#and i've been meaning to write an article i've been trying and researching for 4 fucking days

[willowjay07]

My deadline is October 1st now.

[manicpixiedreamedwins]

Alright. I've been talking about writing a meta about Charles and jealousy for a while, so here it is. It's a mess. I tried to make it more concise than it was, if you can believe that.

Be forewarned, below the cut we'll be diving into some canon compliant content like Charles' home life. Please, please, please note that now is the time to leave if you are not in a good space to read about those.

Okay. First I want to establish a few things before I get to analyzing the scenes, because I think it is important that we have empathy for Charles here. This might be a bit of a long preamble, but if you could stay with me I'd appreciate it. I promise I am going somewhere with all of this.

I think a lot of us have been told, perhaps by a parent or a friend, that jealousy is unbecoming or bad. Think about it. I know growing up that is a message I heard frequently even though I saw adults exhibit it. This was actually pretty confusing to try and work out. Anyway, now with this almost puritanical obsession with good pure and healthy relationships in media, it's gotten worse. We're told any human flaw we have is something we have to fix or we are not deserving of love. Yes, including jealousy.

Only if that's the case, Charles is fighting uphill here. Here's why:

For reference 41:30 -42:00 in episode 4 is the flashback that The Night Nurse shows Charles of his home. If we unpack this we can learn a lot of things, but there are two that I would like two draw your attention to today:

Charles' dad clearly isn't someone Charles could form a secure attachment to. He seems to only be acknowledging Charles when he's angry, and only acknowledging him in a very violent manner. He's also not really communicating with him, and expecting Charles to know what he's upset about I guess? Truly, this man is terrifying. He knows his family is afraid of him, and he knows they'll scramble to try and fix whatever his issue is.

Charles' mom doesn't intervene. Now, I do not want to hear any vile junk in my notes. She's a battered woman and has probably been in the same position that Charles has, considering Charles himself is worried about her once he is dead. He's worried enough that he checks in on her every week. It makes it all the more heartbreaking that Charles is the one who has taken it upon himself to try and "make it better" (although this is not uncommon among kids who grow up in abusive households, alarmingly).

It definitely drives home that there is a clear hierarchy in the home (everyone tries to please the most volatile person), and you're at the bottom of the pyramid. Even if it's just because you and everyone else in the household is too terrified to do anything about the most abusive person's behavior, you still feel the weight of never being put first. You will never be put first, because how could you be? "You never made it better than you died" (via The Night Nurse) holds a crushing amount of meaning here.

Alright. Now we have established that Charles had some messed up stuff happen at home. Let's take that a step further. Adverse childhood experiences can lead to a variety of attachment styles that are not secure and... you guessed it, jealousy can get thrown in the mix. (This link leads to an abstract of a very interesting research article. If you request the full test directly from the researcher they will provide it for free, but it takes time. The basic idea here is that if kids aren’t able to form secure attachments to their parents, then they will struggle to feel secure in their relationships as they grow up. Sometimes that can manifest as jealousy).

Still with me after all of that? You are god's strongest soldier, lmao. Now let's get into the good stuff.

Charles dies, but there in the attic he meets Edwin. Charles chooses Edwin over the blue light without a second thought. He comforted him when he was dying, and that tenderness is foreign for Charles. The choice is an easy one.

He enjoyed it, and he enjoys Edwin. Edwin, in turn, turns out to be is someone who unequivocally, continuously, puts Charles first. He also does something really important- Charles seeks reassurance, and Edwin gives it ("You ever think, what if Death did catch us? She'd force us to go to the afterlife and split up" Charles asks. "I will make sure that never happens" Edwin answers, all while they're hanging on the side of their office). This is one of the first things we learn about them in the pilot. Charles knows he can count on Edwin. This wasn't something he had from anyone in life.

So things go fine for Charles for a long while. Edwin hasn't given him any reason to feel insecure in all that time it seems. He’s done a great job making Charles feel safe. Charles even feels secure enough that it is his idea to try and integrate Crystal into the agency, although Edwin clearly hates it. Crystal isn’t a threat to his friendship with Edwin, so it would appear Charles still feels reasonably secure in their relationship at this point.

Charles even explains or excuses a lot of Edwin's reactions to try and smooth things over. He tries to mediate between them during their first plan to rescue Becky from Esther's house the best he can. He allows Edwin to have a leg of the case with just the two of them, but he tries to frame it as protecting Crystal.

But then it's Edwin's turn to shake up the foundation that their relationship is built on.

Edwin had a lot of issues to attend to this season, and he tried to deal with most of them alone. Most of the problems Edwin had to handle put definite distance between him and Charles- how couldn't they? He was being hit on, which was a very new experience for him. He probably didn't even know how to talk about that at first, as evidenced by his description of the CK speaking closely to his ear (oh sweet summer child). He also learned about his feelings for the first time, which Monty had to finish spelling out for him.

This all, however, is where we see a shift in the dynamic. It's significant.

Edwin uses magic on a cat and has to go and meet with the Cat King. Whoops. 🙃 Charles slides easily into his role as a protector, but… Edwin stops him.

Honestly, Edwin had a good reason to do this. He pointed out that cat scratches can cause serious harm to ghosts, and they were surrounded. As endearing as this was, this wouldn’t have been an easy fight. They can just talk this out, right? He gets whisked away for a few minutes to do that (and then winds up opening a bigger can of worms).

From Charles’ perspective though, Edwin doesn’t allow him to help him, and then vanishes for a long period of time. Then he absolutely won’t tell him anything about it when he does come back. Charles knew Edwin was a little mad at him in the pilot, but they were still communicating for the most part. The secrecy is a shift, and it’s not one he’s coping well with. He tries a few different ways to reconnect.

First he tries gentle. He just asks what happened from a place of concern. This might have worked actually, only I’m not even sure Edwin knows how to fully describe what happened during their encounter. He rushes through a description, and Charles still feels like something is missing. He doesn’t like that someone else has a secret with Edwin— for thirty years they’ve been connected. This feels frightening to him, and Edwin doesn’t seem particularly worried that they’re not on the same page.

He tries to pick the conversation back up later when they’re searching for the dandelion shrine, but Edwin doesn’t give any additional information. So he slides back into his role of being a protector again and defends him against the ambient skeletons, because at least he can protect him from that easily. For a moment, things almost seem normal again, but this resurfaces in a later case.

Edwin meets with CK again in episode 4. Charles is still raw after the events of the Devlin House, and now he’s just pissed. He’s hurting, and Edwin is still keeping this weird secret. They end up bickering back and forth. The bickering tells us something interesting about Charles’ concerns.

Charles: What did he want? He didn't whisk you away again? Got that bracelet off?

Edwin: I'd be back at the office right now if the bracelet was off. He wanted to know if I counted the cats, and my guess was unsatisfactory.

Charles: Thinks he can come and go... He can't show up in the middle of cases. Did you tell him that?

Edwin: Matter of fact, I did.

Charles: Can't believe you didn't tell us. I've had enough of secrets about that wankеr.

Edwin: Why are you getting so angry?

What stands out to me here is Charles is upset about a few things: he hates that Edwin is getting taken away from him by a being they can’t control (a logical fear, considering they’re running from death together). He hates that this is happening in the middle of case time that is supposed to be for him and Edwin (and their friends, who Charles trusts). He is still really upset that Edwin has a secret with someone else (I really don’t think he’d be bothered if the secret was with him).

That’s why he’s upset. Charles isn’t feeling secure. He doesn’t feel like their relationship is on good footing right now. Whether or not he knows how to phrase that or ask for support is a different question.

Onto Monty (sorry these are a bit out of order— I put them by character for this part).

Charles wasn’t aware of Monty. This probably already bothered him a little, considering the mystery surrounding the cat king, but he tried to be a good sport. Monty wasn’t outwardly threatening. He came with gifts. He seemed friendly. Charles tried to match that… only to get snubbed. Ouch.

Charles likes to claim he’s aces with other people, but he ultimately died because his friends turned on him and killed him the second he stood up for what was important to him. I think peer relationships are a particularly sticky situation for him. I think he knew how to fit in the same way he knew how not to rock the boat in a volatile home. With Edwin it was different though— Edwin just liked him. Edwin was special.

But of course yet another boy their age doesn’t like him (probably a little upsetting, considering how he died). The only thing that’s confusing to him here is he didn’t really do anything wrong— he was polite. He followed along with all the little niceties people do, even when they don’t want to. Maybe this wouldn’t have bothered him so much in another situation, but now Edwin is wrapped up with him instead of Charles. He's picked him instead (in Charles' mind).

He can’t even shake this when Monty isn’t there.

Charles tries to get Edwin's attention... and fails. so he begins to have a conversation with himself. Perhaps he was trying to make Edwin laugh. Perhaps he was trying something over the top. Still, he fails. Ultimately, he goes the broken record route and asks him the same question a couple of times.

This moment probably really hurt- there's actually no reason for Edwin to be ignoring him, in Charles' mind anyway. They're alone together. Usually they'd be talking or bantering or at least Charles would be able to get Edwin's attention. It's just that he can't, because now Edwin is stuck on that fucking book from that fucking bloke who blew him off earlier.

This was probably a little activating for Charles. Even if he didn't completely put together why it upset him, Edwin putting someone who just treated him poorly right in front of his face first is a dim reflection of what he went through in his home. Now, I am not saying Monty is anywhere near that level of bad- he's a literal cream puff. He could not kill them when his life depended on it.

What I am saying, though, that Charles perceives a subtle threat here. He's also not sure what to do with it, because he never overcame that hurtle in life. No one else ever put him first, and he never figured out how to fix that. Edwin kind of just centered Charles automatically when they met. Now he's not doing that anymore and it’s jarring and uncomfortable for him. He’s feeling this loss of stability, on top of the fact that Edwin still won’t tell him what’s going on with the CK.

"...try not to forget that we're trying to leave" is what Charles comes up with after that exchange. Edwin makes an attempt to console him finally and offers to talk, but Charles shuts it down and tells him it's that he wants to leave town. They start on a case after that.

(Note that I did this a little out of order for organization’s sake— some of their CK arguing happened during the case they went on next).

Charles does finally catch a break here. In spite of all of this, he’s missing something very important: Edwin has feelings for him. That’s probably the most pressing issue that’s gone unspoken between them.

So Edwin dresses nicely, catches Charles attention, and finally tries to initiate a conversation. Charles seems relieved.

He does assume Edwin is just trying to come out by telling him about his time with Monty, before the teethface incident. Charles isn’t bothered, since Monty isn’t really in the picture anymore as far as he’s concerned. Things are fine, it’s just the two of them again and Edwin likes boys. Wait…

... Fuck. Forgot about the Cat King.

He resorts to threatening the CK. I know lots of people have lots of different theories on this, but consider this perspective also: Monty is no longer a threat. He’s abstract. He’s a memory. The Cat King is still very real and is a thing that can come between them, has done so, and has successfully taken Edwin from him. And as accepting as Charles was trying to be in that moment, he just can't handle that (from the perspective of this meta).

Anyway, this is all interrupted by their foray into hell. Charles does rescue Edwin, Edwin confesses, and honestly I feel like that just needs to be a different thing entirely but I did type a little bit about how I think Charles interpreted all of that here.

They return. Charles is processing Edwin's confession on the roof. This whole scene mystifies me a little because yes, he didn't seem to know exactly what to say to Edwin's confession in hell (I think he did not want to ruin it by saying the wrong thing). The more rewatches I go through the more... satisfied he looks to me? He might be processing, but also he might be a little giddy that Edwin has feelings for him specifically. I'm still trying to figure out how to read this one because the lines seemed rushed but the microexpressions say so much.

Then he starts blatantly flirting with Edwin. Honestly Charles, what the fuck?(afffectionate) Truly I’m still trying to work out if he’s just testing out how Edwin reacts or if he is working through his own feelings here, but I really want more of this in S2.

That’s about all the thoughts I think I can organize on this for now without it getting obscenely long (it already is pretty long for a half baked idea that turned into a meta). Thank you for reading 🖤

[ebaybears]

Rainbow Furby Deepdive

Now that I've decided my website is a sea slug fansite (long story) I don't have anywhere to put my rainbow furby research. I considered putting it in a youtube video, but decided to post it to tumblr instead.

Anyway, here it is! The forbidden furby lore.

On the 14th of June 2016 supersonicmario0770 made a post on the adoptafurby forums. The thread was titled "Rainbow Furby?" and included a link to an archived ebay listing.

"I have never seen one of these before or where it came from. I can't find it when I look it up, no sign of it anywhere online but this ebay listing. It's pink with rainbow ears, hair, and chest."

At first most forum members thought it was a customized furby with dyed fur, although some thought it could be an unknown prototype. While the ebay listing is unarchived, we know roughly what it said.

On the 15th aibo7m3 posted this:

"I would err on the side of caution and and say that it's probably a custom too, but the seller's story is that this furby was an employee gift given to some of the members at tiger electronics (including her husband)."

Two weeks later on July 6th furbyandchips made a forum post, providing pictures of their own rainbow furby.

"My friend bought me the other rainbow furby the seller on ebay was selling. Identical to this one. I do not believe it to be fake or custom made. I have inspected it closely and the bottom of the box was open, so the inside cardboard can be removed, but the furby is still attached to the cardboard and didn't look tampered with. All tags are present and in mint condition. Everything is as it should be and looks like it was made in a factory and not customized by someone. The seller told my friend the same story which I believe to be true going by the fact the other furby she bought with it was only furby number 4 of that release, which makes me think it could of been someone who worked for tiger to have such a early one. This furby is in a regular box but if you look at some of the other special editions they too were in regular boxes."

Three years later, on the 19th of January 2019 furbyandchips provided an update on their website heyfurby.com.

"Hello Furby Fans! To start off our new blog, I thought I would write about a very interesting Furby in our collection. I do not know her Furby name as I have never switched her on, she is still attached to the cardboard base from the factory. We decided to name her May May, which means Love ;-)

A good friend found May May on Ebay America and I have never seen another furby like her. A while ago I posted about May May on a furby forum to try and find out some information about her, but no one there had ever seen or heard of this furby. I'm not sure which generation she is, if she is a prototype, limited edition or something very special. She has all tags present and looks to be an Official Furby Release.

Looking at the photo you will see she has rainbow eyelashes and a purple face plate, unlike any other furby. She also has rainbow pattern ears, mane and belly.

Her colours are amazing and I wonder if there are any more around like her. We will always treasure May May and hope to eventually find out more information about her. Stay tuned!"

furbyandchips quickly provided an update on the 21st. In this post, furbyandchips described searching the wayback machine for furby.com articles, finding what they were looking for on a page titled 'news updates'.

From the 9th of November 1999 until the 1st of August 2000 a competition to design a furby took place on the back of Post brand cereals. Children 17 and under were asked to color in their own furby design, and send their entry in the mail by the 1st of August 2000. Twelve designs at random would then be selected and posted on furby.com where a winner could be voted by the public.

The winner was Brittany from Missouri, who won a trip to the furby design studio in Illinois, as well as recieving their own furby. However, furbyandchips was still left with some unanswered questions.

"So it turns out that this is in fact an official Furby-Tiger Release! (some doubted this on AdoptaFurby Forum). I wonder if 'Brittany from Missouri' still has her Rainbow Furby? Also were any of the other 12 entries created?

As far as I know, there are only two Rainbow Furby's in existence. The one that I own, and the other one the original seller (maybe) still has? After some more detective work, I found out the other rainbow Furby had a highest bid of $525.00 before the seller chose to end the auction early! I can only guess they had a change of heart and wanted to keep it."

Eight months later, on the 11th of august 2019 an update was posted on the private facebook group Furby Collectors.

"Hi guys! I'm brand new to this group, and while I'm not a “collector” per-se, i am very proud of this furry rainbow dude right here. He's one of three in existence, made in 2000 when i was just 10 years old. i just so happened to be the lucky winner of a coloring “design your own Furby” contest hosted by Post cereals back in the day. i was flown to Rhode Island with my family and allowed to tour the Hasbro factory, meeting the artists, getting sneak peaks into prototype toys to come, and got to meet the CEO himself! He presented to me, in a formal greeting ceremony, with three of the Furbies I'd designed as a little girl. One to play with (kept outside of the box), one to keep sealed, and one they put into their archives. i felt ike a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! Truly a dream come true for a kid. Sadly, when i was 16 years old, 13 years ago now, my boxed Furby was stolen from me and sold by my late older brother who had been battling an incredibly difficult and heartbreaking addiction. I've come to terms with it over the years, but have always wondered what happened to the rainbow siblings of this furry cutie. I'd seen images posted online of an Ebay listing with one of the sibling Furbies before but have not discovered much more about their fates. thought I'd reach out here and give a bit of backdrop to this weird story in hopes i may learn something! Here I've included a goofy photo of my multicolored friend from recently and a clipping of the arcticle written from when i was an excited 10 year old girl!"

This still leaves some questions. If the other furby furbyandchips's friend bought was number four, then why would the facebook poster believe there to be only three in existance, why would furbyandchip's believe only two to exist, and why would the original ebay seller say their husband recieved two as an employee gift?

We can most likely rule out the brother making both ebay listings, since he only had access to one furby. Could there be more rainbow furbies that we don't know of?

If you have any more information on this furby, please get in touch! I tracked down the news article the original creator was mentioned in, but I needed a newspaper.com subscription to view it so I wasn't able to get further information from that. I also wasn't able to check the facebook group for further updates as I don't use facebook. If anyone has pictures of the back of the rainbow furby and can share them, that would be appreciated!

Here's some more images:

[defining-skyology]

Defining Lore(bible).

Did you know TGC confirmed to the Lore community that the story isn't just being made up as they go?

Lore theorists were getting pretty upset around late 2020, because a nihilistic cultural movement was swelling amongst us over a question:

If the story was never fully created/fleshed out, then are we just theorizing about a story... that doesn't exist?

[[[Longer read ahead]]]

[[[Continue reading]]]

We are back

It's been quite an agonizing week and all I've wanted to do for so long was just get back on this. Even now that I'll barely be approaching our topic of the day/week, the question still lingers: how long does working on a single article take? Though the writing portion of the production process takes 2-4 (idle/distracted) hours of writing, I spend an entire week beforehand searching up, on average, dozens of philosophical and scientific wikis and official research studies, panning for things to help me distinguish my arguments in interesting ways. I've come to really love reading, and while I haven't been able to write; I promise that we've been reading.

Why do these articles need such thorough and often unconnected briefs and research just in order for us to post them? According to the amazing community-control dev Ash from Lorechat, we know that there is supposedly a 'canon' story that TGC's team works together to ensure is still cohesive to the 'grand plan'; fleshed out much greater than most aspiring theorists would/do believe. (Supposedly). When first announcing this to an absolutely livid Lorechat in late 2020, Ash called it "The Lore Bible". The devs have the Lore Bible. But we don't.

The Lore Bible, the original story of Sky; the descriptive, canon history of the Ancestor kingdom, was written before Sky officially launched in 2019. Which means that Ash is suggesting to the Lore community that Sky's story has always had its 'full details', with none of the major plot points of the fall of the kingdom excessively changing. There is an Answer. But to most theorists, we will never come remotely close to confidently knowing we have it, not without help anyways. But I don't think that's true. I don't think it's impossible. And I think, help or not, we can keep taking steps closer towards Knowing.

Because Sky is just a Story. Sky is a fictional world, with a structured civilization and exhaustively-planned ecosystem. They had to have come into having these ideas from somewhere. They had inspiration, and now we do too. We can decide what their inspiration was, and we try to rebuild the Story in our mind from the ground up. We've always already tried to rebuild the Story in our heads from the ground up. But I'd like to verbalize in a different light, for a different view.

Here on this blog, we won't be rebuilding this World, this concept of what a Kingdom looked like. Instead, I want to tear it back down. I want to strip the fabrics apart by their seams, and see every way that they have sewn this together. I want to peel it back until it was just a thought in their heads.

We have to reverse-engineer the entire thing.

The point, is to not start creating the entire world. I'd rather not do that. So many Sky theorists try, and it often just doesn't always work perfectly. Why? Because of the loose ends. They built their characters; their interactions, their plot, climax, falling action; relationships; tender moments; bitter tears.

But in the end those characters, those emotions, all stand on loose gravel, in quicksand, their ankles getting pulled in by the unbuilt world they've made.

This is why world building is so important, and the missing step we've been disregarding all these years. We need to prioritize creating the foundation before we can stand up on it.

The Answer is out there folks. So let's keep looking.

[gladstones-corner]

On the Ritual Dagger and Other Tools

Originally this was a very targeted, well-researched post. However, as I started writing, I realized the real point of this article: my difficulty using iron in magic, and what that means for my selection of tools as a general rule. And in all honesty, that's probably more interesting than a scholarly history of the athame. 

The magical community at large tends to accept the position that iron is disruptive to entities of the Otherworld, though the reasons why have been debated for centuries. Theories range from "ferrous metal disrupts subtle bodies" to "iron is symbolic of human industrialization". 

I'm less interested in a mystical reason than a practical one—in other words, I accept that iron disrupts Otherworld denizens, but am more concerned with why it disrupts me. I find it very difficult to channel energy through iron tools of any kind. 

The good news is that I'm not alone. Some practitioners work closely with the Otherworld, and iron tools hinder their work. Others prefer to use more natural material to reflect their connection with the web of life. Still others are just like me—they just find iron hard to use. 

Are these alternatives standard to the Western Esoteric Tradition? No, absolutely not. There are reasons why iron is used for the athame—not the least of which is because of the disruption towards unwanted spirits. Of course, wanted spirits also experience the disruption, so there is that to consider. 

Of these alternatives, bone and stone are the most common materials. Wood is much less common, as the material tends to be associated with Fire more than with Air (the standard elemental correspondence for the ritual dagger). But, if your tradition swaps the elemental correspondence so that the Wand is for Air and the Dagger is for Fire, there's nothing stopping you from obtaining a wooden ritual dagger. 

Other materials that are nonmetallic, like resin, should be avoided on environmental and practical principles. Not only are many synthetics bad for the environment—which can hinder your connection with the living universe—they are usually very poor conductors of energy. That isn't to say you can't use them—I've seen plenty of people use resin wands—but I really don't recommend it. 

So, what did I choose? I'll be honest, I didn't go out of my way to purchase new tools; I examined what I had on hand. And thankfully, what I found were two obsidian knives from a family trip to Cancun years ago. 

Before I could use them, I had to cleanse and bless them. To do so, I decided to use the Druid method of Land, Sea, Sky. So I started by letting them sit in the sunlight for a few hours to cleanse and bless them by the Sky. After that, I waited for a storm and set them outside to be cleansed and blessed by the "Sea" (water). Finally, I wiped them clean and drove them into the soil to cleanse and bless them by the Land. Finally, they were ready for use. 

First thing I did was cast alchemical glyphs in the air before me: invoking pentacle, banishing pentacle, fire, water, air, earth, spirit, etc.  

My initial thought: the knives are very well balanced. One is about 7", the other about 4". I prefer the larger, if only because the smaller one is more fragile. However, they both have solid heft without being unwieldy. They're great for flourishing with. 

My second thought was that the knives hold and channel energy with ease. That was a pleasant surprise—now I know it's the iron in the dagger, not the dagger itself, that gives me trouble (though to really confirm, I'd need to try other iron athames). 

But here's the thing: these obsidian ritual daggers are not athames. Athames are specifically the black-handled, usually double-edged blade. So that raises a new question: where do we draw the line on swapping out tools? 

Let's examine that in some detail. If we are to believe the four tools of the Western Esoteric Tradition are based in ancient sources, then what are those sources and how did they evolve into their current forms? 

In the broadest strokes, the elemental tools of the Western Esoteric Tradition are the Wand, Dagger, Cup, and Disk. 

Some sources speculate they originate from the Four Treasures of the Tuatha de Danaan: the Spear of Lugh, Sword of Nuada, Cauldron of The Dagda, and Stone of Fal. But if that were wholly the case, we would still be left with questions around how the Spear and Stone became Wand and Disk. 

Let's keep digging and examine each tool individually, rather than as a set: 

Wand: traced back to prehistory, but came into the forefront with Egyptian, Zoroastrian, and Greek priests. 

Dagger: traced back to the Key of Solomon as one of several goetic tools. 

Cup: traced back to prehistory as a tool for holding sacred and mundane liquids. 

Pentacle: traced back to the Key of Solomon as a method of summoning entities. 

Okay, so we can now see that these tools came from a few different places and have slowly grown together. Let me fill in some gaps: the wand is relatively the same as it was in ancient times; the dagger used to be several daggers but has since been standardized; the cup is still widely variable and can be a chalice, cauldron, or any other vessel; the pentacle is still widely variable based on tradition. 

So that brings us back to our question: when do we substitute tools out? The "real" answer is whatever your tradition requires. But for those of us without a set tradition, the question becomes more complicated. 

I've implied throughout this article that the tools are directly correlated to the four lower elements. So, it stands to reason that you would have a representation of each element on the altar. 

Let's take the case of the Four Treasures of the Tuatha de Danaan: 

Sword: Fire 

Spear: Air 

Cauldron: Water 

Stone: Earth 

For a more eclectic take, we can try: 

Sage Bundle: Fire 

Large Feather: Air 

Bowl: Water 

Plate: Earth 

You're also not limited to "tools", either. In my Druidic practice, I place four vessels on the altar that contain: 

Fire: Candle 

Air: Incense 

Water: Water 

Earth: Soil 

So really, the answer to the question "when do we substitute" is really "whenever feels most appropriate to you". The important things are that the items on the altar represent the four lower elements, and can be used for energy channeling. That's what makes it a tool, that you can use it to channel energy, not the fact that it's inherently a tool of some kind. 

Thank you for reading. As always, stay safe and stay tuned. 

Blessed be~ 

[btwimkindagay]

About me

Thanks @littledreamling for the tag

Nickname: Usually Breezy! My first name is a place name, so some of my friends call me by other place names (but more commonly acquaintances who think they are funnier than they are 🙄)

Sign: Sagittarius sun, Taurus moon, Aquarius rising. I hope that doesn't give away all my secrets

Height: 5'7 or 170cm!

Last thing I googled: "Wilfred Owen Letter to Wife poem". It's actually called "The Letter"

Song stuck in my head: I don't have one at the moment which I'm grateful for because I have a headache which feels like someone is trying to lobotomise me through my left eye. (I've taken some painkillers so I'm just being dramatic until they kick in)

Followers: 138! Thanks to everyone for politely waiting out the Goncharov phase

Amount of sleep: I regularly get 9-10 hours of sleep because otherwise I feel so bad 😥 I am envious of people who need less because for me 8 hours and 4 hours feel the same 🤢

Dream job: probably also a professor, like Crow! I'd love to be able to do research on things I'm interested in (it's always gay nuns, but recently it's also polygyny within medieval Jewish communities), and chat with colleagues about theirs, and write articles, and make lots of powerpoint presentations (I love them because I can even script in my jokes), and see what the younger generation are interested in when it comes to history! However, as we have established I am a very tired person, so I'm not sure how well I would cope with the expectation of out of hours work.

Wearing: Blue silk pyjama bottoms decorated with little white vines and flowers, brown walking socks, and a long fluffy hooded! dressing gown which I would probably call maroon or burgundy. Don't judge me for this (or do, I deserve it).  For the more wattpad experience we can also say that I have thrown my long brown hair into a messy bun.

Books/movies that summarise me: I could ask my friends, or I could just insert a picture of the DSM-V here because that's what they'll all send me

Favourite song: I don't have favourite anythings to be honest, but my most played song this year (at a whopping 22 times) was Zitti e Buoni by Måneskin. Lyric-wise I'm still obsessed with Tongues & Teeth by The Crane Wives, specifically "I know that you mean so well, but I am not a vessel for your good intent".

Favourite instrument: I've played clarinet, recorder, guitar, and keyboard, none of which I had any talent for 😂

Aesthetic: I've been told so many things about how I dress so I'll try to keep it brief. I own an eclectic collection of dresses (probably 60+) and tend to favour colourful patterns for daily wear and single colour grecian-style drapes for formal events. I likewise own lot of colourful patterned tops (described by my friends as "pretty", "flattering", "interesting", and "like you took it from your mum's wardrobe" (she gave it to me)) which I wear with jeans. That said, I can most commonly be found in my "grandad" looks of a men's shirt open over a vest or buttoned to the bare minimum of decency, or one of my two favourite golf jumpers (one grey, one beige).

Favourite authors: I don't have favourite authors of books (though I definitely do for fanfiction), but I do want to read more Margaret Atwood because I've only read The Handmaid's Tale and that one quote from The Robber Bride that lives rent free in my head.

Random fun fact: I managed to get super glue in my mouth when I was decorating a christmas bauble with watch parts last night! Very on brand, I'm notoriously clumsy. I also only managed to super glue two of my fingers together, so that is a new record

Tagging @bidet-and-legolas @a-liittle-bit-of-both and anyone who fancies it!

[thepolymathexcuse]

Weeklies: Stronger

Happy Monday to everyone!

Last week's new learnings:

Here's some general overview of what we learned this week. I'll be making separate articles on some of them once I've actually finished them, so be sure to check them out! In the mean time, here's the gist of this week's new knowledge:

A. Online Courses

We finished three courses of an ongoing project titled "Dr. Mendoza Series" which involves finishing four special courses in the DOST-PALMS website taught by Balik Scientist Dr. Guillermo Mendoza. Each course has its own certificate, and we've acquired three already! The first seminar introduced the basic principles of the Geographic Information System, which we finished a week earlier, but still had remaining activities for strengthening the learned principles. Last week, we finished two more, which delved into more specific applications of GIS in agriculture, and an introductory course on remote sensing and satellites. It was fun re-learning about the functional capabilities of GIS and which career tracks suit you if you decide to become an expert in geospatial technologies. Don't forget to check them out in case you're interested! [1, 2, 3]

We watched the first six videos of the Rhetoric and Composition course from YouTube, taught by Dr. Emily Zarka, in the hopes of improving my writing and composition skills. There's already been a long list of principles that we could use to enhance our writing skills and habits, including learning about the writing process, and introducing writing as a literacy which allows even the good writers to hone their craft deeper. I'm basically taking this course to pave way for a more structured and in-depth learning of an MIT OCW course I'll be taking next month. [4]

B. Scientific Articles

I'm currently trying to understand the concept of tipping elements in the Earth's climate system through a research by Lenton et al. (2008), and it discusses what particular subsystems of the Earth system as a whole could improve policy making in the field of climate science and in hopefully mitigating the effects of climate change. So far, I've learned how the tipping elements are small things that could affect big changes in the processes that happen in our planet. The team had devised a special mathematical criteria on how they consider a system to be a tipping element, and three more criteria to consider if they could potentially drive policy. I'm still in the early stages of understanding this topic, but I do hope I could talk about it more simply soon. [5]

I read about a scientific article that could potentially change our current science textbooks! A team by Dr. Joanne Stephenson (a geophysicist) from the Australian National University confirmed in a 2021 study the presence of an innermost inner layer of the Earth's inner core—it's a handful to say, I know. They used a search algorithm to "trawl through" previously-made models of the inner core and matched these models with decades-worth of observed data on seismic waves. Simply put, seismic waves are basically just vibrations that happen in the earth that transmit energy in waves caused either naturally by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, or artificially by man-made explosions. Here I also learned a new word, anisotropy, which in this context is how the differences in a material's composition affect certain properties of these seismic waves. The team found out that there were several "more likely" models that matched with the seismic wave activities and it could be due to the different structural configurations of iron crystals within the inner core (anisotropy of iron, whoosh). Although I still have to read the paper to fully understand this, the team concluded that their research might have revealed two separate cooling events in the Earth's formation and proved the inconsistencies in our current planetary models. Knowing full well during my younger schooling that the Earth only has three layers (the crust, the mantle, and the core), this discovery is shockingly awesome, since it means we're still learning a whole lot more about our own planet and it's exciting that the knowledge taught in schools is still evolving! Fun times! [6, 7]

A more recent study (published just this year) by Michinobu Kuwae and his colleagues from Ehime University in Osaka, Japan, have shed some light on the ongoing debate within the scientific community: are we already in the Anthropocene? Basically, the Anthropocene is a proposed geological epoch characterized by how human impacts significantly changes the way Earth systems work. There was an earlier article from the New York Times that I could not read because it needs a subscription, but the headline says that some scientists do not believe we're already in the Anthropocene. The study, however, suggested that we may actually be in this epoch since the 1950s! Through their research, they listed three candidate points when the Anthropocene began, but concluded that the huge increase in the rates of human impacts between 1948 to 1953 may hold the greatest evidence to establish the 1950s as the origin point. During this brief time period, organic pollutants, microplastics, and byproducts of the nuclear age (i.e. plutonium and carbon-14) were first spotted. Moreover, these increased rates in 'anthropogenic fingerprints' uncovered in rock layers were found to be simultaneously occurring across the globe, which is indicative of a global scale shift. How is this finding relevant? Well, to this day, there still is no final agreement within the scientific community whether we're currently living in the Anthropocene, and this discovery clearly changes our perspective on the relationship between humans and the planet in the context of the long history of the Earth. With this knowledge, we can hopefully spread increased awareness to the public so we can develop policies that could reduce the impacts of human activities on the Earth system in order for the future generations to thrive in a safer environment. [8, 9]

Finally, the last article I've read was actually related to one of the training courses I took this week (Dr. Mendoza's Introduction to Satellites and Remote Sensing). Dr. Olly Bartlett, a remote sensing specialist from the University of Hertfordshire, together with his colleagues, used satellite imagery taken by Landsat from 1986-2021 to reveal a rapid change in land cover across the Antarctic peninsula. From less than a square kilometer of vegetal cover in 1986 to almost 12 km^2 in 2021, the region experienced an alarming rate of plant growth, particularly moss, during the four-decade time frame used in the study. What's more surprising is that the rate is significantly higher between the years 2016 and 2021. Further spread of moss would actually lead to a buildup of a soil layer that would provide a habitat for non-native (and potentially invasive) species of more complex plant life that would compete with the native species that are more adapted to the colder conditions of the region. It is to be emphasized that higher amounts of vegetation was caused potentially by the increasing global temperatures, with the Antarctic region experiencing the biggest increase in temperature (3°C) compared to what was observed across other parts of the planet since 1950 (which is oddly related to the previous article suggesting that the Anthropocene might have started during this time period). As native and non-native species compete for space and resources, most of the native plants would eventually be lost due to rapid changes in the Antarctic ecosystem, thereby implying species and biodiversity loss in the region. The authors suggested that the main driver of this landscape shift is most definitely the changes in the Antarctic climate. There are several opportunities for this research area, as this was actually the first study that looks at a regional scale. This study provides a 'baseline data' to further investigate the land cover change across the Antarctic region. It must be an exciting time for polar scientists! [10, 11]

C. Other areas of learning

I just finished last Monday (October 7) my I-don't-know-how-many-times-already re-watching of the Haikyuu!! anime, and I am still in awe with the many values portrayed within the different episodes. Values are generally the core principles by which we should live by, and the anime holds in its episodes values of passion, perseverance, determination, teamwork, and even how healthy competition could lead to immense growth (which is actually a concept of Darwinian evolution). I can't even begin to list down all the notes I took because of the shocking facets of my life that I see within the series.

I bought a secondhand MacBook Air (2015 model) from a friend and it's my first week of familiarizing myself with the Apple ecosystem. It was fun, and a little bit challenging in the first night and the next day, but eventually I got the hang of it. There are still several features I haven't encountered, but when I switched to a Windows platform yesterday (Sunday), my fingers were trying to adjust again due to some small differences in the positioning of keys. Switching between environments is one thing I have to get used to, but at least now we get to practice in case we decide to buy a newer model of the Mac in the near future.

Although this did not happen last week, but rather last October 6, I still would like to include how a friend who literally ghosted the entire friend group for five long years taught me about the true meaning of independence and how she actually embodied the word. I mean, she still had other groups of friends, but she was one of my closest friend during college (and I'd like to believe she considers us that way, too—hi Mai!), so I just got really shocked that that Sunday was her last day in the country! She moved to Japan the following day and I'm glad we've been in contact since. Talk about surprises, though, but really her story during the past five years really taught me a lot about independent life, and how you shouldn't really depend on others for your decisions, really. It's inspiring how she was just really set on doing things, and she accomplished it. I hope she's having a fun time there, though. She got a nice view of her apartment, after all!

I won't elaborate on this one but there is this video by Stephen Antonioni in YouTube about how the world is in the middle of something big, like a major global event (yes, the pandemic is just the beginning). Using three books, he discussed how the Earth in general is just stuck in cycles of 80-year periods, if I remember correctly, whereafter a major shift occurs, in the form of wars or economic depression. It was mind-boggling to say the least. [12]

Finally, one of the highlights of this week: the Nobel Prize [13] announced this year's winners! A lot of really well-deserved wins. Here's a succinct list:

Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine: Viktor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of the micro-RNA, a type of RNA involved in the regulation of gene expression.

Nobel Prize in Physics: John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks"

Nobel Prize in Chemistry: divided into 2, first to David Baker “for computational protein design” and the other half to both Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper for their research on protein folding which has its applications in the medical field!

South Korea gets their first Nobel Prize in Literature as Han Kang bags the award for her poetic prose that "confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life." I'll be sure to add her to my reading list!

Finally, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo for their advocacy on completely ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

Here are some of the music that kept me sane throughout the week:

Alat & Tupa, both by Munimuni

Nang Makita Kang Muli, a really short song by Unniko Ijo but got me thinking about the moon

The Fray's comeback EP! I mean, the entire EP is fire!

Multo by Cup of Joe

Kung Sino Man by Benj Pangilinan

Soup by Amiel Sol (I'm blushing!)

Hirap Kalimutan, a recent release from a new therapy artist: Jan Roberts

Satisfy Me by Anderson East: This was in my liked songs since college and the instrumentals and East's gritty voice still impresses me to this day!

Crying Season by UDD, just because! Note: I might release playlists soon in this blog!

Lastly, here are some realizations I've had this week from my captured thoughts:

You are capable of change—simple words that hold significant weight in my life right now. My gratitude journal entry last Tuesday read: "new day, new opportunities, new challenges, new you." Although the idea of novelty might scare some people, I am instead kept excited by it. Every day gives you a chance to live a completely different life than before if only you choose to, not that it requires you to (that would be exhausting!), and create a life you really want for yourself. There's this notion that because you were previously known by people around you as this and that, it means that you're eventually going to be like that all your life, unless of course, you leave the place or the people. But that, to me, is a lie. Everyday, new circumstances arise and you're being asked to respond differently depending on what that particular circumstance requires you to. But it's also a choice. You are capable of change, but you have to choose to change. Being aware of this allows you to explore opportunities you never thought possible, and plants within you an idea of how you are infinite, boundless; that you are capable of accomplishing great things regardless of your past. This eventually destroys the notion that you have to be perfect on the first try; it rejects perfectionism in such a way that you can actually revise your life over and over again, if you think that the current situation is not working. Yes, it is absolutely helpful to have a vision and values to guide how you live your life, but that doesn't mean that you can't adjust along the way. Our current circumstances require different things, and it is completely okay to modify your life track along the way, because simply, you are capable of it. It's scary and comforting and nerve-wracking all at once, but if you do not resist these changes, it might lead you to heights you never thought possible.

I am still in a healing phase, and that involves learning new things, re-learning old ways, and unlearning bad habits. Last Tuesday, I wasn't productive, really, so I assessed myself what was the primary reason for this reduced interest in doing productive work. What stood out was that I was so sleepy which points out to my lack of sleep the night before and the fact that I opened social media first thing that morning which added to more energy lost in things I do not enjoy. So I listened to myself that day, and actually took an afternoon nap, because what else can I do but rest? It's really important to find the right balance between being stern to yourself about the things you need to improve and being gentle when the situation requires you to. It doesn't hurt that a day wasn't spent on productive activities, but it certainly helps that you listen to how you feel when you're in a stage of transition within your life, especially coming from a place of burnout.

I wrote this last Friday, but I thought I was becoming too comfortable with the idea of platonic relationships and maybe I was losing the feeling of magic of romantic relationships. I don't know if it's a bad thing or a good thing, but it might be stemming from the fact that romance isn't in my list of priorities right now. It might be, in the future, but as of now, I am more entranced by the beauty I find in nature and the banal moments of daily living. That doesn't mean I don't get infatuated; in fact, I still do--the simplest thing could make my heart skip a beat. Like a reaction from an Instagram story, or a common ground in music taste, or the tiniest bit of attention given to me at the right moment. I'm not a robot, it's just dating might not be a central tenet of my life right now, and it's okay.

Lots of novel realizations with the Building a Second Brain (BASB) book, which I'll be making multiple separate articles soon! [14]

Finally, I started building my career portfolio through compiling my previous records, and systematizing an inbox of non-digital files which reflects my current PARA setup introduced by Tiago Forte in his BASB book to maintain uniformity with my workflow.

It's a long read, I know, but I'll try to keep it succinct in the future entries, or maybe I won't. This is basically my way of keeping track of my weeks in my life, summarized in journal-like entries.

That's it for the previous week, and this might just be my tagline: keep wandering and chase what excites you!

---

Footnotes

Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (Link)

GIS and Its Application to Agriculture (Link)

Introduction to Satellite and Remote Sensing: Basic Concepts and Applications (Link)

Rhetoric and Composition: College Foundations (Link)

Tipping elements in the Earth's climate system by Lenton et al. (2008) (Link)

Scientists detected signs of a hidden structure inside Earth's core (Link)

Innermost inner core from the ANU website (Link)

Toward defining the Anthropocene onset using a rapid increase in anthropogenic fingerprints in global geological archives (Link)

Geological Fingerprints Suggest The Anthropocene Started In The 1950s (Link)

Believe it or not, this lush landscape is Antarctica (Link)

Sustained greening of the Antarctic Peninsula observed from satellites (Link)

Does Anyone Else Feel Like Everything Has Changed? - Stephen Antonioni (Link)

The Nobel Prize YouTube channel

Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential (Tiago Forte, 2022)

[cheesybadgers]

All my answers are about Old Habits Die Hard (shock horror lol):

1. What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

As corny as it may sound, the power of love and how it can change the narrative. It's a fix-it fic that undoes a character death, but the starting point is ultimately a love story. What if that character and another fell in love and how would that affect subsequent canon events and beyond? It's basically a butterfly effect that stems from their relationship. There are a lot of other themes in there too, like war/violence, healing from grief/trauma, actions/consequences, sexuality, guilt, religion, politics (including the side-eyeing of American imperialism), family dynamics, friendship, intimacy, genre subversion, identity, sacrifice, growth and change. But love is at the centre of it all.

Why did I choose this? Because their linked fate in canon haunted me and nearly every fic for the ship seemed to be heavy angst/canon compliant/half the ship was already dead and the other half was grieving. So, I needed to do something different for my own sanity.

2. What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

What haven't I used? 😂 The source material is based on real life history, so I read up on parts of that, plus various other books (fiction and non-fiction), websites, articles, other TV shows/films. I learnt a lot about Colombian/Mexican/Spanish history and culture that I didn't know before, which has been fascinating. I've got a master post that lists a lot of my inspiration, as there's been so much of it.

3. What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

At the start, they think the answer to their problems is winning an unwinnable war, but as the story progresses, it becomes apparent they're largely being driven by grief and trauma, which is spiralling them down destructive paths. I wanted to steer them away from that, because it does not end well in canon lol. I wanted them to help each other confront their pasts, particularly because of the parallels between their situations, so they could start looking to their future. And I wanted their love for and faith in each other to be the path they chose instead, even if that meant losing faith in and walking away from their original goal.

I wouldn't say I wanted to teach anyone anything (well, apart from directing people to my research sources lol), as this is my love letter to the characters/ship at the centre of the story. I did start it in early 2021 when we were in lockdown though, so it wouldn't be inaccurate to say I needed there to be light at the end of the tunnel for a change. But it was primarily for me, and I think it will take on very different personal meanings when I look back on it in the future.

4. How many chapters is your story going to have?

This is subject to change, but right now I think it will be 21 chapters (maybe 22 if chapter 20 needs to be split in half...which is always a possibility lol) plus an epilogue.

5. Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

It's fan fiction and it's already on Tumblr and AO3.

6. When and why did you start writing?

This is hard to answer, because I dabbled in writing some embarrassing band fics when I was a teenager that have thankfully long since been deleted lol. I couldn't tell you why I wrote those, but I've always loved writing I suppose, even if it wasn't necessarily fiction. I used to keep diaries throughout my teens and I would scribble away in those nearly every day for years. I grew up on fan forums/message boards and had a LiveJournal for a long while too where I wrote a lot of gig reviews and general fandom ramblings, then I migrated to Tumblr obviously. I guess writing has always been my preferred method of expressing myself.

I made a couple of failed attempts to write fic again around 2013 - 2015, but I never took it very seriously or finished/posted anything. That was it until June/July 2020, when for obvious reasons, I had a lot of spare time on my hands. Can't really remember what compelled me to take the plunge properly this time...I guess it was probably a combination of there not being many of the types of fics around that I wanted to read and I just needed a creative outlet whilst the world was on fire.

7. Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

Follow your heart with what you want to write, not what you think is popular or what everyone else is doing if that doesn't appeal to you. Don't let social media's obsession with stats consume you, even though I know it's hard and demoralising sometimes. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, so try not to sweat it if yours are different to the writers’ you admire.

I follow a whole bunch of super talented writers, but I'll just tag a few who may want to answer these questions themselves (no pressure though!): @mariamariquinha, @thoroughlymodernminutia, @lavendertales, @acrossthesestars, @beecastle, @ejunkiet, @evilbunnyking, @beauty-grace-outer-space

Writers of Tumblr, I have an ask game for you all!

Please reblog and answer these questions, maybe tag others too! My asks are also open for them.

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

How many chapters is your story going to have?

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

When and why did you start writing?

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

[sandsorghum]

Ranked: Realistic Body Counts of the JJK Guys

This headcanon is going to based on actual research and statistics by Sagami, one of Japan's leading condom manufacturers. This article also sheds some light on Japanese attitudes towards sex that I've taken into account. Maybe it sounds unusually factual for a HC, but I still had a lot of fun coming up with these!

It's also going to be canon-consistent as far as possible, and I'll delve into the kind of dynamic they probably prefer/had available to them. From lowest to highest numbers, we have:

Naoya, 2-3

Chauvinism aside (and that's a pretty huge 'aside'), Naoya has another reason to rank lowest on the list - which is a surprisingly conservative attitude about sex, due to the way his clan raised him

He certainly sees females as baby factories, and has been taught to think of sex as a means to an end, such as more heirs/descendants who can inherit cursed techniques

Obsessed as he is with status, he definitely has desires too, but is fairly cautious about indulging them (something about the sanctity of his seed probably hah)

I think he'd be very picky about even his casual partners too, wanting a woman who's truly submissive

It seems like his upbringing was fairly insular and he didn't interact much beyond sorcerer society or his clan, so I'm gonna guess his options were quite limited

Probably had an equivalent of a concubine or similar, maybe even a harem, exclusively for high ranking Zenin men

Geto, 4-5

surprisingly low, I know, for someone so sexy and charismatic

I can already hear the indignation

But Listen, he's married to his job (of countrywide genocide)

Plus he's supposed to be passing as a holy man/monk or smth

so there can only be so many rumours about compromises to his celibacy swirling around

I've no doubt there were dozens of acolytes in his cult willing to be used by him, but Geto doesn't want any of them thinking they're special. It's about the mission, not the messenger

it might have happened a handful of times to take the edge off, always with a different person but he doesn't make a habit of it

More likely to have a casual on/off thing with curse users working under with him, someone whose abilities he actually respects, and he would stick with them for as long as he found it enjoyable

bonus if they met as mercenaries, maybe did ad hoc assassinations for him, but weren't part of his cult. He'd have fun seducing them into his ideology, and them trying to resist his way of seeing things

Higuruma, 6-7

another man married to his work

probably would have had most of his flings as a (marginally less busy) paralegal or law student

being a criminal defense attorney doesn't leave much room for a social life, or opportunity to meet people

Or at least people whom he can sleep with, without a conflict of interest - and hiromi's definitely a principled guy

probably has a few FWBs from previous firms or private investigator agencies

I personally enjoy hc-ing he has a whole hate-sex thing going on with an old flame on the prosecutor's team though (may write smth for this at some point hurhur)

Nanami, 12-15

fuck

He's one of the characters who's spent the most time in secular society, including (I assume) at university

that would have been his foray into intercourse, probably with a couple of girlfriends that didn't last when he started his career

you'd think he'd have similar stats to the previous two as another world-weary workaholic

But the distinction with Nanami is that he doesn't attach any strong moral convictions to his job (as a salaryman at least)

Meaning he's a lot less committed to formalities and procedures than appearances suggest (like what we've seen in him bending the rules as a jujutsu sorcerer, hiding Yuji from the higher-ups)

Furthermore as a foodie, there's essentially evidence Nanami doesn't mind indulging various appetites

Has had a few one night stands after chatting a stranger up or more likely getting chatted up, at a bar

even then he's kinda a traditionalist, no apps for him. Nanami doesn't care for dating either

Has a moderate sex drive, but it's accelerated by the stress of toiling under a capitalistic regime

Can't always be fussed about those civilities of feigning interest in anything beyond carnality that initiating a ONS typically entails

So that's when he might start expressing interest in a set up that affords him more routine satisfaction

Would he pay for company?

I don't think Nanami is fundamentally or philosophically opposed to the idea of an escort; there's a certain efficiency about the concept that could cater to his needs

But some part of him might want a fuller experience beyond sex

maybe something more than a transient, calculated connection, if he's being utterly honest with himself (he won't be)

Cue all the horny fics about office hook-ups

Seriously speaking Nanami would be fairly selective when it comes to choosing partners from this pool

He'd probably try to resist for as long as he could cause he would hate the gossip or office politics or anything messy

but chemistry can't be helped

They'd have to be very much on the same page as him about the limits of the relationship, that it isn't going anywhere long-term

I can imagine some deeper feelings on either end unintentionally developing along the way (c'mon it's Nanami) and he'd have to extricate himself from that

Nanami would do his best to end things amicably though, it's not impossible for the FWB dynamic to be rekindled when he moves to another job

this also applies when he goes back to being a shaman

it's exponentially more stressful, so he'd need someone who's even more discreet, or not particularly prying

and Nanami seems the type to crave a certain degree of familarity, perhaps even predictability (maybe it's nostalgia for normalcy)

with these as his criteria he'd likely opt for someone from his past

Gojo, 30+

Whore <3

I was gonna leave it at that

Just joking, Gojo is in his prime

or at least as best as he can manage in between missions

actually it's convenient that he travels so much, honestly would not be surprised if he has (had) someone in every prefecture

has tried most of the apps, but much prefers to make whoever he sets his sights on flustered in person

especially enjoys the spontaneity of hooking up with strangers

whoever he wants, he gets

plus he's not picky

King of Flings, keeps his crown by not catching Feelings(TM)

He's not particularly sentimental (refuses to be) but sometimes he does like to slow it down, particularly with someone that takes some persuading

so he will go on dates, boardwalk strolls under the stars, split a parfait, kiss you atop a ferris wheel - when he has the time

dips in and out of people's lives, always has multiple options on speed dial

so don't expect anything beyond mere fun with him, you're likely setting yourself up for disappointment

Toji, over 100

Canonically has a slew of sugarmommies

And is a homewrecker

Sex is like breathing, like bleeding to him

Gonna indulge in a little angst and venture he racked up a bunch in the wake of Megumama's passing though - cause what's therapy?

Never the same face at the start and end of the week

but never in his bed at home.

All these senses, sharply honed to pick out curses and for what? Her scent still fades.

He tears up the sheets, haunted anyway

Always a retreating silhouette, barely recognisable - that much is constant, something shared between strangers and his son

sorry this got sad at the end Whumph

[sayabenz]

Look. Obviously women (and nb people) can be abusive. I’ve experienced that first hand.

Johnny depp has been proven an abuser in two court cases now. Look into the previous trial it was pretty clear cut. This defamation case it falls to him specifically to prove that he never abused amber. That’s it. Mind you he’s suing her over an op ed that does not mention him by name that’s core point is that women who speak up about domestic abuse face repercussions from society at large. He alleges that it got him kicked off of pirates (a struggling franchise that was paying him an average of 60 million dollars per film that already let him go before it came out) and fantastic beasts (which he stepped down from years after the article came out.

All he’s done is try to paint her as an abuser which is not what the court case is about, so he’s not trying to win, he’s just trying to put her through the same thing he went through, despite the previous trials that are not at all in question at the moment proving he was abusive towards her

It truly is a David and Goliath story where a rich and powerful, predatory white man with a demonstrated history of violent abuse (not just against amber!) is struggling against a bisexual woman (that he was very biphobic to during their relationship) half his age with less than a quarter of his resources but obviously she’s privileged because she’s a woman.

Idk why you didn't reply in that post but okay. I've nothing to do anyway so..

1- if she didn't mean him by the abuse allegations, she wouldn't have gone through court cases with it.

2- i looked up those two cases you mentioned, i found nothing but amber heard's case. :) So it's so far, "inconclusive". But if one of them is the UK Case? That's messed up, people said she's gotten on the judge's side and many other things i fail to put here because i really didn't watch that one, i was busy then. :)

3- not one proof among the evidence presented so far gave her a real push towards winning. Everything is as her lawyers love to say "hearsay" , everything is staged. Makeup? False. 911 calls? Nothing that made the four officers that gotten there convinced that something happened even. Videos? Nothing but her making her stage and acting terribly at it. Her assistant? Proved her shitty character and manners. Said she was episodes of rage, and she spit in her face. Her neighbors, and JD's friend, saw nothing out of order but her cheating ass and lies. He saw her daily, no sign of abuse. She didn't even tell medical professionals who were around her because JD was getting a detox. She had no MEDICAL proof. Generally, people go to the doctor first, check on themselves, has a certificate to be your proof. But apparently, through all the months of their relationship, she didn't need medical care. All she has is words. Empty ones at that.

4- the woman in question, was literally diagnosed by a professional, a Forensic psychologist, and a very good one it seems from all her background and her talk (felt like I was back in one of my professor's lectures, it was that good) , with Borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder. That's being manipulative to get your needs. That's exaggerating everything and playing the victim, minimizing your actions, not seeing anything wrong with them. Playing the victim or the princess role to get what you want...

And she clearly also stated that she has no PTSD, which Alber said she has because of JD. It's clinically proven by researched tests.

5- johnny has more proofs :) he even went to the hospital for it.

6- SHE's the one who has history of domestic abuse. Even went to jail for it. (Edited this because i forgot)

7- he lost the roles the day after the first article went out. He was writing the 6th Caribbean movie with them. And the fantastic beasts 2 (idk which one he stared on, didn't watch them) as well. And he's a bloody good actor, don't kid yourself. Weird, but good.

So idk, man. If that's not satisfactory for you, waste your time as well by watching it all like I'm doing. It's interesting. And please keep your ''she's a woman'' or she's ''bisexual'' out of this. No one cares. She made a mistake, she made a mistake. Women themselves know exactly how far some of us can go.

And I was just watching this, might help freak you out a bit if she or he weren't famous, to what extent would she have gone through?

And as we say "Don't cover the sun with a sieve''.

Truth will come out eventually.

[eponymous-rose]

Weird question, but you seem really productive despite seeming to have a constantly fluctuating routine, with both your work and your hobbies. Most people think having a solid routine is the only way to increase your productivity but I've pretty much given up on having a routine since my life seems similar to yours--a lot of travel, weird and always changing work hours. Do you have any advice on how you deal with routine and productivity in spite of that?

Oh gosh, this is definitely something I struggle with a LOT, and I’m not sure I’ve found a coping strategy that works for me yet. But the small things that have been helping have been (1) keeping a routine in my planning even if the stuff I do changes dramatically (even if I’m traveling, I have a notebook where, every Sunday, I list all the stuff that has specific dates/times for the following week, I list the stuff where I still have to come up with a date/time, and I list the stuff I’ve gotta do that week for sure), and (2) finding multiple ways to approach the same goals that I can tailor to my level of energy/spare time on any given week (so this week I’m just not in a super exercisey mindset and can’t rely on having the motivation to run every day, but instead I’m making an extra effort not to eat out this week—lower-effort for my current state of mind, but all toward the same goal of feeling a bit healthier overall).

I’m also very cognizant of how little time at work is actually spent working, so I try not to feel guilty if the total number of hours worked is low as long as the work’s getting done. I’m an incredibly routine-oriented person, but it’s been a bit freeing to slowly and steadily teach myself that stuff just has to get finished one way or another, and the easiest way to do that is to just focus on specific goals and let the rest be flexible.

Anyway, yesterday I was thinking of this ask and was like, “You know, I’ll just write up what I do on Monday as an example, and I bet things will go hilariously awry.” And so they did.

So here’s what my weekly planning list looked like last night:

Dated Events:

Call with paper coauthor at 9AM Monday

Call with leadership academy planning committee at 10AM Monday

Call with peer mentoring group at 9AM Tuesday

Sit in on class at 11:30AM Tuesday and Thursday

Seminars Wednesday at 3PM, Thursday at 4PM, and Friday at 3PM

D&D Saturday at 6PM

Undated Events:

Coordinating abstract submission for an upcoming conference (early week)

Setting up Skype calls with a couple friends I haven’t talked to in a while (late week)

Assorted Priorities:

Book hotel for work travel in July

Accept journal article review request and scope out how long that’ll take

Review some materials sent out for my peer mentoring call

Revise my paper and submit the revisions before the Monday deadline

Get my driver’s license renewed (the joys of yearly visa renewal… your license has to be renewed yearly as well)

Put together a schedule for a biweekly Twitter feature highlighting new publications for the account I run for a subcommittee in my field

Respond to an e-mail about a conference in January about some weird deadline that popped up for next week

Come up with conference abstract ideas before the as-yet-unscheduled meeting

Fill out some action items in advance of my 10AM Monday call

And some more specific checklists for four research projects I’m focusing on this week

I purposely try to group conference calls together, because I currently share my office and feel weird doing video calls when she’s stuck in frame five feet away from me while she tries to work. So Monday seems like a good day to work from home, and I can squeeze in Tuesday’s call before heading to the office that morning. I’ll be in the office Tuesday-Friday, which means I’ll be able to attend those seminars and classes with no problem. I have most of my D&D prep done already because we ended early last game, so I can leave that until Saturday. The only thing I might have to shuffle to next week is the driver’s license thing, because it’ll take three hours and I have to account for finding a Lyft there and back. Okay. Aces.

Wake up this morning to find my internet’s out, and I also somehow left the hard drive with all my research on it at work. Hoo boy. But staring over my to-do list, I think I can set today up as a “big picture” day and not have to do any actual coding, so I’m still okay to work from home. I can also phone in to the conference calls instead of using the video call software. All good.

Luckily, the internet comes back right before my first call of the day. Said call is with someone who also happens to be a dean, so she has a tendency to get held up at meetings, so I take that delay to look at the action items for my second call (I mean… if you send me action items at 8PM on a Sunday I am not gonna touch them until Monday morning).

When she did make it online, we chatted about the new paper, and she strongly encouraged me to send it to our other coauthors in case they have suggestions. We’re submitting on Monday, which is way too short-notice to read a 20-page research paper, but they already read the pre-revision version in great detail, so I shot them an e-mail that included a summary of the substantial changes and a note to the effect that if any of them want more time to look at this stuff, I can beg the editor for an extension on their behalf. Minor crisis averted.

Second meeting is very intense and structured. Everyone has to volunteer to organize and lead two webinars in the next three months, so I go ahead and volunteer for the two April ones so I’ll get it out of the way early. Aaand the first webinar is at 1PM this Friday. Okay. I’ll work from home that morning so I can do last-minute prep, then head into the office in time for the 3PM seminar. No biggie. One organizer puts together a draft schedule, and I send a quick e-mail suggesting a different use of one of the ten-minute time slots. One of the other organizers requests another conference call tomorrow instead of e-mails. I tell them I can only do after 4PM, if I leave work early. Eh. We’ll see how that works out.

After the call, I get through a bunch of small tasks in maybe 20 minutes: hotel booked, Twitter posts prepped, review request accepted (not due until May 20, so plenty of time on that), conference deadline e-mail chain started. I spend the rest of the time before noon getting sucked into an article someone sent me about the myths surrounding undergraduate grade inflation and then reading up on the peer mentoring materials for our call tomorrow. A couple other minor e-mails pop up (scheduling the precise date of a conference mixer in January, that kind of thing) and I manage to deal with them right away.

Lunch! Clearly working from home means I should take the opportunity to indulge in some fine cuisine, some leisurely cooking that highlights—

I heat up a microwave meal (chicken couscous) and watch YouTube videos for an hour.

Back in it! I write up some abstract submission ideas and make a valiant attempt at setting up a time to talk about them, but it looks like that might have to wait until next week. We’re still a ways before the deadline, so that’s okay.

Mmmmmmm someone on Twitter mentions a conference in Germany in September and a workshop in Colorado in July that both look like a good fit for my research. I’m in a situation where I have a big chunk of travel funding that’s going to disappear unless it gets spent in the next year. Oh no. But also oh yes.

Just in case, I put together a couple point-form ideas for stuff to propose that I can bring to the people holding the purse strings.

The rest of the afternoon is spent putting together weekly goals for four of my research projects: each one involves a collaboration with a different person, so I’d like to be able to send each of them an e-mail with at least one new thing to share about that project this week. Just in case that doesn’t happen, though, I rank them from most to least important. Worst-case scenario, I don’t have to send any of them this week, but it’ll make next week tougher if I don’t.

It’s only about 3:30 at this point, but honestly, I’m feeling a bit exhausted and overwhelmed (some of the e-mail chains have gone through five or six replies at this point and keeping it all straight is giving me a headache), so I opt to get some groceries and call it a day.

I may have added some stuff, but I got a lot crossed off today! Here’s how that last checklist looks at the end of the day:

Assorted Priorities:

Revise my paper and submit the revisions before the Monday deadline

Project #1: come up with a new exploratory figure and send to Person A.

Project #2: summarize the early results I started last week and send to Person B, along with an ask to see whether he’d be up for me presenting this stuff in Europe in November.

Project #3: improve on figures I showed last month and send to Person C.

Project #4: prepare a rough outline of the next paper to send to Person D.

Not having my work hard drive means I was able to just focus on the stuff that wasn’t specific to research today. In all the chaos of today, I’ve set myself up well for a research-heavy rest of the week where I (hopefully) won’t have to worry about non-research stuff or big changes to the schedule and can just burrow into research, emerging for occasional seminar/webinar breaks. A good Monday, all around.

[jess-readallaboutit]

Evaluation

Throughout the past few months, I have researched many artists to inspire me for my work and use similar processes they have gone through to create many artistic pieces. For me one of the most impactful artists I have researched would be David Carson, this is because from looking at his work I have been able to improve my collages digitally and have been inspired by how he has used the tools on Photoshop to create amazing posters/postcards. I have learnt how to use Photoshop efficiently and become comfortable with the program. I loved how David Carson involved images and type into his digital designs and I took some of his techniques and added them to my own work, I felt that I could be more experimentative with my work because of this and I am overall very happy with how my designs turned out.

I spent overall 40 hours per week completing all my work and I worked on the dining room table shown below.

The second artist would be Linda Zacks, her work is very meaningful and I really loved researching her and finding her artwork. She motivated me because of the way she portrays deep and personal messages in her work, this was very helpful because our project theme is ‘Messages’ and her artwork helped me to think of how I could tell a story through my work. I also really like how colourful her work is and how messy it looks.

The final artist that was impactful is Peter Bankov, I liked his work because he used pop of colour against black and white in a lot of his work, I found this technique very effective for my work as I used it for my ‘mental health’ postcard and I ended up really loving the outcome. By adding the pop of colour, Peter Bankov didn’t really need to fill the whole poster with images and words, he made his designs more minimal and often had some empty spaces. He uses paint brush strokes in his designs as well and I also added some in a few of my postcards.

For my project I chose 6 different articles to base my final outcomes on, I chose topics that happened throughout the year because this year there were many good topics I could use (it was a bad year). These 6 topics were the BLM movement, Covid 19/confusion over masks, damaged economy, mental health (in lockdown), Kobe Bryant’s death and starvation in Lebanon. Another reason as to why I chose these articles was because they are all very big topics and also because some of them link together (Mental Health in lockdown, Covid 19, damaged economy, starvation in Lebanon and BLM with Kobe Bryant because the black community looked up to him a lot and saw him as an inspiration). I also knew a lot about these topics already as they happened recently and you hear a lot about them on the news and social media so I already had ideas.

One of the main processes we done was collaging, which we completed throughout our Monday sessions. I had collaged photos before but not in the way I learnt in the sessions so it was something interesting and new to experiment with. I learnt to pick out photos and words relating to my topics from newspapers and magazines and I researched many artists that gave me ideas for my collages. The collages were the first stage of getting the message of the articles across through my work, as I had to find relevant images and words to succeed in this, I also added some of my own drawings to my collages.

Once I completed those in the Monday sessions, we then went on to experimenting with type. I done research on the History of type and learnt about the many different popular typefaces, after learning about this we then went onto thinking about how we can use symbols/images in the titles of our articles.

The last topic for the Monday sessions was screen printing. I had never done screen printing before so it was a good change to learn the processes and techniques. At first, I was unsure whether I’d like it or not because it’s quite messy but when I started cutting out stencils and experimenting with many different colours of ink, I enjoyed it a lot more and produced outcomes that I was pleased with.

For Tuesday sessions we were developing our digital postcards, I work digitally a lot at home and have used Photoshop before however I hadn’t bought it and hadn’t used all the tools before, so it was fun to learn how to develop my designs with all the new tools. I learnt how to threshold an image, use the overlays efficiently, download fonts, use selection tools and transform images, I already understood the layers and shortcut keys before because I do digital art. I researched a few artists that inspired me for my work and used techniques that they had used in their work, for example, Peter Bankov uses pop of colour and I also done this in my work. I had never used a Mac before but I found it easy to understand and from learning all these new skills I felt confident in experimenting and creating my outcomes digitally. I also learnt how to scan my hand made compositions in on the scanner and adjust the quality and lighting of the images. The very last task was making a GIF and I also learnt how to use the timeline and add frames by changing something new every frame.

During the Thursday drawing sessions, I have learnt many new processes and skills with different materials. The first task was creating 4 experimental drawings based on McCollum and Simons ‘Actual Photos’, and we created abstract talking heads. I experimented with coloured ink, oil pastels, pencils, stencils and sharpies. I used oil pastel to cover the back of an image and then used a pen to draw the outline of the figure and put pressure so that the oil pastel would print onto the A2 paper. I then used ink to fill in backgrounds of the figures, I had never used ink before but I liked how the colours stood out on my artwork. I used the stencils to write words and cut out words from magazines.  

The next process I learnt was the ‘abstract messages’ and how I created these by writing words down on a piece of paper, I then cut them up vertically so that they were no longer words and weaved them together. These created a hidden message as you can no longer read the words, however only I can know what they say.  

Finally, the last processes and skills I learnt were collage and stitch combined. I hadn’t stitched before and had never included it in my artwork so I was new to learning it, however it was very simple to do and I managed to create my geometric stitch pieces without a problem. I then used the photocopier and learnt how to print different versions of my compositions, for example, red, negative, mirrored, the original colours and black and white. With these different versions I was able to add different parts from each version, so I used the red version and cut out sections from it and then stuck sections onto the original colour version. Overall, for the Thursday drawing sessions I learnt many skills and processes, however I also learnt how to be more experimental because of these skills and I don’t feel as resistant to try out new things because I might actually like how it turns out.

One of the most impactful pieces I’ve made would be my stitch, collage and illustration outcomes, I was very pleased with how it turned out and I also learnt many new things like stitch, light and dark on the face for the illustration and photocopying new versions of my outcomes. I also enjoyed it the most and I felt that I experimented a lot with it and had many ideas. The handmade version and the illustration turned out very good and then I later coloured my illustration and developed it further. I also really loved the meaning of them and how the portraits connected together through the stitch.

My initial ideas for my outcomes had changed multiple times as I completed more work and learnt new things. I think if I had gone straight into my final outcomes without experimenting lots with new materials throughout the past few months then my final outcomes wouldn’t be to the standard that they are today, I found that experimenting with things I was unsure about at first was very useful and helpful for my creativity and as I was learning new skills in my digital sessions, I started enjoying it a lot because I understood the aims and experimented with tools to see if they worked well in my work. When it came to the end of finishing off my final digital outcomes, I was pleased with how I had looked at other artist’s work and taken inspiration from it and also put some of their techniques into my own, also by using work from the other sessions that I had scanned in had allowed me to combine the work and experiment further with those and even improve them. Overall, I am very pleased with my final outcomes because of the experimental process and inspiration from more well-known artists and also because I feel that I have done well in getting the message of the articles across throughout my own independent work.

If I had to display my work somewhere and I could choose anywhere it would be in South Korea, Seoul. I listen to K-pop most of the time and this is why I've wanted to visit for a while, the music got me interested in the culture. I’ve always wanted to visit Seoul because the city looks very beautiful and I want to try the food, also because the culture is very different and therefore, I could use my work to inspire and motivate different ideas.

If I had to choose 10 words to describe my outcome, I would choose:

Change

Society

Damaging

Emergency

Existential

Unpredictive

Emotional

Historic

Struggle

Catastrophe

The song I would choose to go with my outcomes would be Spring Day by BTS. In this song they use ‘spring’ as happiness and ‘winter’ as sadness, the song is called Spring Day to represent happy days. The lyrics talk about how they miss someone and they are longing to meet with them again after winter ends (after the hard times pass), I think this links well to my outcomes because lockdown prevented us from meeting up with loved ones and we may miss seeing them. Lockdown has also affected many people and we have gone through difficult times during the pandemic, so this is why I chose Spring Day because we are experiencing winter (hard times) and we are waiting for the winter to end and Spring day to arrive. This song could also represent a loved one that has passed away because in the music video they hang shoes on a tree, this represents death and many loved ones have died from corona virus.

Before starting this project, I could not create a digital poster with confidence, along the way I have learnt many skills that enabled me with the knowledge to make postcards up to a high standard. I feel that I am now more experimental because of the amount of experimenting with different materials we done throughout the project and I now know what I enjoy and didn’t enjoy so much and can include some of the techniques I've learnt into other work. I also now know how to create screen prints because before I had never used the equipment. I’ve learnt how to use Photoshop properly and the tools, also I had never used a Mac before so I also got used to using them as they are quite different from Windows.

Flow Chart:

[douchebagbrainwaves]

I'VE HEARD THE FOUNDERS DIDN'T JUST GIVE IN AND TAKE WHOEVER THE VCS WANTED

But it's not necessarily a mistake to try something that has a 90% chance of failing, if you think about it, I can't imagine telling Bill Gates at 19 that he should wait till he graduated to start a startup and Steve Jobs wanted to invest in Microsoft. A investors often make companies take more money than they have in the past to make sure you don't contradict yourself. You know how there are some people whose names come up in conversation and everyone says He's such a great guy? So I'm supposed to finish college, then go work for another company as we're suggesting, he might well have gone to work for Apple. Even Newton fell into this trap. But because the lies are indirect we don't keep a very strict accounting of them.1 A lot of startups, whereas this is probably the first you've founded. Some startups could go directly from seed funding to a VC round; several of the companies we've funded have. A rounds already are high res.

Want to get hired by Yahoo? I've given two examples of things founders complain about. Object-oriented programming, and three and a half of them are bad: Object-oriented programming is popular in big companies, because their software is probably going to be bloated and full of expensive fittings. So it is a high school student? Though lie has negative connotations, I don't mean to suggest we should never do this. They just want to invest millions in a company the founders could get nothing. They ask it the way you might poke a hermit crab in a tide pool, to see what it does. Like a lot of things e. Don't just do what they tell you, and then everyone wants to buy you.

If you want to talk to the other board members, you just yell into the next gear. At Viaweb we got our first $10,000 of seed money from our friend Julian, but he was sufficiently rich that it's hard to do a really good job on anything you don't think about in the shower in the morning is more important than I'd thought. Y Combinator doesn't require vesting, because a we invest such small amounts, and b you're often forced to take deals you don't like. I'm often reluctant to go running, but once you publish some definite ambition, it switches directions and starts working in your favor. How do you decide?2 The trouble with consulting is that clients have an awkward habit of calling you on the phone.3 I think we're still at the beginning of this one. With individual angels you don't have to worry about. Why does it bother adults so much when kids do things reserved for adults? When I was in high school is: mental queasiness.4 PG, Thanks for the intro!5

It's harder to say about it has some kind of turf to protect, and this question is just to get you?6 So just keep playing. I think it can scale all the way to succeed is through following the rules.7 I could play all day. It wasn't the vet's fault; the cat had a congenitally weak heart; the anaesthesia was too much for it; but there was no one but him. Not all the people who list at ABNB, they list elsewhere too I am not claiming to be good at what they do. The disadvantage of taking money from less known firms is that people will assume, correctly or not, that you were turned down by the more exalted ones. But if someone had, they'd probably be quite rich now.

As one VC told me: If you were talking to a guy four feet tall whose ambition was to play in the NBA, I'd feel pretty stupid saying, you can do; and don't underestimate your abilities. I believe they conceal because they'd be frightening, not because they want to believe you're a hot prospect, because it meant we didn't have to pay much for infrastructure. I can't predict for sure which forces will prevail, but I'll describe them and you can ask each for advice about the other. They leave 20% as an options pool for later employees but they set things up so that they can hack the admissions process: that they can take the very same kid and make him seem a more appealing candidate than he would if he went to the local public school. And that's what the malaise one feels in high school either.8 In fact, you don't worry that it might come out badly, or upset delicate social balances, or that you won't be able to push back in the matter of control, because they get a big idea to appear in your head.9 But as I thought more about this project, I realized it would probably have been better for all of us, it wouldn't have been better just to tell us the truth: that there weren't any famous black scientists. Professors nowadays seem to have become professional fundraisers who do a little research on the side of the ledger; if you could, you'd have made it.

In fact most such rules are just hacks to manage large groups efficiently.10 But as I grew older, suburbia started to feel suffocatingly fake. But I am daily waiting for the line to collapse. They'd face some challenges if they wanted to make more, but not totally unlike your other friends. He likes to observe startups for a while to recover. Inexperienced angels often get cold feet when the time comes to write that big check. Of all the reasons we lie to kids to protect them. They may feel they have to make something people want. The example of a startup, managing them is one of their apartments at first, and since they don't have to pay much for infrastructure.11 You can go anywhere you want. As turned into de facto series B rounds.12

But that, if not beyond the bounds of possibility, is beyond the scope of this article. The traditions and financial models of the VC business both success and failure are self-perpetuating. They ask it the way you might poke a hermit crab in a tide pool, to see what it does. To be a startup you need to do: find a question that makes the world interesting.13 Well, maybe. I think about it, and let some MBA take over as soon as this thought occurred to me, because just about every startup I've seen grinds to a halt during fundraising, which can easily take 6 weeks. Only a great designer can. Y Combinator exerts less.

Notes

In When the same ones.

Now we don't use code written while you were expected to, but rather by, say, recursion, and FreeBSD 1. Whoever fed the style section reporter this story about suits coming back would have turned out to be some number of restaurants that still require jackets for men. Stiglitz, Joseph.

The IBM 704 CPU was about bands.

If you walk into a great discovery often seems obvious in retrospect. A larger set of plausible sounding startup ideas is many times that conversation was repeated.

If your income tax rates were highest: 14. I know, Lisp code.

Many hope he was exaggerating. And while they may try allowing up to the option pool as well they would probably also the main reason I did the section of the venture business barely existed when they decide you're a loser they're done, at one remove: it might seem, because they could be pleasure in a in the mid 20th century. But not all are. You'd think they'd have taken one of those things that's not true.

Life of Isaac Newton, p. Free money to start over from scratch. The attention required increases with the buyer's picture on the parental dole, and graph theory.

We didn't swing for the popular vote. So if you're good you are.

As always, tax rates will tend to have to resort to expedients like selling autographed copies, or the presumably larger one who shouldn't? Hint: the separate condenser.

The First Industrial Revolution happen earlier? Innosight, February 2012.

I know it's a problem can be huge.

You should probably fix. Pliny Hist.

There is archaeological evidence for large settlements earlier, but they can't afford to. Joe Gebbia needed Airbnb? And I'm sure for every startup we funded, summer 2010.

Thanks to Sam Altman, Jessica Livingston, Fred Wilson, Ben Horowitz, Max Roser, Reid Hoffman, and Geoff Ralston for reading a previous draft.

[pilgrimguyanne]

150 down, 400 to go.

150 might not sound like a lot and, truth be told, I could probably have got 250 in Grenada alone, based on people's willingness. In fact, I'm certain I have more than 150, but am too hot and mosquito bitten to count right now. But extra data is Fool's Gold. Extra data means extra hours entering these results into excel and coding accordingly, means sorting through versions 1-4 for more time, more hours in the sun, more steps as I walk from person to person, more money for gifts of stationery and chocolates and cookies, which I have given to every participant so far, more gifts of books for the schools I visit. The funding I was awarded for this trip pays for my flights and gives me a daily allowance. Everything else comes from my pocket.

I don't mind, it's important to me that I can show my appreciation in some way, especially to the school children. Everyone else can opt out, but their principals opted in for them. They are, so far, happy with the Ruhr University pens, happy to talk to someone. They have no idea what linguistics is, and those who talk to me want to be writers and ask for tips. One shows me his book of stories. I had such a book once. When I was 16. I offer the same advice "Read everything" and tell them about Bocas Lit fest in Trinidad. "I have an aunty there. We could go to that festival and stay by her," his friend offered. I give them my card, and say they can email me, because they can. I owe it to them, to answer their questions, since they have so patiently answered mine.

Extra data, though, means more of these interactions. With pupils and parishioners, clerks and class teachers. For the most part, I find these exchanges rewarding. Although I maintain that doing this online would be more effective, I concede that getting to know the place I am writing about is fulfilling. I enjoy the bus rides where, instead of a bell, passengers knock on the glass or vehicle frame to signal their stop. It's similar to Haiti's tap-tap, and I wonder if it's some French Creole thing. I enjoy my evening swims on Grand Anse beach, and shopping in the supermarket, and eating at Grill Master. I liked going to church, and sitting in the choir rehearsal. I like sitting in school offices, watching the ebb and flow of teachers and pupils, or walking across campuses, finding the best spots where willing students can be found. But it wears me down. Like I said in a previous post, I have been taking meds for anxiety for the past 20 months. These interactions are, for me, also potential triggers.

Extra data means more of the less pleasant things. More chances for the snake that visited my hotel room to return, and more chances for helpful and well intentioned men to try to convince me of the black Jews who were enslaved in the Caribbean (a harmless if odd belief) and who are the real Jews, unlike the white Jews in Israel right now who aren't Jews (a very harmful and odd belief). It means more penny pinching until the funding money comes through, more wondering how you will pay for lunch and the hotel and the airport shuttle and extra copies.

Extra data means less time for the other aspects of my job, the students' emails, the articles, the course plans, the other research projects. The hours of walking in the sun from location to location are tiring, and I don't get the chance to do all the things I would like to. Indeed, I am grateful that I have finished one day early, so I can spend tomorrow working on those things, and entering data. I've learned my lesson though; no need for the laptop in Jamaica.

So no, there will be no extra data (except one or two). Right now, 100 questionnaires are being collected on my behalf in Ghana. So far, I have a bout 75 from Trinidad, with 50 being collected on my behalf and another 25 which I must collect on my own. In addition to this, there are another 50 which will form part of a sub chapter of spoken versus written stimuli, and then the 150.for Jamaica. And all of this will be done in the next two weeks, after which I fly to a conference and then prepare for a new semester.

This is not a complaint. I am blessed to be able to do work I like for so long. But even work you like can wear you down, because you're more willing to do extra, give more. It's honourable, this giving, except if the day comes when you realise you have nothing left to give.

(The pics are various places I collected data)

[welcometohellfilm]

(please bear with me) Okay, so, I'm a 15 year old freshman in highschool, and I've wanting to create some sort of series, whether it be a comic, or something else for a few years. I haven't too serious about it, but after one my of my friends showed me your video, for some reason, i was especially inspired. Now, I already have one character... but that's all i got. How did you come up with the things in your film? And did you ever experience "writer's block"? and if so, how did you deal with it?

No worries dude!  So okay, I’m gonna’ be honest, when I read this, I was hit with such a weird mix of, like, “god this is literally impossible to answer”, and “man I remember feeling that way when I was 15″.  So I guess the best thing I could do is elaborate.

I 100% absolutely know the feeling of “I want to create some sort of series.” Cause that’s the thing right? You don’t always know what you want it to be about, or what format you want (comic, animation, etc), you just know that you want to be known as an artist who is creating an on-going series.  But maybe you have some vague ideas about scenes that you want to happen.  Maybe you have an idea of the kind of relationships you want to portray.  Maybe you have some lines of dialogue or a couple jokes.  In this case, you even have a character!  Which is great!  Now you’re really eager to get started!

I had a bunch of vague ideas like that.  I had characters I wanted to use for a story, but didn’t know what their story was.  Sometimes I’d try and start a comic; I’d start to try and tell their story… but I would get a few pages in and give up, because I realized that I didn’t actually know where it was going, and so the characters would get kind of goofy and I’d try and pass it off as a lazy meta joke.  There’d be some Ambiguous Shadowy Figures™ running the Evil Science Laboratory™ that my Main Character Bishounen Boy With Wings For Some Reason™ had escaped from.  I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, I was just really excited to draw a pretty anime boy with angel wings.  

I jumped right in to making comics like this maybe… 4 or 5 times?  And every time went roughly the same.  Looking back now, I couldn’t tell you the characters’ names, or what half of them looked like.  I wasn’t even being facetious about the winged anime boy; that was a literal, actual comic I tried to draw in 6th grade, and I had completely forgotten about it until just now as I’m typing this.  You’re probably going to have a lot of ideas like that.  You might see characters come and go who never really get a story.  That’s going to be part of your journey as a storyteller.  Maybe your series won’t fizzle out after a few pages of bullshit like mine did (in fact I can already tell you’re more cautious than I ever was, because you’re aware of your situation and asking for advice… that’s another reason I’m so compelled to answer this ask; when I was your age the internet was different; social networking platforms weren’t a thing and I didn’t have a way to contact artists I looked up to and ask for advice, so the least I can do is try and fill that role now.  This is a whole ‘nother topic, but TO GET BACK TO IT) I’m here to tell you that, IF IT DOES, don’t sweat it.  You will get better at writing, you will get better at creating characters, and, god-willing, you will surely have better ideas than Pretty Anime Boy With Wings™.

Now, to move on to the part that’s (hopefully) actually helpful.

You used two phrases that I find interesting.  I already mentioned the first one, “some sort of series”, but the other one I’m zoning in on is “How did you come up with the things in your film?”  I want you to know that I’m by no means trying to talk down to you here, because this is actually a very straightforward way of asking something you might not have all of the right vocabulary for yet, but I take it what you’re asking is “how do you tell a story?”.  If the first few paragraphs I wrote correspond with “man I remember feeling that way when I was 15”, then these next ones are gonna’ be the “god this is literally impossible to answer” part, and I’m just gonna’ go ahead and apologize for that right up front, man!  Haha.

See, because that’s SUCH a huge question… that’s the part that I still struggle with.  That’s the part I said you’ll get better and better at over time—and you will—but I think it’s something you’ll always be learning to get better at.  I went to visit my family for the holidays and I borrowed a book to read on the plane: Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee.  I only got a couple chapters in before I remembered that I get motion-sick like a motherfucker and had to stop, but even in a few chapters I learned some new things.  You will constantly be learning and growing and bettering your skills, so don’t forget that!

There are lots of ways to tell stories, because there’s lots of different kinds of stories to tell.  Some methods work better than others.  I would suggest finding some things you like and making note of how they function… really dig in to them.  Maybe when you were a kid you took a clicky pen apart to see how it worked and then put it back together.  Try doing the same with the media you consume.  Not to turn into a cynic or anything, just out of curiosity to learn what makes it tick.  Think of it as STUDYING the comics and shows and movies you like.  

Since you’re asking me, I’ll use Welcome to Hell as an example to try and give you some things to think about.  I consider W2H to be character-driven; the character’s actions are what moves the story forward, the characters aren’t being forced to act because of the story.  There’s nothing wrong with either method, of course, it just depends on what you’d like to do.  Maybe since you already have a character, you can find a way for them to drive the story.  What do they want?  How will they get it?  What’s stopping them?  Is their conflict internal or external?  I think Sock has two wants: he wants to kill stuff, and he wants to be Jonathan’s friend.  What’s stopping him is that his two wants conflict with each other (an internal conflict), and also that his boss is the devil and there may be repercussions if he slips up (an external conflict).  Characters don’t have to have an internal and external conflict, and they don’t have to have two wants—in fact that’s actually a little convoluted—but I’m just using it as an example.  

Another useful thing to think about when telling a story is the structure.  From Wikipedia: “Narrative structure is about STORY and PLOT: the content of a story and the form used to tell the story. STORY refers to the dramatic action as it might be described in chronological order. PLOT refers to how the story is told. STORY is about trying to determine the key conflicts, main characters, setting and events. PLOT is about how, and at what stages, the key conflicts are set up and resolved”  

There are also different categories of narrative structure.  W2H is basically a linear narrative, for example.  It does technically start at the end and then explain how we got there, but the majority of the story is told in chronological order.  The reason it starts at the end is because I wanted to establish Sock and Jonathan’s relationship and the tone of the story right off the bat.  I thought it might be too confusing to start the story with Sock murdering his parents and then have it turn into a buddy-comedy half way through.  So I started it on a scene where they already know each other and have an established dynamic.  I also think starting it there creates a bit of intrigue:  “why is this kid phasing through a fridge?  What the fuck is happening?  What is his job?  What the FUCK is his job???  SHHH!!—The unreliable narrator is about to explain it!”.  

There are literally TONSSSSS of aspects to think about when writing a story, and it’d be impossible for me to go through all of them, but hopefully this will be helpful for you to get started.  If I were you, in addition to studying the stories you like, I would do some research and reading online.  You can always google terms like “storytelling 101”, “narrative structure”, “writing characters”, etc.  One of my favorite resources to read through was always (and still is) TVTROPES.  It’s like a wiki for the tips and tricks of telling stories… I used to spend HOURS just getting lost in that site, clicking on different articles and finally learning that there were TERMS for the kind of things I constantly think about.  Very invaluable resource.

And now, for the last part of your question, unfortunately, “writer’s block” is something that will never go away, haha.  There are ways to get through it, for sure.  Sometimes I’ll read TVtropes a bit if I’m really hellbent on figuring something out.  Other times I’ll just take a break to draw a little bit because I think my thoughts form more coherently and naturally when I’m drawing.  You might find different things that work for you!

IN CONCLUSION:  If you want to create some sort of series and tell some kind of story, just work towards getting good at it.  If you try to start a couple comics and they don’t pan out, it’s no big deal, because even making something unsuccessful is an act of learning how to get better at it.  You said you haven’t been too serious about it until recently, and that’s fine too, because being serious about it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go out and create a successful series right this moment, it can mean just striving for that goal and bettering your craft.  You have plenty of time to grow into an amazing artist and make all kinds of kick-ass stories, so always hang on to your drive to keep creating things!  

Oh!  And just a fun fact:  I think I first started having the vague ideas that would develop into W2H when I was, what, 17-18?  ish?  I tried making it into a comic when I was maybe 21… and I made the film when I was, I don’t know, 24?  I’m 28 right now.  So that’s something to keep in mind: good shit takes time!  You’ll probably have a lot of ideas come and go, but if something sticks with you for 10 years, there’s a good chance it’s worth bringing to fruition.  There’s definitely no rush to develop something you really care about.  

BONUS:

Here is a previous ask i’ve answered about storytelling tips!And here is another one!

You can also search my blog for “art advice”, “story”, “writing”, “character”, “animation”, etc., + “ask” to see if I might’ve answered anything else that would be helpful.  I don’t have specific tags, but I do try to tag everything.  You can also try “resources” or “important film stuff” to see things I’ve reblogged that aren’t my own advice.  

Hope you found some of this helpful!  Best of luck!

[realtalk-princeton]

I have a paper due on dean's date and I'm really scared because I've never written a paper like this before (I have writing sem next semester and I never really did anything like this in high school)?? Is there any advice you can give on how to start the actual writing process (I think I've found some good sources but idk man this is all so scary!!!)?

Response from Sulpicia:

I’ve written somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 papers and formal written assignments of various lengths, and I will say that things get much easier as you get practice. Don’t expect things to be perfect the first time! This is my personal writing process, so feel free to adapt as necessary.

Step 1: Understand the question. How long should it be? Are you supposed to be close reading a passage, bringing together research from different readings/areas in class, or conducting original research? Often, it’s a combination of a few things. For this example, I’m going to assume you’re doing a research paper with a fairly open-ended prompt. Page count matters a lot too; a 5-7 page paper will be much smaller in scope than a 10-12 page paper, which will in turn be smaller than a 15-20 page paper. I’m going to assume you’re doing a 10-12 page paper but most of the same tips apply.

Step 2: Develop a topic. It seems like you’re already mostly there! I find this to be the hardest part of the writing process. I usually like to start by going through class readings that I can draw upon for the paper (for some classes that’s all of it, for others that’s a subset) and rereading them, looking to see if there are any questions that were left unanswered in class. If you have a more structured prompt, then it might be useful to reread the material and see how much you can develop an answer through that. At this stage, I like to make a lot of notes on paper, and if I’m using a lot of sources I might make a web or chart to figure out how the concepts relate. Personally, I find it helpful to center my research papers around one “lead” concept and one “supporting” concept. By that I mean that you can focus on reading one piece of text through multiple theoretical lenses/the broader themes of the class, or you can apply one theoretical lens to multiple pieces of text/the broader themes of the class. The key is to focus on one specific thing. 

For example, in my Fall JP my “lead” concept was a group of poems, where I narrowly focused on the treatment of slavery. In addition to my own close reading, I researched some theoretical sources and then used those sources to help understand this particular area of the text. Even though I was critiquing and quoting these scholarly sources, they were the “supporting” concept because they were helping me (and the reader) understand the main thing I was writing about.

I actually like to brainstorm term paper topics all semester and write them down when inspiration strikes. Good term papers are typically about something that, when you’re reading it, makes you think “That’s weird” or “You’re wrong, [insert scholar/author name]”, or “This contradicts with [other reading]”. Academic paper writing, just like good storytelling, requires conflict; it’s not useful to anyone to write papers that just go along and agree with everything in a source. Going back to primary sources or comparing secondary sources is how you find these conflicts and bring them to light.

The last thing you should do in this step is write a clear, specific question you want to answer. For example, I once wrote a paper where the question was “Based on manifestos from Italian Futurist writers, how was clothing incorporated into the Futurist movement, and how was this similar to and different than other Futurist art forms?”

Step 3: Brainstorm Solutions. Once you have a topic, you probably have some sources already. At this time, it’s helpful to go to the library and look for some research on your topic. Sometimes I go to the library to get ideas for topics, while other times I have specific questions I want answered and look for those answers in an existing text. In addition to our amazing library, you can look on Jstor, which is freely accessible to Princeton students, as well as Google Scholar, which has a lot of links to useful books and articles. This stage of research will help you start developing answers to your questions.

Once again, I like to make paper notes because I think it’s easier to think non-linearly on paper. Write anything down; all ideas are good ideas at this stage! I also like to make scans and print out passages from books so I can annotate them. After you’ve done this for a while, look at what you’ve written and see if there are any common themes. If you had to answer your question in one sentence, what would you say? Try to avoid the “three-pronged” thesis; this kind of roadmapping can be helpful for you and a grader if you’re writing a timed essay for a test, but isn’t really helpful for college-level writing, where you want to give more room for your ideas to breathe. The prompt that I learned in Writing Sem for writing a thesis statement goes like this: “By looking at [lead concept,] we can see that [answer to your question], which is important because [connection to broader concept/theme of class]”. If you can it’s good to not use these exact words, but it’s also okay to have some sort of structure, especially at this stage. Here’s the thesis statement from my Futurism paper, which was not my best thesis statement ever, tbh:

“I argue that Futurist fashion, as exemplified by Volt and Balla’s manifestoes, creates a realizable posthuman experience characterized by the destruction of traditional boundaries of the human condition.“

That was for a paper that was about 10 pages long. If your paper is shorter then you’ll probably need a more specific thesis statement, and if it’s longer you’ll need one that is broader or has more details.

Step 4: Develop a structure. Writer/editor Yung In Chae ‘15 wrote a really great piece about writing (which I’ll link below) in which she said that “ If the sections of your article are completely interchangeable, then you have not figured out the structure.” This is the same with your essay. Think about the first thing you need to prove for someone to buy your thesis statement, then the next thing that builds on that, then the next thing that builds on that. If I’m writing about a text, I often find it helpful to begin at the beginning and progress roughly chronologically, although you should feel free to jump around as sometimes you need to present a later piece of evidence for someone to understand the earlier one. I’ll make a rough outline either on a piece of paper or on a Word document, making bullet points with pieces of evidence and things I want to cover. Some people like to outline so heavily the process of writing is just stringing the outline together with transition words. I don’t do this, but think it’s helpful to include usable sentences in your outline so that way you make easy spots for yourself when writing. Then I print out my outline and keep it next to me.

Step 5: Write a rough draft. I lied. This is the hardest part of a paper. The blank page is like a speed bump; if you’ve done a lot of prewriting/acceleration it’s easier to sail over, but if you’ve done nothing, it feels daunting and impossible. I like to start at the beginning with my writing, but some people prefer to jump into the middle and write the introduction later. I find the introduction helps orient me, but you can see what works best for you. I’m a huge fan of what writer Ann Lamott calls “shitty rough drafts” in her book on writing, “Bird By Bird.” While the aim isn’t for the draft to be garbage, telling yourself that you will revise (and giving yourself time to revise) helps liberate you from the feeling that you have to make perfect prose every time. Just start writing and see what your paper looks like; I have never written a paper where I didn’t find more evidence while writing, or where my structure hasn’t changed in ways I could have predicted by doing anything but writing the paper.

Don’t get too stuck on a perfect first sentence. I find it helpful to open with something we discussed in lecture, or the weird, incongruous thing that led me to write the paper in the first place. Here are some first sentences I’ve written in the past:

1. “At its core, elementary education is a concise synthesis of a society’s core values, biases, and contradictions; the “basic” concepts which make up the first years of learning become the foundation upon which all later thought must necessarily rest, both in and outside of the classroom. “ (JP)

2. “A man wanders through city streets alone, buys his groceries, and returns home unharassed, noting that in his solitude he is more fortunate than even a famous senator” (JP)

3. “In his 1920 “Futurist Manifesto of Women’s Fashion,” Vincenzo Fani (using the pseudonym “Volt”) writes that Futurist thinkers will “transform the elegant lady into a real, three-dimensional complex,”[1] encouraging the use of “one hundred new revolutionary materials”[2] in the making of women’s clothing, including “paper, cardboard, glass, tinfoil. . .gas, growing plants, and living animals.”[3] Readers a century later will find striking comparisons to the daring and subversive ensembles worn by celebrities on contemporary red carpets, such as the singer Lady Gaga’s infamous “meat dress.”” (Term paper I’ve been using as an example)

As you can see, in (1) I started off with a broad generality meant to orient my reader which I, in my intro, narrowed into my specific topic. In (2), I used a narrative opening which I then expanded to get inside my topic. In (3), I introduced my source right away and then compared it to a contemporary source. I’m not saying any of these are the best writing ever, but there’s no “one way” to do an opening, even within one writer’s style.

Your intro can be as many paragraphs as you want and should end with your thesis statement. I like to think of this as the first part of a rollercoaster; you’re bringing your audience up a hill, slowly dragging them along as you introduce all of the major ideas of your paper (as well as any assumptions you may be making) before seamlessly placing your thesis statement at the top of the big hill and letting the argument run its course. The rest of the paper should be like a roller coaster as well; just like a rollercoaster pretty much zips along on its own force, you should aim for paragraphs and evidence to smoothly follow each other, with each sentence contributing to the last. Follow a pattern of evidence and analysis, and try to incorporate little chunks of evidence into your sentences rather than dumping them into sentences. Try to end your paragraphs on analytical points rather than evidence dumps.

Finally, you have to write a conclusion. My sixth-grade English teacher explained that the conclusion is where you “go beyond,” and this is what I think is key to a really successful essay. Yes, it’s awesome that you’ve proven your thesis, but why does it matter? How does it connect to broader course themes, the scholarly conversation, or even just life in general? Don’t be too trite, but try to think about how you, in 4-5 sentences, can summarize your argument and also make the meta-argument about why the world is smarter with your paper in it.

Step 6: Cite, Cite, Cite! Do this while you are writing your rough draft. Make a works cited page and add to it as you go, and also add in your in-text citations as you go to save yourself a world of stress. If your professor doesn’t specify you can use any style. I personally prefer Chicago style but I know APA is standard for sciences/social sciences. There are loads of resources online like EasyBib and Purdue Owl which are helpful for figuring out how to write citations, but the writing center is also helpful and you can always ask a research librarian as well (check your email for the “personal librarian” contact info). I brought both my JPs to my department’s subject librarian to double-check my citations.

Step 7: Revise! This is where your paper really takes shape. I revise like this. First, I print out my paper. Then, I sit down with it with a pen and write notes all over it, marking places where I need more information/evidence, where my argumentation is weak, where I’ve made typos, etc. Then, I open a new document and retype the whole thing from my revised copy. This helps me because I get overwhelmed by lots of text, and it also forces me to make all the revisions. Once I’ve got a clean non-rough draft, I also like to read my papers out loud, since that’s a good way to make sure you don’t have endless run on sentences or awkward prose. When I came to Princeton, I was usually doing 4-5 revisions of my papers, and I did about 5 complete drafts of my JP (with the biggest changes happening between my rough and first drafts). Now I typically only do 1-2 revisions, but that’s because I put the time in early as a self-editor and developed the skills to write better first drafts. I also find it helpful to have a patient friend read a draft, although it’s important to be conscious of their time.

I really can’t emphasize enough how much doing proper revising helps you stand out; most people here do not revise their work substantially, but that’s the space where you’re thinking critically about your work and enriching it. Unfortunately, our best ideas don’t come all at once but in stages, so editing is just as much about allowing your thinking to progress as anything else.

Step 7: Polish. Once your paper is edited, take this time to check for typos, add page numbers (with your name in the header), double-check citations, add a title (it doesn’t need to be art, but should be a real title and not “ENG 101 Term Paper”), and either cut down the paper to length or elaborate on a point to get it to the minimum length.

And you’re done! At this point, it takes me about 1hr/page to write a paper once I’ve done all my research, but I would allocate about 2hrs/page if you’re starting out. My #1 advice would be to not be afraid; the wonderful thing about writing is that your early drafts can be as bad as you want and nobody will ever know because you can revise, so liberate yourself. Also, you’re probably a really good writer already, so don’t be nervous :)

Here’s the link to the article which has much better writing advice than me, and write if you have more specific questions: https://eidolon.pub/ten-things-i-learned-about-writing-by-editing-68f3f93e45ef