in law school. Perhaps you lost interest in some of your classes or you have gotten used to your more garrulous classmates intervening in the class discussions all the time. Let’s make a fresh start. You start listening to me and to each other. You have nothing to lose. You might even gain something. At the very least, you won’t be bored.

[nursc]

nurse christine chapel, DNP advanced practice/PhD in the philosophy of nursing, masters in biochemistry and epigenetics.

since season two wrapped up, i thought it might be nice to update my education headcanon for christine based on what we got on episode eight about her background + some research i've done about nurses.

some information to keep in mind, and which i used to build this:

christine develops her own research, independent of m'benga ( pilot, ghosts of illyria, charades );

she can prescribe medication ( lost in translation );

she gave up a career on 'bioresearch' to search for her missing fiancee ( what little girls are made of );

she was head nurse at the age of 25 / 26 ( under the cloak of war ); and

she is a civilian at this moment at this time, and probably did not attend starfleet academy.

undergrad + masters in biochemistry (2247 - 2251 )

at the age of seventeen, christine starts college, not sure of who or what she wants to be. quite frankly, she is lost. she passed the test to enter the academy, but choose not to attend, thinking the opportunities here on earth were more interesting, and she did not want to be part of such a regimented organization. during her first two years of college, she accumulated enough credits to major in genetics and biochemistry, and minor in early medieval literature and dance. during the summer break between her sophomore and junior year, a professor invites her to accompany them to a hospital they are going to be working on, as part of an alien exchange program. they were hoping christine would go into pre-med, but instead, she gravitated towards nursing after developing a strong connection with the head nurse of the hospital. at this point, christine was leaning more towards being purely a researcher, but seeing up-close how nurses work in a hospital setting, the importance of the healthcare - patient connection, and that there are various ways she can be a researcher and a nurse changed her mind. when she returns to school, she changes her classes so she can leave her undergrad with a nursing degree. also, armed with a recommendation letter from the head nurse of the hospital, and from various professors, she is invited to participate in a masters acceleration programme. she still finishes her undergrad in four years, with a bachelor's in nursing a masters in biochemistry.

practical experience + doctorate in the philosophy of nursing and DNP (dual degree) (2252 - 2255)

christine accepts a position as a nurse in the hospital connected to the university. she works as a teacher's assistant for an old professor, but focuses most of her attention on her work at the hospital. as a nurse, she flourishes. quick, attentive to a fault, she pays attention to the smallest details and is always in demand. as a researcher, she feels stifled. her position doesn't allow her to conduct herself as independently as she wants, and her options are slightly limited. at first, she considers going for a PhD in the philosophy of nursing, which is a more theoretical degree, which would allow her to develop her abilities as an academic and a researcher. it is a program 'designed to prepare nurse scientists with expertise in clinical-translational research methods to advance the scholarly discipline'. however, when she floats the idea, some of her peers nudge her towards a DNP which is a doctorate program more focused on the clinical aspects of nursing, meant to develop skills for leadership positions — 'many DNP graduates have expanded responsibility and accountability in planning, implementing, and evaluating evidence-based strategies to improve individual patient and population health outcomes.' faced with two choices, christine chooses both. she finds a university offering a dual program and once again works her ass off, trying to merge her passions for science, patient-care and human-connections. i should note, as this is something i mentioned while plotting this out on discord and i think its very important to christine's general character, that while her nursing passion started from a summer program, christine is a big fan of actually enjoying her summers. while she does some courses during those months, it's rare. usually, you can find her at a friend's place, or in the middle of nowhere, exploring.

klingon war (2256 - 2257 )

shortly after she finishes her degree, the klingon war starts. at first, christine is too busy to really notice it. she is interviewing for positions, trying to decide if she is going to accept a position at a university, and stay more closely connected with the academic side of the profession, or work in a hospital and get more practical experience. despite her youth (she is 26), she is already being offered positions as head nurse in smaller hospitals, and in bigger hospitals, the promise of being promoted within five years. as she plans on conducting research that is closely connected to patient-care, she chooses a position in a smaller hospital which is connected to a prestigious university. however, after a while, the klingon war becomes impossible to ignore. it seeps into every aspect of her life: friends from her teenage years, who went into starfleet, are fighting. old school mates from university are signing up to help, and several doctors in the hospital also quit in order to help on the front lines. a request, from a doctor named buck ( just buck ), provides a wake-up call. there are people out there who need her help, and christine can't turn away from people in need. so she takes the job. when she gets there, she is thrust into a position that feels beyond her capabilities. head nurse, of a makeshift hospital on the front lines. it’s a long way from the shining hospitals back on earth. she learns on her feet, though. not one to back away from a challenge, christine rises up, figures it out, and by the end of the month, she’s re-organized buck’s entire system and is working side-by-side with joseph m’benga, the best doctor on the team.

post klingon war, masters in epigenetics (2257 - 2259)

after the war ends, she doesn't immediately go back to earth, briefly serving on the uss ferragut, at the request of starfleet. with so many of their officers dead, they don't have a head nurse available for the ship. she is there for the incident with the dikironium cloud creature. at the end of 2257, her contract with starfleet ends and she accepts a position with the stanford morehouse epigenetic project. she gets a masters in epigenetics as part of her research, and her work on epigenetics and how it can be used to alter outer physical characteristics in order to mimic other species catches starfleet's attention. on 2259, they ask her to once again work with them, this time, on an exploration ship. at this time, she is also pursuing a masters in medieval arthuriana literature.