#Teaching Aids for Social Science
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love letters and second sons | part 1.
Summary: The princess is finally ready to debut in society. But before she does, she decides to disguise herself and see the true faces of the ton.
Author's Note: Hello! Yes, I'm here with a wip before finishing my other stuff. The Bridgerton girlies have got me. Congratulations to you all. So before you read this, please read: I Hate Accidents by @i-hate-accidents AND Over The Garden Wall by @homeofthepeculiar AND The Ultimate Deception by @maximoff-pan. These stories are some of my favorites and really inspired this fic.
Warnings for the Series: light sexism in line with the times, light classism in line with the times, mental health stigma, shitty doctor care, smut, suicide attempt (will get it's own warning when the time comes),
Pairing: Benedict Bridgerton x princess!reader
Word Count: 5.4k
Author's Note: To those who have read my other works, you'll notice that the author Mercutio's stories are something special
My Dearest Ton and Wonderful United Kingdom,
I am pleased to welcome you all to the start of another social season. Of course, people love and look for love all year round but each year the season just seems to invite love to blossom. I hope all of you find the match to your souls. Marriage is a business but can it not have love as well? A business built with love surely must be a business that tries to last. I ask our respectful citizens and subjects of the United Kingdom to make love a part of their search.
I would also like to ask about businesses that do not involve marriage or love. How are you? In the business of health, is everyone safe from all sickness? In the business of finance, does everyone have enough to eat and clothe themselves without falling into poverty? Are businesses afloat even if only by a small margin? How are you? Truly, I want to know. If you would like to write to me, please do so. The royal mailboxes should still be in perfect condition.
Of course, if you have something urgent then I am sorry but you must come to the palace and request an audience. My valets hold all letters for a day or a few out of safety for everyone. But rest assured, I read every letter once received.
I would also like to say that I can feel the winds of the ton calling me to grace their presence and to stop being rude by ignoring them. Naturally, the wind is very rude to say this and then cut through my dress and chill my bones even when it is snowing. But I digress, the wind is right. The time for introduction must be soon. And a lovely time that will be. I cannot wait to meet you all.
Yours truly,
A Not So Young Anymore Youngest Princess Y/N Hanover (Truly, I need a proper surname and not just the name of my father’s house)
My Dearest Ton and Wonderful United Kingdom,
Would you like to know what I have learned yesterday? I know the Americas are still a touchy subject for some but I hope you don’t mind me talking about it, just to share my studies. Philadelphia is the center of American debate. So many great men (and women that have probably gone unnamed but aided their counterparts in their quest of education) have lived and are currently still living there.
Going to America simply for a debate sounds terribly dreadful. But what if we had one here that wasn’t relegated to just the universities. An entire city becoming a center of debate seems incredibly foolish, not to mention disruptive to its current residents, but buildings of debate do not seem like a bad idea.
Even if some feel like they aren’t smart enough, they should participate. Ideas are nurtured by sharing them. May some debates lead to great compromise and understanding and maybe even propositions for laws.
I, for one, debate with my father every day on which science is the most important to teach to young children and which science can wait until university should they like to pursue that path. He believes all of it. I believe that medicinal science is too much for a young mind and they only need to be taught how to mind their health until they can understand better. What do you think? I am delighted to hear your opinions. Maybe mine will be swayed.
Yours Truly,
Youngest Princess Y/N Buckingham (I am trying out new surnames until one I like sticks)
My Dearest Ton and Wonderful United Kingdom,
I apologize if my stance may be radical but nothing in society ever got done if the start wasn’t a little radical. I believe that young women should be properly taught about relations… let me just say it, sex. Not when they are children, no, but when they are about to debut. Consider it. You all know that as a royal, despite being a woman, I have been taught all things. Everyone is aware that I know what sex is. But if I and my sisters were taught sex so that we may be aware of malicious advances and be able to protect our virtue first rather than waiting for our virtues to be saved by someone and risk them being too late, then others should as well. Therefore, I implore all mothers and governesses to teach their young ladies about to debut what sex is. And to fathers who may be without wives, please find any woman to teach your daughters.
I shall return with more radical ideas for a better and more prosperous United Kingdom.
Yours truly,
Youngest Princes Y/N Kew
The printed letters delivered to London, had everyone enthralled in the early morning. Some people that lived close enough to the central town square didn’t bother with the prints and went straight to the wooden pin board there to look at the princess’ handwriting on the original letters. Whenever the Young Princess or the author Mercutio Quick wrote, people stopped and paid attention.
Princess Y/N was the people’s princess. The one who listened to their complaints and wasn’t cheap on her charitable acts. She was so much like her father, Farmer George. Even with his illness he still ran a good country… when he was in charge. So much better than her eldest brother, George IV. Then again, any royal sibling was better than their eldest brother, even if only by a very small percentage. Everyday the public hoped another child would challenge George the Younger. They would rally their support behind them.
They were hoping that any day George IV’s daughter, Charlotte, would have an heir. If she was pregnant then it would be so easy for the public to support her and convince either George IV to step down or convince Parliament to present a motion to King George. They would have a ruler and an heir. Charlotte the Younger would be the easiest transition for George IV to understand.
But neither her father nor husband seemed to care about the lack of heir. But the thought of succession and coups and duels was forgotten for a moment to read the Young Princess’ letters welcoming them to the new social season with new balls, debutantes, and drama.
In the Bridgerton house, the family ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. They were trying to get ready to present Daphne to the Queen while also trying to read the Young Princess’ letters. Benedict laughed as he slapped his copy of the letters.
“Mother would have a fit if she had to speak with Daphne about sex.”
“I’m surprised she would even suggest such a thing,” Colin said as he returned to reading the first letter, thinking he might actually write to the Young Princess about his familial concerns and wanting to travel desperately but being unsure about leaving them.
Eloise finally smiled as she came downstairs with the rest of her siblings. “I for one think it’s rather refreshing. She is right. Our mamas should be teaching us more than just how to meet the Queen… Daphne! You must make haste! Do you think she heard me?”
Colin rolled his eyes. “She most certainly did. But on the matter of the princess, what is wrong with a woman’s husband teaching her about sex?”
“Everything is wrong with that.”
“Hmm.”
He looked down to reread the paper, wondering if he could understand what the princess actually meant. Even though the letters were left at home, talk of the princess never ceased. How could it? The monarchy’s youngest princess might actually be joining them. Everyone wanted to know what she would look like, not in the face of course. Even her fourth brother didn’t take off his mask until after five months of being introduced to society and he was the shortest time it took to see the royal children’s face.
“Do you think she will be tall like her eldest sister or short? Plump?” Eloise asked as their carriages started their way towards the palace. “I’d imagine I’d be very lovely and plump if I could be stuck in a palace all day with the most wonderful food imaginable. Not that anyone should ever value a woman based on her body but Penelope has stated that her sisters are terribly upset because all the dress makers have started saying that plump is going to be in fashion once again in only a few years time and by the time they become plump it’ll be out of fashion again.”
Daphne looked out the window. “I wonder if she’ll look like the Queen or the King. Oh, what makeup do you think she’ll wear? What mask did she have created for herself? When do you think we’ll actually see her face?”
Violet touched the knees of all her girls. “Whatever she is like, do not be rude and gawk. The poor thing will already have the vultures’ eyes on her all night. If she even comes out tonight. Perhaps it will be at a ball this week. That would be quite a fantastic introduction. I do hope she at least meets us this season.”
Francesca smiled. “I imagine her dance card would be quite full.”
“She’d have bracelets of dance cards going up to her arm,” Daphne agreed.
“But she isn’t coming into society yet. She’s just introducing herself to us,” Eloise said.
“She’s still a princess royal. A very well-known one at that. There’s no way the men would pass on an opportunity to dance with her. They’d want to start making their intentions known now, get ahead of everyone else.”
The boys’ carriage was speaking of a different matter entirely. The princess and Mercutio had written to the ton at the same time. With the presentation to the Queen taking up so much of the day, most people wouldn’t be able to read his work until later that evening. Colin and Benedict simply couldn’t wait. Colin sat with his brother as he drove the carriage and read the story out loud:
“Arsehole,” Cecilia muttered.
Ignoring the sharp stinging of her backside, she hopped off the bed to find something to put on. All she needed to accomplish was getting back to her room, clothed. She knew there must have been some spare clothes in their dressers. It was just a matter of sorting through which garments were hers and which belonged to the others. She had been sorely mistaken to ignore the three members of nobility behind her, thinking they hadn’t heard her.
Lovell scrunched up his face, resembling a rat. “Is receiving another punishment something you really care for? Because this attitude you’ve acquired is going to earn you one.”
“Piss off.”
“Is that any way to talk to your dominants?” Madison asked, adjusting herself in Tommy’s arms.
Cecilia scoffed as she walked towards the door, placing one hand on the doorknob. “Lavender.”
The other three faces fell at the use of that forbidden word. Cecilia’s hand reached up ever so gently and wiped away tears. She wondered if the tears were for her former lovers or for finally realizing her mind was deluded to think she would be with anyone above her station such as Lovell.
“I don’t want this anymore.”
“Cecilia.”
“You never believe that I don’t enjoy breaking our established rules. You only listen to Madison.”
“Cecilia.”
“It is clear you both like her more than you desire me. I am down.”
“Cecilia.”
“You shall see me around this manor, doing my job as I always have. But that is the extent of our relationship.”
“Please, just give u—”
“Good day, Lord Parham. Lord Newall, Lady Wilcher.”
“Riveting,” Colin said as he finished reading. “Mr. Mercutio has done it again.”
Benedict nodded. “Indeed he has. I was a bit worried when he announced that he wanted to dabble in the themes of erotic pleasures in his stories but this was just as enjoyable as all the others.”
“Agree… Oh, it says here that they have earned a publishing deal. The penny stories will still come out once a week, chapter by chapter but readers can also purchase a book if they would like to keep the story properly or are in a rush to read it. I for one will be buying the books.”
“I second that.”
“I wonder what his next story will be about. Actually, no, I wonder what our dear sisters and mothers can be talking about.”
“The princess, no doubt.”
”Do you think any of our brothers will approach?” Eloise asked in the women’s carriage, more to herself than anything.
That made Hyacinth’s face light up. “If one of them marries the princess does that mean we get to be princesses too?”
“As if any of our brothers even could or want to.” Francesca pulled her face away from the window.
“If anyone is going to bring them to the marriage mart,” Daphne started as she fanned herself. “It would be the princess. Anthony would be a good match for her.”
Violet laughed, thinking of the idea. “A viscount and a princess are a perfect match.”
All talk of the princess stopped as they approached. The worst thing that could happen could be a footman overhearing them and mistaking their speech for malicious gossip rather than light-natured and report it to the princess or the queen or even worse, King George himself. They would forever be ostracized from society.
From upstairs, you watched from a window where you knew no one could see you even if they looked up. How you desperately wanted to be down there. All the men were dressed up and looking like penguins. Handsome they were but still penguin-like in silhouette. And the women’s dresses. Some, while upper class, were of a lower social standing and wore older dresses that looked just as gorgeous as the empire and rather shapeless dresses of today.
But today was not your day. You actually weren’t sure when your day would be. Your mother and father let their children choose when they would be introduced to society. Of course you all had to wait for a certain age and it had to be a date at the start of the social season but you could pick the day. And unlike your last sibling, you wanted it to be at a ball instead of the selection of the Diamonds. You didn’t even care which ball it would be. Perhaps it was selfish but you did want a day all to yourself or at least a day with you as the main focus. But that wasn’t this year. Or any year perhaps.
You were excited to finally leave the walls of the palace if you were allowed, having proven yourself capable of not causing an incident. Unfortunately, you couldn’t say you had proven yourself without illness. You weren’t that lucky. You and all your siblings were locked inside until the royal physicians could observe and confirm that you weren’t sick with whatever madness your father had. They didn’t have to observe you. That was also why you picked a ball instead of today. You wanted to prove you didn’t need a chaperone literally holding your elbow. You wanted freedom like your siblings. Freedom to explore that you weren’t sure would get because of your illness.
After a nearly fatal drowning in the lake — an event your siblings still get chewed out for at least once a month — you started showing symptoms like George did. For you it wasn’t about if you would be as sick like your father. It was about how bad and how quickly the illness would get.
You didn’t get to see George as often as the others. The doctors thought you shouldn’t be around him for prolonged periods of time unless it was after an episode. They thought that too much exposure would make you more like him instead of better. They wanted to send him to Kew but you promised that you wouldn’t go to his quarters as long as he got to stay at Buckingham.
Charlotte, silly as it may have been, had hope. They caught your sickness early. Nine was a very young age to almost go mad. Maybe you could be saved from a cruel fate unlike George. They were too late for him but not for you. Of course this only brought jealousy from your siblings who didn’t feel like they got as much affection anymore. Every time you even twitched, it became about you. They could never hate you. It wasn’t like you asked to be sick. But it was hard to be around you. Everyday visits became once a week. Still, you cherished those visits. Like the one yesterday. They expressed their sympathies and hopefulness that you would get to introduce yourself and maybe it could even be this year or maybe this month.
You could have scoffed. After what you did just two days ago, you were unsure. The daylight came into your room before you were prepared for it and you had been convinced that Buckingham was on fire. You couldn’t be calmed down until you jumped into the water fully clothed. Immediately, you pulled yourself out of the trance but no one really cared. The royal physician had been called anyway and you had ruined all chances of attending the presentation to the Queen.
“Your Highness!” a voice disturbed your thoughts and your eyes from looking at your siblings’ carriages leave in the morning. Your lady-in-waiting approached you with a paper, an entire pamphlet. “It’s already spread through the ton like a fire. We haven’t read it yet. We figured new literature would be a treat for you.”
“Thank you, Pandora. Shall we read it in the kitchens this morning when we return home?”
“Not your room?”
“I’m so terribly sick of my room and the washroom and the balcony and the bedroom.”
“You are getting restless.”
“It’s only a matter of time. Maybe even tomorrow it’ll happen. And soon it will only be a couple of years at most before the mask is gone. By the way,” you said as the two started to leave. “Did you hear about the Feather girl that fainted? Is she alright?”
“Oh yes, she’s fine.”
“Good. Have someone send flowers to her tomorrow with an inquiry about her wellbeing after taking such a tumble. Oh and no flowers to the Diamond. I want to meet her myself one day. Now, let’s read about this… Lady Whistledown. She already sounds like an interesting woman.”
Interesting it was indeed. The maids and kitchen staff hung onto your every word as you read the pamphlet. You weren’t exactly sure how you felt about the pamphlet yet but Pandora was right about one thing. It was literature. Lady Whistledown seemed bold enough to list subjects by name. By their entire name as if she wasn’t afraid of any repercussions. You supposed she wouldn’t be since Whistledown was obviously not her real name.
It wasn’t the subject of what she published that bothered you. A lot of it was standard gossip that goes around during the social season but it was her personal opinion. She almost seemed to want the ladies she wrote about to have miserable ends like inquiring about Daphne Bridergton’s flame burning out quickly. The lady must know that what she published could ruin a reputation. Gossip is no longer gossip when publicly written down. It has the potential to become fact.
You slapped the pamphlet against your hand. “Well, I suppose Mercutio Quick from York will no longer be the entertainment of the ton. Sad, and right as I earned a publishing deal too. Perhaps, I should take up a different art. Like making dresses for all my days or learning to play the harp and cello properly so it sounds better than a dying whale according to my brothers.”
The cook shook his head. “Your stories are very entertaining. Even Lady Whistledown couldn’t stop that.”
“Thank you for saying that. I am rather jealous that she is penning under a woman.”
“But you have chosen a name based on your favorite characters, have you not?”
“I have but maybe I should’ve chosen better. This Lady Whistledown might be making more change for women then I hope to accomplish.”
At this, the staff scoffed. Pandora cleaned up your dishes from the kitchen island in front of you.
“Your Highness, with the utmost respect, you are the one who is going to do more for women than this Whistledown. Everybody already wants someone other than your kind brother on the throne. They’re all praying your niece gives them any child so they may protest for her with the added benefit of an heir. They love her and what you write about in your letters make her seem even better. Hell, they love you and they don’t even know you. They listen to you. And with your words, Princess Charlotte the Younger will be on the throne and you will prove women are more than capable of whatever and we might have real change. Is she still on board?”
“Yes. She hates her father as much as anyone else does. George is nice once you get to know him… sort of. But Lettie approves as long as I agree to be in her court. I said yes of course.”
“Then it is settled. Thank God we might actually get change in our wretched lives. Now you must wash up and oversee the Bridgerton gowns before they are sent off. Shall we pick certain ones from your wardrobe?”
“Give the Diamond the one with lace and her family’s colors. Pick whatever you want for the rest of them. Oh and patterns must be on the Feather mother’s dress. I noticed she wears the most ill-favored ornamented dresses but she seems to like them. And put in an order with the modiste, I should like to do this often if this first gesture goes well and the gift wardrobe will need more clothes than it has at present. Clothes for the lower classes as well, nothing that could get them attacked and the clothes stolen off their bodies.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“And, by the way, I already washed up.”
“Yes, but now you’ve been sitting amongst smoke and smells.”
You gave up your fight and nodded as you jumped down from your stool and began the walk to your room. No one was around today. They wouldn’t be for most of the social season as they had other duties, including watching your siblings. Despite your madness, you weren’t the biggest concern at all. It was your rakish brothers in brothels, your sisters constantly leaving their husbands or suitors, and all of them sneaking away. You paused for a moment before walking quicker until you reached your room.
Why couldn’t you sneak out? Now would be the perfect opportunity. And no one was looking for you. It would be so easy to scale the vines up the garden wall and just have fun for a moment. You washed up quickly and put on a very simple dress — one more like the style of today rather than your father’s time. Grabbing a cloak and your mask, you put them down on the bed before sitting down at your writing desk to pen a letter. The slam of the door nearly made you jump out of your skin. You calmed as you realized it was just Pandora.
“Oh, good. It is just you.”
“I have the Bridgerton and Featherington dresses but what do you mean it is just me, Y/N?”
You stood up, abandoning the letter now that someone was around. “I am going out to see the ton.”
“What?”
“It is still dark. I have a map, my cloak, and the mask. And I have a very clear destination with vehicles that will get me back in the most discreet of ways should I need to use them.”
“Your Highness.”
“Pandora. I am nearing my introduction to society. You will all have to let me go at some point. I know everyone cares for my wellbeing but my happiness is gone. I am seen as nothing but my illness. Before I have an episode in public like the king, let me meet the ton. Let me not be Farmer Y/N for a brief moment of my life before I am a farmer forever, before I stay in that garden just like Father.”
Pandora’s mouth shut. She simply locked the door and unlocked the window. “You must return before your midmorning promenade and snack. Since you ate downstairs, I can convince them to overlook your absence of a breakfast request. And don’t take your mask. It’s better if they don’t know who you are at all.”
She gasped as you hugged her.
“Thank you, Pandora! Thank you! You are truly the bestest friend a woman could have.”
“Just go so you can come back quickly and I can have my sanity back.”
You closed the window, shocking Pandora as you pulled a picture frame off the wall to reveal a staircase that led outside. The door was hidden behind the trellis covered in vines and flowers. You pulled the hood over the cloak over you. The last thing you did was check for your bracelet and if your papers were inside. Until you were introduced to society, all the royal children had bracelets that couldn’t come off unless cut off. There were just in case measures with the eldest two but became necessary after so many nights sneaking out. The bracelet wasn’t going anywhere but you didn’t want to lose your birth certificate. It was your first safety measure. Even if you were kidnapped or harmed, you’d be returned to the palace for a pretty penny. You did pull your sleeves down so your bracelet wouldn’t be noticed.
You couldn’t contain your smile at the excitement of being out. London was so different without all the noise. The brothels and pubs were starting to close down for their few hours of rest and relaxation. You stuck to streets where you could see all the action but wouldn’t be easily spotted. No one bothered you until you arrived at your destination.
The footman stood to attention. “May I help you?”
“Yes, hello. I bring a package from Buckingham House for the Bridgertons, courtesy of Princess Y/N.” You handed him a letter with your official stamp at the end of it.
The footman’s eyes went wide as he handed you back the letter and ran inside. The Bridgertons looked up at the frantic knocking, pulling slips over Hyacinth and Daphne before telling the footman he could enter. The Bridgerton boys came upstairs after hearing the heavy pounding of their employee’s footsteps running up the multiple stairs.
“Is there a problem, Marshall?”
He panted before taking in a deep breath. “The Young Princess’ lady-in-waiting is here, bearing gifts.”
“WHAT?!”
The Bridgertons collectively yelled before the scramble happened. You tilted your head when you saw the windows open and a maid shake out some bedsheets. She squeaked when she looked down to see you. You laughed as she ran back inside. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes before you were escorted into the house by a very out of breath footman. The Bridgertons stood on the steps at the end of their entrance hall in chronological order with their mother starting the line at the very bottom step. Nervous smiles graced their faces when you finally reached them. You curtsied to which they curtsied or bowed back.
You gave them a second to assess you before speaking. Even though it wasn’t true in the slightest, everyone thought the ladies-in-waiting and manservants were reflections of the royals themselves. Not in character or value but in appearance. They figured they could form some sort of picture as to what the young masked royals looked like. If you were ugly then surely the princess was too. You hoped they at least found you to be average looking in appearance.
Anthony Bridgerton — the new head of house from what you remembered of your studies — stepped from behind his mother to greet you formally. He bowed once again, deeper, before offering up his hand. You settled yours in it to receive a chaste kiss.
“To what do we owe this sudden pleasure, Mrs…”
“Beckett,” you lied, just using Pandora’s last name.
“Mrs. Beckett?” He didn’t recognize the name as one belonging to an upper class member of the ton. He wasn’t sure he recognized the name at all.
“Apologies, I should explain. The princess doesn’t distinguish in her court, we are all there to work. All women are ladies-in-waitings, all men are valets. Regardless of station, regardless of marriage.”
“So, I am to take it that my earlier statement was incorrect.”
You nodded. “Simply Miss Beckett.”
“Well that sounds like very forward thinking actually. All the same, it is our pleasure to meet anyone in her highness’ court.”
Violet smiled as she watched the interaction. If her son was close to anyone in the princess’ court, especially someone that seemed so close to the princess as to be sent here, then he would be able to meet the princess with good graces. He’d be ahead of any man by leagues.
“Princess Y/N has sent me on her behalf. She extends warm greetings to the Bridgertons and the Featheringtons whom I will meet after our encounter. The princess congratulates Miss Daphne Bridgerton for earning Diamond of the Season as well as congratulations to the Dowager Viscountess for raising such a fine woman and to Viscount Bridgerton for chaperoning and keeping the family together therefore allowing his sister to shine.”
He cleared his throat and started to smile. “Please give the princess all of our thanks for the most kind of compliments.”
“And she would like to assure Miss Bridgerton that I have not been sent on behalf of any princes. Her brothers will not be bothering you today.”
They all chuckled when you laughed.
You set the first box down on the table next to you and opened it. “The princess has brought new dresses for the ball. The Diamond and the rest of her family should have the opportunity to shine with the utmost and wholehearted respect and support of the Crown. Please, enjoy them.”
The family ran to the table, picking out dresses and suits and matching them to the person’s name on the paper pinned to each garment. They kept singing praises and admiring the outfits. Violet turned back to you.
“When are you planning on visiting the Featheringtons?”
“In an hour or so, I must be back before the princess’ morning promenade. She has a very busy day afterwards.”
“Will the princess be introducing herself this season?”
“Hyacinth!” Anthony and Violet yelled at the same time.
You laughed. “It is no trouble. I’m at liberty to answer as the princess’ head valet.”
“Valet? I thought you said they were all men. They are usually all men.”
“If the princess should become heir to the throne then she will receive a male valet alongside me. For now, it is just me. The Crown believes someone of the same gender should always be with her should she need to confide in someone about very personal matters.” You took a breath before testing the waters. “Such as affections of the heart.”
It had dawned on you in that moment that you could spy on the ton. When the time came, you would still have to dance with all the bachelors of the United Kingdom but you at least you would have a better picture of them. You’d have to apologize to Pandora for the countless strokes she was about to earn from you but you couldn’t make this your only time sneaking out.
Violet smiled, knowing she was right. “Well, would you like to stay for breakfast?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“It would be no trouble at all. We have more than enough room. Eloise, dear, if Penelope is to come over please request that she do so now.”
(part 2)
PERMANENT TAGLIST:
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Queer Fiction Free-for-All Book Bracket Tournament: Round 5


Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers series) by Becky Chambers
Endorsement from submitter: "The modern space opera, includes gays in space, found family, and delightful discussions in the social customs of different species"
Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.
Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.
Science fiction, adventure, space, series, adult
Angels in America by Tony Kushner
Endorsement from submitter: "Sweeping epic play. 100% excellent read even if you can't get to a performance."
The play is a complex, often metaphorical, and at times symbolic examination of AIDS and homosexuality in America in the 1980s. Certain major and minor characters are supernatural beings (angels) or deceased persons (ghosts). The play contains multiple roles for several of the actors. Initially and primarily focusing on a gay couple in Manhattan, the play also has several other storylines, some of which occasionally intersect.
Play, classics, AIDS crisis, adult
#polls#queer fiction free for all#the long way to a small angry planet#becky chambers#angels in america#tony kushner#wayfarers#prior walter#wayfarers series#to be taught if fortunate#a closed and common orbit#record of a spaceborn few#the galaxy and the ground within#books#fiction#booklr#lgbtqia#tumblr polls#bookblr#book#lgbt books#queer books#poll#fiction books#book polls#queer lit#queer literature
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conformity in stranger things
(as we see it through the characters of steve, dustin and eddie)
dustin meets steve while steve is already heading down his own path — he’s leaving behind ideas about high school and relationships, and figuring out who he is without them.
steve, by season two, had already become disillusioned with the idea of high school, and power struggles, and being the most popular guy in school. which is why he doesn’t react to billy’s taunts.
despite what the fandom may have you believe, steve’s seasons long arc about his struggle with conforming to the person people expect him to be is done.
don’t get me wrong, steve is still hanging onto some ideas in s2, like pretending you don’t care to get girls, and seeing nancy as different to all his other girlfriends (though i personally think that speaks more to steve’s prior relationships than the way he views woman).
and so, dustin and their friendship play a major role in steve fully moving on from the concept of ‘conforming’. steve doesn’t want to change who he is to get people to like him, or love him!
and with dustin, he doesn’t!!!
they make up dorky handshakes, and give each other advice. they talk about girls and steve teaches him how to achieve his signature hairstyle.
their relationship impacts both boys, but neither of them are conforming. it’s pretty much the exact opposite!!! despite what some fans would have you believe steve and dustin have a positive impact on each other!!!
dustin doesn’t change who he is to impress steve! he’s just as dorky as before, and in fact imparts some of that dorkiness onto steve!! steve and dustin help each other to find who they are, and figure themselves out.
on the other hand.
eddie had a negative impact on dustin.
dustin in s3 is dorky. he likes science, and school, and building great big radio towers up hills.
dustin in s4 is failing classes, treating friends like shit, his hubris is at an all time high; all aided by eddie’s high opinion of himself and ideas about conforming.
see. when eddie talks about conforming, he doesn’t really understand what he’s talking about (which is why his fans don’t either).
when he criticised people for ‘conforming’, all he’s really talking about is people being interested in things he doesn’t like. parties. band. science. basketball. he looks down on them all.
he makes snap judgments, and reduces them down to stereotypes. we literally watch him learn this on screen!!!
we literally watch as he verbally recognises that he knew nothing about steve, and yet reduced him down to his interest in basketball.
and here’s where the irony comes in. eddie is literally leading the club on conformity.
everyone in hellfire wears the exact same thing, and he makes fun of the clothes they used to wear. he seats himself on a thrown, and judges anyone that wishes to come before him before he deems them worthy to play a game. he’s not accepting all losers. he’s literally telling them they’re lesser than as he stands on tables in the cafeteria, and then fights against erica playing with them… just because he thinks she has to prove herself to him first.
that’s the point of eddie’s character!! that his whole big speech at the beginning of the season is wrong. and we literally see how he’s wrong scenes later when eddie interacts with chrissy.
people watch eddie learn and grow as a person, and then reduce his character right back down to who he was when he was first introduced.
tl;dr — if one of dustin’s relationships is about conformity, it’s his friendship with eddie, not steve. his brother dynamic with steve is about the complete opposite. about reaching across dumb nerd v jock social divides and finding a family.
in looking up to eddie, dustin has let his other interests fall to the wayside. he’s snarkier, makes fun of steve more (just like he’s been watching eddie mock jocks for months), his friendships with the rest of the party are at an all time low.
and yet. some people would have me believe this is dustin’s truest self? who gets his mormon girlfriend to hack into his school because he’s failing latin. who mocks steve for ‘wanting to be a hero’ when just the season before he was prepared to die by steve’s side.
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Hi, I have a question for you about TWST. Do you think that in terms of medical care and technology our world is more advanced in some ways? I had this one idea that in TWST they don’t know CPR because they have magic. Also do you think that they had a moon landing or a space race?
On the contrary, I think Twisted Wonderland’s medical care and medical technology is more advanced than ours, if not just as advanced. Twisted Wonderland has many of the same inventions as we do (cars, smartphones, social media, etc.) and even magical variants of those (a magical wheel/blastcycle is a magic-powered motorcycle), so it doesn't make sense to me that medicine and healthcare would be the one area where the real world is ahead of TWST's. Twisted Wonderland would be more advanced than us because magic would allow them to enhance their technology to surpass what we are realistically capable of. Technomantic assistive devices integrate elements of both technology and magic to assist those with impairments. Additionally, healing potions (which accelerate the speed of one's recovery) existed as far back as 400 years ago. For those skilled in potionology, they may whip up antidotes on the spot with the right medicinal herbs.
I also don't think that the existence of magic completely negates the need for regular first aid procedures. Non-magical methods and skills must still exist since the majority of the population are non-magical. Among humans, 90% are completely incapable of magic and of the remaining 10%, most of them are not able to produce enough magic to so much as lift a cup. Very few left are competent enough to become skilled mages, and even fewer are competent enough to become medical mages. Why would the entire healthcare system of the world be entirely based in magic when so few people would be capable of administering that kind of care? CPR and first aid exist in the first place so the common everyday average Joe can help others until actual medical personnel can arrive. It wouldn’t make sense to gatekeep these skills or for them to not have been invented simply because magic is A Thing. In fact, magic is not widely accessible and is implied to be kept for the elite and well-off (more on that here and here).
“Not many humans can use magic, so we turn to chemistry for stuff like this,” Trey says in his Silk Adorned vignette when explaining to the group how the colors of fireworks can differ. The existence of regular sciences—devoid of magic—implies the existence of regular medicine as well. Remember too that not all schools teach magic, therefore regular subjects must exist and be widely taught in non-magic schools.
It should also be noted that, even with magic, it's not a perfect solution for every ailment out there. For example, the healing potions in 7-68 do not instantly restore Lilia to full health; he notes that he must still rest and that his magic is still depleted to the point where he cannot fly back in the direction he just came from.
Magic was also not always viewed as a positive either; a few hundred years ago, it was viewed as a frightening thing. Mages were referred to derogatorily as “witches” and “wizards”. Most societies were not structured around magic (and still aren’t to this day, with fae seeming to be the exception). This means that normal medicine and related first aid must have still existed since magical medicine was presumably not widely accepted.
All of that was to say that I’m pretty sure Twisted Wonderland still has CPR, among other means of non-magical medicine and healthcare 😅
Now as for your final questions, I do think that Twisted Wonderland has achieved space travel. Idia was able to launch Ortho into space in Wish Upon a Star, so the technology is definitely there. It should also be noted that spacesuits and astronauts have been mentioned in the 4koma, which implies the existence of space travel. Again, I’d also like to point out that TWST’s general technological advances are about on-par with ours (including modes of transportation), so there’s no reason not to believe they haven’t gone to space as well.

I don’t think there was a Space Race though? That’s an event that happened in our history, and we know that TWST, while borrowing ideas from irl does not cleanly align with reality. For example, the fictional countries we visit have elements from many cultures (Sunset Savanna has onsen eggs, which are Japanese, not African; Harveston has fashion and foods from various Nordic cultures, etc.).
For historical events… I think Twisted Wonderland is more likely to get its inspiration from Disney movies rather than look to actual irl history. It gets into too much muddy political tension otherwise, which I totally understand TWST wanting to keep out. There were probably other circumstances that led to the advent of space travel in Twisted Wonderland.
#twisted wonderland#twst#book 7 spoilers#Lilia Vanrouge#wish upon a star spoilers#Ortho Shroud#Idia Shroud#Ignihyde#disney twisted wonderland#disney twst#notes from the writing raven#question#twst theory#twst theories#twisted wonderland theories#twisted wonderland theory#Trey Clover#Trey silk adorned vignette spoilers
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I've been having a ton of fun inventing characters for Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy(@anim-ttrpgs) recently. Here's Georgios the friendly world-traveling grandpa.
After passing the family business to his eldest daughter at the ripe old age of 71, Georgios Iraklis Xanthopolos has set out to travel the world and catch up on all the adventures he was too busy for when he had a day job. It has been the better part of a decade since then and he shows no signs of slowing down. He is an enormous friendly man who takes care of everyone he meets as if they were his own grandchildren. He's been around the block a few times and is full of a shocking range of advice.
Traits: Wizened - He's an old man Just Built Different - but you better believe he's still kicking. Real Capybara Hours - it's hard to be scared when a big grandpa is there to protect you. Renaissance Man - He's had a few adventures. FemmeHomme Fatale - Your mother likes him a lot. That's No Way To Feel - He's been coming by to teach her his spanikopita recipe.
Funny thing is, the original concept for this guy was a big reassuring santa claus who tells stories.
Wizened and Renaissance Man represent his accumulated experience. Renaissance Man also gives him some of that "wow, your grandpa is so cool he can do ANYTHING" kind of energy
Just Built Different and Real Capybara Hours make him a large, reassuring presence. JBD also lets him offset the frailness from Wizened. it creates an interesting dynamic where he can shrug off one good hit, then he's in danger. Luckily combat in this game is quick and dangerous enough that shrugging off one good hit might well be be all he needs to resolve things. And he certainly has the physical stats to back that up.
And then I was looking through the list of traits and thinking of how to make him even better at comforting people, and I realized that it would be really funny if this grandpa was also a sex god. If you're reading this and you don't play eureka, those last two traits make him better at seducing people, and reassuring them during an intimate moment. This man can reassure his lover at a truly astounding +7.
Skills: Charm +2 - He's a charmer. Comfort +3(+1/4) - Large, reassuring hugs. He's good with kids. Also he's an excellent masseuse and a sensitive lover. Manipulate +2 - He's a pretty good gambler, too. Seduce +2(+1) - He's wooed a few people in his time. Social Cues +1 Threaten +0(+1) - he can throw his weight around if he has to.
He could gamble you out of your money and get you to thank him for it. But he's too nice to do that to you. Chemistry -3 - he's worked with his hands his whole life. He doesn't know science stuff. Medicine -1 - he had first aid training 60 years ago. Nature +1 - he was once an amateur birdwatcher. Paperwork -2 - he's not the smartest. Technology -3 - he doesn't understand computers Visual Calculus -2 - his eyesight isnt what it used to be. [REDACTED] +0 - he knows a few stories. Wealth -1 - Pensioner Cooking +2 - No really, he's got a great spanikopita recipe. He's an impressively multi-talented guy, what with the +6 skill points from Wizened, but even so, nobody's perfect. Having to force 22 skills to come out to a nice even +0 really forces you to think about where a guy's weaknesses are. Turns out, he never got a good education. But remember, Renaissance Man also represents, like, schrodingers' random skill that he learned somewhere. Once per adventure, he can suddenly reveal that he knows an ancient language, or that he can fly a helicopter. This man is full of a lifetime of adventure. Athletics +3(+1) - he's traveling the world, mostly on foot. Close Combat +2 - he won't talk about his military service. Driving -1 - he hitchhikes everywhere. Firearms +2 - he's a little rusty. Reflexes -1 Senses -2 - his eyesight isnt what it used to be Stealth +2 - surprisingly sneaky for such a large man
I had some points left over when it came to physical skills, so I figured it would be both mechanically useful and narratively interesting to imply that this friendly grandpa has some kind of dark past as an elite soldier.
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─⊰⊹ฺ✿𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕟𝕤⊰⊹ฺ✿─
A/n: Modern School Au! Part 1! Requests/Asks open!!
{༻~What type of classmate/bf they would be~༺}
(Includes: Albedo, Tighnari, Xiao, Kazuha, Heizou and Scaramouche!)
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
𑁍༄Albedo:
Classmate:
Albedo would be a quiet genius, his favourite classes being art and science, which would often lead to bullies picking on him. He wouldn't be very good at sports, instead preferring to spend time indoors with a cup of tea and a large pile of books, studying for tests he already knew the answers to. He wouldn't talk in class much unless, he was answering a question no one else would answer.
Boyfriend:
He's extremely caring, bringing you your favourite beverage every morning to help wake you up as the two of you walked to class, helping you study whenever you're having trouble and he enjoys drawing you whenever you'll let him. He usually avoids confrontation when someone tries to pick on him, but the second they try anything on you he'll make it clear you're not to be messed with.
𑁍༄Tighnari:
Classmate:
Tighnari is top of his class in grades, sometimes even getting bored during lessons because he already knows it all. His absolute favourite class is herbology, he could spend every day studying plants, learning everything about them from where they originated from, to what the best way to care for them is. He's apart of a study group as well, teaching younger students things that they find more complicated and he's learning first aid on the side, a jack of all trades I'd you will.
Boyfriend:
He tends to have a busy schedule, but that doesn't stop him from making time for you, wether it's to go on dates that he's planned to perfection or to help you relax after a stressful week of exams. He's not the biggest fan of social gatherings, but being with you makes them more enjoyable and so the two of you tend to one day of the weekend dedicated to your friend group.
𑁍༄Xiao:
Classmate:
Xiao is a mystery to most of the class, only showing up every now and again whenever he chooses to, and almost always dressed in a dark coloured hoodie. His grades aren't the best and he doesn't really seem to care, never doing anything to change them. Personality wise he's not exactly a bully, but he isn't really nice either and he seems to avoid other students the best he can. The only time he seems to enjoy learning or school in general, is when it comes to music.
Boyfriend:
He's not really one for public displays of affection, preferring to spend time alone with you, sharing a air pod so you can both listen to music and forget the rest of the world exists. He's protective of you and since most of the school is afraid of him, he has no trouble showing up when you're being bullied and scaring the aggressors away. Sometimes you'll wear one of his hoodies to school and people will stare as you walk down the hallways, you know he finds it cute though, so you wear it despite the glances.
𑁍༄Kazuha:
Classmate:
Kazuha is the most enjoyable of the class, always calm and collected, with average grades and a nice personality. He takes many extracurriculars, as if he can't decide which to stay with full time, although his favourite one so far is poetics, the study of poems. He's pretty popular amongst his peers, but even so, he's more often on his own than with others.
Boyfriend:
Whenever you're feeling uncomfortable, or having a hard day, there he is. He's caring, checking on you often and helping you with whatever he can,and he absolutely loves holding you in his arms or holding hands as you two walk down the halls. He likes to leave little notes for you in your locker, usually love poems or sweet nothings, secretly hoping when you read them you'll get all blushed and think of him fondly.
𑁍༄Heizou:
Clasmate:
Heizou is very popular amongst the class, making jokes to lighten the mood and constantly keeping bullies in check. People assume he doesn't have the best grades because of his popularity status, but he actually keeps them pretty high, especially when it comes to anything to do with politics. He's a huge fan of murder mysteries, or just mysteries in general, hoping one day to become a actual detective.
Boyfriend:
He doesn't mind showing you off as the two of you walk to class, his arm wrapped around your shoulders and you proudly wearing his coat. He's definitely flirty, winking at you when he catches you staring at him in class and casually passing you notes that make your face blush. Sometimes the two of you will sneak into a secluded spot when there's a break and steal a few kisses, but he never forces you to do more.
𑁍༄Scaramouche:
Classmate:
Scaramouche is considered the average bullie, to most anyway. He has a bad attitude and people don't normally like him very much, his grades are poor even though he's completely capable of getting better ones. If it weren't for his adopted mother, he most likely wouldn't show up to school at all.
Boyfriend:
After you started dating him you realized he wasn't nearly as bad as everyone made him seem, he has a lot of past traumas which often make him act out. In reality he's actually pretty caring, staying up late with you to help you finish tests and making sure no one ever bullies you. He doesn't say I love you often, but he shows it whenever the two of are alone and usually in the most perfect ways.
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
ଘ(੭*ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ♡‧₊˚Have a good day!*.✧
#genshin impact#genshin headcanons#genshin fanfic#albedo x reader#albedo headcanons#albedo x you#albedo hcs#tighnari x reader#tighnari x you#tighnari headcanons#tighnari hcs#xiao x you#xiao x reader#xiao headcanons#xiao hcs#kazuha x reader#kazuha x you#kazuha headcanons#kazuha hcs#heizou x you#heizou x reader#heizou headcanons#heizou fluff#scaramouche x you#scaramouche headcanons#scaramouche x reader#scaramouche hcs#scaramouche genshin impact#genshin imagines#genshin scenarios
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Batfamily as a Ruling Pantheon: Gods of Gotham- Part 2
Part 1 Here
Extended pantheon. Part 3 will feature rogues! Part 4 will probably be the Titans of Bludhaven
Barbara/Oracle:
Names/Epithets- Barbara, Saint Barbara of Gotham, Goddess of the Code, She-Bat, Oracle, The Prophetess, The Twilight Goddess, She Who Sees and Hears All, The Proven One, Friend of Rikhart, The Archivist, The Librarian, The Bound Goddess, Our Lady of the Crossroad, She Who Opens the Gates, The Gatekeeper, Our Great Teacher, Headmistress of Gotham, Barb the Recoveror, The Ascendant, Lady Barbi
Patronages- Libraries, Disability, Physical therapists, hackers, spies, transitions, banks, gates and doorways, rites of passage, forensic sciences, blood, secrets, twilight, students, bookkeepers, social media, mobility aids, blind people, deaf people, sigh language, educators, infants, GPS and navigation, compasses and maps, geography, Walls, IT
Symbols/Attributes- Locks, keys, coins, veils, red drop, an eye, books, filing cabinets, magnifying glasses, ♿️, canes, eye glasses, bats
Offerings/Prayers- You may find her in libraries or banks, at any gated entrance or in major doorways. She favors students more than bankers though and she makes an excellent tutor. In fact, when the Goddess Kekasmai was still unable to speak, it was Saint Barbara who tutored her. She also gave mankind the ability to speak with their hands- known as sign language. Because of her dedication to educating mortals and gods alike, she does tend to linger at schools and her image is always present at every graduation where her blessings are abundant. She is a goddess of milestones and often prayed to near birthdays and anniversaries, even blessing newborns with health, good fortune and protection. To win her favor, you need to put in the work. She will be a patient teacher but you must be willing to earn the knowledge and skills you seek. She is also available to hackers through an AI but it requires great skill to reach her this way. Every time someones snack gets stuck in the vending machine they kick it and say "Ave Barbara" and the snack will somehow always come out. They say if the vending machine gives you two drinks instead of one she's watching you. Teaching in her name or thanking her before and after every test are good ways to honor her. She also accepts energy drinks and apples.. Her disciples often wield canes which they use to fight like so:
So you can bring canes to her devotees so they may be either used as mobility aids or as weapons. Or both.
Stephanie/Spoiler:
Names/Epithets- Stephani, Spoiler of Evil, Violet Lady, Goddess of Vitality, The Lost Mother, The Bull Maiden, Igniter of Passions, The Catalyst, Striking Fury, Aspiring One, Hope of Gotham, The Defender, Triumph of Gotham, Clue Spawn, Will of Gotham, Mistress of Bridges, Merry Maiden, Glorious One, Youthful Lady, Once Mortal, Little Spark, The Blacksmith, The Enduring One, Flint Stone Maiden, The One Made of Iron, Sister Rust
Patronages- Bridges, Lost Causes, Apprentices, Glory, Rewards, Gymnasiums, teen mothers, single mothers, nurses, lawyers, trade and bartering, markets, debate, victory, ordinary people, breakups, play, children, Blacksmiths, Welders, Metal (the elements and the music), forges, demigods and ascension
Symbols/Attributes- the color violet, trophies, medals, stickers, plaques, neon lights, baskets, runaways, backpacks, plushies, hearts, metals but especially steel or iron
Offerings/Prayers- This is our every day goddess of the ordinary people. The hopeful goddess who cheers us on. Not to be the best. But to do our best. Her motto is "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it". So you can find her there on the bridge. She is more likely to cross it than burn it, a peacekeeping goddess who wants people to get along. She isn't nonviolent though- not by any means. And she hates a bully. This goddess has a lot of energy. You can expect to feel inspired after an audience with her. She has perhaps the strongest will of the ruling pantheon- which can make her quite stubborn so be warned. And that counts for a whole lot when it comes to making things happen in your life. She wants you to rely on yourself. To find your inner strength to carry on in the face of adversity. This is why this deity also spends her time in the forge, hammering at hot metal until something real can take shape. She turns herself into a sharpened blade rather than simply wielding it. And she's willing to burn and get hit as many times as it takes because it's always about how many times you get up. So she doesn't care how many times she gets knocked down. She wants you to do the same. Pray to her when hope seemes lost, when you're in doubt, or when you need a change in perspective. You may offer her your literal blood, sweat and tears. She will also accept medals won in her name. Her devotees are mortals on the path to seeking godhood- as she was once mortal herself and had to prove she was- not worthy, but- capable of handling the responsibility of godhood. She is proof that if she can do it so can you.
Terry/Batman:
Names/Epithets- Terentius, The Beyonder, The Successor, Half Double God, Rest of Brix, The Rewritten One, Secret Son, Future of Gotham, The Grim, The Taunting Bat, The Herald God, Lord of Legacy, The Invisible Prince, Chain Shaker
Patronages- Inheritance, Lineages, Genetic engineering, mourning, death doulas, grief counselors, biologists, intersex people, people with chromosomal conditions, genetic conditions, Wills, generational curses, Ancestors
Symbols/Attributes- a red bat, windows, mesh, double helix, Z, chains, infinity symbol
Offerings/Prayers- Terentius is perhaps the more mysterious of the family. Perhaps because he isn't here yet. He's a prophesized god to come. The one who will give Brix rest at the end of our current cycle. He heralds the end of a Golden Age in Gotham, where our current gods will be no more than a memory, fading to the passage of time. That said, he exists... somewhere in the aether and stream of the spacetime continuum. Which makes him aware of us. You may pray to him when your heart is full of grief and he will guide you to a future you can live with. Like Brix, he doesn't accept offerings. He will do it because he understands and feels it right to do.
Selina/Catwoman :
Names/Epithets- Selene, Lina, She Who Holds the Whip, Sacred Feline, Jewel of Brix, Queen of Thieves, Leatherbound Queen, Divine Dancer, Adorned One, The Prime Lady, Queen of the Night, Sharp Clawed Mistress, Prosperous One, Goddess of Defiance
Patronages- bars and clubs, jewelers, pickpockets, burglars, riches, treasure hunters, love affairs, Seduction, stuntmen/women/theythems, nightime, negotiation, feline empathy, collectors, shoplifters and kleptomania
Symbols/Attributes - jewels of all kinds, precious metals, coins, cats, leathers, whips
Offerings/Prayers : Her presence can be felt in nightclubs or other places of revelry. If not, find her in the alleyways where there's cats roaming. Or near store fronts where jewels are displayed. You may catch her in the reflection of the windows. This goddess is complex. She is one of Brix's many lovers, perhaps the longest running. And yet she is not his consort. Not for his lack of trying. She left the poor god at the altar. Being Queen of the Gods just wasnt her style, I guess. Too restrictive. And she can't be contained for too long. She likes her freedom and to roam as she pleases. Which includes collecting things of value. Stealing. I mean stealing. She loved jewels the most. But nothing she's ever stolen was quite as thrilling as Brix's heart. Poor old fool. You may pray to her if you're stealing something . She even prefers offerings if you stole them for her rather than buying it. Why pay when there's a 5 finger discount? The best way to turn a profit is if you got it for free.99 in the first place! Be a dear and give the cats at her temples some milk since you're there already and if you somehow find that your place is randomly surrounded by cats it may be Selene trying to reach you .
#dc pantheon#gods of gotham#butterfly wordsmith#barbara gordon#stephanie brown#selina kyle#catwoman#dinah lance#terry mcginnis#at some point this week I wanna do some rogues
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Hello there, I am considering majoring in Public Health and I was wondering if you have any things I should consider about the field. Things to prepare for and look forward to. And just anything to know before applying to it. The good and bad. Thanks :)
Public health is a really cool major imo.
Some things to consider:
Choose a concentration you naturally love. Public health has lots of concentrations and they're all really different. Some of them are math based (Epidemiology, Biostatistics), some are teaching focused (Health Education), some are sociology focused (Social Determinants of Health, Community Health) and some are science-engineering focused (Environmental Health Science). You'll probably take classes in all of these your first year, so you'll have a good idea of what you like and what you don't.
People will think you have some expertise in medical things. You won't. Take an advanced first aid class, or get your EMT or Community Health Worker certification so you don't look like an idiot for not meeting their expectations.
Get certifications. Community Health Worker is a good start, especially if you're going the community health route. But depending on your concentration and the type of work you plan to do, you could get your Certified Health Education Specialist or your Environmental Health Specialist. Some of these require a test, or a training period and then a test.
Note that not all public health majors end up working at health departments. Some of them work at hospitals, some at companies, some in government agencies. You just have to figure out what organization type you like, and what you like to do.
Learn a second language. This is especially important if you are going the Community Health route. Pick whatever language is going to be most prevalent in the community you plan to serve.
Going along with the second language thing- really get to know, in a very humble way, the community you serve. Assume you know nothing once you graduate and learn what your community needs from scratch, using your education only as a guide.
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Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was a post-modernist French philosopher and is considered one of the most influential philosophers of modern times. Aside from his critiques of social institutions, his influence can be seen in both the humanities and social sciences. A central theme of Foucault's work is the relationship between power and knowledge, more specifically, how power controls and defines knowledge.
As an observer and critic of both the penal system and mental institutions, Foucault believed that "schools serve the same function as prisons and mental institutions — to define, classify, control and exploit people" (Despeyroux 78). He held that society and social institutions are controlled through relations of power. While some critics view him as being pessimistic, to Foucault, the value of philosophy, if organized according to his methods, is a means of changing the balance of authority over the individual through the exposure of the power structures intended to control us.
Life
Paul-Michel Foucault was born in Poitiers, France, on 15 October 1926, the second child of Anne Malapert and Paul Foucault, a prominent and wealthy surgeon and professor of anatomy. His father wanted the young Michel to follow in his footsteps and become a doctor, but claiming his ambitions were affected by World War II, Foucault thought otherwise. He entered the distinguished graduate school École Normale Supérieure in 1946, graduating in 1951 with degrees in philosophy and psychology. It was while he was a student that he allegedly made his first attempt at suicide, which, according to one historian, demonstrated a self-destructive tendency in his character (Oliver, 178).
After graduating, he left France to escape the conservative sexual mores of the post-war French culture. He chose, instead, to travel for several years, teaching in Sweden, Poland, and Germany. He returned to France in 1960 and taught philosophy and psychology at the University of Clermont-Ferrand. He published his first book Madness and Civilization, an analysis of the treatment of madness in the Middle Ages and beyond.
In 1970, he was elected to the most prestigious Collège de France, but by the late 1970s, a disillusioned Foucault quit teaching and traveled the world until he died of an AIDS-related disease in 1984. Jeremy Stangroom in his The Great Philosophers wrote that Foucault lived his life as if he were driven by the need to "transcend both physical and cultural limits" (155)
Grave of Michel Foucault
ManoSolo13241324 (CC BY-NC-SA)
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Harvard has refused to accept the orders of a Trump administration commission concerning its chronic problems with anti-Semitism, campus violence, and racial tribalism, bias, and segregation.
Yet, unlike some conservative campuses that distrust an overbearing Washington, Harvard and most elite schools like it want it both ways. They do as they please on their own turf and yet still demand that the taxpayers send them multibillion-dollar checks in addition to their multibillion-dollar private incomes.
Aside from the issues of autonomy and free expression, there are lots of campus practices that higher education would prefer were not widely known to the public.
But soon they will be, and thus will become sources of public anger. Perhaps envision elite private colleges as mossy rocks, which seem outwardly picturesque—until you turn them over and see what crawls beneath.
So, if there are protracted standoffs, our elite campuses will be hard-pressed to defend the indefensible. This effort will be difficult because public confidence in higher education has already plummeted to historic lows in the most recent polls.
In Amerispeak public surveys, those expressing very little confidence or none at all in higher education have soared to about 30 percent of respondents, while those polling only “some” confidence rose to 40%.
Polls show that less than a third of Americans have quite a lot of confidence in our college campuses.
No wonder: Over the past half-century, tuition has generally risen at twice the rate of inflation. In part, that price-gouging became standard because federal aid to our most prestigious schools has skyrocketed, hand-in-glove with the federalized student loan program. It has become a $1.7 trillion entity in which the combined rate of both those students who defaulted on their guaranteed loans or are currently late on payments is nearing 12-13 percent. In sum, colleges counted on an ensured stream of tuition money and so raised their prices inordinately, given federal guarantees.
Note that small private Hillsdale College, which takes no federal money and is the guarantor of its own generous student aid, charges about $45,000-50,000 for combined tuition, room, and board—about half the going rate in the Ivy League and similar elite campuses.
Half the youth of the country who choose to go straight to work and not attend college might object to such use of their tax dollars. They would assume that universities with multibillion-dollar endowments and huge annual incomes have plenty of resources to guarantee their own student loans. That way, campuses would have a financial interest in seeing their own students graduate in four years, get jobs, and pay back their alma mater promptly and fully. Instead, as long as universities are paid upfront, they seem to care little that their graduates leave heavily in debt and occasionally default on their loans.
There is almost no intellectual diversity on campus.
Some recent studies have found Democrat/liberal professors outnumber their Republican/conservative counterparts by a 10-1 margin, especially in the social sciences and humanities. There are plenty of conservative PhDs on the market, but higher education has used insidious methods such as diversity oaths and covert political bias to find ways not to hire or retain them.
Colleges no longer believe in their ancient mission to teach students the ancient, disinterested, and inductive method of pursuing knowledge. Nor do they care much that their graduates leave college without a broad classical education in history, literature, language, philosophy, science, and math. Instead, they are missionaries who believe their duty is to indoctrinate youth in progressive ideology, found mostly in studies courses and deductive classes, as part of a greater project to fundamentally alter the nature of the United States.
The Supreme Court in a recent case ruled against Harvard and the University of North Carolina, stating that their use of racial and gender bias is illegal under the 14th Amendment and thus affirmative action and associated racial essentialism are forbidden.
Yet, many of our campuses simply rebrand their offices of “diversity/equity/inclusion” —the campus euphemism for using race and gender bias in applications, hiring, retention, and promotion—with newer Orwellian names like the “Office of Belonging” or “Community Outreach.” Universities are higher education’s version of sanctuary cities that likewise cavalierly believe they can largely ignore federal laws with impunity.
For example, it’s illegal to segregate university events or facilities by race. But universities sidestep the law by offering race-based graduation ceremonies as “auxiliary” or “additional” events and commemorations. Racially segregated dorms are deemed “theme” houses open to all but de facto widely known as racially exclusive. If the so-called “white” minority at Stanford—some 22 percent of the student body—opted for an “extra” white graduation ceremony, theoretically open to all students, the university would—and should—shut it down promptly.
In business and private entities, “overhead deductions” or “surcharges” usually run from 10 to 20 percent. But elite private universities charge the federal government for their faculty research grants, often between 40 and 60 percent. Apparently, they operate on the principle that their supposedly prestigious brands deserve private exemption from gouging the government.
Over the past few decades, foreign governments, without audit, have poured some $60 billion into America’s purportedly most prestigious universities. Communist China and illiberal Qatar alone gave $500 million last year. And they expect and receive something for their ideologically driven investments.
The Department of Education during the first Trump administration fined many campuses millions of dollars for not reporting these often quid pro quo gifts. If one wonders why hundreds of thousands of foreign students from dictatorial and often anti-American nations like China and Middle Eastern autocracies prove instrumental in growing anti-American and anti-Israel protests, then follow the money that funds professorships and programs sympathetic to these agendas.
The Bill of Rights and its later amendments apply to everyone everywhere in the United States. But these laws are especially operative on those entities that take federal government money and, by doing so, forfeit some of their operational autonomy.
Yet disruptions of invited lecturers who are conservative, pro-Israeli, pro-life, or who question biological males competing in female sports are commonplace on campus.
Usually, when an invited conservative federal judge, a Republican officeholder, a traditionalist activist, or a professor deemed not conservative is shouted down, or the lecture hall is swarmed with disruptive and sometimes violent student protestors, campus administrators issue pro forma stern statements about “not tolerating violations of free speech.”
And then, they do nothing.
Most campus officials either empathize with the spirit or the ideology of the disrupters. Or they are far more afraid of their own radical professors and students than they are of the federal government cutting off their funding for refusing to guarantee First Amendment protections. Harvard arguing for federal funds on the principle of protecting the First Amendment is adding insult to the serial injury it has done to free speech.
More cynically, most campus administrators assume that if conservative pro-life students ever swarmed a pro-abortion lecturer, or Jewish students ransacked a Middle East Studies classroom or chased and then trapped foreign students in a library, then they would likely be summarily expelled. Most naturally assume that universities’ selective timidity and laxity are ideologically and politically driven.
There is no guarantee of due process on campus, as understood under the Bill of Rights. Students or faculty who are accused of particular hot-button “crimes,” such as sexual harassment or “hate speech,” are often denied the right to know their accusers or to have an open hearing with legal counsel before a disinterested panel of judges.
The wronged have little redress of grievance except to use the public court system to intervene to force the university to follow the law.
The best-kept secret of our marquee universities is a radical fall-off in standards as once defined by their own, once much ballyhooed, tough requirements. Our best universities customarily now ensure that 70-80 percent of students in their classes receive A’s.
Prestigious campuses, like Harvard and Stanford, have recently introduced remedial math classes. Privately, the supposedly most demanding campuses know that their prior non-meritocratic admissions have resulted in thousands of students who enter college without the high-school preparation necessary to meet their own past traditional university requirements.
Conservative, Jewish, and religious families now doubt whether their offspring would be treated equitably or would receive a first-rate education commensurate with the four-year total $400,000 cost, or are even now safe.
When pressed, universities usually point to their professional and graduate schools in medicine, engineering, math, science, and business as integral to American prosperity. True, they are. But to the degree they are, it is likely because they have either resisted university orthodoxy or were never as politicized as the social sciences and humanities, or are already being weaponized, albeit more slowly.
If universities were smart, they would accept federal conditions to follow the law and protect the safety and interests of their own students.
That way, they would restore their academic rigor and reputations, regain public support, and enhance meritocracy, the key to their former excellence. But even if their officials are either too partisan or timid to change, they could always publicly report to their radical faculties and students that they were “forced” to comply with conditions that they might privately accept were certainly in their own interests.
Otherwise, at the present rate, employers, parents, and the public will make the necessary adjustments, and the brands once deemed the gold standard and prestigious will become mere dross.
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This is the scientific version of letting nazis come hold conferences.
By Michael Hiltzik
On Oct. 4, Stanford University’s newly minted president, Jonathan Levin, opened an on-campus conference about pandemic policies by expressing the hope that the proceedings would “bring together people with different perspectives, engage in a day of discussion, and in that way, try to repair some of the rifts that opened during COVID.”
He was followed to the lectern by the conference organizer, Stanford public policy professor Jay Bhattacharya, who described the event’s goal as fostering “dialogue with one another rather than having a situation where the goal is to destroy people who disagree with you.”
He said he hoped that the conference would be a “model” for how to bring together people of divergent views.
If only it were. Within minutes of their opening remarks, their hopes were exploded.
That happened during the conference’s opening panel, which was labeled “Evidence-Based Decision Making During a Pandemic.”
Turning the conversation to the issue of COVID’s origins, panelist Andrew Noymer, who teaches about population health and disease prevention at UC Irvine, launched into a fact-free attack on Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci has become a target of relentless smears by right-wingers and congressional Republicans.
“I believe,” Noymer said, “that the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are that it’s ... an experimental virus that escaped from a lab and Tony Fauci is intimately linked to the funding for experiments that created this virus.”
There’s no evidence that the virus escaped from a lab, much less that Fauci as NIAID director funded any experiments that created the virus. No one on the panel called Noymer to account.
A few other low points during the day reflected the organizers’ having invited conspiracy-mongers and purveyors of long-debunked claims to share the stage with public health and science professionals who have spent the last few years battling a tide of misinformation and disinformation about the pandemic.
Stanford posted videos of all the conference panels and speeches on its website and on YouTube on Friday, expanding the potential audience beyond the few hundred people who attended the event in person.
As I mentioned in an earlier column about the conference, the idea that universities such as Stanford should be arenas for airing all opinions in a search for truth is simplistic and historically incorrect. Universities have always had, and even embraced, the duty to draw the line between fact and fiction — to determine when an assertion or opinion falls below the line of intellectual acceptability.
“Science and quackery cannot be treated as having scientific and moral equivalence,” John P. Moore, a distinguished biologist and epidemiologist at Weill Cornell Medical College who played a part in debunking misinformation about the role of HIV in AIDS during the 1990s, wrote recently. “Do NASA scientists attend conferences by people who believe the moon-landing was faked? Do geographers and geologists attend conferences held by idiots who believe the earth is flat? Of course not.”
Stanford did some things right. After the initial conference agenda was published in August, it was criticized on social media and in the science community (and by me) for mainstreaming an “anti-science agenda (and revisionist history),” in the words of vaccine expert and pseudoscience debunker Peter Hotez.
Several more participants were added to the final roster in a possible effort to balance the lineup. (It may be that the organizers approached some of them before the original announcement came under attack.)
This effort bore fruit. In the first session, for example, health policy experts Douglas K. Owens and Josh Salomon of Stanford’s medical school educated their fellow panelists in the realities of crafting social policies in the first months of a deadly pandemic with little-understood medical characteristics or health implications.
Yet a persistent subtext of the conference was that the social interventions taken against the pandemic, such as business and school closings, mask and social distancing advisories and lockdowns, were generally worse than the disease. This echoed the position of Bhattacharya, a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, a manifesto published in October 2020 that called for ending lockdowns and school closures and pursuing “herd immunity” through “natural infection” of almost everyone other than the aged and infirm.
During the opening panel, moderator Wilk Wilkinson, a blogger on the concept of “personal accountability,” offered the astonishing criticism that public health leaders “focused very narrowly on deaths from COVID, and often it came at the expense of other social values” such as “being able to visit people, ... or putting children in school as they normally would go to school, or attend funerals.”
It fell to Salomon to observe tactfully that “in the early part of the pandemic, in March 2020, “it made sense to focus on mortality. We all saw ... the stacks of body bags in New York City.” Over time, he said, social trade-offs from public health interventions can be weighed, as they are today. But if there’s a higher imperative for public health officials than reducing deaths from a deadly pandemic while it is in full cry, what is it?
As it happens, researchers have found that social interventions did succeed in reducing infections and mortality, a conclusion that was barely mentioned at the conference.
COVID death rates in U.S. states were reduced by restaurant, gym and pool shutdowns, vaccine mandates for school and government workers, and stay-at-home orders, according to a massive study published by the British medical journal The Lancet in April 2023. Infection rates were reduced by bar, restaurant and primary school closures; mask mandates; restrictions on large gatherings; stay-at-home orders; and vaccine mandates.
Social policies in place during the pandemic are easy to denigrate because their costs were evident but their positive effects were often invisible, Salomon observed. “It’s harder for us to recognize the lives that were saved, the hospital systems that were not overwhelmed, the ... illnesses that were avoided.”
Throughout the conference, anti-government paranoia and misinformation about pandemic policies were strong on the wing. Rutgers biologist Bryce Nickels — who has accused scientists of “fraud” for concluding in a 2020 paper that COVID most likely originated in the natural spillover of the virus from animals via the wildlife trade in China, not through a laboratory experiment gone awry — expressed the conviction during the panel on the origins of COVID that “the pandemic was caused by reckless research and a lab accident.”
Nickels insinuated that the scientists behind such research “have blood on their hands or culpability in some level.”
I asked Bhattacharya if comments such as Nickels’ and Noymer’s comported with his desire to eradicate from the debate over COVID “the goal ... to destroy people who disagree with you.” He hasn’t replied.
Levin told me by email that “revisiting pandemic policies, with the benefit of hindsight and data, is a valuable topic for study,” and that he thinks “we’ll learn more from that inquiry if we frame it around questions and evidence rather than ‘who was right.’”
Some presenters uttered evident misinformation. Consider Scott Atlas, a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and a former COVID advisor to the Trump administration, who attacked pandemic lockdowns and their advocates because lockdowns “failed to stop the dying, they failed to stop the spread — that’s the data.”
But this is a flagrant category error. No one argued that the lockdowns would stop the spread of COVID or “stop the dying.” They were consistently portrayed as policies to slow the spread and consequently mortality in order to relieve the crushing pressure on healthcare facilities and personnel long enough to enable them to get a handle on the pandemic — “flattening the curve” was the watchword. And over time, they succeeded in doing just that.
Then there’s Marty Makary, a prominent surgeon at Johns Hopkins University who made a name for himself during the pandemic by repeatedly predicting that the pandemic was on the verge of ending due to natural immunity, and was consistently confounded by the appearance of successive new waves of deadly COVID variants.
Makary related during the opening panel that he was frustrated because once data arrived about the social effects of lockdowns “there was no interest in evaluating” what was “the largest public health intervention in modern history.”
But that’s just wrong. Data-driven analyses of social interventions surfaced even in the earliest days of the pandemic — including a multidiscipinary symposium sponsored by Stanford in the fall of 2021, featuring 54 experts from academia, public health and government.
Up to this day, the medical, public health and social effects of the pandemic and pandemic policies have been the subject of unrelenting study — more than 700,000 papers by nearly 2 million researchers thus far, according to an estimate offered by Stanford epidemiologist John P.A. Ionannidis in his closing conference remarks.
The conference organizers wanted to congratulate themselves for producing what Bhattacharya described as “the first event where people of very different viewpoints about what happened during the pandemic are going to speak to each other in a way that’s constructive.”
But a conference in which conspiratorial delusions and outright falsehoods were treated as deserving the same respect as scientifically validated research, and in which the authors of serious virological and epidemiological studies, as well as respected public health authorities, were subjected to smears, was nothing like “constructive.”
Considering Bhattacharya’s expectation that this conference should be a model for others, then: Let’s hope not.
#mask up#covid#pandemic#wear a mask#public health#covid 19#wear a respirator#still coviding#coronavirus#sars cov 2#us politics
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My Role as an Environmental Interpreter - Blog 2
The role of environmental interpretation comes with many responsibilities. They play a vital role in connecting people with the natural world by translating science into engaging and memorable experiences. Environmental interpreters inspire curiosity by looking beyond the facts. They aid in fostering an emotional connection to nature through storytelling and teaching communities about the beauty of nature beyond surface-level observation. After researching different careers in environmental interpretation, an ideal role for me would be working as an environmental educator or, more specifically, a nature centre educator. I made this decision for a few reasons, but my inspiration primarily comes from the opportunity a nature centre educator has to connect with and teach kids. The role of nature centre educator perfectly blends the beauty of being a teacher in a more traditional sense while being given the opportunity to speak about the wonders of the environment. My mother was a nursery school teacher for a long time and now tutors young kids, so my interest in teaching children comes from her. I believe that having an opportunity to inspire and educate the next generation is a great privilege, but it is also a challenging job that tests a person’s professional character and dedication.

What might it entail? Where might it be?
Firstly, as an environmental interpreter, having general knowledge about nature and different ecosystems is essential. That said, location is a highly relevant factor in educating the public about the environment around them. This summer, I took a trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and visited a turtle conservation centre. It was a fantastic experience, and I observed these beautiful animals and learned a lot about aquatic animal conservation. An ideal location for me to work in a nature centre as an educator would be somewhere in a more tropical climate, such as Florida. A nature centre educator is a job that requires significant versatility. At the surface, they are responsible for conservation education, curriculum integration, and public engagement by leading interactive experiences such as guided tours, wildlife demonstrations, and other relevant activities. On top of the efforts typically observed by the public, the primary role of a nature centre educator is to garner interest. Increasing public engagement to encourage people to come is necessary for the job. Most conservation centres are not-for-profit businesses that thrive on donations to function successfully. With the rise of social media, educators have an amazing opportunity to increase community outreach. Posting their animals online, making educational videos, developing formal advertising, and incorporating the curriculum into online content can effectively boost interest. Additionally, resource management is a key responsibility for educators in engagement efforts. Within the centre, educational materials, brochures, signage, and interactive displays are great tools for making a consumer’s experience memorable. Educators are responsible for curating new ideas for information pieces, so having the creativity and knowledge to create engagement tools is necessary.



What skills might you need?
As the textbook mentions, provocation is a key skill for educators that goes beyond fact-based information. It is a strategy to spark curiosity, challenge common assumptions, and encourage critical thinking. For nature centre educators, using provocation as a strategy for engagement is vital. Asking thought-provoking and open-ended questions encourages discussion, which allows visitors to challenge their understanding of nature. Presenting surprising facts gives visitors some information to relay to others, and using visual provocation through impactful imagery will help cater to different learning strategies. For example, seeing a side-by-side exhibit of a polluted river and a clean, restored river habitat is far more inspiring than simply seeing a seemingly untouched river. Provocation closely ties into two more skills that encompass the necessary attributes of an educator. Storytelling and effective communication are complementary skills that help round out the requirements of a talented educator.

Thank you for reading my post, I hope you enjoyed!
Daniel
Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing, Sagamore Venture.
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Growing Up While Slowing Down (Mello and Reader)
Warnings: N/A
Anonymous Request: Sorry I'm so late in replying. I'd like to see mello when he's still at Wammy's house, maybe he'd like a caretaker sister who's a few years older than him. Or else you could write about when he was mafia and how awesome he looked like he had the world at his feet. For some reason I don't want to think back to mello dying, he's forever young in my mind. (Thank you for your reply and I wish you all the best!)
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Life was hard.
And life was infinitely harder growing up in a secluded orphanage that prioritized only what you could offer in the future than who you were as a person.
You didn't particularly know why you procrastinated on your plans to leave Wammy's. Most other alumni who graduated from the orphanage without getting adopted were either drafted into specific positions to be later used by greater letters than themselves or faded into obscurity. As for you, life seemed to be simultaneously too fast and too slow for your own liking. You knew at one point that you had to leave the safety of your childhood home, but you wanted to stretch the days until it felt like years would pass. Although you knew that the social environment in the orphanage wasn't the best—if what your friends in the psychological sciences were to be believed—you could not bear to let go of something that had sunk its claws into you for so long.
It was childish, but then again, you were still a child.
Today, you were out in the gardens that surrounded the property. Although most of the landscape was maintained by staff, there were a few areas where several students were encouraged to plant and cultivate their own vegetation. Most of the time, the area was frequented with many of the younger children—most of whom believed that they could play in the mud all day.
They weren't exactly wrong—many of their tutors touted Montessori methods of teaching and the benefits of training proprioception—but the children were expected to complete a project or two every season.
From what you could gather, most of the children would not pursue botanical pursuits other than the rare oddball or two.
Even now, there were only two small children being overseen by one of your older cohorts. The older child gave you a nod of acknowledgement before directing one of the children under her care to start digging a small hole on a small patch of bare earth.
As you walked past them and deeper into the gardens, you thought about your future. To have survived this long at Wammy's House, you would have to be smart, cunning, and resourceful. It was no secret that your sole benefactor, the legendary detective L himself, only created and maintained proteges to either replace him or to aid him in future investigations. It was like a factory where he oversaw the cultivation of future geniuses like himself.
While you were smart and clever, you never made it to the top ten students who made their home at Wammy's. No, that honor went to those who either worked their hardest to reach the top or were either gifted with intellectual superiority. That said, you knew that you were one of the fated students to fade into obscurity unless you were brought out of the shadows for something or other for either L or whoever took over when the elusive detective finally died.
Now that you made your way into the heart of the gardens, you headed towards a wrought iron bench. Despite it being decades old, it didn't look its age. Rather, the groundskeeper must have been doing his due diligence to make sure that everything under his care was flourishing and was the spitting image of what it must have looked like at the orphanage's inception.
Here, underneath the shade of an aging oak tree, you were able to relax. It was an overcast day and whatever sun was available did little to provide you with any warmth. Were you surprised? Of course not, it was England and everyone and everything had their own schedule to adhere to.
It was practically a crime to go against what was normal and usual.
So, it came to a surprise to you when you heard someone trudging down the path, making a beeline towards the bench.
And you.
It was rare for someone to find you out here, especially since it was the weekend and most of the orphanage's minders didn't keep tabs on the older students since they often proved to be "responsible".
(Was that true? Debatable, but you'd rather that they didn't nag you do to homework or keep a strict eye on your day to day life).
Curious now as to who was following you, you glanced up only to find yourself blanching at the student who was heading your way.
When you first heard the footsteps, you thought it was someone who happened to come near, someone who might have wanted to go see the bushes and the native fauna that had come with the orphanage so long ago. However, that was far from the reality.
Really, you did not see this coming.
The person who picked up speed to talk to you was none other than M or Mello.
Despite the position of his letter in the Latin alphabet, Mello was far from thirteenth place. In fact, he far surpassed those who made it in the top ten. The top five.
He was in the top three, usually making his way to second place.
He was smart and ambitious, always chomping at the bit to leave this wretched place and make a name for himself.
But he couldn't do that.
Not yet.
He was waiting for your esteemed benefactor to announce his successor.
Not that the news would matter to you, but you supposed given the rankings and the personalities of the top three students at the orphanage, you could only assume that N or Near would be the one to take L's place. In fact, most other children would agree with you, but all of you knew to keep quiet about such assumptions.
Mello wasn't a physically aggressive child most of the time, but his anger was more than enough of a deterrent to hinder such rumors.
"Mello," you greeted placidly as he practically fell in his seat next to you, "it's not like you to be walking the grounds so late in the afternoon. What brings you here?"
Sometimes, you wondered about Mello. You knew what his dreams were, what all of his hard work and striving to be the best meant for his future. Unfortunately, you knew that didn't mean that he was going to eventually get what he wanted. There was no way he could ever beat Near in the orphanage and if L ever broke his silence about his definitive successor…
You had to wonder if Mello could be a person outside of M, the second place student.
He scowled at you, but decided to face forward when you gave him a look that conveyed how done you were with him. You were more than well aware of what he was like around other students, particularly when he was angry that Near had beat him again in the rankings, but you weren't scared of him. Despite the height difference that came with puberty, you still had a few years on him. Age was but a number, but higher numbers meant seniority and sometimes, superiority—both of which Mello intimately knew well.
So, his grumbly nature didn't affect you as much as it would had you been the same age or younger than Mello.
Instead, you merely leveled an unimpressed look at him before you poked him gently on the side.
(Years ago, before the idea of rankings and numbers and letters took over all of his ambitions and dreams, he would have laughed before tickling you back).
The blond glared at you, but did not offer any more of a rebuttal than to slightly shift his weight upon the bench. You were too caught up in your antics to feel bad, but you were feeling nostalgic. No matter how old some of the students got at Wammy's, you would remember most of them as squalling toddlers or inquisitive children having fun. In the midst of the dread that came with aging out of the system, you had to hold onto things that made you happy.
And—
Well—
Messing with someone who used to be bright eyed and shy was titillating.
Unfortunately for you, after a few more seconds of your shenanigans, Mello finally had enough. He grabbed your wrist tightly—not enough to cause harm, but to stabilize your hand and to prevent you from tickling him. It was then, at that moment, you realized that Mello was uncharacteristically quiet. Subdued. Not at all the type of person who would spend weeks trying to one up Near or the person who would raise hell if he so much as heard whispers that he wasn't the best that Wammy's had to offer.
Curious now, you stopped and looked at him, a question clearly in your eyes.
"Erm, Mello...?" You didn't know what to say, given that he hadn't made it clear why he had chosen to accompany you on this fine day. As a last resort, you tugged out of his hold and leveled him a concerned, but wary glance. "Did you need something?"
That had to be the one thing that made sense to you at that moment. It was rare that Mello talked to you nowadays, even though you used to take care of him when he was younger. You couldn't put a finger on when or why, but he slowly began immersing all of his free time into his studies and beating Near. Before that, he had been content to spend most of his time living life to the fullest and playing with his friends. Now, it seemed that the Mello you used to know was now a mere shadow approaching noon.
That is to say, it no longer existed.
Though, you supposed that it had to happen at some point. People weren't meant to stay the same throughout their entire lives. Growing and change were inherent to every living thing on earth; Mello was not exempt and neither were you.
Or, rather, you knew that you were not exempt from that fact of life, but that didn't stop you from procrastinating on it. It was ironic. You came out to the garden to escape the impending doom of becoming a fully fledged adult, but now that Mello was here, you couldn't think of anything else. It would have been mildly infuriating if it were not for the pensive look upon Mello's face.
"I talked to Roger today." That was not an angle to the conversation you expected. Roger kept up to date on all of the students under his care, but he reserved most of his face to face interactions for those who held potential to become L's successors... Or those who were ready to leave the House. You weren't exactly ready, but you knew that you were due to meet him in a month or so. Presumably, you would have a plan already in place or working on one. If not, you knew that he had a number of connections and career opportunities lined up at the ready for students who needed help or lacked initiative.
While you rarely spoke with the old man, you already knew that you were not looking forward to the impending conversation.
"Okay... And?"
You didn't know what to expect. Mello was a fair bit younger than you, so you didn't expect his news to be anything other than his longtime pursuit of trying to one up Near, but you were surprised.
"You're moving out soon."
You shrugged, not at all concerned on the outside, but cringing on the inside. "Technically, yes. I don't have any concrete plans at the moment."
The most that you could claim were only vague memories picking through university fliers or a list of phone numbers and emails that would get you connected to former Wammy's House alumni. You knew you had to move forward some day, but you did not want to start that large jump for the future right now. Rather... that should be saved for the future.
The frown that spread on his face was more than enough warning that you said the wrong thing.
But what could you have said?
And that’s when you realized that he looked rather downtrodden. For a young teenager recently experiencing the throes of puberty, he looked rather pathetic, but at the same time, you saw that there was a faint anger in his eyes. Even his body language screamed that he was battling something in his mind. Something that must have been bothering him. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, eyes narrowed in irritation.
“Mello,” you crooned softly. He scoffed at your attempt to calm him, but it wasn’t like your attempts were in vain. Despite his appearance, he gradually relaxed. You faced away at the last possible moment to preserve a few seconds of your poorly disguised mirth. “Use your words, what’s wrong?”
The blond always played at being an adult, especially when talking to actual adults, but to you, he caved.
His voice started out subtle, almost as if he was tearing out the words out of his mouth like a dentist pulling teeth. Hesitant and soft, he said, “You’re leaving.” A pause. “Without me.”
You blinked at him, confused. “Well, yes. But that’s what happens when we become of age. That’s the way Wammy’s works.” You thought a moment, trying to process why he seemed so put out at your inevitable fate. “You know this already, Mello, why would—”
And that’s when it hit you.
Really, you knew that you weren’t bright enough to get into the top ten, but still. If you had the capacity to care, you would have been irritated at yourself for blatantly missing the signs. Of course, how could you not have seen it before!
“You’re going to miss me.” It was a statement you reiterated when you observed Mello about to speak up, probably about to refute your assumption. “Awwww, Mello!”
Before he could leap off the bench, you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and squeezed tight.
Most students at the House would have balked at giving Mello affection, but not you. It was rare to see Mello be vulnerable and willingly show his more emotional side of himself. You couldn’t imagine him engaging in heart to hearts with Matt or god forbid, Near.
“You’re just as annoying as I remember,” Mello muttered into the crook of your neck. His warm breath ghosted over your skin, his voice as small as the child he once was.
For a moment, the both of you basked in the warm embrace.
However, like all things, this moment had to pass. The both of you had to face reality.
Grow up.
At the other end of the garden, you heard the small children who had been busy planting were whooping and hollering in delight. Over the din, you could barely make out that they had found a wriggling patch of worms and were busy trying to get their current caretaker to touch one of them. The added screams made you smile, but also reminded you that you couldn’t hold Mello forever.
Slowly—achingly—you released him.
But Mello did not immediately leave.
Instead, he leaned back against the wrought iron bench and closed his eyes.
As a bit of sun peeked through the overcast clouds, you could barely make out what he said.
But you heard him all the same.
“Yeah… I’ll miss you.”
.
.
.
If you want to donate a Ko-Fi, feel free: https://ko-fi.com/devintrinidad.
DEATH NOTE MASTERLIST
#anonymous request#answered#devintrinidad#dearestones#death note#dn#death note mello#dn mello#death note reader#platonic reader#mihael keehl
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I am a bit of a fan of Jekyll and Hyde (musicals, original book, the concept anything in relation really) (I am not a diehard fan. I find it neat. That describes it best).
I developed an Alternative Universe with placing Hetalia Characters in roles from a musical variation (The one with Anthony Warlow as Jekyll/Hyde) including some additional roles and it goes following:
Romania as Jekyll/Hyde. Late 19th century, is a chemist and licensed doctor, charming man and wants knowledged. The idea of an evil and good soul and what causes someone to descend into insanity aren't cause by personal events, rather he just has a specific interest in these things, so much so he hardly can find passion for other topics. He is very neurodivergent-coded (Intense special interest, irritation over misunderstandings, awkward socially, dislikes change, finding himself to be overwhelmed by sensorially challenging situations)
Ukraine as Lisa Carew, Jekylls fiancé (I love RomUkr). She loves his passion over his research but often has to pull him out of it. She aids him with social events and reassures him.
England as Mr. Stride. I totally antagonized England for this. I want him to be jealous asf of Romania because he wanted to marry Ukraine. He also thinks of Ro as eccentric and dangerous and occasionally more or less purposefully sets him off, never managing to trigger a meltdown. He is in an arranged marriage to China (additional thing I did. i liked the Idea of it).
China is basically just there. I need some fun story for them. (Afab China in this case. Probably non binary but it wont quite show).
Bulgaria starring as Mr. Utterson I believe was his name. Mr Lawyer and friend of Jekyll. He kinda watches the story unfold and finds out the truth at the end (not sure which ending to use.)
Russia and Belarus exist as well as Romanias siblings in law but dont have a big roll.
I don't think the victims will be other Hetalia characters. This all is more or less a human AU.
Perhaps I include a Lucy in the form of Nyo Prussia or Nyo Poland but I dont really see a point for a Lucy. Perhaps a different function.
Also this is where my idea stems from that Romania actually was a chemist/scientist in like the 1800s/1900s. I like it. Also that he would teach Germany science stuff since Prussia likes his personality (minus that weird omnious feeling)
#aph romania#hws romania#hetalia romania#aph#hetalia#hws#aph prussia#aphprussia#hetalia headcanons#hetaliaheadcanons#historicalhetalia#headcanons#aphpoland#hws ukraine#hetalia au#au#hws au#aph au#jekyll and hyde au#hws england#aph england
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"Study Smarter: Expert-Recommended Tools and Materials for Students"
Whether you're a excessive faculty student, university undergraduate, or lifelong learner, having the proper have a look at substances can extensively enhance how efficaciously you analyze and retain know-how. Below is a curated list of encouraged resources labeled by means of topics, getting to know styles, and desires, overlaying each traditional and virtual codecs.
Study Materials For Students
1. 📖 General Study Materials
Books
A have to-study for all rookies, this book explores proof-based mastering techniques and helps you increase greater effective study behavior.
"How to Read a Book" by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
Teaches analytical reading strategies and how to approach distinct genres of texts seriously.
Stationery & Tools
Highlighters, sticky notes, flashcards, notebooks (ideally sectioned or dot-grid)
Apps like Notion, Obsidian, or Evernote for virtual be aware-taking
Use Pomodoro timers like Focus Keeper or TomatoTimer for time management
2. 🧠 Cognitive and Memory Aids
Flashcards
Anki – Spaced repetition software program first-rate for memorizing anything from scientific terms to vocabulary
Quizlet – User-friendly with heaps of pre-made sets for almost each challenge
Mind Mapping Tools
XMind or MindMeister – Great for visual rookies and organizing complex ideas
3. 📘 Subject-Specific Recommendations
🌍 Humanities and Social Sciences
History
"A People's History of america" by way of Howard Zinn – A fresh, alternative perspective
CrashCourse History on YouTube – Fun, speedy-paced, and informative
Oxford History Series – Detailed but on hand instructional sources
Literature
The Norton Anthology of English Literature – Comprehensive and properly-commented
SparkNotes and CliffsNotes – Great for summaries, subject matters, and quick evaluations
Poetry Foundation – Great for knowledge poems and their analyses
Philosophy
"Sophie's World" with the aid of Jostein Gaarder – Fictional introduction to philosophical standards
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) – Free, instructional-stage articles
🔬 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
Mathematics
Khan Academy – Free tutorials from basic mathematics to multivariable calculus
Paul’s Online Math Notes – College-degree notes and worked examples
Brilliant.Org – Interactive math problems and puzzles
Physics
"Fundamentals of Physics" via Halliday, Resnick & Walker – A staple for undergraduates
MinutePhysics and Physics Girl on YouTube – Bite-sized physics defined
HyperPhysics – Visual-based on-line physics concept map
Chemistry
ChemCollective – Virtual labs and trouble units
Organic Chemistry as a Second Language with the aid of David Klein – Excellent for understanding difficult standards
Periodic Videos (YouTube) – Fun deep dives into the periodic table
Biology
Campbell Biology – Comprehensive and general for maximum university-degree courses
Bozeman Science – Great video content for AP and university biology
BioInteractive (HHMI) – Interactive resources and animations
Computer Science
CS50 by way of Harvard (edX) – Free, newbie-pleasant intro to CS
freeCodeCamp – Free interactive studying in coding and net development
Cracking the Coding Interview by using Gayle Laakmann McDowell – For technical interview prep
Languages and Communication
English (and ESL)
Grammarly – Writing help and grammar checking
The Elements of Style via Strunk and White – Classic writing guide
BBC Learning English – Free resources for vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar
Foreign Languages
Duolingo – Great for beginners
LingQ and Pimsleur – For immersive language studying
HelloTalk / Tandem – Connect with local audio system for actual conversations
four. 🎓 Test Prep Materials
ACT Prep Black Book by means of Mike Barrett
Khan Academy’s free SAT prep – In partnership with College Board
GRE/GMAT
Manhattan Prep Series – Strong for both GRE and GMAT
Magoosh – Affordable, digital-first gaining knowledge of platform
Official ETS GRE Guide – Direct from the check makers
Medical (MCAT, USMLE)
Kaplan Series / Princeton Review – Comprehensive applications
Anki Decks (like MilesDown for MCAT) – Top-rated for memorization
SketchyMedical – Visual mnemonics for microbiology and pharmacology
5. 🧘 Mental Health and Study Techniques
Wellness Apps
Headspace / Calm – Meditation and mindfulness apps to enhance attention
Forest – Encourages you to stay off your cellphone while you look at
Study Bunny – A cute gamified productivity app
Study Methods
Pomodoro Technique – 25 minutes paintings, 5-minute smash
Feynman Technique – Teach the idea in easy phrases to yourself
Active Recall + Spaced Repetition – Proven satisfactory for lengthy-time period retention
6. 🖥️ Digital Platforms and Online Learning
Coursera – Offers publications from top universities in really all fields
EdX – Similar to Coursera; first rate for incomes certificate
Udemy – Huge library of affordable ability-primarily based guides
YouTube Channels – CrashCourse, Veritasium, CGP Grey, Kurzgesagt, and extra
7. 📅 Organizing Your Studies
Planning Tools
Google Calendar – For scheduling classes, study classes, and reminders
Trello or Todoist – For handling responsibilities and assignments
#Study Materials For Students#class nursery to class 12 th students#college students study materials
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Parents at three more New York City yeshivas are being told to find another school for next year as the State Education Department clamps down on schools flouting requirements for secular education instruction.
The schools will lose their legal status and will not receive any public funding for meals, transportation, textbooks or other programs after June 30, which is the deadline for all schools in the state to comply with the secular education mandate, according to a spokesperson for the New York State Education Department.
The government crackdown comes after years of legislative battles, court disputes, and public debate over the quality and character of education received by an estimated 65,000 yeshiva students across New York state.
The state ultimately decided that all children learn to speak, read and write in English and gain at least basic knowledge of math, science, and social studies. While many yeshivas teach these topics alongside religious instruction, some do not, focusing entirely on the study of Jewish texts.
Some of the schools deemed to violate the state’s requirements have moved to improve their instruction of secular subjects. Others, the education department spokesperson said, have received repeated warnings but failed to engage with the department about making changes to their curriculum.
Three schools, two of which are part of the same yeshiva, received notices in early February that they were losing their legal status as schools. Three additional schools, all in Brooklyn, were notified last week.
They are:
Mosdos Chasidei Square, at 105 Heyward Street
Mosdos Chasidei Square Boro Park, at 1373 43rd Street
Yeshiva Torah V’Yirah Bais Rochel, also known as United Talmudical Academy of Boro Park, at 1275 36th Street
None of the schools responded to requests for comment from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Several yeshivas in the Hudson Valley are in open defiance of the education department and are expecting to face similar sanctions in the near future, according to the Times Union.
“We’re not going to let the inspectors in, we’re not going to teach what you want to teach. If we’re cut off, we’re cut off,” Rabbi Abraham Klein, a spokesman for the Hudson Valley schools, was quoted as saying.
Klein said the schools and the families they serve see secular education mandates as an attack on their religious way of life and are preparing to resist authorities. For example, the schools are working with lawyers to offer aid to parents who would face fines or arrests for not withdrawing their children.
“We’re ready for that fight. With God’s help we’re going to win it,” Klein told the Times Union.
Yeshiva education advocates point out that learning the Talmud and other Jewish texts requires intensive analysis and the development of critical thinking skills. They also argue that graduates of their schools outperform public school graduates in many ways.
But advocates on the other hand side of the issue say that a lack of secular instruction creates dependency in haredi Orthodox adults.
The secular education mandate and the current enforcement campaign represent a victory for Young Advocates for Fair Education, an advocacy group that sued the Education Department in 2015, claiming that many yeshiva students were entering adulthood without basic skills and knowledge.
“With these letters, NYSED is working to ensure that every child in New York receives the education they are guaranteed under state law,” YAFFED Executive Director Adina Mermelstein Konikoff said in a statement about the three latest schools to be penalized. “For years, students in these yeshivas have been deprived of even the most basic education, leaving them unprepared for life after school. We appreciate NYSED’s work to protect students’ right to a basic education.”
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