#i still have a lot of books and subjects to study for university

[mai-komagata]

so here is my melkor hot take of the day. i dont think melkor is more evil than sauron.

like yes, tolkien said sauron is less evil than melkor bc he is devoted and obedient to him, i.e. catholic theological legalese, since love and obedience are the catholic virtue things that dont originate from evil. cool. ASIDE FROM THAT.

and like, melkor is totally MORE POWERFUL than sauron by like orders of magnitude. sure. melkor is the evil soup that suffuses the world like original sin and the fall do in catholic theology.

but like if in looking at intent and what they do, i dont think you can say that for sauron's relative power, i hesitate to say he is more evil, but he is evil in a more insidious and dangerous way common to our age.

like i see melkor very much representing the evil of the natural world (and to some degree part of the universal plan of eru iluvatar). he is volcanoes. he is the blight of winter. he is disease and pestilence and decay. he is the coming of darkness, the destruction of creation. the entropy of the universe. he desires the spark or life but can only subdivide endlessly like bacteria.

but that is part of the fallen world in theological terms even if it shouldn't be part of a healed world of immortal quasi spiritual (or actually spiritual) beings. it is imperfection if the goal is deathlessness. but it is part of the world.

and to a degree i see valar as having this sort of impersonal force of nature quality about them. not just melkor. they all do. tolkien describes them like heavenly bureaucrats. they arent tied to the world and dont understand the world in a tangible personal way that even the maiar do.

sauron is different and i think there is a reason sauron is the villain in the books in the second and third age and specifically in the main book he published. he is the evil of our modern world.

because most mythologies dont have two dark lords. one representing chaos and destruction and one representing order and coercion and industry.

it represents a fundamental swing in how cultures started to conceptualize evil. we mastered science and thus a lot of the things that were a curse from the gods were being solved. and yet. the world wasn't becoming less evil. we still want to control each other, to subjugate others. we want to tame nature so much it kills her and makes her barren. we covet power because we are afraid of the lack of it.

so yeah. sauron and melkor are both evil. but sauron was subject to melkor (or natural evils) until we subdued and chained him. and then sauron's evils were dominant.

(is this character analysis or fictional theology? idk.)

i love these characters because they are symbolic of how we conceptualize evil in the world, as well as being stand-ins for a certain character archetype. i dont have to write them just as them being evil. but they are great for writing about difficult subjects because of their symbolic nature.

(and maybe like sauron i too love volcanoes and snow and mushrooms and thus am a bit enchanted with the force of nature that is melkor. i used to study a LOT of catholic theology, and now as an outsider looking in im like, maybe i can play with these myths and tropes. at the same time, the ultimate plan of eru iluvatar is meant to be a mystery.)

[vyyper]

a little too shy to ask this off anon but mydei with a scholarly wife hcs please 🥺🥺

Mydei with a Scholarly S/O

a/n: hi anon! i know you said wife but i just went along with the flow as i wrote and it ended up gn, i hope that's still alright! i enjoyed this request a lot :)

mostly fluff, written with the pre 3.1 setting in mind

-i think a scholarly partner is just so so perfect for mydei. he values knowledge highly and knowing that you are in constant pursuit of it makes him so happy for you!! definitely your #1 supporter.

-he'd tell you about kremnoan history and culture, if you show interest. he tries not to let it slip too much but it excites him. it's important to him that people know, that this information doesn't fade, and he'll be reassured knowing someone like you has this knowledge

-he'd love to let you use his library, read all the books within together, nothing but the pages and each other to pass the time. perhaps in a kinder life, but he's still more than content reading with you now. if he has the time, one of his favorite things to do with you is read in silence. perhaps he'll cook some warm stew, and you'll sit together, reading, occasionally sipping from your bowls in comfortable, affectionate silence.

-will let you ramble about anything and everything! he's always willing to lend an ear and try and help you out with whatever research you may be doing, as much as he can. he's definitely a good listener, quiet unless you ask for input and what input he gives is helpful and to the point. it's one of his favorite things to do, listens to you with the fondest look in his eyes, like you're the center of the universe. people whisper about the cold glare mydeimos has on his face before he strikes down and enemy, but they've never seen how mydei's eyes burn with warmth as he listens to his beloved.

-additonally, after bringing up a new subject you notice him with a book about it in his hand sometimes...wants to learn about it with you so he can supply help if you need any. and the fact that you make anything interesting to him, you make him want to learn even more than before.

-refuses to let you overwork though, don't even try you'll break his heart...his duties already keep him away from you, the last thing he'd want is for you to let your health spiral in what time he gets with you. if you're losing sleep and forgetting meals, he'll cook you a whole feast and let you rant out all your stress before dragging you to bed. he'll rub your shoulders and tell you not to do something like that again, not to worry him, hold you as you sleep. if he's away he'll reluctantly get your friends to check on him regularly. he understands the importance of privacy and trusts you can be responsible...but he does worry, and he wants to make sure.

also on the topic of him wanting to read because of you...he knows how to interpret poetry, so i think he'd read romance poems and be reminded of you, feel the emotions they describe, maybe even pick up ways to show affection towards you from them since kremnoans don't even have a word for love.

wait i have this vision of him carrying you. you joke that you're too tired to get up from where you're working at in hopes it'll sway him and he blinks before picking you up like you weigh nothing and setting you down on the couch or bed. you're too shocked to say anything. he watches your expression with a faint and teasing smile, both at your shock and at the fact that he's gotten you away from your work.

-adding onto how he likes hearing you talk, i think after a very long day or so he'll return home, slump into bed. he doesn't mean to wake you up but if he does, he'll apologize before reluctantly asking you just talk to him, about any developments in your studies or anything else you want to talk about. your voice calms him and he'll listen to you until he feels you starting to drift off, the soft pattern of your breaths in sleep calming him further.

-early on in your relationship, before you're married, he tells you one day that there is no word for love in the kremnoan language. you think you see hints of regret on his face, guilt in his tone. so you smile and tell him the word for "love" in yours. i love you.

you don't expect him to use it often, at first. although he's warmed up around you, you assume that saying such a thing must be difficult for him. but tell him how to say it and he'll repeat it everyday. "i love you," he says back after you tell him, once to test the sound on his tongue, and then again to affirm the words you . his tone is unwavering, unlike your slightly nervous one, like the words are something already deeply engraved in his mind he's just recovered. "i love you," he murmurs as you drift off, on a rare night where he gets to rest with you in his arms. "i love you," he declares, kissing your knuckles before ending his show of affection with a press lips to your ring, holding your wrist gently.

he wants you to remember it always. he'll be bound to you forever and always; he never wants to let go, and he'll be sure to remind you of it.

[justafewberries]

district 12 is in a population decline by the time we meet Katniss, and I don't think it would have lasted another 100 years.

In the first book, she states the population is "about" 8000.

The square’s quite large, but not enough to hold District 12’s population of about eight thousand.

Let's stick it directly at 8,000. That's a small population, but there are other factors that harm both the life expectancy and fertility of d12 citizens:

Dangers of Coal Mining

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

The rate of fatal injuries in the coal mining industry in 2007 was 24.8 per 100,000 full- time equivalent worker

While some sources claim this number has declined over the past two decades and excludes private company deaths, it still offers a useful benchmark. Coal mining is one of the most dangerous professions in the modern USA. In Panem, it's worse.

We know of two major accidents within about 25 years of each other (mine fire and mine explosion), which leads me to believe the death rate is much higher. We also know that mining accidents occur through Ripper's loss of an arm, and black lung likely still exists.

In a population of 8,000, the risks of mine labor labor would damage the population count a lot more than a population of, say, 100,000.

Coal Mining and Fertility

Studies have found that coal dust pollution can affect both birth weight of babies and sperm count in men, whether they work directly in the mines or not.

In a study done at Sambalpur University, the researchers found "a significant decline in semen volume, seminal viscosity without any significant difference between the ages in the subjects working more than 10 years in coal mines."

Male coal workers were significantly less fertile after working 10 years regardless of age.

In another study in Appalachia, researchers found that births that occurred within 5 km of an active coal mining site often resulted in lower birth weight.

In a study from Brazil, researchers sound that air pollution from coal mines led to low birth weight and even preterm deliveries.

Interestingly, this is canon in the Hunger Games. We know Haymitch's sisters were born pre-term, so this introduces another potential factor of population decline.

By the time people are 18, they are immediately put to work in the mines (as we see with Gale and Wyatt Callow). This means by 28, their fertility has likely greatly reduced. It also puts them at a higher risk for injuries or death. They all also live in the vicinity of an active mine, so their fertility rates may be damaged from the moment they're born, not just when they start working in the mines.

Starvation and Fertility

The overwhelming majority of studies conclude that malnutrition affects fertility. We know that in d12, starvation is one of the number one killers. There simply isn't enough food.

In Catching Fire, we get a general idea of how bad it is:

One day when I dropped by to give Hazelle the game, Vick was home sick with a bad cough. Being part of Gale's family, the kid has to eat better than ninety percent of the rest of District 12. But he still spent about fifteen minutes talking about how they'd opened a can of corn syrup from Parcel Day and each had a spoonful on bread and were going to maybe have more later in the week.

With coal mining being a physical labor, they are likely burning more calories than they are taking in. The government may offer maternity leave, but it wouldn't necessarily provide for the extra calories a woman would need to sustain a healthy weight for the fetus.

Further, accidents, starvation, pollution, and sicknesses remove support systems from people who do plan to have children. Haymitch talks about his Maw, but people may not have family to rely on. With rampant poverty and no discussed childcare, it would be difficult to raise a child under such conditions.

Mortality of Youth & Reproductive Age

The Hunger Games themselves are responsible for two deaths of d12 children per year. This means two children a year will never be able to have kids of their own.

Further, the children starve. We don't know how many die of starvation, but we know it happens, meaning some of the 8,000 people may never even make it to child-bearing age, regardless of if they even want kids of their own.

Social Stigma

Having children outside of a family is never really discussed outside of Haymitch's observation about a peacekeeper baby:

Once in a blue moon a Seam girl falls for a Peacekeeper and ends up with a baby, resulting in plenty of social disapproval in 12 as well.

We don't explicitly know if the disapproval stems from it being out of wedlock or the baby being a peacekeeper's, or both. In either case, it likely contributes to low wedlock birth rates.

We also know that Peeta insisted that they had the toasting before Katniss fell "pregnant". Leading me to believe there is a more conservative view of children and wedlock in Panem.

Modern Medicine and Prenatal Care

There is minimal electricity in d12, meaning there likely isn't technology for ultrasounds or blood work or anything like that. Asterid seems to be the only healer in d12 in the trilogy, and she pretty much closed up shop. There may be midwives, but they wouldn't have the medicine, vitamins, and prenatal care modern medicine provides, which would increase both mother and baby fatalities.

Stability Factors & Gene Pool

In SOTR, it's established there are many distant cousins. Burdock on Lenore Dove's mother's side, the Chances on her father's side, etc. There are large, branching families.

Beyond familial relationships, there is no influx of diverse genes. There is no immigration in Panem, meaning the gene pool they had 74 years ago is the same gene pool they have in the first book. With a declining population, it doesn't bode well for people not having a common ancestor somewhere up the line.

Smaller gene pools mean higher rates of birth defects, chronic diseases, etc.

Potential Growth Factors

The government does provide some incentives to have children.

Katniss equates marriage with kids, claiming she doesn't plan to get married, and often brings up kids in the same thought.

The married couples are given their own houses, likely to encourage alone time, and tesserae may promote people having more kids to bring in more rations, although, they would have to account for another mouth to feed.

Impoverished areas tend to have higher birth rates in modern America. The average birth rate in below poverty areas tends to be about 73 births per 1,000 women.

It's safe to assume about a 50/50 split in d12. Both men and women work in the mines, so accidents would not proportionally take out any more of one gender than the other. This leaves us with 4,000 women in d12. Currently, about 78% of people in the US are over 18. For the sake of available data, we will make the reproductive age 18 (ignoring teen pregnancies). This means of those 4,000 women, approximately 3,120 of them are above 18.

We know it is rare to "grow old" from Katniss's perspective, so to account for that, I will reduce the percentage of people over 50 (49 is the cap for reproductive age according to the WHO), from 34% down to 20%, or 1/5 of the district. This is an arbitrary reduction, but seeing as how Greasy Sae and Clerk Carmine are both indicated to be close to 75, I think it's fair to assume 1/5 of the population could reach 50. Now, this further reduces the "women of birthing age" pool by 800 women, from 3,120 to 2,320.

Effectively, that means approximately 169 births a year.

That sounds like a lot of births for a small district, but not all of those children will live (lower birth rate, premature births, starvation), not all will be able to reproduce (fertility issues, lower gene pool effects, and personal desire), and not all will make it to the age where they could even try (reaping, starvation, etc.).

Conclusion

District 12 has more factors of a population in decline than it does growth or even stability. High mortality rates across demographics, impaired fertility, pollution, malnutrition, and isolationism have all likely decimated any population growth. This doesn't even account for sterilizing illnesses, such as the one encountered in d13.

Without external intervention or a dramatic shift in conditions, I don't think District 12 could have continued for another century.

[sanjerina]

I’ve reread the whole of the Goblin Emperor books and am neck-deep in fanfic ahead of the release of THE TOMB OF DRAGONS in a few days. (Do not spoil me for a couple of days — we’re short-handed at work so I actually need to go to work on release day…. Anyway!)

The fanfic in this fandom is at such a fantastically good standard, but there are these little worldbuilding infelicities sometimes. I’m aware people don’t like concrit in their comments anymore in these days of easy polarization. But I’m about to go off on a whole rant here anyway.

Language things:

- In general, switching registers (We/I, You/Thou) is a conscious choice which has a lot of emotional meaning in this series. Fluent speakers of languages which have both a formal and informal register rarely confuse them within a given interaction. Maia’s minor errors of register at the beginning of TGE emphasize his isolation and insecurity.

- Thou art the subject when I am speaking to thee about thine usage and thy grammar. I thank thee for thy sufferance and appreciate that thou art doing thine own best. (Didst thou see what I have wrought here?)

- The stem for Maia’s house name is Drazh- — it’s Drazhar, Drazhin, Drazharan, Drazhada, Drazhadeise. Take off the -in, -ar, or -aran to discover the stem. I’ve seen *Drazharda, which does not need the R in it.

- then there’s the -zh endings, which… sigh.

- look, there’s a guide, it’s fantastic, please read it, elrohir wrote it already, so nobody else has to reinvent the wheel here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62916235/chapters/161109679

Canon things:

- Tomasaran’s maiden name would have been Rozhin, I think — her family were the Rozhemada. Her name was not ever Tomasin. That was an error on Vernezar’s part; he seems to have not known/cared that she was a widow.

- Women can attend the universities, but at the start of Maia’s reign it’s explained that this marks noblewomen as unfeminine and not fit for marriage among their own rank. Vedero and Csethiro and their circle can’t study at the universities, but women from less rarified ranks can and do. Presumably this will change during Maia’s reign. I expect Ino or Mirëan will be able to attend if they want and may be trailblazers.

- it’s honestly not clear from canon whether nohecharei all have to die with their emperor if he, like, dies of a virus. They are expected to commit revethvoran if their negligence causes the emperor’s death. It’s also not clear if both sets would have to die on that event, or just the ones on duty. Also also, what if an emperor reigns a long time and the dudes who are with him for the first forty years up and retire? Who has the honor/duty of being buried with the emperor?

Anyway, there are several stories that play with this in various ways, so I got curious — my own guess would be that early emperors were buried with a full retinue of dead people, and then just the nohecherei, and if that IS still a rule I expect it will not be as soon as Maia gets so much as a head cold.

- Shalëan, Ursu, Holitho, and Nadeian are the natural or illegitimate daughters of the Great Avar. His legítimate daughters are Thever and Chenelo. Of them all, only Chenelo and Ursu have had children so far. And of course Chenelo has died (except in AUs and that one story that’s still updating).

Anyway, Chenelo’s estimable sisters are all Maia’s aunts, not his cousins. His only first cousins, unless I have miscalculated, would be Ursu’s children.

- I am so happy to share my utterly useless Chronicles of Osreth canon hyperfixation with literally anybody writing more fanfic for me to devour like the shark that I am. Here or Discord are good places to find me, same username.

- I can also do these stupid canon tricks for Victoria Goddard’s Nine Worlds series, but as I am but a humble unmarriageable min of the middle classes, I now must go to my “job” and do “work.”

[dresshistorynerd]

do u have any resources for medieval fashion that u can share? I'd like to learn more about it but it seems so difficult to find good sources, especially for differences between working class and upper class garments.

Finding good sources when it comes to Medieval history is very hard indeed!

Class distinctions though weren't very strong in Medieval dress, especially in the Early Medieval period. The same basic garments were used by everyone, the difference was in fabrics, length and fullness of the garments and detailing. In High Middle Ages separate court garments distinct from regular garments started to appear, notably bliaut, later others like surcote, which were not used by commoners, but the differences were still not massive. In Late Medieval period trade brought new levels of wealth into Europe, which lead to the dress of rich and poor to differentiate, but also to the feudal class differences to become murky (merchants especially, who had not been high class as they were not landowners, were gaining levels of wealth, which rivaled aristocracy). With more money in fashion, there was explosion of new styles and regional differences also became more apparent.

But here's my recommended resources for general Medieval fashion and resources related to class differences.

A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Medieval Age - It's a book where every chapter is written by a historian specialized in the chapter subject in a sort of article form. It's great and has a chapter on class and fashion. I'm not sure though how easy it's to get hold of without university access.

Common Threads: A Reappraisal of Medieval European Sumptuary Law, Laurel A N N Wilson - Academic article about sumptuary laws so relates a lot to class in fashion. I think anyone should be able to create an account in Academia regardless of affiliation with a university?

Medieval clothing and costumes : displaying wealth and class in medieval times, Margaret Scott - It's a booklet, and pretty good as far as I remember (it's been a while since I read it). It can be loaned from Internet Archive.

Women's Costume in French Texts of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries, Eunice Rathbone Goddard - This is an old book and it's mainly only based on literary evidence, so it's in some ways outdated (like I do disagree with some of the interpretations the writer makes), but it's super useful as a dictionary still when remembering it's limitations. It's High Medieval French specific, but many of the terms are useful outside that period, even if some of them evolve in meaning.

A comparative study of extant garments in North-Western Europe, Maggie Forest - This gets pretty technical and focuses on historical sewing and construction, but I think it's still pretty useful for understanding Medieval fashion and interpreting visual representations.

[xbomboi]

yapping about Briar. fellow Briar enjoyers assemble.

okay okay i don’t make it too obvious (or maybe i do, i wouldn’t know) but briar is my personal favorite character. i think about where the stories of all the characters would go and what their arcs would be a lot, but hers in particular is really important to me.

so i wanna talk about it.

first of all, she’s narcoleptic coded, right. we all know that. but her mom on the other hand reads to me, like, an alcoholic mother? and her dad is just willfully ignorant. either way, there’s a huge sense of neglect going on in that family. i mean go figure why briar would be the one doing most of the work raising her brothers. and of course she’s a party girl, because who’s gonna stop her? her parents? see yeah exactly.

so i don’t think it’s unreasonable to say she doesn’t have very strong parental figures in her life, at least not at home. but, and now you have to really hear me out about this one, i think baba yaga could take up a parental role in her life.

i know it isn’t much, but the seeds for her having at least a hint of a connection with baba yaga are there.

in the webisode “Stark Raven Mad”, baba yaga scolds briar for rambling about her party, and then as the commotion picks up she’s still exercising authority over briar in particular.

then there’s thronecoming, wherein, when briar is sulking at the dance, upon noticing the picture on the projector, she asks baba yaga for answers, who provides them.

and then skipping all the way to epic winter, after the girls become a little creeped out by her mannerisms and book it, briar is the one who makes sure to peak back in and give a parting remark.

so i think there’s potential there to be explored. her feeling neglected at home and then finding solace in another adult at school would be neat.

but the fact that it’s baba yaga is important, so just put a pin in that and we’ll circle back to it.

now, i think out of the core four, she was (at least at first) the hardest to actually pin-point what the future of her story could look like. with raven, i think it’s pretty clear her journey is just continuing to combat the prejudices of the world as she fights for change, apple is now pretty much on a path to figuring out her own future as ruler of a kingdom and what that’s going to entail, and maddie is the goofball that’s there to have fun and be supportive along the way.

then there’s briar. and, let me be clear, no, in my mind that girl is not sleeping for 100 years with where things are heading; in the main universe of the story, briar will be free of the sleeping beauty destiny.

but it’s like, if she’s not gonna sleep, what more is there to actually do with her? what direction COULD her life go in? because if she’s no longer fated to sleep 100 years of her life away, then she can’t just party like there’s no tomorrow anymore. she’d need to decide what she actually wants to do with her life.

and i think i have an idea.

i mentioned her narcoleptic coding at the start with intent to bring it up again. see, you might notice that a lot of the fairytale aspects of ever after high can be read as allegories for real-world problems. for example, hunter and ashlynn’s relationship is treated in their world the same way society may look at queer couples or biracial couples. or how raven’s mom being trapped in a mirror is their world equivalent to not paying child support.

with that kind of correlation in mind, i think treating briar’s curse as a condition could open up an interesting opportunity. i think, in their world, curses as a whole could be viewed as a separate branch of medical specialization, with briar spearheading this notion of thought.

we know briar is well-versed in chemythstry already. in the webisode “Briar’s Study Party” she makes note of the fact that she’s been studying forever-after, and she demonstrates enough knowledge in the subject to enthusiastically teach it to her friends, who all end up acing their tests on it as a result.

i think this is something she could potentially make a career out of. i think she could come to the conclusion that she wants to be able to help break curses for people everywhere, and could pursue learning to develop potions and elixirs to do so.

which could happen under baba yaga’s tutelage.

picture this: briar declares her newfound goal, to which baba yaga offers to teach briar all she knows in order to achieve what she’s set her sights on. briar—with an ounce of hesitance—accepts, and baba yaga officially takes her under her wing with the intent of mastering sorcery.

obviously, she wouldn’t lose who she is in this. she’s still gonna be an impulsive, adrenaline junkie who desperately needs a screentime limit on her mirrorphone. but in this process, she’d be rounded out by baba yaga and would in turn mature a bit from the experience. she’d get serious about life, but she wouldn’t let go of who she is at heart.

this could lead to her becoming the resourceful one in the main group. like on adventures, she’d be able to pull out a potion or whip something up (because i’m not going to let raven’s magic make her too o.p. she’s gotta have limitations) as a solution to problems. she could really have a role that proves useful and important to the story.

that’s my ideal pitch for where to take briar’s character.

[darkfictionjude]

Okay so I know this is a touchy subject already especially since certain people have already been bitchy about it before, but sometimes Crowny is genuinely difficult to play as. I feel super conflicted about them since they're the literal personification of "damn bitch you live like this?"

Realistically, progress isn't linear and different people get different results even if they do the exact same thing, but as of now it feels like they aren't really allowed to improve at all. If you study you're still mediocre leaning towards bad in terms of understanding. You try to workout you see absolutely no results, not even the tiniest bit. When it comes to the other characters, it's always one step forward and two steps back. When you give them a hobby or try to get them to pick up a skill they find little enjoyment. When people bother them they barely fight back or even argue, and when they do it's like a sarcastic quip or a grumble at most. By the end, they haven't even made a dent. These don't make them less of a person and it doesn't make them a failure since the world is quite literally out to get them, but it's like they aren't allowed any satisfaction in their life. (Yeah it's been like a month, maybe barely scratching two in the current timeline so maybe this contradicts what I first said about progress but I'm dumb as hell)

It's wild to go from the side quests, backstory segments, interactions with the ROs and then Crown family just for all the hype to fade when there's a segment with just Crowny all alone. I know that there's a reason for why they are the way they are, but I literally have to take breaks from reading their solitary moments sometimes because it seems to drag on. I know things aren't easy in this universe, I know the world is supposed to be cruel and unfair, but like can they at least get a cake for their efforts? Or a hug? Or be able to sleep through one night and wake up well rested?

I hope I'm not sounding like an asshole or a insane here. Personally, they're relatable in a lot of aspects. I may not have had supernatural shit going after me, but I had a lot of issues that many of their experiences brush way too close to. It's just the way it's presented that makes them feel like they're like the random piece of chewy cartilage in an otherwise perfectly cooked steak, unpleasant but I'm gonna eat it anyway.

I literally just wrote a whole ass book complaining, but I at least wanna say I do love your work, Crowny included even if my words seem to say otherwise, and I'm super excited to see what happens in the timeskip since i know this is like JUST the beginning. I'm like seriously praying my tone is coming off the right way if that's even possible. If you read through all this thanks. I'm not gonna hide behind anon because I at least wanna be able to explain myself if this comes across wrong.

but like can they at least get a cake for their efforts? Or a hug? Or be able to sleep through one night and wake up well rested?

Well no 😭😭

And that comes from the fact that they are self loathing, depressed as hell and have virtually no support system while dealing with things that they aren’t mature enough to handle, actually their mental health is getting far worse which is by design

I feel like perhaps some readers have not realized just how depressed crowny is. All the things you described about them finding little enjoyment, etc., are key markers of major clinical depression

I feel also people did miss the fact that crowny kind of exploded in the library they didn’t shut up, they didn’t let it go which I think is a positive because this is the first time they’ve have enough to say “enough”

Sorry but I like my things slow burn 💀 that Halloween party is meant to be a breakthrough for them and I think perhaps it’s been glossed over by some because what happened to James has gotten the most attention and the final moment in the woods. Crowny outed their “friends” for the first ever and fought back against their tormentor in only one single night. James for all his issues did the one thing that broke the camel’s back and pushed Crowny over the edge, all 7 episodes have led to this

Crowny is meant to fall before they come up that’s how I wanted it because realistically someone could not handle all of this without losing their mind. It has barely been two months, Crowny has only seriously hit the main plot in episode 4 which in the current timeline was about 3 weeks ago (from episode 7)

Truly the progress that crowny did make in episode 7 should have taken longer, people with crowny’s issues spend years in therapy before they feel they have the right to fight back.

There’s a reason episode 7 is the midseason finale. It’s not only about the plot but about crowny themself….

Dw you’re tune is fine I can usually tell when someone doesn’t think before they write 😭

[cam3lliaw]

Catching the eye of a prince

-crownprince!gojo x maid!reader

Who would’ve thought getting caught reading a book during work hours one random day would not only make you good friends with the right hand of the crown prince, but also end up making the said crown prince be interested in getting to know you.

contents/ warnings: might be ooc, insecurities( some implied), mentions of stealing, a bit of angst at times to eventual fluff, friends to lovers trope, the main characters are all in their early 20s, tba

word count: 0.7 k words

series masterlist

notes: I've read a lot of jjk royalty au recently and I was inspired to write one as well :) this is the prologue and I don't really know how long this will turn out to be but i hope you enjoy it !! (fic under the cut)

“Need any help with that?” a gruff voice could be heard from behind.

You didn’t need to turn around to know that the voice belonged to none other than Geto Suguru, the crown prince’s right hand, his one and only best friend, and last but not least, your occasional thorn in the side.

“You really like that joke a lot, don’t you, Lord Geto.” you said, still not turning to face him as you continued to hang the sheets on the clothesline.

“And you really like to call me that, even though I tell you all the time that Suguru is just fine. And besides, I wasn’t, and never will be, joking when I ask you that question, [name].” he chuckled.

“You know that my answer will always be no, Suguru. There are some lines that even I won’t cross, and to be honest, it’s absurd to even consider I’ll let you help me.”

“And why is that?” he asked, even though he fully knows the answer already.

“Well for starters, I’m not that stupid not to be aware of the difference in our status, friends or not, it still matters to me. And secondly-” you turn to face him as a smile stretches on your face “You don’t see me coming to your office and telling you how you should do your work.”

“I wouldn’t oppose to that, you know.” Suguru smiled back.

“Like I’m smart enough to even step into a place like that.” you huffed jokingly.

At that he grimaced slightly.

“Come on, [name]. We both know you are way smarter than a lot of the people that work in this palace.”

“Reading a few books here and there only get you so far, Suguru. You, out of everyone, should know that well.”

It never gets easier, admitting that you wish for more. In another universe, you would read all day, study literature properly with someone who actually knows what they’re doing, not only from damaged pages of stolen books from the royal library, books that are about to be disposed not only because the years have left them in a horrible shape but sometimes also because the concepts explained are so old that they aren’t even right anymore.

“You know I could always bring and lend you newer ones right? I told you that on multiple occasions already and I mean it every time.” Suguru said as he approached you and stood by your side.

You also know Suguru would never make fun of you, he really wants to help. But it’s hard enough to get and hide the books in the maids’ chambers before you finish reading them and returning them to the library's unofficial “trash” section. Imagine what trouble you would get in if you get caught with fancy new books. It hurts only to think about it.

“I know…I’ll let you know in case I need anything. I promise.”

Saying this is clearly better than admitting the truth. As much as you don’t want unnecessary problems for yourself, dragging Suguru into all of this mess is even worse.

“This doesn’t look very…straight.” Suguru changed the subject to lighten the mood, as he tried to lightly stretch one of the sheets.

“We both know that’s a bold-faced lie! Don’t mess the laundry! If it ends up falling down and I’ll have to wash it again, I won't talk to you anymore, Suguru.”

“We also know that’s not true.” he chuckled as he gently bumped his side into yours.

You returned the action.

And he did it once again but a bit more forceful.

And the cycle repeated itself for a few more times until you literally shoved him, but before he could fall on the grass, he grabbed your hands and dragged you down as well, falling down a step away from the dark haired man.

“You’re acting like a child!” you exclaimed as you started laughing.

“Says the one who shoved me!” he started to laugh too.

“You started it!”

“Oh that’s such a mature argument, [name]. Impressive, really.” the male continued to laugh as he got up and helped you up as well.

Unknown to the both of you, this whole exchange was watched from afar by none other than the crown prince, who was initially looking for his best friend, but it seems like he found something else instead.

end notes: i hope you liked it! :)

[ekebolou]

There are (at least) two layers to humanities research.

[There probably should be at least two to scientific research in the same vein, but I don't want to talk out my ass about stuff I don't do - so, humanities it is!]

This is part of why it takes so long to train humanities researchers. Honestly, it's such a massive return on the extremely cheap investment to train humanities scholars, it's insane. But that's a point for another day.

The first layer is what you spend basically the entirety of schooling (I suppose I should say in European/Western-influenced education systems) up until college/university-level education doing. That is learning to read things written for you to read.

Granted a fair amount of this time is spent on just the 'learning to read' part, but by at least teenage years you ought to be on to the 'understanding things written for you to read' part. A huge amount of this is learning to suss out fiction and non-fiction; learning to interpret imagery, metaphor, allusion - all that good stuff that happens in both fiction and non-fiction because language be like that; learning how to take apart and [VERY VITAL] put together language to achieve A Purpose whether that be to Understand or to Convey Understanding (and perhaps even just EVOKE).

It's not easy. That's why it takes a long time. A lot of it is Boring and Hard unless you're lucky and it's Your Thing so it's not Boring and Hard. On the words-reading website it's probably good to acknowledge that yeah, it's Boring and Hard when it's not Your Thing and you've still got to deal with it all the time, as opposed to like, advanced math, which you can kind of avoid, I guess (but don't! Advanced Math is actually Cool and Everywhere, too).

It is critical to understand that this first layer is a skill, in need of honing in its own right, and worth training everyone in. It should be obvious but very frequently is not that even when a thing is written specifically for you to read, there's a lot going on under the hood.

When you get to college/university level education (should you choose to, and you don't need to if you don't want to), this is going to be more or less lumped under secondary source research.

Maybe this is language more specific to history than other disciplines, but in general you might see 'literature review' or 'state of field' or 'preliminary research' (in history, it's often 'historiography') - but it's all broadly secondary source work.

Aha! Isn't that a tell - that they're called secondary sources?

It should be.

Your average popular historical product that does any research at all - podcasts, YouTube videos, TikToks, popular history books, documentaries, newspaper articles or special interest magazines, etc - is doing this kind of research. Secondary Source Research. It's reading stuff written for you to read.

It's very, very important.

It's about half of what all that time, labour, blood, sweat, and tears that go into a humanities degree is about. It's why it takes forever and your friends drop off the face of the earth and become book hermits that cry when a restaurant menu is too descriptive (and also because they make no money - they should make more money, but that's another issue).

But it's only half. The function that this half serves, however, is making the other half possible. Laying the groundwork. If it were, say, fifty to eighty years ago, I would confidently say that the purpose of that layer of the research was to read, as much as is possible, everything written on a given subject of study so that the researcher was able to properly process the next half of the research. Used to be that even included bodies of work in a few other languages. These days, that's simply not possible for most subjects. There's too much been written specifically for you to read. You still ought to have at least two other languages under your belt, but you're not always reading scholarship extensively in more than one. There's too much to read in one language, and that goes for a whole lot of languages.

So nowadays, you're typically reading a selection of really influential secondary sources (stuff written for you to read) and a decent swath of the 'modern' conversation (within the last twenty-five years or so), and a deep selection of whatever your very deliberately outlined specific subject of study is. It's still a lot. It's necessary.

Because the second layer of research is reading stuff that was not written for you to read. Maybe it was written for some audience to read - a letter to a friend is for a friend, a circular for a society is for society members, a broadsheet is for whoever happened to be walking by that wall at that given time - but that audience is not you. It was written for them. You're somebody else, living somewhere else, and some-when else. Not for you.

Some of it isn't for anybody to read. Or wasn't meant to say anything in particular. Or wasn't even deliberately created in the first place. It's just there. A ledger. A calling card. A particular winding or color of thread. A broken bit of pipe. A thousand trade beads. The thumb-shaped worn spot on a rock or blackened stone of a wall by a stairway. The kind of paper of a torn note.

This second layer of research is why people who say they have 'done their own research' are very often not worth taking seriously. It's a trick of the word 'research', that it really means several things at once, one of which is very different from the other, despite appearing to be superficially the same. It can be hard not to take it personally, when you're excited and have done a lot of work and put your whole heart in learning about a thing to have that effort derided as 'not real research'.

It isn't, though. Not in that thorough-going meaning of both layers. It's one layer. A very intensive and difficult layer, but not both. To be an expert - to have expertise - is to do both. You can think of it like doing a practical skill versus reading about it. You can read a lot about how sailing ships work, you might even be a skilled model builder, whose experience can contribute to our understanding of ship construction, but you're not a ship-builder or a sailor. You don't have to be those things, it's not like you have nothing to contribute to those things, but you're not those things.

Likewise, until you do primary source research - read things not written for you to read - you're an expert in what people have said about a thing, not about the thing itself. It's very easy to be misled when confronted with a thing not written for you to read, when all you've done is read what people have said, which is why you don't go from doing all your secondary source research straight into publishing books. There's a long (fuckin' loooooooong) period of a kind of 'apprenticeship', where you join the conversation and get a lot of feedback (and fuck some of that feedback, what assholes are out there! but some is great) before you put something out there on your subject officially for someone else to read.

Hell, it's super easy to do all that and still be shit at actually interpreting the primary sources. Or you could be presenting something entirely new and different, and so everyone treats you like a crank until some more stuff comes forward, in years, decades not unusually being the timeline required. Sometimes it's hard to tell which way the needle will jump, which is why its so important for authoritatively written work to be as transparent as possible with the wheres and hows and whys of its logic and argument.

(Which is another big thing you'll notice - something based on secondary source research will often have minimal or no evidence of where it got its information. Citations. Citations are real important for the credibility of an interpretation. you should be able to find exactly the sources the argument relies upon just in case you want to make your own evaluation.)

But transparency is not clarity. Ideally, clarity is there, but if it feels like something is incredibly dense and hard to read and its supposed to be an authoritative source written for you to read - well, it has to be transparent, not necessarily clear (oh, language! How wonderful you are).

So that's how it stacks up. That's why when you get to those college/university-level courses, they seem to be asking you for entirely different outputs - they are! They're trying to get you to practice different skills. That's why you'll see an uncomfortable look on an academic's face sometimes, or a 'fun fact' being passed around encouragingly online will get a rock thrown its window from time to time (I fuckin' hope it does, anyway). That's why a "special interest" isn't the same as "expertise," despite how fun it can be to talk about our encyclopedic infodumping foibles. That's why "the SECRET that THEY never wanted to know," "a HIDDEN HISTORY," "the UNCOVERED/RECOVERED/UNEARTHED/UNSILENCEDetc story," are better signs of marketing than reality, rigor, or even truth (they are the "EXPERTS hate PERSON for THIS ONE SIMPLE TRICK" of non-fiction marketing).

It's not because people hate fun (though some them do, the spoilsports), but because "research" and "research" aren't the same, and blurring the line between them is really, profoundly unhelpful. The idea that we can continue to have our fun pop-history posts and takes without the fun pop-history books is a minor scale of delusion compared to the idea that we can continue to have fun pop-history books without understanding the need to continue to training, fostering, and supporting the immense amount of work that goes into producing regular ol' (boring, hard) expertise. The new stuff comes from the person that looks at the ledger of a plantation and sees people in the numbers, and understands what those numbers are trying to do - and that's not obvious, or easy to work with.

So, I guess, I just wanted to point out that there's at least two layers (two layers, at least) - and I think understanding that can help make sense of things. Or at least I hope so.

[lire-casander]

i'm not known to brag. i don't like it. but today, i think i deserve a bit of it.

as some fo you already know, around five years ago i went back to university. i had already studied journalism when i was younger (when i was due to, one may say) but when, after several life-changing decisions, i ended up coming back to my parents and having more free time, i went back to school.

i was 37 at the moment.

it has not been easy, i can tell you that. it's been excruciating most of the time, having to juggle all the responsibilities of a full grown-up life with studying and papers and classes. this time around, being unable to attend classes in person has made for a particularly lonely experience.

studying when you're older is not an easy path. i don't have the same energy, and i feel like i don't remember things as easily as i did when i was 20. and studying when most of the time you don't have the support of live classes (hello, uned madrid, thanks for cancelling classes on the most difficult subjects at the very last minute), that is an adventure if i've ever known one.

but here we are, almost five years later, with just three classes left. i have taken the last two exams, since the last class is based on a paper, and i have passed at least one of those. still waiting on the other one, but i doubt it'll take them much more to give us the grades.

in this five years, i have passed every single subject with flying colors except for two that i needed to retake, and then i passed them with good grades. i've gotten nine mentions of honor throughout the whole thing (i've had 50 different subjects, and i know 9 is not that many but it's a lot in my book). all while working and helping at home and trying to rebuild my life after a really bad series of unfortunate events.

so yeah, bear with me while i wait here for my last grade to be dropped, because i think i have all the right to brag.

[robin-evry]

Hi, so I love your work and was curious on if I can infodump on SpiderMan/Spidersona!Yuu. I wanted to create Spidersona!Yuu, but I ran out of ideas, so.... is it okay if I do so?

Thank you I'm glad you enjoy it, this gave me a brain rot about spider!yuu so I hope you don't mind me creating a headcanon about them. And sure if you want info dump me.

𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀!𝐘𝐔𝐔 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖��𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 🕸️🕷️

The Spider-Verse is connected by the Web of Life and Destiny. This is a subsection of the Marvel multiverse that connects all versions of Spider-Man from across the multiverse in a series of shared events and attributes.

Imagine during the dwarf cave mind, yuu was bitten by a spider. When they reported this back to Crowley, he said that they would be fine since the spider that seems to bite them isn't that dangerous and doesn't seem to have any venom in it. So they sleep it off, and when they wake up, they have been greatly enhanced as well as given some magical abilities.

Or spider!yuu was their city's friendly neighborhood hero, saving lives and being a student. During one of their times saving a civilian from a robbery a black carriage appears in their eye sight and everything turns black and then wakes up in a coffin and wearing a robe.

Regardless they will still be their hero self but instead of their city it's in another world.

At NRC, spider!yuu has a regular reputation at school they are well known for being smart at subjects like potionolgy but by far that's it, they don't stand out a lot. But who cares such boring students there's been a new hero appearing at the island.

Using webs to stop robber injustice on the island, this hero manages to become a vigilante on this island as well as a friend on the island for anyone. ( NRC is located in an Island with a town and RSA, you can look up at )

Using the new technology and resources in the world, spider!yuu manage to build themselves a much better arsenal or equipment for them during their time.

Grim work as their sidekick sometimes helps them get out of situations that almost caught or reveal their identity, as well give them enough time to change into their suit.

After a day of crime fighting and studying for a subject, spider!Yuu would swing towards the highest point of NRC, take a deep breath of fresh air and admire the sun rise right there as well looking at the entire island.

During their time at NRC, they have gained and a few trustworthy friends that knew their identity ace, deuce and grim will work as eyes on the ground and idia figure their identity on accident but he promises on not telling their identity as well help them with tech and turning off any security cameras that may become a big problem

Even some students already knew their identity but decided to keep it a secret out of respect for what spider!yuus doing. Rook also managed to find out but decided to keep it a secret as a way of respect and thanking them for saving vil one time.

Malleus and their first interaction, was when spider!yuu was in their hero suit and saw malleus thinking about something and decided to hang upside down and greeted him. This of course caught the malleus off guard but found this situation amusing and they continued to chat for a few minutes until malleus had to leave.

Spider!yuu is also manage to learn how to build and create their own suit thanks to the help of their late-mentor as well some advanced technology. One of their most prizes possessions are a pair of advanced technology glasses.

Under ramshackle, spider!Yuu have built a lair with multiple suits inside for them. That insists on them in any situation, this place also becomes their and first years hang out place, talking about tech and other things, comic books and school it even has a lounge area for them.

Similar to their other variants in other universes, spider!yuu has the same abilities as them spidey sense, enhanced physical body as well the ability to shoot out webs but what makes them different from the others is that they are able to shoot webs using magic or channel or cast magic thru their webs.

Spider!Yuu can alter the properties of their webs with magic, creating webs that freeze, burn, or shock on contact. For instance, they might use an ice-infused web to immobilize an opponent or a fire-infused web to create a protective barrier. As well creating protective barriers, charms and etc. during times of them being busy in NRC they are able to create a clone of themselves to deal with their school or hero work when one of them gets busy. But they only can make one at a time.

Has an army of cats behind the ramshackle dorm, spider!yuu is notorious for feeding and giving shelter towards stray cats to the point they will follow them everywhere even during their hero time, this is almost revealed their secret identity due to the cats being able to recognize their scent.

Even without the suit, spider!yuu is naturally a good person and a mediator, they come across epel being Targeted by many rowdy students who just finish destroying his plant project for a class before it can escalate into something worse, spider!yuu In front of both of them and ask the bullies to go away. Epel was originally mad at them for letting them get away with his plant but spider!yuu decided to give their plant project to epel instead. Surprise by this act before epel can react, spider!yuu has already left the green house. In return epel gave them a crate of his grandparents apple juice as a way to say thank you to them, this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

Spider!yuu hero persona has become some sort of idol towards the RSA student, the student body seeing them as a hero or a knight in shining armor making them to idolize spider!yuu and drive their dedication to chivalry. A mascot and idol towards people in twst

Even tho they save lives and fight crime many people are still suspicious of them saying that their hero persona is nothing but a fake and will try to tarnish their name.

Even tho spider!yuu is accommodating to their new life in twst, they are still worried about their city and family doing without them as well being constantly burned out due to them always trying to balance their double life.

Since every universe is supposed to have a canon spiderman, I have this writing idea that helps connect spider!yuu to the spider verse or web of Destin, so basically spider!yuu dimension already has a spiderman so they don't need another spiderman, and so spider!yuu was teleported to twst to become its canon spiderman. In summary spider!yuu was Destined to become the spiderman of the twst universe and they were destined to come to / be in twst to become its canon spiderman.

[thehelltingvilleclub]

Matt Montgomery - Closet Geek & Closet Freak

An Adult in Eltingville that actually acts like an adult???? WHAT???

Matthieu "Matt" / "Mattie" Thomas Montgomery [02/16/1978] Not Affiliated with TEC - Known Tournament winner amongst Jerry's MTG players. Cosplayer and College student in Manhattan. AOL / Online Users: [MTM_cosplay] | [GoblinHoarder] Theme Songs: Talk talk - Charli xcx | Move Along - All American Rejects | Somebody Told Me - The Killers

Favorite Shit: Trading Cards, Puzzles, Sports cards, Cosplays, X-Men, Monsters, Kaiju, Robots/Mecha, Dr. Who, Rubicks Cubes, Hard Cover books, YAPPERS, Movie Marathons, Beast, Wolverine, MTG, D&D, Cosplay Contests

I don't know how tf to describe this man other than tired and done with everybody's shit and he hasn't been awake more than an hour. He's three years into his bachelor's degree, essentially has 3 full time jobs between cosplay, tournaments, and all of his school work PLUS TUTORING, homie barely has enough time to breathe let alone deal with the TEC. However, that doesn't mean he won't find a way to weasel himself in-- even if its.... by unconventional or rather... *unexpected* means.

Guys I have like no art of him SORRY

Mattie generally only gets introduced very sparingly during 1999-2005, essentially in passing by Jerry or Josh, but he's still present and alive during this time, obviously. Him being friends with Jerry is what gets him to recognize Josh later.

Matt is studying for a Bachelors in English Comp, specializing in Journalism.

Speaking of, Josh and Matt work together at the editors office for the Comic Book News site in the epilogue. It's how they find each other again after Matt graduates and moves back home.

Matt is from northern Vermont, around the Canadian border, and has a bit of a Canadian accent because of it.

Everyone picks on him about it except for May and Jerry, (yes, even Josh, but it eventually becomes endearing to Matt.)

MATT. LIKES. YAPPERS. He doesn't talk much, he doesn't have much to talk about. Books and papers and trying to explain gymnastics routines isn't exactly the most interesting thing in the world, y'know.

He also doesn't have the time to really subject himself to the extreme absorption that Josh and Bill can get with their comics and shows, so.. Tell him about them!

He didn't get access to a lot of the more nerdy, pop culture side of things because of his parents. They had a significantly stronger iron grip on what he and his sister were exposed to, so he never really...

well, he didn't get to express his love for the more geek-y side of life until he moved to NY for college.

He became a professional cosplayer via his roommate forcing him to post, invited to events and photoshoots for his live floor routines he'll do in character, though he almost always wears a full-face mask or enough make up that you can barely tell who he is.

he can't have his sister finding out he dresses up as a blue demon freak in his spare time, yknow? (god she'd bully the shit out of him if she did--)

He's been in gymnastics since he was in middle school, and he's actually quite good; he's on a scholarship at his university, for pete's sake.

unfortunately a bad fall broke his clavicle and made it so he can't do vault anymore, but he enjoys his time doing floor routines and fucking around on the pommel horse from time to time.

Matt also.. is weirdly envious of TEC's... closeness? The fact they barely get along and yet they're all still together, they all still try and see each other or keep in touch..

He's never had that, and it makes him horrifically jealous, but he keeps it to himself-- smile and wave, swallow it down like normal, hm?

please subject him to a movie marathon. Infodump on him everything about whatever you're fixated on. He likes listening to people's voices, so please, just do it. It doesn't bother him at all.

This man has a TEMPER. His mother and his sister have this too, and it is BAD. Matt, however, learned ways to keep his temper at bay and calm down. to an extent. Bill, however, always manages to get his blood to boil by just the mention of him, so maybe... don't

Also, Matt and Pete absolutely bicker. A lot. Matt is constantly showing off that even though he's only an inch taller, he's able to do soOOSOooo much more! and Pete is convinced that Matt isn't actually gay and is trying to steal May away (guys Pete is such a fucking jealous goober I hate him)

Meanwhile literally the only person Matt wants is Josh. Pete should open his eyes maybe but like it's fine.

HOLY SHIT GYUSY

Okay UHM Hi Matt probably won't be talked about much but if you see me Vermont Honey posting it's because I need my comfort ship back okay THanks Also the NSFW cut is coming guys It's gonna have em all And I'll draw Jane and Matt's little sister soon, as they go to school together (Jane absolutely hates her guts OOPS unfortunately she's a bitchy cheerleader so you bet Jane has a voodoo doll of her somewhere in her room).

[erbiumspectrum]

Maria Skłodowska-Curie. That's it, that's the post.

As per my poll, here's a post on MSC!

This post began as a bit of a messy thing. I wanted to write about MSC because she was a brilliant Polish woman who became one of the most important scientists of modern chemistry and physics and I, as a Polish woman and a science major, admire her greatly. But the whole thing was vague and lacked direction. I received some kindly advice though and decided to focus on this: what was Maria like? Everybody knows she had an exceptional mind, that she had close ties with Paris, that she discovered radium and polonium, that she received the Nobel prize twice… But did you know she was said to have “serious, gray eyes” or that her initial plan was to spend her life working as a teacher or that she loved her homeland deeply? Underneath her doubtlessly exceptional achievements she was a person, and I’d love to take a look at that.

Maria Skłodowska ("skwo-DOV-ska") was born on 7 November 1867 in Warsaw under Russian occupation. Her father was a mathematics and physics teacher, so it may seem natural that little Maria took an interest in science, but as a child she was a phenomenal student in general, no matter the subject; she read a lot of books, and she learnt to read very early. She was considered very gifted. 

Her family wasn’t rich by any means. Maria’s father – a Polish man, a school teacher under the tzar’s merciless reign – knew very well he couldn’t afford to give all his children the education he wanted for them, not to mention neither Maria nor her older sister Bronia were allowed to attend university in occupied Poland. Making their dreams come true – studying at the Sorbonne – depended on the money they didn’t have.

At 17 Maria made a decision: she was going to work as a teacher while Bronia pursued medicine in Paris with the help of the money earned by Maria. After Bronia’s graduation they would switch: Bronia was going to work as a doctor while Maria attended university.

It was by no means an easy task. During the following years Maria had to withstand not only immensely hard work and a longing for learning, but also unfair employers, lack of respect, and heartbreak. But she persisted. She was 24 when finally she was able to pack up and take the train to Paris.

[source]

Soon after taking up her studies at the Sorbonne did Maria realize how far behind the other students she was: they were able to pursue an official education in a free country, something she’d never gotten to experience before. She had been an excellent student back in Poland, a fluent French speaker, but now it turned out her knowledge was lacking. Obviously, this couldn’t discourage her. Bronia’s husband Kazimierz wrote in a letter to her father that Maria would spend entire days at her university, only coming home in the evening. She worked admirably hard to catch up. And she was happy: at long last she could study science and mathematics in depth, the way she had longed to do for so many years.

Of course, money never stopped being an issue. Even with her father’s and sister’s help, she was still poor. She definitely wasn’t eating enough. In winter, she was cold. Other than that, she mostly gave up on her colleagues, refused to waste her time on “insignificant” things: that is, everything but studying, unfolding the secrets of chemistry and physics, practicing her laboratory skills. She was living and breathing science.

[left / right]

Pierre Curie was older, an exceptional physicist, charming and calm, still unmarried at 35 – he wouldn’t love a woman who couldn’t be first and foremost his intellectual partner. But Maria wasn’t looking for love and she certainly wasn’t looking for a marriage. She had a degree in physics, was on her way to get a degree in mathematics as well, all the while working on the magnetism of steel. And indeed, when they met through a professor who thought Pierre might be of help to young Maria, it was mostly curiosity, mutual respect, and primarily a great scientific interest that bloomed between them and brought them closer together.

Maria didn’t give in easily. All along her plan had been to earn her degrees and return to Warsaw, to her elderly father, and remain working as a teacher for the rest of her life. But there’s no doubt that when she eventually agreed to marry Pierre, it was out of genuine, deep love. They had a sincere, precious connection, both emotional and intellectual.

Did you know Maria and Pierre loved to travel the countryside on their bikes? They did. It’s how they spent most of their time together after their wedding. And not for a moment did they forget about their shared passion for science – they discussed it even during their travels. They lived together and they worked together. Their first child Irène – future Nobel prize winner as well! – was born in September 1897, Ève – their younger daughter – seven years later.

Pierre’s family adored Maria, Maria’s family loved Pierre. The two of them would frequently visit Pierre’s parents and they continued their biking trips, but other than that their life was utterly devoted to science. I know, it sounds like I’m exaggerating, but it’s true. Along with the fact they always had very little money, work was all they had.

Radium appeared in Maria’s life when she was working on her doctorate. Her laboratory was cold, damp, and badly equipped, but it seems to me Maria’s determination was inexhaustible. She began by studying uranium, but she soon figured out she had to include other elements in her research as well in order to solve the mystery at hand. It was only after a year of this work that Maria realized she might have discovered an element previously unknown.

Pierre was interested in Maria’s research before, but – save from the occasional advice as an older and more experienced scientist – he mostly left her to do her own thing while he focused on his crystals. At this point however, he was so intrigued he abandoned his research to work with Maria on her project. In 1898 (two years into Maria’s PhD work!) they published a paper together – in it they announced the discovery of a new element: polonium, named after Maria’s beloved homeland. Later that year, they did the same for radium. They coined the term “radioactivity”.

Maria kept a meticulous journal, not only for her laboratory work. She was carefully tracking their spending as well as Irène’s development, the way she learnt to walk and speak and play with their cat.

And so, her life continued: filthy, hard work in the infamous shed, a ton of an ore for less than a gram of product (!), countless papers published with her dearest husband, watching their daughter grow, earning her doctorate degree; then, in 1903, her first Nobel prize (along with her husband and Henri Becquerel).

The Nobel prize brought Maria and Pierre fame – and it was a tragedy. For them, at least. Modest and humble as they were, they couldn’t stand the journalists almost storming their garden, going as far as “describing [their] black and white cat [in the newspapers]” as Pierre said in a letter to a friend. I allowed myself to translate a piece of a letter that Maria sent to her brother in 1904 amid the post-Nobel craze, as it’s both sad and hilarious:

“I wish you health [for your name-day], well-being for all of your family, and for you never to experience the sort of correspondence and assault that we are now subjected to. Ever since that accursed Nobel prize we’ve been unable to do anything, and I’m beginning to ask myself if the money we received will be of any consolation, as, after all, the people who sell me meat, coal, sugar, etc. are richer than me yet they do not experience such sorrows. […] and yesterday some American wrote to me, asking for permission to name a race horse after me.”

Maria’s life took a truly sharp turn when Pierre died in an accident in 1906. Despite the tragedy that irreparably crushed her heart, she never ceased her work. She became a professor, organized classes for her and her friends’ kids, ran the Radium Institute, continued her research, received her second Nobel prize. During World War I it was her mobile X-ray machines that saved countless lives: she was active and involved, operating the machines with her older daughter and teaching others how to do it.

[left / right]

She lived long enough to see her dear, beloved Poland become an independent country once more. To the very end she remained humble and uninterested in fame, hardworking and dedicated entirely to science.

I based this post mostly on Madame Curie by her daughter Ève which I highly recommend!

[helenstudies]

I've seen a lot of "gifted kid burnout" posts and also a few "where do we go to post studyblr stuff when we're bad students and don't get good grades" so I'm here to talk about my own experience of "I've never been a gifted kid and I've never been a good student".

I'm not a gifted kid. In fact, there was no "gifted kid" system in my country at all. And instead of multiple choice questions or true or false questions, we had to memorize pages and pages of our textbook and write them down during three hour exams. You can't get "a" and "the" wrong or you lose points, that's how much memorization we had to do. We didn't get electives until our last two years of high school and the electives were "biology or economics?" Yeah, those were the only two. Even at my university, I didn't get to choose my own electives. Everything came in a neat little box that you can never escape. And we never, EVER get full marks in Burmese or English. 80 out of 100 is considered phenomenal and no one's ever gotten more than 82 in either subject. So our matriculation exam's full mark is 600 but the most you can get is 550.

Suffice to say, the education system sucked and I don't like memorization so my grades were 50% at most. I failed my math and physic classes with 28 marks out of 100 for a whole two years, only barely passing on midterms and end of year exams. For my matriculation exam I got 340 out of 600, which is SUBPAR. That's 2.0 GPA btw. I never thought of myself as educated or a good student and I still don't.

But I love languages and I realize that while languages seem hard to learn and have strict rules, they actually don't. You can move them around and learn them however you like. So as an avid reader, I started learning languages so that I will be able to read books in those languages and I found studying liberating. Why not? I'm no longer memorizing 600 pages of text book and writing them down.

I realize that I love learning and studying when I get to choose what I learn. So I stopped caring about grades and started learning things that I love. Hey, do you know what's the biggest side effect of learning things that you love and not caring about grades? It's that you actually start to learn and your grades start to come up. I realize I perform badly when I am stressing out about my grades. This is why you're seeing all my 100% grade and 80% grade all over my walls. It's not because I'm a good student. It's because I've let go of the notion that I HAVE to be a good student.

I can talk about my bad grades as freely as I can talk about my good grades. I can tell you that I've been learning Japanese for ten seven years and I'm only JLPT N3 level. Honestly, you know what? As a generation, we're due to appreciate our process and progress instead of our achievements. It's fine if you're a bad student. It's fine if you are a gifted kid who fell off the wagon. It's fine if you've never been a gifted kid or a bad student. What matters is you're here studying and learning and appreciating yourself for doing all that.

So post your good grades, post your bad grades. Post your good stuff and bad stuff and messy notes. Post about your good days and your bad days. Talk about your productive days and talk about your rest days. Keep going and keep learning!

[ancha-aus]

RealAgeAU Drabble - Third time the charm?

I am back! @spotaus

Look I got the week off and I am sick. there is very little else I am going to do except game, write and watch vods. So here I am again!

Back to filling up the, in my mind, holes in the story so far before we continue on!

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*------------------*

Dust looks at the many books before him as he tries to think of what to get for Nightmare. Nightmare meanwhile is being a good babybones and stays by Horror eating ice cream.

Dust continues to stare at the books. Trying to think back. What did six year olds have to learn at this point anyway? And how far ahead of that is Nightmare?

Dust knows that Nightmare is smarter than the average six year old. That is a given. Dust knows his vocabular and reading skills are also far above average.

Dust just isn't sure how far certain skills and knowledge got reversed for him.

"Still no luck?"

Dust blinks out of his staring and looks up at Horror "What?"

Horror nods to the books, Nightmare easily held in one arm against his shoulder. Nightmare looks even tinier in Horror's hold and Dust already thinks Nightmare is smaller for his age than he should be.

Smarter but smaller.

Dust shrugs and turns back to the shelf he had been searching "Not sure on his skills."

Horror hums and looks at the books himself. Dust turns back to the options and thinks. They are still moving and universe hopping a lot making it impractical to take too many. One or two at most. That way they can at least start with some classes.

Horror turns to him and Dust looks up to show he has his attention. Horror nods towards the shelf "test level?"

Dust shakes his skull "I could but to specific." if he happens to pick a subject Nightmare still knows about it would set Nightmare up for more difficult classes, even while Nightmare may not be ready for all of those.

Horror hums in understanding as he searches the shelf.

Dust turns back again and thinks. They should at least get a math book. Math is after all to train your brain and problem solving skills. Which would be helpful. Probably basic add and substractions. He searches the shelf and picks out the book that looks promising.

Horror looks at the book before nodding and turning back "What else?"

And that is the problem isn't it? Because most subjects are still too complex for Dust's taste to get. history and geography while both would probably interest Nightmare both are very universe depended and just teaching him stuff about a world they may not even stay in would just be a waste of time.

Horror nudges his shoulder and once Dust looks at him he nods towards the english section "He likes poetry."

Dust blinks and nods. Maybe that is fine? He is already for ahead with english anyway. Maybe giving him something to work and read which is familiar and liked by him while they struggle through math together will be good for his motivation? Dust nods to Horror and walks over there.

Dust frowns at all the titles. He knows very little about this kind of stuff. He searches the story and finds a store clerk and walks over to them "Hello."

The person jumps and turns quickly "oh! Hi! I am sorry i didn't notice you... euh... what can i help with?"

Dust nods to the poetry books "Want a book."

The person blinks and nods "okay.... are you looking for a theme? Or a certain writer? A specific age or focus?" they walk towards the right shelf and look back at Dust.

Dust frowns and glances over at Nightmare nad Horror. Nightmare shrugs and hides his face while Horror looks unsure himself. Dust thinks for a moment "Need a book for the babybones. He already has one." Dust can't remember the name or writer of the book.

The clerk smiles and takes out a thin book with easy rhyming "This should be fine!"

Dust takes it and studies it and it doesn't feel the same. he shakes his skull and hands it back "There was a line in the book... of a poem he reads a lot..." and Dust has read a lot to him. "It went something like 'The dark goes deep but it is no end. Because in the night broken things mend. A time to rest and time to heal, it is the moment when we have a meal.'" Dust frowns as he tries to continue "something something... then later 'The night holds and the night protects. hidden away with all its gems. Holding the stars and letting those shine. until...' and that is what i remember from that..." and he waits.

The clerk frowns "That kinda seems like a few writers from the great depression..." they search the shelf and pull out an older looking book. They hand it over and frown "It seems a bit complex for a tiny child though..." and they shoot a smile in Nghtmare's direction. Not that nightmare is looking at any of them.

Dust looks through the book and nods "I think this will work..." it seems more on par of the book that Nightmare has been reading.

They go to the counter and Dust pays for the two books.

Dust and Horror leave the store together. The person says something but Dust isn't paying any attention to them as he checks the math book. the poetry book already in his bag.

Horror looks a bit embarrased and Dust frowns "What is wrong?"

Horror shrugs and rubs his cheek sheepish "Just... the what that person said."

Dust frowns as he glares back at the shop "Something bad?" he can go back and make them pay easily enough-

Horror holds up his one free hand "no no! Nothing like that... just..." and he shrugs as he keeps a tight hold on Nightmare. Seems like Nightmare is getting fussy. meaning either he is tired or hungry and he goes to acting grumpy because that is easier to hide behind than admitting he needs something.

Dust blinks back and nods at Horror "If you are sure-"

"Horror! Dust! Wait up!"

Dust freezes and glares "Oh are you fucking with me." That are the fucking stars. shit. He looks at Horror and sees that Horror made the same conclusion and that Nightmare is frozen in his hold.

They share a look. Dust is holding unto too many things to do the same as he did before and he doubt he can use the same tactic twice to get them out.

They have both been spotted.

Horror looks at Nightmare and clearly gets an idea as he pulls Nightmare back a bit "Stay still and don't move."

Some confusion brekas through the panicked look but Nightmare nods and that is all Horror needed as he lifts his shirt and just puts Ngihtmare under it nad IN his ribcage.

Moments later horror has the shirt on normally again and Nightmare isn't in view at all.

Right. Nightmare is small enough to be hidden like that-

running steps and Blue and Dream stop by them. Blue pants "FInally! Am I happy to see you!"

Dust and Horror share a confused look and Dust frowns "Since when?"

Blue looks a bit sheepish and looks at Dream. Dream looks very uncomfortable as he rubs his hands "I... euh... I was wondering... euh..." he looks around and spots the books Dust is holding "oh! Getting things for your little one?" and he smiles.

Dust nods and only after agreeing he remembers what Cross said last time they came across the Stars.

Dream nods once he realises that Dust isn't going to speak "Right! Yes. That is amazing! I... I see everything is well? How is the little one?"

Blue nods "We realised you never told us the little guy's name..."

Dust knows he is glaring as he speaks slowly "He is doing fine." and he stops there. shooting them a challenging look.

Blue coughs in his hand before looking at Horror "sup!"

Horror however looks many times more annoyed then Dust feels. Probably because Horror right now feels the nervous and anxious magic of Ngihtmare a lot more directly than they feel when they are just holding him. Putting him more on edge.

Blue gives a slow nod and looks away "Right..."

Dust raises a brow "Did you want anything specif or just wanted to waste our time?"

Dream flinches before smiling "I... I did have a request... I was... I was wondering... If you guys could ask Nightmare to meet with me?"

Dust freezes for a moment before his glare gets worse "Why the fuck would we do that? Just so you can lure him into a trap? Hunt him down some more?"

Dream shakes his skull quickly "I just want to talk..." he rubs his arm. "It is... personal."

Horror crosses his arms "I remember this happening once before." Dust nods and glares himself. it had been a whole thing where Dream tried to stage an intervention about Nightmare needing to be better and see that there are other ways to continue on instead of this path of hate he had set on.

The fact Dream had gone it to an adult Nightmare was bad. The fact that they now knew that their tiny babybones boss was in there the whole time just makes it worse.

Drema looks pale and shakes his skull "It isn't liek that! and... I know i shouldnt have done that back then either! I... I didn't have all the facts and information but I need to talk with nightmare about it-"

Killer appears and has his knife right by Dream's chin "Don't bother. You try to go near Boss ever again and we will end you." Killer's voice is low and dangerous. "We haven't been doing shit to your precious multiverse. leave us alone."

Dust watches the standoff when Cross joins his side and looks him and Horror both over worried and anxious. A small whine starts to leave his throat when Dust signs that Horror has Nightmare hidden. making sure to use their personal coded signs for it. Cross relaxes and leans against him as the tension disappears.

Dust looks back at the standoff to see that Dream has backed up, still looking pale and now heartbroken as well. Blue seems to be trying to reason with Killer but you have more luck reasoning with a pig in the mud than trying to get Killer to stop doing what he wants.

Dust raises his voice a tiny bit "We are leaving." the other three nod and Dsut looks at the two Stars "Stop bothering us." this was already the third time they happened to be in the same universe and Dust did not want to make it a fourth.

They quickly leave and once out of sight make a portal somewhere else. They hide away and quickly check on Nightmare. dust watches as Killer coos and nuzzles Nightmare and feels a bit calmer.

It is fine. They will not let anyone get their babybones.

*----------------*

And the third time the Stars came across the gang and Nightmare! (one of which they didn't fully notice but it still counts!)

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[matrixbearer2024]

Also how old are the Stan twins by the time Dipper and Mabel are 12? I’m assuming they’re in college but feel free to correct me.

By the time Dipper and Mabel are 12, the Stan Twins are out of college(technically). If we place the AU in 2024(they were born in 2003) they're already 21, and considering that most undergraduate programs could typically last 2-6 years- their undergrad courses (BSBA[Bachelor of Science in Business Administration] for Stan and BS(CMB)[Bachelor of Science in Biology with specialization in Cell and Molecular Biology] for Ford) are 4 year courses. They haven't been delayed or are late in any educational progress so they've only got a year left of undergrad.

They study in Graviton University Oregon, because I didn't have gravity falls "exist" technically. The town exists and that's where the university is, just more urbanized and without any of the wtf weird creatures that reside in the town from canon.

By the way, the niblings haven't been born yet considering that Shermie isn't even married yet. I plan on Shermie getting married by new year of 2025 and settling down in Piedmont with his girl, and the niblings will be born the year after around the same time the Stan Twins finally finish undergrad.

That's not the last of it though since they both still plan on moving up to masters and Ford wants to get a Phd(he starts with one and then starts collecting them like Pokémon) and it's mostly where they diverge paths as Stan throws himself into more of accounting/enterprenurial and Ford into researcher/biologist.

I don't really think Stan uses his knowledge on business too much at the start however since I do plan on him being scouted for a sports team(Haven't decided between basketball or baseball yet) before he graduates and while building his career as an athlete he finishes his masters(he takes 3 years to do it instead of the usual 2).

Ford had his fun in undergrad, so he fully commits to studying at this point and like in canon is pretty damn advanced compared to the rest of his peers. The curriculum and subject weights have definitely shifted from canon but I still do think it would only more or less take him 7-8 years to get his first doctorate.

By the time the niblings are 12, the Stan twins are 34, Sherm's 42.

Stan's spotlight as an athlete is waning and he's mostly helping run Fidds' family business, he's practically acting CEO in Fidds' place and is very comfortable with the pay he's getting. Stan wasn't really hardcore into sports anyway, he just took the opportunity because it presented itself to him and frankly he's okay with that. He starts drawing comics again as a hobby and with Fidds' help eventually becomes a comic-book artist part time since a businessman is his main gig post sports stardom. Much like some iconic artists and writers in DC and marvel, he ends up joining them when people like the series he puts out and the more "retro" artstyle.

Ford is making innovations left and right in the realm of genetics and biotechnology ever since graduating at 30 and he's got Fidds and Bill to help him with the more techy parts of his work. Ford hasn't stopped studying entirely though and honestly collects honorary PhDs to keep himself well rounded, not to mention he consistently attends seminars or science conferences to keep on top of the newest discoveries or updates to what's going on in the world. It wasn't his dream or intention of becoming one of the "greats" that go down in history but he really might at his pace, it's not something he thinks or cares about though.

You could argue that their life is practically being fast-tracked here but honestly, I think the pace fits them. It's a lot less chaotic compared to canon but considering how driven these two are, I think it's a pretty comfortable pace.

By the way, despite the busy life and all that- Ford tries his best to go to all of Stan's games live even when Shermie or Caryn miss it, despite the fact he doesn't really know anything that's going on just which team his brother's playing and if he's winning. Similarly, when Ford is called to give conferences to explain his findings or research Stan is more than happy to fly out to where he is and sit in just to give his support despite not knowing a damn or understanding whatever the hell his brother is talking about LOL

They're still very close considering that they didn't ever have a fight that tore them apart, they respected each other's wishes and interests and just talked. They always talked. I suppose that's ultimately what makes the big difference.