#not a problem for me. what i DO struggle with is choosing topics and researching ideas and putting stuff together grrrrrr

[goldensunset]

this is a certified academia moment

[dorotontheglow]

Structure for Improvement

Having tried different systems over the years, I have realized that I improve the best in a structure. Having a routine, knowing what I need to do and when I need to do it helps me a lot. However, with improvement knowing isn't enough unfortunately, it is the first step. What's important is taking action. And today, I wanna share some of my routines that I'll be following for improvement!

MY WORKOUT ROUTINE

I love the body weight lifting gives people so that's what I have been doing for quite sometime now but the problem is that I don't really have a routine for it. Some weeks I lift weights for five days and some weeks it's two days. I have seen results, nevertheless, but it is something I wanna do constantly as I have bigger body goals aesthetically. So here's the routine I'll follow:

Monday : Arm workout (Weight lifting)

Tuesday : Arm + leg workout (Weight lifting)

Wednesday : Ab workout (Weight lifting)

Thursday : Rest due to school

Friday : Rest due to school

Saturday : Leg + ab workout (Cardio)

Sunday : Full body (Weight lifting)

Plus, walking or biking once the weather gets a little better<3

MY LEARNING ROUTINE

This is, perhaps, what I struggle with the most. Years in the education system ended up making me burnout. I couldn't learn anything for the sake of learning it. I always had to learn something that would be useful for my studies in school. However, this has to change. I have so many things that I'm interested in and so many things I want to learn that it would be unfair to myself to not create a learning routine. (Not a studying routine, but a learning routine! Completely different in my eyes.)

Every week, I will choose a topic to do research about. I will read books and articles. I will watch videos, interviews, documentaries etc. I will try to learn as much as possible about the topic that I am interested. And then write an essay (2000 -2500 words) about it at the end of the week.

Another learning goal is learning a language. I have been trying to learn Korean and Spanish back to back which I couldn't for years! So frustrating. But for the past few months I have been learning Spanish and it's going really well. Learning a new language is really important to me because I am a language student and it's an essential personality trait of mine. So it hurts me when I get lazy or unmotivated about it. I haven't decided on my routine yet but it will probably look something like this:

Monday : Learn 10 new words + a grammar topic

Tuesday : Learn 10 new words + watch a Ted Talk in Spanish

Still a work in progress!

MY SELF-CARE ROUTINE

I think every one of these routines are under the umbrella of self-care but for the sake of giving a name to this category, I'm going to call it the Self-Care Routine.

This routine includes:

My at-home laser hair removal routine and

My skincare routine

I am starting at-home laser hair removal treatments, again... I have realized that I had spots on my legs that don't really grow hair from previous treatments so I decided to try it again. I will shave every Saturday and do the treatments on Monday. Places include : Legs, tummy, private parts.

I already have a skincare routine that I follow somewhat religiously. But I do experiment with products and I still haven't perfected it. There is an egg white face mask I bought that works really well so I'll be doing it three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

Right now, these are the core routines and as I'm following them, I will add or remove things accordingly.

[quarantineddreamer]

Answer the Questions and Tag 5 Fanfic Authors

thanks for the tag @andorerso 💕

1. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

it started in elementary school with a fixation on the Red Wall series lol--i would just write random little in-universe stories for myself. I didn't start actively sharing/posting in fandom until the pandemic 😅

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

uhhhh like 3 actually posted/shared. probably more than I can count random scribbles elsewhere

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

probably almost 15 years at this point?

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

i go through phases, but mostly I write more than read--because I get BIG TIME imposter's syndrome when reading other authors' works. (it's a problem, i know gah)

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

Uhhh. I mean, with my brain fog and everything I actually feel like I have gotten worse if I'm being honest, but I think I've gotten better at thinking through character motivation--at least, I think on it a lot when I'm writing

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

for the roadtrip AU I constantly have a map of scotland pulled up lol. there's more math involved in this than there ought to be 🥲

7. What’s your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

ANY. No seriously, comments make the world go round.

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

Mmmm I can't think of any at the moment

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

SMUT. Still haven't finished my smut prompt for rcsmutmonth. between imposter's syndrome and just general brain struggle it's on the backburner for now--ah well

10. What is the easiest type?

Mmm angst. One-shots. (I love a simple getting together fic)

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

God, don't hate me but Google docs. I do want to try another platform, but I've been lazy about just diving in. (Also, money).

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

I'm just focused on finishing part 2 for Umbra at this point. I'm in my head. One day at a time.

(Non-fanfic related? My biggest goal in life is still to write my original story that's been rotting in my head for over a decade).

13. What made you choose your username?

I started back on tumblr during the pandemic during quarantine--I still dream about writing a novel idk it seemed easy to go back to when I decided to become of a more multi-fandom blog

no pressure tags for: @fireflaked @dilf-din @frostbitepandaaaaa @astromechs @chipthekeeper

[femmefatalevibe]

How to Stop being friends with someone that’s insecure? I’ve worked so hard to build up my confidence and I realized my negative thinking had come back more than usual after being with this friend because they’re complaining or comparing themselves to me saying I’m very confident and just always overthinking and I always have to soothe them in their thinking and it’s exhausting and rubbing off. I worked so hard to be the best I can be loving myself, I really appreciate this friend but, I can’t do this. Plus they would like to hang out more and more and if I’m busy they’re ok but seem bothered if I say oh I wasn’t going to hang out cuz something came up but - then instantly they would be subtly offended. They also asked me to do a project with them that I agreed to, and now I’m like.. oh no how do I get out of this entirely? I hope that makes sense?

Hi love! So glad for you that you've done the work to establish high self-confidence! Always remember that people's insecurities give you insight into what they believe they lack themselves. These behaviors are a reflection of their own inner turmoil and have little to nothing to do with you, your behavior, or your life choices. Here are my tips:

How To Deal With Insecure Friends/People:

Make differentiation a top priority: Even after doing the necessary inner work to have a healthy sense of self, this reminder is sometimes needed. Do not internalize other people's problems like they're your own. They never become your problems just by listening to others' complaints. You can choose whether to allow these external emotions to dictate your mood or inner world. Think of their constant complaints like you're watching a TV show or reading an engrossing book: You're emotionally drawn to the characters, but always a voyeur – not an active character in the plot.

Establish, communicate, and uphold your boundaries: Be direct and remain calm when communicating the topics you're willing (or not willing) to discuss when you're available (or not) to speak/meet up, when you need to end a conversation, etc. You cannot maintain the capacity to support others without first prioritizing/taking care of yourself.

Remind them of their strengths and capabilities: Using this tactic is a great way to be a supportive friend without internalizing an insecure person's baggage. Insecurity is a byproduct of low self-esteem. While it will take some effort on their part, highlighting the person's strengths can be a motivator for them to start working on some of their goals independently or check in a little less frequently. Encourage them to take immediate action on a project, new hobby, conversation, new career or course opportunity, etc. they're discussing with you. Frame it with a script that includes sentiments like "you're so good at/talented with "x" skill or subject matter, you should consider enrolling/emailing a contact/updating your resume, right away to take advantage of this exciting opportunity."

Provide them a chance to self-reflect: If the previous strategy is unsuccessful, feel free to kindly help them self-reflect on their struggles. Calling out someone's bad behavior directly must be done with tact and compassion, so make sure to use a "compliment sandwich" (positive remark, constructive criticism, positive remark, or likely positive outcome that results from taking action on said criticism) and only call out the missteps in someone's actions. Never personalize the person's bad behavior as a flawed personality trait (e.g. Behavior callout: Your constant messaging is draining my energy while I'm studying/at work. I don't think I'm the right person to help you. Maybe try to research "x" matter to ideate some creative solutions first. vs. Personality callout: You're so clingy. It's so draining and unbearable. Why can't you learn to manage your dilemmas by yourself?). Encouraging someone to analyze their behavior can lead to a new level of self-awareness for a person. Criticizing someone's character is both antagonistic and unproductive – you're making their insecurity seem like an inherent, unfixable trait rather than an opportunity for growth, evolution, and acquiring a new skillset.

Offer them a resource for support: Send them a quick link to a website or social media page to redirect their attention and provide them a chance to help themselves. Guide them towards becoming more competent – it's the key to self-confidence, as you probably know through your healing journey.

Don't reach out: Plain and simple. Out of sight, out of mind (unless for some reason you have reason to believe they're a danger to themselves, of course).

As a last resort, make it a "it's me, not you" situation and part ways: Once you've established boundaries and attempted to redirect their attention or promote self-reflection, you've done everything you can as a supportive friend. If they overstep your stated boundaries and expectations more than once or refuse to stop asking you to overextend yourself, let them know that their demands are past your personal limits, and you cannot take the weight of their frustrations. A nicer way to frame this is to communicate that you need to take some space from the relationship as you're heavily focusing on certain goals in your life at the moment.

Hope this helps xx

[female-malice]

I’m honestly very disappointed in your stance with Israel/Palestine - your inability to humanize the people of Gaza and recognize their oppression at the hands of the Israeli government shows me you lack any materialist understanding of a liberation struggle least of all a feminist one. This is coming from someone that had genuinely respected your perspective especially on the ecological front. I’m having a hard time reconciling with your politics and who you choose to express/deny solidarity with.

My stance is the stance promoted by organizations like Standing Together. I get my information on the topic from Palestinian feminists like Sally Abed, Rula Daood, and Amira Mohammed. I've also been inspired by the late Israeli feminist Vivian Silver and her organization Women Wage Peace. This war doesn't happen in a vacuum and does not effect only two countries. So I also read Iranian feminist perspectives on the "axis of resistance."

But apparently you can't reconcile that with the rest of my politics.

What would seem more in line with my politics according to you? Should I just do and say what popular far left American political commentators do and say? Would that make you more comfortable? Am I supposed to wave flags and call for the destruction of the stronger side in the war? Am I supposed to post war footage and beat my chest and roleplay as a revolutionary figure?

What would that do? Who benefits from the American far left narrative about this war? So much of that narrative is completely disconnected from the work of Palestinian, Israeli, and Iranian feminists.

Over the years, I have found that the American far left narrative is incoherent about all kinds of things. So I do not take any political advice from them. I research topics on my own and come to my own conclusions. My support for degrowth wasn't inspired by far left Twitter threads. I thoroughly researched every solution to the climate problem and found ecological economics and degrowth to be the most promising. And I did the same with the Israel/Palestine conflict. I read about every solution proposed and every political group involved. And that's how I found Standing Together.

[eleonora144]

-Study tip-

Academic validation and burnouts

As a person who has struggled with academic validation I would like to shed som light on the topic and help the ones struggling as I did. Academic validation is basically needing success to feel good about yourself, and while is not a problem in it self it can have a bad effect if you over do it. It’s obviously that everyone feels good about them selfs if the achieve success but the struggle comes when that is the sole reason for your happiness. If you put your own worth in things that you can lose you risk losing that happiness and your self esteem. It is so important that you are able to love yourself even if you fail or don’t achieve what you wanted.

Burnout’s can be the result of this mindset because you tend to push yourself far beyond your limits to achieve the validation you seek, resulting in worse mental health and a downward spiral. The thing with rest is that it can not be avoided, but only procrastinated always leads to do it all at once in the end. So when you avoid resting and self care you are delaying it to your future self who will have to compensate for what you missed. So the longer you push yourself the longer you will have to rest. And I’m talking about only resting noting else sometimes for years. When you are burnt out choosing an outfit can feels impossible and working or studying will be impossible. It’s like a slap in the face forcing you to change mindset in order to recover and get back to working at all. If you can’t allow yourself rest while studying or working imagine yourself spending years recovering from a burn out instead. Believe me, not worth it. So if you can’t give yourself rest from a self care perspective do it to boost your future productivity. Resting is not only important in the long run, if you rest the day before a test you will probably preform better then the ones stressing and studying the day before.

Now that I hope you understand the gravity of this situation I recommend doing your own research, but I will also list some things that helped me:

Things that helped me was to plan out my studying. The hardest thing about being a student is having constant stress and pressure even after school hours. When you work you go to your job and then you go home, but we can’t forget about school when the day ends because of homework, exams and everything else. I felt like I was constantly in a sort of limbo, not really studying but not relaxing. I felt bad when I watched series on Netflix or did other things because I felt I should be studying. Planing out when I was to study, what subject and for how long allowed me to work intensively for that time period and then be done with it, allowing me to rest without feeling guilty. Here’s what I did:

-Planning-

-Get a calendar, (preferably paper) and write down all your tests, homework etc. and plan out your studies.

It’s important to be realistic and keep in mind what days you are more productive and when you are tired.

-Time of-

One day on the weekend should be completely free, no school material in sight. You should also have one weekday of. I for example had Fridays of because I knew I wouldn’t study anyway. Doing this made me enjoy my days of because it was pland relaxing time.

You can’t study all day either, so you also need to plan your breaks. You should never study after 19, 7pm (I think) in American time. This is because your brain will be tired and not be able to learn anyway.

- Intensive focus-

When you are studying it should be for short intense sessions rather than long unproductive ones. You could do Pomodoros, which is 25 minute intervals with 5 minute breaks. Or there’s a method called “Sticks” which is where you do 6 sessions (sticks) in one day between 20-40 minutes each. How long one can focus is very individual but study’s show that the average person can focus for approximately 45 minutes.

I hope you found this helpful and hopefully got a better understanding of how important resting is. You deserve it and your body needs it! You are amazing as you are💗 No test results can ever tell you otherwise and no one will ever think less of you if you take a break. It shows that value yourself, which you should, because you are incredible and you are strong. I believe in you!!

Good luck🥰

[brehaaorgana]

24 and 26 for the weird questions for writers meme

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

Oooh this is one of those things where like, I'm not sure? I think some of my most successful writing has been done with a plan and outline and I certainly did some research, but I tend to have the writer's flaw of spending too much time planning and prepping and not enough actually writing.

Or rather, I do the wrong kinds of in-depth prep like "oh I'm going to download 30 articles/stories/books related to x or y topic that is going to appear in this story," instead of like...writing an outline and gameplan, and then maybe choosing one or two things to reference to start and THEN going and writing the rough draft so that I can decide if I really need to keep prepping or worldbuilding or whatever.

It's very dangerous! I'm definitely the kind of person who can pick up dozens or hundreds of books/articles/etc and maybe write a paragraph which is actually detrimental to the actual writing. Lol.

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

I think it's important to spend time thinking about how other (real) people think/react/navigate life and then try to understand how/why they did something or said something. It doesn't have to be a full psychoanalysis or anything like that, but like, looking at people around you and seeing what they value or don't, how they tick — that's how you can approach exercising your character writing skills.

It's also a good way to...how do I put it ...? — it's good to look at other people (especially strangers) in the world and consciously acknowledge their humanity to yourself, and consider what shaped them. They're not just a cast extra or a backdrop in your life for 5 minutes! They have massive internal worlds too. It's a sense of people-mindfulness. In the same way it's good to like, go out in nature and contemplate some real nice flowers or hear a birdsong and be fully in the moment, it's also good to casually people watch and be aware of fellow humans. (Not all of them will be great people. Sometimes someone is a total jerk in public and you gotta be like "what made them do THAT?" Lol)

And then once you've just observed people only by as they present themselves, you can go ahead and imagine more details about them, changing things as you go to practice character building. I think about central values & motives, but also speech style and how they carry themselves. I don't base original characters entirely on any person I've seen, but I use the same thought process as the exercise to flesh a character out. Y'know what is obvious about this character they show to the world? What is buried more deeply? Why do they act the way they do?

Once you have some of those ideas, then you use that to guide your character writing to "get in their head." Whatever their internal logic is, that should guide the character's actions. If you struggle with getting out of their head, it's usually a) you're writing a different character and need to better understand their internal compass/differentiate it more clearly, or, more frustrating, b) you might need to think about your own internal compass / how you tick and think more. I think knowing yourself helps you "get out," — I'm sure actors have probably written and made great advice for character bleed for this reason.

I don't tend to have the second problem though (where I'm unable to get away from a character's head). I don't think I've ever regretted a character headspace either. Maybe it's because I'm already used to thinking things that I know I don't actually feel or that I distance myself from? Like "that's not me, that's my Anxiety Brain talking. That's depression voice. I don't really feel x or y, that's an intrusive thought, and I can acknowledge I wouldn't do that thing." Lots of boundaries in my brain already, the fiction doesn't hold much ground lol.

[theslightestbitofahint]

TL;DR: Your friends who are in school are doing their best. Please don’t critique them for having difficulty.

I was talking to someone I trust yesterday about the frustrations I’m having with my Technical Writing instructor. I signed up for that course because one writing element I struggle with is over explaining/adding what others consider too much context. Because I’m going into a field where grant funding proposals, business reports, and project presentations are frequent requirements, I wanted to work on how to not commit the same writing crimes I have in the past.

The instructor is using a translation of Aristotle’s Rhetoric as our core text. They have also given students complete liberty in choosing writing topics for many of the course assignments. I chose a research topic that I’m interested in, a very specific one, because I figured doing those assignments using that topic would be helpful for general writing I have to do for my internship and a couple of other courses involving that topic. And then I got confused by some of the wording in the assignment instructions that made me wonder if I was supposed to choose a topic from the course’s materials. So I told this person that I was confused and why.

They tried to be gentle in their response, but I was hurt all the same. They pointed out that I have had difficulty in the past with understanding instructions for writing assignments, and instructions in cooking recipes. And maybe the issue was not the instructors’ lack of writing with clarity, but my difficulty with reading comprehension. They suggested that I slow down and read only a few words at a time. This was after I told them that the instructor for this course sent out an announcement last week addressing confusion “several students” had come to them with over a different assignment. And after I had this person read a short paragraph in this week’s assignment that literally made no sense, even with context provided in the previous paragraph.

I spent the rest of the night mulling over past confusion and assignments I didn’t understand, trying to see if the problem really lies with me. My confidence has been completely shaken. How foolish I must be to think I could ever succeed in professional environments if I can’t even understand undergraduate-level assignment instructions. I spent way too long on everything I wrote today-which wasn’t much- and everything I read.

I’ve been trying to be more patient with people pointing out areas that I may actually be the problem, because they do exist and that wont change if I don’t find a way to adjust. But honestly… this just… it doesn’t feel like one of those areas. Sure, I fuck up recipes because I get too ahead of myself. Being confused by poorly-written writing assignment instructions, however, cannot possibly be my fault. And having someone who knows how deeply I’ve struggled with feeling competent in academia look me in the face and say what they said fucking knocked the motivation to try- not even to do well, to try- right out of me. I seriously considered withdrawing from school last night and this morning, with 9 months left to complete my degree.

And now I don’t feel like I can even talk about school with this person. Because I can’t take another blow like this. Not from them.

[annes-room]

✒️ Dec 23, 2023

I finished my last final for the semester yesterday! now I have a nice break until January, and I'm going to indulge in my hobbies and relaxing 😌

as this is a bit of a journal blog for me, I'm going to have a reflection on this past semester under the cut 🖋️

bio: I thought it would be easier for an intro level course 🥲 I knew it would be mostly memorization, and I have a decent memory for straight up facts, but omg there was so much material!! my favourite sections were the ones on plants and multicellular animals. being able to see and recognize the organism made it a lot easier to understand what we're learning about and remember stuff about it. (which is kinda on par with why I switched out of physics 😅 I'm not particularly motivated to study particles because I can't see them!! I need to be able to see something to understand it lol)

english: this one surprised me the most I think! I still struggled a bit with writing essays before this course, so to have the majority of our marks come from essays was a little nerve wracking. but I met up with my prof regularly for feedback on my work and to get help in my problem areas and it helped a lot!! profs are there to help you 😤 take advantage of it. for the books we read in class, I'd give Robinson Crusoe a 5/10, not fun to read for fun, but very fun to read for analysis. Frankenstein gets 8/10 because Victor Frankenstein is my least favourite character. it was also fun getting to choose our own research topics for our papers! I've never had full freedom like that in a course before so I enjoyed getting to branch out on my own. for Robinson Crusoe, I did a character analysis on his rise to power using religion as a front, and my second paper was about queer life parallels in Frankenstein, and omg I had soooo much fun writing that one!! definitely my best piece of work to date :) (and big thanks to my bf for helping proofread it 🩷)

psych: a bit boring tbh :/ mostly because my prof just read off the slides and there wasn't much that really surprised me. we had to get some research participation credits though and I got deceived in 2 of them so I guess I'm just really good at doing exactly what they want and following directions 😌

stats: my other favourite this semester, tied with english 💖 I was a little worried at the start of this course, having just switched to a stats major with no previous stats experience, but it was a breeze and the concepts all made sense and I'm very happy with how it went overall! we had to do a few group projects though, but only 1 of them was bad in terms of group members :)

extra curriculars!: I recently became more involved in one of the clubs on campus and I'm excited to help foster a welcoming space to connect people and make new friends and host events that people are interested in! I've never been on an exec team before, but I'm excited to do my part ✨

[matthewhillstudiovi]

Locking in the topic

I have decided to lock in my topic of the expectations of masculinity on men (across time). I did a bit more contextual research and have also looked into music to analyse lyrics and see how men are speaking about their struggles with expectation.

What made me hesitant to choose this topic is that it feels very controversial in our current socio-cultural setting. 

I think people assume as soon as you are creating a resource to empower men your goal is to disempower women. Which is not correct thinking at all. I think if we can empower men to become better this will also lift women up too. 

I spoke to many of my friends outside of the design studio setting. I spoke about making a publication about the expectations of masculinity. And it was strange how a lot of the women I spoke to about this suggested against it or didn’t really want to comment on it at all.

I said my other option was corruption. They said things like “Umm I like the other idea.”

It was strange in a sense I was feeling a pressure and expectation as a man to avoid understanding the male experience and expectations which lead to negative outcomes. 

This kind of made me feel like this was important to study and research. I felt a sense that I should not abandon this topic because someone needs to bring a voice to these issues that aren’t politically correct to speak about. I saw an article where a psychologist suggested we talk about the youth mens suicide rate in New Zealand but we do not back trace and look at where the source of the problem comes from. 

I also felt on a personal level that there was an expectation that these were insignificant problems in society. It felt that if I work on this project it may even make me look weak as a man. As a man there is an expectation not to analyse male problems because they demonstrate your incompetence and insecurity to handle difficulty. 

If we are often encouraged not to explore what is limiting men in modern times how can we progress forward? 

[nikitafiber]

Questions of the Week 4/11/23

1.) Where do your ideas come from?

My ideas are usually derived from issues that I am currently dealing with, or topics that are relevant to me at the time. Until this question, I never truly realized the strength of correlation between my life current events or struggles and the art that I make in fibers class. I think that this theme is very much limited to the fiber classes I have taken. This is because of the way that the assignments are structured, with very little restriction, but enough guidance to not be completely lost or confused. I appreciate how quickly ideas are able to come to me with this structure.

For example, last semester when I made my uterus piece, I was inspired by the topic that was being heavily discussed obviously within the United States, but also in my political science class. We needed to meet a quota of 15 participation points to get an A in the class, regardless of our grade in the class. Close to the end of the semester, I had 10 points, and the professor had an opportunity where we could have a private discussion about a topic of her choosing. She chose a debate on the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. We talked about it and even within the context of class, this topic was exceptionally relevant. Invested in public health, I hold strong feelings in support of the right to choose and maintain bodily autonomy, as the research shows that having access to safe (legalized) abortions reduce the amount of health risks associated with child birth. Though it is a "moral" issue to many, it is a medical procedure that has scientific backing for its purpose and decreases the prevalence of maternal mortality and is actually safer than child birth in the United States. Because of this, I think that the Kalamkari piece I made reflects this importance and the burden placed upon our society now that the right to safe abortions is not longer protected everywhere. This is especially relevant in the state of Texas, where healthcare access and patient care are already limited, but are now further limited, specifically in terms of negatively affecting people who mostly identify as women.

Another example is the recent pill bottle soft sculpture. I was very much influenced by the recent stimulant shortage that has greatly affected people with ADHD diagnoses. In response to this, there have been some policy changes that further limit accessibility to an already hard to get medication, worsening an already difficult situation for those who need stimulants. I think people have poor perception surrounding mental health, medications for mental health, and in particular stimulants. With the cute prompt, I feel like bringing awareness to these medications is very beneficial, as these can literally save people's lives. Amongst this dilemma, I saw some mentions on social media and reflected upon things I have heard in the past about ADHD. Many people who do not understand the full extent of the problems associated with ADHD, greatly reduce how detrimental it can be to a person. I have heard: "everyone has a little bit of ADHD", "I feel so ADHD right now", "people with ADHD just want stimulants", "stimulants make you smarter", etc. But the thing is that, yes everyone will have lapses in attention and focus (this is part of being human) but ADHD goes beyond lacking in focus or feeling hyperactive. The symptoms that are often unrealized include: confusion and disorganization, emotion dysregulation, executive dysfunction, time blindness, sensory processing disorder, racing and constant intrusive thoughts, and feelings of inferiority. These invisible symptoms are often hard to describe to people who are not suffering with the same woes, and as selfish humans, it is hard to imagine the perspective of another person. I think by working to decrease the stigma that surrounds mental health and treatment for mental health, those that are suffering and have the means to seek help can work to seek help.

2.) What role does beauty play in contemporary art?

Beauty is conventionally associated with femininity and soft elegance. However, I think beauty is highly dependent on a viewers perception or bias towards topics or art works. This is because not everyone's perception of beauty aligns with the conventional definition of the word. I think that in terms of conventionality, contemporary art has strayed away from this towards a more loose definition of beauty that is able to account for a wider array of work. it is also able to encompass a diversified outlook on life. Allowing representation of other races, cultures, and beliefs to be highlighted and well received by the public. With this expansion, these concepts that were/ are not largely held become more normalized within society and garner better reception.

[samuelasche]

First Artifact - IFE Research Proposal

Research Question: What is the relationship between demographic factors such as race and income/economic status when it comes to access to healthcare in the United States?

Working Title: Access to Quality Healthcare: Low Income and Minority Communities

Project Summary: In my project, the topic that I want to research is access to healthcare in the United States. Specifically, I want to learn more about the challenges of being a minority or growing up in poverty and how that can make access to healthcare even more challenging. While people are usually quick to come up with what they think is a solution, I know that the healthcare system is much more complicated, which is why I want to learn more details about the challenges first. Some specifics that I would like to research are which demographics specifically lack access to quality healthcare, and why those specific demographics cannot escape a cycle of struggle. Playing off that last detail, I also want to research proposals for solutions to the healthcare system in the United States that would benefit everyone and provide a fair chance to all people regardless of their race or economic status. Some key terms that come up frequently from my research are life expectancy, mortality, economic status, poverty, financial instability, out-of-pocket costs, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Some questions that I am going to use to guide my research are:

What demographic(s) in the United States would benefit the most from universal healthcare or more accessible healthcare?

What is the relationship between race and access to healthcare?

How does income affect access to healthcare?

Why is healthcare so expensive in the United States?

How could the government do more to help those that struggle with being able to afford quality healthcare?

How does the quality of healthcare in the United States compare to that of other countries?

What specific problems make it difficult to obtain proper healthcare?

4. Reason for choosing topic: For most of my childhood, my mom was a single mother, and she did not receive much financial help from my dad even though he was legally obligated to help. My mom worked tirelessly to give us a good life, but medical expenses for my sister and I were challenging to pay even with the plan provided to my mom by her employer. As healthcare costs were something that my family struggled with growing up, I have always been interested in learning about ways to solve the healthcare crisis and become more knowledgeable about the topic.

My aunt, who I was always close with growing up, worked in the healthcare industry, and she made good money but was not particularly wealthy. Even being someone who worked in the industry, she still struggled to pay off her bills when it came to medical expenses. Growing up, I have watched so many kind and hard-working families fall into thousands of dollars of credit card debt simply because of insurmountable costs.

5. One of the biggest challenges that I have faced so far in my research is understanding the different government healthcare programs that already exist in the United States such as Medicare and Medicaid. I know the basics of each system, but many of the online articles I have read go into detail about the programs, and I get lost in the sea of medical and financial terms. Although, I believe that with more research this will not be an issue.

Another worry that I have about my project is that the topic is too broad. I think that to find more valuable information when I am researching, I need to narrow down the questions to find articles that specifically answer questions about specific information. My research-guiding questions have helped me a lot, but I think that I underestimated the degree of specificity that is required for such a popular topic like healthcare.

My comments: In my previous English classes, I had completed assignments that are somewhat similar to this, but I had never created a proposal that is so in-depth. This proposal helped me properly prepare for the essay and visualize all of my ideas in an organized manner.

[interships-ulead]

4 Strategies for Handling Online Internship Interview Questions

When you first dreamed of starting a new career, your biggest concern was how to get professional experience. Now that you're well on entering the corporate world, a new problem is acing online internship interviews.

The good news is that you'll be just fine in most interview settings with the right preparation. But what about challenging interview questions that are tricky to prepare? Some problematic questions may be ones you didn't prepare for, while others will knock you off balance. Not to worry! I have come up with the best strategies for fielding these unpaid or paid online interview questions.

4 mantras for responding to tricky interview questions

There is no one-size-fits-all formula for brilliantly responding to tough interview questions. Different strategies will work best for different situations. Since you will be appearing for the first time, you can employ these strategies to get a work-from-home internship. 

Read through these strategies, and take action on them before you're in the hot seat. Let's dig in :

1. Count on your resume

One of the challenging interview questions isn't a question at all. It's likely the first thing an interviewer says after you sit in their office: "Tell me about yourself."

It's easy to start talking about your family background, but experts state this is a common mistake. Employers seek information about your professional self, like career trajectory and what you are looking to learn from this online internship program. 

Instead of being verbose, use your resume as an outline to keep yourself on topic. Speak about your future plans and how this unpaid or paid internship will impact you. Also, explain your passion for your career field and why you are excited to be interviewing for the position. 

2. Explain how an online internship will improve your skills

"What do you consider your biggest weakness?" might be the interview question. Don't be afraid of acknowledging your weaknesses. Everyone has them, and it will look fake if you try to choose a positive "weakness," like public speaking or delegating tasks.

Rather, think carefully about which weakness you'll talk about before entering the online internship interview. Use a concrete example of what you're currently doing to enhance a skill you consider a weakness, like creating a new scheduling system for yourself if you struggle with time management. Experts believe that unpaid or paid internships offer an invaluable experience for students to get a taste of the corporate world.  

3. Do your investigation

This is the primary step before going for an interview. As a fresher, you need to research the company you want to apply for a work-from-home internship with a stipend to get an idea. The best way is to look for reviews from previous interns regarding their experience. In the interview, you may be asked to speak about the vision or mission of the company. 

4. Show off your flexibility

Since you are directly coming from college and might not experience flexibility in the corporate world. Not to worry, you can tell your interviewer about the group project during your college days. Employers want to know that their interns can communicate, compromise if needed, and come to a resolution without negatively impacting the successful progress of work. Moreover, employers are looking for new hires who can resolve their conflicts through problem-solving skills and good communication. 

Speaking about flexibility, ULead offers a paid online internship for students to upskill themselves while reinventing learning and transforming lives with us. Embark on a fulfilling journey to experience, create, nurture and carry out multiple aspects of what makes our organization click, right from sales, to marketing in various segments. Leadership is the most sought-after skill by all companies, and Ulead is the place to be if you see yourself as a corporate leader in the future.

Ready to land your dream job online internship?

You've come this far now, don't let challenging interview questions stand in your way. You're not on your own as you prepare for interviews. ULead is here to make you industry ready. Empower students to become industry-ready through courses and internships. We are looking for spirited individuals who want to challenge how the system works. We are on the same page if you believe that exceptional and well-rounded education is the way to change the world.

[ulead]

4 Strategies for Handling Online Internship Interview Questions

When you first dreamed of starting a new career, your biggest concern was how to get professional experience. Now that you're well on entering the corporate world, a new problem is acing online internship interviews.

The good news is that you'll be just fine in most interview settings with the right preparation. But what about challenging interview questions that are tricky to prepare? Some problematic questions may be ones you didn't prepare for, while others will knock you off balance. Not to worry! I have come up with the best strategies for fielding these unpaid or paid online interview questions.

4 mantras for responding to tricky interview questions

There is no one-size-fits-all formula for brilliantly responding to tough interview questions. Different strategies will work best for different situations. Since you will be appearing for the first time, you can employ these strategies to get a work-from-home internship. 

Read through these strategies, and take action on them before you're in the hot seat. Let's dig in :

1. Count on your resume

One of the challenging interview questions isn't a question at all. It's likely the first thing an interviewer says after you sit in their office: "Tell me about yourself."

It's easy to start talking about your family background, but experts state this is a common mistake. Employers seek information about your professional self, like career trajectory and what you are looking to learn from this online internship program. 

Instead of being verbose, use your resume as an outline to keep yourself on topic. Speak about your future plans and how this unpaid or paid internship will impact you. Also, explain your passion for your career field and why you are excited to be interviewing for the position. 

2. Explain how an online internship will improve your skills

"What do you consider your biggest weakness?" might be the interview question. Don't be afraid of acknowledging your weaknesses. Everyone has them, and it will look fake if you try to choose a positive "weakness," like public speaking or delegating tasks.

Rather, think carefully about which weakness you'll talk about before entering the online internship interview. Use a concrete example of what you're currently doing to enhance a skill you consider a weakness, like creating a new scheduling system for yourself if you struggle with time management. Experts believe that unpaid or paid internships offer an invaluable experience for students to get a taste of the corporate world.  

3. Do your investigation

This is the primary step before going for an interview. As a fresher, you need to research the company you want to apply for a work-from-home internship with a stipend to get an idea. The best way is to look for reviews from previous interns regarding their experience. In the interview, you may be asked to speak about the vision or mission of the company. 

4. Show off your flexibility

Since you are directly coming from college and might not experience flexibility in the corporate world. Not to worry, you can tell your interviewer about the group project during your college days. Employers want to know that their interns can communicate, compromise if needed, and come to a resolution without negatively impacting the successful progress of work. Moreover, employers are looking for new hires who can resolve their conflicts through problem-solving skills and good communication. 

Speaking about flexibility, ULead offers a paid online internship for students to upskill themselves while reinventing learning and transforming lives with us. Embark on a fulfilling journey to experience, create, nurture and carry out multiple aspects of what makes our organization click, right from sales, to marketing in various segments. Leadership is the most sought-after skill by all companies, and Ulead is the place to be if you see yourself as a corporate leader in the future.

Ready to land your dream job online internship?

You've come this far now, don't let challenging interview questions stand in your way. You're not on your own as you prepare for interviews. ULead is here to make you industry ready. Empower students to become industry-ready through courses and internships. We are looking for spirited individuals who want to challenge how the system works. We are on the same page if you believe that exceptional and well-rounded education is the way to change the world.

[wordsnstuff]

Guide to Writing Dark Fantasy

Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlist || Work In Progress

–

What Is “Dark” Fantasy?

Dark Fantasy subscribes to the tropes and conventions of fantasy, while mixing in elements of the horror, thriller, and sometimes dystopia. Loosely, the magical elements of fantasy take a gloomier, more frightening turn. Dark fantasy is not simply “fantasy, but make it sexy or gory”. (I’m talking to those who cite Game of Thrones as an example of the genre.)

Yes, a lot of authors choose to incorporate heavier subject matter into dark fantasy stories, but things like rape and copious amounts of gore and death are not genre-defining. Darkness exists in every adult story, even if it’s only in symbolism, but the darkness in this sub-genre specifically persists throughout each scene and coats every element. This includes character development, plot development, world building, etc. 

Death Still Has to Mean Something

Something you have to understand about dark fantasy is that death can be a tool, but the nature of the genre shouldn’t make it any less impactful. When a side character or an extra gets killed, it should affect the reader emotionally, even if death is very common. If the death isn’t going to surprise them, it should unease or upset the reader. Death should never serve the purpose of filling space. 

Incorporate The Horrific

A lot of dark fantasy authors and writers have trouble or fail to incorporate the dark elements in a rounded, even manner. A lot of authors go for the “show the reader something undoubtedly tragic or traumatizing and the tone will endure” or the “if I sporadically kill characters for no apparent reason throughout the plot, the reader will stay disturbed and none will be the wiser”. 

The Villain Is The Key

The antagonist must be complex and compelling, and you have to use them well. Dark fantasy is a genre which depends on a fantastic villain or antagonist. It’s wise to create an antagonist whom the reader can understand, but who is severely misguided or obviously facing their own demons. Stories with a standard “I’m evil because my mommy didn’t love me” or “The world has been unkind to me so let there be fire” villain is outdated and, at this point, you have all the opportunity in the world to do better. 

If there’s one place where you should invest your creativity, make it the antagonist. 

The Darkness Is In Everything

Incorporating horrific things into fantasy is what makes this genre, true, but it has to be a consistent effort and an author must play the long-game. The darkness has to penetrate your word choice, the way you deliver new information in the text, the way you build up to important events, etc. The horror shouldn’t just spurt out every couple of chapters. You want to create a dark atmosphere, and an atmosphere must stretch beyond one or two scenes here and there.

Flawed vs. Unlikeable

This is a major downfall of a lot of dark fantasy works. It’s difficult to create a character whose flaws are so integral to the storytelling without making them unlikeable, but if you don’t toe this line carefully, your readers will put the story down. Yes, the character must be flawed and complex, and there are no heroes in the situation, but if there’s nobody to have hope for, then the reader will abandon the story. Nobody wants to sit and watch something that is sad and frustrating for the sake of depressing themselves. Well, some do, but not enough to convince someone there’s a market for your story.

Common Struggles

~ How do you craft a dark fantasy ending?... Not all pessimistic stories have to have a pessimistic ending. You can give your characters a positive outcome (or even just somewhat positive) without sacrificing the work you’ve done to maintain the genre’s tone and message. Most dark fantasy is about topics that are larger than the story itself, such as equality (in many aspects), existence, freedom vs. security, society vs. individuality, etc. Dark fantasy tends to branch off from the typical fantasy in terms of messaging because incorporating darker aspects of reality forces the reader to face harsher truths. Make your ending about what you want the reader to walk away with, and you should have no problem figuring out how to do it. 

~ How do you warn readers of possible triggers in non-fanfiction works?... Simply put, market your story honestly. Disclose any especially dark elements, and when advertising on platforms such as social media, perhaps provide an official disclaimer. The manner in which you warn readers of possible triggers is up to your own and whatever marketing team you have’s discretion.

~ How do you research dark topics while writing?... With purpose, caution, and practicality. I see a lot of posts that cover very tiny details that may go into fantasy, and while I encourage research of all kinds for every genre, I think fantasy is one where writers can get so caught up in getting every minute detail researched and recorded that they get burned out with their own ideas before they even put pen to paper. Research what you missed, then find holes as you write, and then do the rest of the research for the second draft once you’re finished with the first. Avoid burnout that comes with extensive research beforehand.

~ How do common fantasy tropes interact with darker aspects of the sub-genre?... There’s a lot of ways you can mix typical fantasy with typical horror/thriller and come out with dark fantasy. The main fantasy characteristics that persist in dark fantasy are setting and the way magic systems are executed in the story. Secondly, I see a lot of similarities in general world building. Where it deviates, I think, is in character development, plot structure, plot development, and messaging. The smaller events tend to be more mature, the character arcs turn more raw, the characters themselves are more flawed, and the plot develops in a much less linear fashion. The messages are heavier because the content is heavier. 

Other Resources

Resources For Fantasy/Mythology Writers

20 Mistakes To Avoid in Fantasy

Guide to Writing Fantasy

Guide to Story Researching

Commentary on Social Issues In Writing

On Writing About Sensitive Topics

Resources For Writing Royalty

Dark Quotes & Prompts

Angst Prompts

31 Days of Character Development : May 2018 Writing Challenge

Suspenseful Prompts

Sad Prompts

31 Days of World Building : August 2018 Writing Challenge

31 Days of Plot Development : January 2019 Writing Challenge

31 Days of Horror : October 2019 Writing Challenge

Resources For Creating Characters

Giving Your Protagonists Negative Traits

Writing Good Villains

Showing Vulnerability Without Death

Giving Characters Flaws

Creating Villains

Flipping Character Traits On Their Head

“Male characters are more relatable”

Tips on Character Motivations

Tips on Character Consistency

Resources For Plot Development

Guide To Plot Development

How To Write A Good Plot Twist

How To Foreshadow

Plot Structures

Describing Setting

Resources For Worldbuilding

Guide To Political World Building

Creating Diverse Otherworld Characters

Tips on Creating Magic Systems

Tips on Introducing Political Backstory

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : High Middle Ages & Renaissance

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1600s

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1700s

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1800s

Tips on Writing Fight Scenes

Tips on Writing Chase Scenes

How To Make The Journey Interesting

Tips For Horror Writers

Tips on Writing Pyschological Thrillers

10 Mistakes to Avoid in Horror

–

Masterlist | WIP Blog

If you enjoy my blog and wish for it to continue being updated frequently and for me to continue putting my energy toward answering your questions, please consider Buying Me A Coffee, or pledging your support on Patreon, where I offer early access and exclusive benefits for only $5/month.

Shoutout to my $15+ patrons, Jade Ashley and Douglas S.!

[aspoonofsugar]

Your Power...Your Theme

This post is born because of @waywardtravelerfart asking about a comparison between Semblances (Rwby) and Quirks (BNHA).

In general, I am not a hardcore BNHA fan, though, so I decided to drag other magic systems in this comparison.

So, I will be comparing...

1) Semblances:

2) Quirks:

3) Nen (HxH):

4) Abilities (BSD):

5) Magic (WHA):

Body and Soul

1) & 3)

Pyrrha: Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt you were being watched without knowing that someone was there? With practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals.

Nen and Semblances are very similar ideas. Both have their root in the concept of aura aka life force and are trained through specific exercises that are based on martial arts.

More importantly, they are manifestations of a person’s soul.

This is why in both series they are linked to one’s individuality:

Ren: A common philosophy is that a warrior’s Semblance is a part of who they are.

And both Nen and Semblances grow and evolve with the person.

At the same time, both stories focus not only on the soul, but also on the body.

In HxH Gon and Killua must train their bodies just as much as their nen. No matter how much stronger their auras become, they would still be left defenseless if they forget about basic training and if they do not take care of their bodies.

Similarly, Huntsmen and Huntresses in Rwby have both Semblances and Weapons:

By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting.

Weapons are linked to personalities just like Semblances are:

Ruby: Just weapons? They’re an extension of ourselves! They’re a part of us! Oh, they’re so cool.

It is only through the combination of weapons and semblances that one becomes strong and whole.

In order to experience humanity to its fullest, one needs both a soul:

And a body:

In short, Semblances and Nen are representative of the Soul. They are a physical projection of it. Moreover, they need to be completed by the Body to properly work.

4)

BSD abilities are similar because they clearly symbolize characters’ coping mechanisms.

They are linked to people’s personalities and their effects are highly variegated and impossible to explain through biology alone (for example, a character is able to materialize a whole room in another dimension).

At the same time, they seem to have some physical properties.

For example, it is possible to create artificial abilities and to implant them into people. The process has yet to be properly explained, though.

This can be compared to the research on aura made in Rwby.

That said, this specific research is framed negatively by the narrative because it is an attempt to control what it should not be (a person’s soul).

Similary, in BSD, such experiments are criticized as well because they violate human rights and are an attempt to weaponize abilities, which is an ongoing topic explored by the story.

2)

Quirks are instead framed as the result of biological evolution. This creates an interesting inversion compared to the other stories. Quirks are not simply physical representations of a character’s psychology, but they are a part of the reason why that character develops a specific coping mechanism.

Toga is attracted to blood because her Quirk is about drinking blood, so she naturally likes it.

Shigaraki’s destruction traumatizes him because it leads to his family’s death.

Touya’s weak constitution makes his power difficult to use, hence he develops self-hurting tendencies.

5)

Finally, Magic in WHA is something that exists outside the characters.

It is not something people are born with, but an art they can master through study and dedication.

Its origin is still unknown, but it is explained that it works thanks to specific materials:

And even human blood can be used to strengthen it:

In short, Magic is a human art that makes use of specific natural resources and a specific knowledge to create several effects. In a sense, its logic is similar to both art and programming. It is similar to art because the witches need to exercise on drawing and to be creative on their approaches to things. It is similar to programming because they must use what is basically a specific language made of symbols to create different effects.

So, Magic is not linked to a person’s soul in the way other magical systems are, but a character’s personality still emerges from the kind of magic they specialize in. This is something unavoiable... after all this is how personality works in real life as well... we all have different approaches to problems and beliefs that will emerge in our art and in our jobs.

In conclusion, all these magical systems are connected in different ways to characters’ personalities, to their flaws and to their symbolic roles in the narrative.

In these metas, there are some examples of how this happens for HxH, Rwby, BSD and WHA.

Power and Privilege

3) & 5)

Nen and Magic are similar:

With enough training, both powers can be used by everyone.

However, both HxH society and WHA society choose to keep them secret because the damage that could come from sharing this knowledge is potentially devastating.

That said, both stories also show how there is hypocrisy behind this stance.

HxH does so in an indirect way.

Nen is supposed to be secret, so that dangerous people can’t use its power for wrong reasons.

However, many hunters are not really moral people. If anything many are violent and ready to kill. The exam itself encourages these tendencies since it does not punish murderers. Moreover, it turns out that very dangerous people already know about nen:

WHA explores this theme more directly:

The secret behind magic creates inequality. Magic could be used to help much more people, but it is limited by the law that imposes witches to keep the secret and forbids them from using magic to heal.

The result is an unjust society and a paradox. Isn’t there another way to use magic that it is less elitarian?

2) Similarly, quirks create inequality in BNHA. However, the mechanisms behind it are slightly different.

Not only people without quirks are discriminated, but also people with specific powers are considered less than others.

This happens either because the power is considered weak or lame or because it is considered a villain power.

In other words, BNHA society nurtures a simplicistic and black and white vision of quirks and people. This leads to some being discriminated for their quirks and to others being excused of everything because of their abilities.

4) In BSD, we have a similar yet partly opposite situation.

Ability users are mostly dehumanized and weaponized by society.

Basically the series explores how society makes use of its more vulnerable members and objectifies them.

So, in BSD having an ability is not really a synomim of privilege, but it is rather something that can set you apart and make you a victim of your country or your organization.

Because of this,the characters struggle to both accept their powers, but also not to be defined by it.

1) Finally, the case of RWBY is interesting because even if society is founded on privilege and inequity, semblances are not really a pivotal part of it.

It is much more common for people to be discriminated because of their bodies (like the Faunus) or their social status than for their semblances. Surely, cases like those exist, but they are not particularly explored by the story.

This might be because semblances are just one of many factors that determine a personal’s stance in society. Moreover, it is not even that clear how much common people know about semblances and aura. I would not say it is exactly a secret, especially because semblances can manifest themselves in a variety of situations. Still, it seems to me that they are mostly aknowledged and accepted by common people, but not exactly pursued or studied.

Symbolically, semblances are linked to an ancient magic that has been forgotten by people. This could tie with why some people, especially in Atlas, have been dismissive of them to an extent. Whitley dismisses his own and is not interested in developing it, while Watts is one of the few characters who fight without a semblance.

It might very well be that human technology and dust make so many different effects possible that a semblance, even if important for a warrior’s own strength and individuality, is not really the only factor that determines the place of a person in society.

In conclusion, all these power systems are linked to privilege in different ways. They are used to explore social inequality or parts of the society that are either repressed or not aknowledged.

Choices and limits

1) 2) & 4)

Quirks, Abilities, Semblances and their limits are not chosen. You are born with them and the most you can do is to try and overcome the limitations or to come up with clever ways to use your power.

You can train your Quirk, so that it becomes stronger.

When it comes to Abilities instead, characters usually must train to control what are potentially dangerous powers.

There are also abilities that help other people to control their powers and modify how these powers work. For example, there is a character whose ability is about summoning a fighting avatar. However, to do so, she needs to be called on a specific phone and it is actually the one calling that commands the avatar. Still, thanks to the influence of the above mentioned ability, she becomes able to summon the avatar at will and does not need the phone anymore.

Finally, in the case of Semblances, you need to meditate and to train your semblance, so that it can evolve. At the same time, though, semblance evolution can happen also because of specifical psychological conditions.

For example, Ren’s Tranquility both activates and evolves not because of physical training, but because of stress (the first time) and emotional growth (the second). This is fitting because his ability has mostly to do with emotions, so it is telling that it evolves as he grows emotionally rather than physically.

Ruby’s semblance is instead a physical one since she is super fast. So it is fitting that it mostly manifests and evolves with her training at using it.

Finally, when it comes to semblances, you do not really choose how they evolve and what new effects you gain. They are mostly an unconscious part of yourself that grows with you.

3) & 5)

The kind of magic you specialize in and the nen power you are gonna have are things one chooses.

To be more specific, they are influenced from one’s talents, but then they evolve according to a person’s choice.

For example, the protagonist Gon has an aura which is particularly good to strengthen things, so he chooses to use it to strengthen his punch. Moreover, he really likes Jankenpon, so he comes up with a power that uses this game. It is a technique that creates different effects depending on what he chooses to “play” (scissors, rock or paper).

Similarly, Coco is good at drawing straight lines and this makes her good with basic magic, that she uses in original ways because of her thinking outside the box. Her teacher Qifrey instead specializes in water magic because he used to be scared of water when he was little and wanted to overcome this fear.

At the same time, both nen users and witches must face limitations.

Nen has limitations that are self-imposed and decided by the users.

Magic has limitations that are imposed by society and codified through law.

Nen works with the idea that the stronger the limitation you set, the stronger will be your power. Similarly, if you sacrifice something, you can obtain a more powerful effect.

For example, another character called Kurapika creates chains with different powers. One of his chains has the limitation to only work on the members of a specific criminal group. Moreover, if Kurapika breaks this rule, he’ll lose his life. Since the sacrifice Kurapika has decided is pretty extreme, that chain is basically impossible to break.

Of course, limitations do not need to be so extreme. The protagonist’s jankenpon is limited by the fact he says out loud the name of his technique and takes time to use it (both goes against him, since it gives his opponent time to prepare). In this way the power gets stronger.

Magic is a very dangerous force, so it is prohibited to use magic on people’s bodies. This includes the idea that you can’t heal bodies directly or that you can’t change the way you look. It also forbids people from using blood to make magic stronger and to put glyphs on a person’s skin.

These limitations challenge the characters and force them to think outside the box. For example, Coco wants to save her mom who became a stone. The best way to do so is  to use magic on her, but this is prohibited hence Coco keeps brainstorming about how she can do it and even thinks about breaking the law multiple times.

In conclusion, powers are often linked to the self and the degree of control and choices characters have on them is symbolic of which part of the self we are talking about.

In the case of semblances and abilities, they mirror an unconscious part.

A Quirk is a biological factor that influences one’s self instead and that everyone can try ot develop in a way they like.

Finally, nen and magic are a conscious part of the self that still mirrors unconscious tendencies.

Not only that, but abilties have limits that come from either outside the person or inside them.

POWER SYSTEMS AND THE FIVE KINDS OF CONFLICT

In stories, there are at least five types of conflict.

1) Man vs Self

2) Man vs Society

3) Man vs Man

4) Man vs Nature

5) Man vs God

The magic systems we explored are linked to at least three of these five types.

Man vs Self

Supernatural abilities are linked to a person’s interiority and personality. Often they are representative of the character’s flaw and their limits can be overcome only by the person’s growth.

Man vs Society

Power systems end up being influenced and influence fictional societies.

They can represent privilege or some wrongdoing in society itself.

Alternatively, they can be limited by society’s rules and imposed laws.

Man vs Man

It is not uncommon to have special powers used in fights. In this case, they become symbolic ways to explore characters’ relationships, themes and different value systems.

This is something that BSD, HxH and Rwby do a lot. WHA has had less fights as for now, but it is definately something that has come up and will come up more in the future. Finally, I am not too much into BNHA to comment on the series, but I would be surprised if it is not the same there as well.

In conclusion, I do not really have much to say on the onthology of powers in different narrative worlds and tbh I do not think this is really what many writers think about when they design them. I think what writers focus on is how to make interesting powers that convey a character’s personality, can be used to explore the world and give life to entertaining fights.