#rebecca silverman

[mrdrhenwardhykle]

Some INSERT 25¢ TO CONTINUE Spoilers/themes out of context and portrayed by cursed images I found on the web pt.1(?)

Also I'm sick and my art style is in an ugly mood; ignore it.

[yumeka-sxf]

A chronological analysis on Twilight and Yor - Part 24

*This is part of an ongoing post series. If you missed the Introduction/Part 1, click here*

----------

When Twilight finds out that there's a bomb on the ship, he's at first torn about whether to intervene or not. This is an interesting situation for him because it's not a mission he was assigned to do, and intervening could run the risk of revealing himself to the SSS. But at the same time, not intervening and relying on the SSS being capable enough to take care of it, is risky, too.

If Twilight was the selfish, unfeeling spy he makes himself out to be, he would figure out a way to escape the ship with just himself, Yor, and Anya (of course he'd insist he's only taking them with him "for the mission"). He'd probably use one of the lifeboats like the eavesdropping assassin used, perhaps even contact WISE beforehand so they could pick him up. But we know that he's way too conscientious to let such a catastrophic event take place when he could have used his skills to prevent it. So, like his wife elsewhere on the ship, he makes the unselfish decision to help others even if it's a risk to himself. 

Later, Twilight has some final bouts of second-guessing regarding his decision when he picks up Anya at the daycare that night.

Rather than be proud of himself or even relieved that he was able to stop a potential crisis, he instead feels regret that he had to once again abandon his family…but his family is also part of his mission…so by averting the crisis, he saved them? But taking a vacation was also his mission, so does that mean his mission is to…not have a mission? Even I had trouble making sense of his thoughts here, but it's clear that the poor man still has a long way to go before he's not so unnaturally hung up about "missions." Rebecca Silverman on ANN neatly wraps up Twilight's cruise arc character development in an article here, to quote:

"…He wants to make sure the ship doesn't go down, but he also doesn't want to just abandon his child so he can go save it, and that's a distinction that hasn't been as clear in his mind before now. His little meltdown at the end is him fighting against the realization that this family isn't just a “mission” to him anymore; he's now a dad. This is beautifully shown when he catches Anya when she rolls off her bunk; not only is he attuned to her movements, but he cradles her for a moment instead of putting her down immediately. The smile on his face says that he cares, even if he's not comfortable with the idea."

Speaking of the aforementioned scene of Twilight catching Anya when she fell off the bunk bed, the anime adds this new footage of the early morning before the ship arrives at the resort island. Considering Twilight's doubts the night before, we see one of his rare, not-forced smiles, as he interacts with Anya.

Meanwhile, Yor is alone in her room treating her injuries. We know that she didn't sleep at all the night before since she was keeping watch over Olka's group the whole time. She then spent most of the following night in life or death struggles against various assassins, so she looks rightfully exhausted (and I'm sure the pain from her wounds disturbed what little time she was able to sleep).

While they wait for Yor at the island, Anya continues to show how much she has Twilight wrapped around her little finger – all she has to do is suggest that he's not acting like a "normal" dad would, and he immediately bursts into an awkward skip to try and prove to whoever's looking that, yes, he is just a dad having fun on vacation!

However, as soon as he realizes that Yor is there, his face reddens in embarrassment. He doesn't care if nearby strangers think he's acting like a silly, fun-loving dad, but it seems like he doesn't want Yor's view of him as a dignified, composed husband to be tarnished.

His look of concern when he notices that Yor's face is swollen is emphasized more in the anime…what could have been his first thought upon seeing that? However, when she tells him that despite City Hall's failed attempt to win over the couple, they were smiling in the end, he softens. Since the latter part of Yor's words here were not a lie, she was able to express them with genuine satisfaction, and Twilight picked up on her sincere feelings about the matter.

In fact, throughout their entire time on the island, Twilight gazes at Yor with more noticeable softness than he ever has before. From the aforementioned moment when she tells him that the couple were happy, to when she tells him how peaceful she feels watching Anya play with the sheep, and then at the very end of their excursion when he praises her for her hard work while carrying her and Anya back to the ship…Anya may have been right to call him out about missing Yor during the cruise. As I mentioned before, this is likely the longest time he's gone without seeing her since their "marriage," so this may be his subtle way of showing that he missed her.

At this point in the series, it's not hard to tell when Twilight's smile is his fake "Loid Forger" smile versus his real smile – Endo does a good job making the former look "forced," usually accompanied by his eyes being closed in a stiff squint to emphasize the phoniness, while in the latter case, his eyes are much more relaxed and his expression is more animated overall. Nightfall noticed this as well during her visit to the Forger house – how Twilight's real feelings seeped through the phony smile, particularly when his eyes relaxed.

Takuya Eguchi, Twilight's voice actor, also does a good job changing the pitch of his voice slightly when he's speaking as Loid Forger versus speaking his true feelings. If you compare how Twilight converses with Yor in this episode compared to, say, how he converses with Desmond during their encounter at Eden, the difference is very noticeable…even though, according to Twilight, both situations are "for the mission." In his mind, he shouldn't feel anything special for Yor compared to Desmond or anyone else he has to put on an act in front of. And yet, his voice and eyes convey otherwise.

It's been a while since the Forgers went on a family outing, so it was wonderful seeing them enjoy such a variety of activities together. What stood out to me the most as far as analyzing was Yor's difficulty riding the horse.

This may be more of a headcanon, but I feel like animals are uncomfortable around her because they can sense her insane physical strength even when she's not actively showing it. This could be why Kopi didn't put up any fight when she grabbed him, why all she had to do was glare at the German shepherd for him to run away, and why this horse doesn't want her riding him. It could also be why she's Bond's least favorite according to Endo in the fanbook. Also, Yor's fear of bugs makes sense since they're so tiny and quick, which makes them very difficult to take down from an assassinating perspective.

While Anya plays with the sheep at the petting zoo, Yor is finally able to fully relax for the first time in days, since she got the cruise assignment. She doesn't have to do anything in that moment besides watch Anya enjoying herself to the fullest in this lovely, peaceful little town. She tells Loid how peaceful she feels while also thinking to herself that she hopes this peace could last forever. Out of all the activities they did together, the reason this particular scene is so emphasized is because it perfectly portrays the reason Yor decided to keep being Thorn Princess back on the ship – so that children, whether her little brother Yuri, Anya, Gram, or whoever, can live freely and innocently in a peaceful world. And, when she expresses to Loid how peaceful she feels here, he says that he feels the same way.

As I just discussed, Twilight was not in "Loid Forger acting mode" here, so the reason he honestly agrees with her is because he's fighting for the same thing. Like I mentioned in Part 21, Twilight and Yor continue to do their ugly, thankless jobs in order to secure the peace of future generations.

When it's time for them to head back to the ship, Yor's exhaustion finally gets the best of her, forcing Twilight to carry both her and Anya in his arms on the way back. While he's a bit perturbed at first since some onlookers were snickering at him, it didn't take long for him to give into his feelings in that moment – namely, his genuine appreciation of Yor's sacrifice so that Anya could have a wonderful day with both parents. Though it's not a long scene, I think this is one of the most significant scenes for their relationship thus far (along with the post-Fiona date). Why is it so significant? Because there was no reason for Twilight to put on any Loid Forger acting in that moment, since he wasn't conversing with nor being scrutinized by anyone.

So why would he give that soft smile followed by such affectionate, comforting words as "お疲れ様/otsukaresama"? (this can be translated in many ways, but generally it's what you say to thank someone for their hard work). The answer is because it's something he truly felt...he knows all about being overworked and tired, yet Yor still made the effort to spend the day with them to make Anya happy. And, as her father (or "for the mission" in his language), he was grateful for that (now if only he knew the sacrifice she made on the larger scale!)

Many scenes in the cruise arc, as well as the resort island episode in particular, showcase that Twilight has a distinct relationship with both Yor and Anya, despite the fact that, in his mind, both relationships should be "fake." He's extremely casual with Anya, not just in his speech (more apparent in the Japanese version) and he doesn't feel any qualms about scolding her when necessary, being strict with her studies, or criticizing her weird little comments and actions that confuse him. The way he acts with Anya is more similar to how he acts with Franky than anyone else. But he's practically the opposite with Yor – despite her actions also confusing him at times, he never scolds, criticizes, or expresses disapproval of what she does. He also always speaks to her politely and, unlike most other people with whom he puts on his Loid Forger act, she's more often on the receiving end of his genuine smiles instead of his fake ones. It could be that because Anya is a child, he feels like he doesn't have to worry so much about acting in ways that would make her suspicious. Also because she's a child, she's less likely to take offense if he lets some of his negative emotions slip out. On the other hand, he knows from both the "post-Yuri's first visit" and "post-Fiona's first visit" instances that Yor has very sensitive self-esteem, so that could be why he's thoughtful about how he interacts with her, always speaking with courtesy and encouragement. He also knows the struggles she's had to go through in the past and how much she genuinely cares about Anya, which is another reason why she brings out his "softness" more often than anyone else.

In a way, Twilight's relationship with both Yor and Anya bring out a side of him that he may not realize he wants to strive for – with Anya, he can be relaxed and can drop the "nice guy" act in favor of being an exasperated but still caring father. And with Yor, he can become the polite, compassionate husband naturally, because he knows that many of her struggles and values are the same as his…he's realizing more and more about how much she sacrifices for others, and that can't help but resonate in him whenever he interacts with her. Perhaps one day he can become these personas and drop the "Loid Forger" and "Twilight" acts for good.

Continue to Part 25 ->

<- Return to Part 23

[yurimother]

Josei Yuri Manga 'She Loves Cook, and She Loves to Eat' Volume 2 Released

On March 21, Yen Press released the second volume of Sakaomi Yuzaki's slice of life Yuri series She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat (Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna).

The manga follows Nomoto, who likes to cook to destress. One day, she finds herself making more food than she can possibly eat by herself. And so, she invites her neighbor Kasuga over for an impromptu dinner date.

The publisher describes the second volume:

Kasuga and Nomoto promised to spend their Christmas and New Years together. Now, they find themselves learning more about each others families through the food sent by Nomotos mother. Cute character bento, salmon and rice, stollen, fruit sandwiches, roast beef... Nomoto and Kasuga warm up to each other over a cheerful holiday season. 

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat is serialized digitally by ASCII Media Work’s COMIC it. ASCII Media Works publishes three volumes of the series in Japanese.

A live-action television drama adaptation of the series aired from November to December 2022. It was broadcast for 10 episodes. Yui Matsusaki and Hiroyuki Nakata direct the drama. It stars Manami Higa and Emi Nishino.

The manga has received mostly positive reception, in 12 and 13th place in the 2021 and 2022 Next Manga Awards, respectively. Rebecca Silverman gave the second volume an overall rating of A- on Anime News Network, and Erica Friedman of Okazu awarded it a 9/10.

You can check out She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat Volume 2 today digitally and in paperback: https://amzn.to/3K9BtWs

Reading official releases helps support creators and publishers. YuriMother makes a small affiliate commission from sales to help fund future coverage.

[rassilonpod]

The Game of Rassilon 2024 Live show at Gallifrey One: MIracle on 34th Street is now live! It’s the annual Gallifrey One live show, but something’s missing: The Doctor! Join GM Riley Silverman, Bunsen (Michael Nixon), Red the Fraggle (special guest Emily Blake), Sweetums (Dan Peck), Jamie McCrimmon (special guest Rebecca McGlynn) and Fozzie Bear (Ben Paddon) to reassemble the Doctor through the power of holiday magic.

Listen now in your podcasting apparatus of preference!

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

RadioPublic

TuneIn

Pocket Casts

iHeartRadio

Subscribe on Android

RSS Feed

[okayto]

Mini-Review: Akuma Kun

Ichiro Umoregi is the second Akuma-kun – adopted by Shingo Umoregi as a little boy, Ichiro is meant to be carrying on his father's work of bringing about the utopic Millenium Kingdom. But Ichiro has a difficult relationship with his dad and despite the sometimes desperate attempts of his cousin Mephisto III, Ichiro just kind of trudges through life. But when a strange angel from his past appears, Ichiro is forced out of his torpor because sometimes the world really is worth preserving.

-or-

Akuma Kun, a boy raised by a demon, works with his half-human partner Mephisto III as paranormal investigators to solve various murder and mysteries.

Paranormal investigators? Right up my alley! This was pushed to me on Netflix and as per uzh I added it to my watchlist and ignored it for a while. I was definitely intrigued, but the art looked...odd. Not bad, but with some round heads and other features that put in in mind of styles popular before I was born, I figured I'd look into it another time.

Interesting art style, right? Not bad--let me be clear! But definitely distinct, and when I see something that appears to have roots several decades old, I often want to look it up and see what its backstory is, y'know?

Fast-forward a couple months later: I'm reading Anime News Network's best/worst end-of-year roundup, and Rebecca Silverman listed this anime as one of the top five "moments of the year," writing:

Shifting from Japanese folklore to Western religious lore, the story follows the second person to bear the title of Akuma-kun, the adopted son of the original. Shingo rescued Ichiro as a child, and he gives the impression of not being nearly as invested in his role as "Akuma-kun" as he perhaps ought to be. But as the series goes on, it becomes apparent that it's not that he doesn't care; it's that if he lets himself, he'll get lost in the role, and that means seeing the absolute worst that humans are capable of, over and over and over again.

Mentions of horror, investigation, supernatural, and a character who appears to be hiding under a gruff or apathetic exterior? Suddenly, it seemed like a good time to start watching. And then the moment I heard the main character's voice, absolutely marinading in calm apathy, I knew it was going to be good.

So, this is a new (2023) anime that apparently can act as a sequel to a 1989 anime of the same name, which was itself an adaptation of a 1960s-70s manga by the creator of Gegege no Kitaro, a classic series involving many yokai, and one which I've heard about but have thus far never managed to read or watch. The connection between the classic about Japanese ghouls/ghosts/creatures and Akuma-kun, which is more based (vaguely?) on Abrahamic mysticism, intrigued me.

The basis is this: every 10,000 years, a child, always called Akuma-kun, is born who will help usher in a period of peace between humans and demons. Our current Akuma-kun (whose non-prophecy name is Ichiro) is the adopted son of the previous one (Shingo, who starred in the 1989 series). He's assisted by his cousin-by-adoption, the half-human, half-demon Mephisto III.

Together, the two boys set up a supernatural detective/investigative agency, and that's when we get to see how good this series actually is.

Don't let the cartoony designs fool you, this stuff gets dark. While it's never particularly gory, there is blood, there is at least one off-screen-but-audible instance of ripping a heart out, etc. So as the viewer, we quickly realize that these kids are up against actual threats.

The cases cover things like demon possession, trying to use power beyond your control, and so forth. They're not mysteries the viewer can solve, but they're good at keeping you paying attention to learn the result, not drawing things out too long nor fixing everything too quickly.

The recurring characters are what makes or breaks it, however. Mephisto III takes everything seriously, understanding and worrying about what happens when normal humans come into contact with a demon. He looks like comic relief, and he can get a bit shouty, but at his core he's just a straightforward boy who wants to help people and is frustrated at his cousin's...lack of that.

Ichiro, the current Akuma-kun, is more of an enigma. He's clearly brilliant, book-smart with good recall and not particularly excitable. He also has absolutely no social graces and is frequently rude, not because he's mean or wants to be, but because he's incredibly blunt and, despite Mephisto's attempts to rein him in, has no concept of tact regarding delicate subjects and really doesn't care about learning. (And let's be real, that's a dream for many people in at least some situations.)

We know that Ichiro lived with demons for a while, and his relationship with his father, Shingo, the previous Akuma-kun, is strained despite Shingo appearing to be a perfectly nice and well-adjusted person. It takes the whole series to work out the details, which makes the ending feel like excellent payoff.

As the series goes on, it shows more and more of its worldbuilding, and it's just so intriguing. I want to know more about demons! And the demon world! And Ichiro's life with the pre-adoption! How'd he even get there? What is sexy ghoul Gremory's deal? She's so fun, can we get her history? What happens next?

Verdict

English dub? Yes! And like most dubs through Netflix, it's good. Everyone was excellently-cast; Mephisto's voice was exactly what I expected based on his performance, yet without being grating on the ears. And Ichiro/Akuma-kun's flat, unexcited voice was perfect. It would have been easy to take that voice and make it boring or monotone, but it's not: it does an excellent job from the moment you hear it conveying that this is a character who doesn't really get upset or display strong emotion, without making the character himself seem flat.

Visuals: Very nice! Not only is this a recent series, but I really liked the kinda-round, cartoony style. Like I mentioned above, as soon as I saw it I thought it originated in another time period, which it did, and there's something about older art style that appeals to me; maybe it's just a weird combination of nostalgia for things I did experience as a kid (the way Ichiro's mouth is drawn slightly droopy, is reminiscent of a lot of older American cartoons I watched) and a really strange nostalgia for anime I've never watched but which floated around when I was first entering fandom, names and pictures of things I'd never heard of, but which everyone older than me sure seemed to.

Worth watching? Yes, as long as you have a tolerance for paranormal murder investigations where people sometimes die and/or there's some blood splatters. I think it's really interesting, particularly because this kind of supernatural topic doesn't come up in anime a lot. The two minor downsides to it are:

It gives you enough information to understand, but there are probably some references or other context missed because of its connection to the 1989 Akuma-kun. Don't get me wrong, it's understandable and enjoyable regardless! But I did read the non-spoilery series review on Anime News Network before I watched, and I think having that context going in specifically understanding that Shingo was the previous Akuma-kun (and ran around with Mephisto's dad, who now cheerfully supports his son) was helpful context.

Netflix for some reason calls it Akuma Kun. Trying to recall, I think this is the only Japanese honorific used in the English dub, so I assume this was a stylistic choice to allow them to keep the same name/title as Japanese. But to people who have some familiarity with honorifics, it's weird to see it written like Kun is a second name, like "Mary Ann."

Where to watch (USA, as of February 2024): Netflix

Click my “reviews” tag below or search “mini review” on my blog to find more!

[toughpaperround]

911 Cast Bios

Here's a list of them in one place, in order of appearance in 9-1-1 (fox, later abc). I choose them based on characters I enjoy, or where there are interesting connections / factoids to be found in their bios.

Gavin Stenhouse (The Priest)

Mariette Hartley (Patricia Clark, Abby's mother)

Claudia Christian (LAFD Capt. Maynard)

Debra Christofferson (Sue, Dispatcher)

Grasie Mercedes (Beth, in prenatal yoga class, 1x07)

Rebecca Wisocky (Marjorie, in lift crash, 1x09)

Connor Trinneer (bomb squad, 2x01)

Bryan Safi (Josh Russo, dispatcher)

Romi Dias (Chief Miranda Williams)

Ana Mercedes (Abuela Isabel)

Terri Hoyos (Aunt Pepa)

Christine Estabrook (Gloria, Dispatcher)

Devin Kelley (Shannon Diaz)

Wes Brown (Mounted Police Officer)

Rick Chambers (Dwight, newsreader)

Tara Karsian (Ruth)

Lawrence Pressman and Francis X. McCarthy (Mitchell & Thomas)

Romy Rosemont & Daniel Roebuck (Lola & Norman Peterson)

Brian Thompson (Capt. Gerrard)

Lou Ferrigno Jr (firefighter Tommy)

Brian Hallisay (Doug Kendall)

Julie Oullette (Blair, Elf Helper)

Marsha Warfield (Toni Wilson)

Danny Nucci (LAPD detective)

Sasha Roiz (LAPD Det. Ransone)

Paula Marshall (Helena Diaz)

George DelHoyo (Ramon Diaz)

Pepi Sonuga (Athena Carter, flashback in 3x07)

Nicole Delgado (Maynard, flashback in 3x07)

Eddie McGee (Frank the therapist)

Jack McGee (Red the retired firefighter, 3x16)

Deborah May (Cindy, 3x16)

Rumer Willis (Georgia, train Vic, 3x18)

Brooke Shields (counsellor, 3x18)

Dee Wallace (Mrs Margaret Buckley)

Gregory Harrison (Mr Phillip Buckley)

Colin McCalla (Connor, Buck's friend)

Chelsea Kane (Kameron, Connor's wife)

Aaron Staton (Daniel Buckley)

Laith Wallschleger (133 medic, 6x15)

Mark Lawson (pilot, 7x01)

Kathryn Boswell & Chris Gartin (hot-tub couple, 7x01)

Mercedes Colon (Ship Captain, 7x01-3)

Rick Cosnett (cruise crew, 7x01-3)

Eddie Jemison (cruise ship doc, 7x02-3)

Jesse Palmer & Joey Graziadei (7x04)

Richard Brooks (Chief Simpson, s7)

Exie Booker (Carl, 7x06)

Malcolm-Jamal Warner (Amir, s7)

Veronica Falcón (Cllr Ortiz, s7)

John Brotherton (Tim Nash, 7x08)

Tony Amendola (Herman, 7x08)

Paul Nobrega (Monty the Beekeeper, 8x01)

Hotshots group, s8: Callum Blue (Brad); Justin Taite (#1); Morgan West (director) & 1st AD

Bee-nado airplane gang: Cindy Chavez (Capt Dominguez); Devin McGee (Co-pilot); Bayley Corman (Tia); (Mr & Mrs Grandparent);

Adela Paez (Nurse Camila, 8x03 etc)

In draft ofc. Do check the updated OG post if you're looking at a reblog:

Finnigan and Silverman (divorcing couple, 8x06)

Zach Tinker (Officer Sparks, LAPD, 8x07)

Kelvin Han Yee

Glenn Plummer (Dennis Jenkins, 3x07, s8a)

Main resource is IMDb, with extra material from Wikipedia, podcasts or youtube on occasion. Where I use 911 images they are screengrabs I edited. Other images generally from imdb.

[bl-bam-beyond]

Spotlight Series:

(One of) The Best Coming Out To The Parents Scenes

Title: G.B.F (GAY BEST FRIEND)

Year: 2013

From: USA

I ran across this on Tiktok, this movie was hilarious not a Masterpiece by any means but recalling this scene when Tanner (MICHAEL J. WILLETT) decides to tell his parents (JONATHAN SILVERMAN and REBECCA GAYHEART) he is gay.

@pose4photoml have you ever seen this film

[julescollins]

Due date: December 5th 2022 

Title 1: Vocabulary Practices in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Classrooms by Rebecca Silverman and Jennifer DiBara Crandell 

Title 2: Word Study Instruction in the K–2 Classroom by Cheri Williams with Colleen Phillips-Birdsong, Krissy Hufnagel, Diane Hungler, and Ruth P. Lundstrom

Vocabulary Practices in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Classrooms by Rebecca Silverman and Jennifer DiBara Crandell 

Big Takeaway: Different vocabulary instruction practices produce different results and have different levels of effectiveness; certain practices are more beneficial to some students than others. 

Nugget: A blend of embedded, anchored, and rich instruction - Which involves things like active listening, physical demonstrations of word meaning, descriptive questions, and generating student examples of the word - can cause students to learn significantly more words. 

Word Study Instruction in the K–2 Classroom by Cheri Williams with Colleen Phillips-Birdsong, Krissy Hufnagel, Diane Hungler, and Ruth P. Lundstrom

Big Takeaway: Word studies, which are an approach to spelling instruction that helps students use strategies to uncover the ‘layers’ of words and aids them in finding consistencies in the English spelling system, supports childrens’ spelling and writing development. 

Nugget: The use of word families, word walls, and listening for sounds in a word are a few tools and skills to provide students as they engage in word studies. 

For my readerly exploration, I chose to engage in the reading process to increase the likelihood of text comprehension by highlighting excerpts from the chapter that reflect the author’s purpose as I read. In ‘Word Study Instruction in the K-2 Classroom’, I identified that the authors’ purpose was informational. Williams and her colleagues intended to provide educators with an understanding of what seperated word study from spelling memorization, the ways in which word study benefited student spelling and writing growth, and the specific strategies that teachers could use to create productive small group word study instruction. A couple of quotes I pulled from ‘Word Study Instruction in the K-2 Classroom’ include the following: ‘Word study is an approach to spelling instruction that moves away from a focus on memorization… (it’s) primary goal is to support students’ development of a working knowledge of orthography… that they can apply in reading and writing’ ; ‘linking word study to writing through interactive writing lessons supports childrens’ spelling, and ultimately, their writing development’ ; ‘homogenous small group instruction (and) guided practice is essential’ ; ‘Focus your word study lessons on the way English words work, so that students will form useful generalizations they can apply to words they want to read or spell’ ; and ‘students will need explicit demonstrations on how they can use word study’. All of these quotes communicated essential, foundational, and broad knowledge regarding word studies. In ‘Vocabulary Practices in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Classrooms’, the purpose behind authors Silverman and Crandells’ writing was also informational. Silverman and Crandell intended to communicate to educators that there are a variety of vocabulary instruction methods, some methods work better for some students than others, and they sought to provide information on what the different methods looked like when implemented in the classroom. A couple of quotes I pulled from this article include the following: ‘there are particular practices that are generally associated with higher vocabulary performance’; ‘direct instruction of vocabulary words can be an effective method to support children’s word learning’; ‘combining vocabulary practices is more effective than using one alone’; ‘direct different practices towards children with more or less vocabulary knowledge’; ‘rich instruction (is when) teachers contextualized, defined, and provided examples of target words from the read aloud books… make judgements, and generate their own examples’; ‘children who received rich instruction learned significantly more of the words’; and ‘teachers demonstrate word meanings (visually, kinesthetically)…children in (these) intervention classrooms outperformed children in control classrooms’. These quotes communicate to the reader that there are multiple ways of teaching vocabulary and that different vocabulary practices suit different learners. A couple of these quotes explain what the vocabulary strategies look like and include. For example, rich instruction involves providing examples and helping students to generate their own examples. As I engaged in this task of highlighting excerpts that reflected the authors’ purpose, I first read through the article and highlighted using different tools to make the most essential information stand out for future reference. I found it easy to identify what information was essential; sometimes the vocabulary used in the text said words like ‘significant’ or ‘conclusion’. I struggled with developing an authors’ purpose statement for each of these articles that encompassed all of the major components. This readerly exploration helped me comprehend what I read because as I highlighted, I was able to go through a kinesthetic (physically highlighting the sentences) and visual (being able to go back through the text and see the highlighted sentences) process that aided me in taking away the most crucial information from each text and having it for future reference.

This screenshot shows that I highlighted the components of the article that relayed the most essential and key information the author was aiming for their readers to understand.

[mrdrhenwardhykle]

Character opinion poll

[vernorsgingerale]

Books I read in 2022

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

LaserWriter II by Tamara Shopsin

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (reread)

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (reread)

The Moors by Jen Silverman

Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties by Jen Silverman

Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang

Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition by Paul Watson

Winter Love by Han Suyin

Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman

In the Eye of the Wild by Nastassja Martin, translated by Sophie R. Lewis

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

An Incomplete List of Names by Michael Torres

Norma Jeane Baker of Troy by Anne Carson

Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas by Jennifer Raff

Orphic Paris by Henri Cole

The Roommate by Jen Silverman

The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston (reread)

Live Oak, with Moss by Walt Whitman (reread)

The Seaplane on Final Approach by Rebecca Rukeyser

Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas by Harley Rustad

Calamity in Kent by John Rowland

Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

H of H Playbook by Anne Carson

Personal Attention Roleplay by H. Felix Chau Bradley

Em by Kim Thúy

The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt

Fen, Bog & Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis by Annie Proulx

Ajax Penumbra 1969 by Robin Sloan

Bog Bodies Uncovered: Solving Europe’s Ancient Mystery by Miranda Aldhouse-Green

Found Audio by N.J. Campbell

[yumeka-sxf]

A chronological analysis on Twilight and Yor - Part 22

*This is part of an ongoing post series. If you missed the Introduction/Part 1, click here*

----------

The highly thematic and well-choreographed scene of Yor slaughtering one assassin after another as fireworks dazzle the night sky, reminded me of this fascinating post by @crunchcrunchteacakes. The post theorizes about the origins of Yor's incredible strength, particularly how she uses some form of altered state of consciousness (ASC) to achieve such a powerful command over her physical abilities. This is why her expression always seems "darker," almost like she's in a trance, whenever she's fully concentrated on feats of strength, not just during assassin work, but similar tasks that require the same strength, like when she subdued the Eden cow.

The post goes on to speculate that the reason she often seems ditzy or "spaced out" is because that's a way for her to disengage from her conscious mind, allowing her to channel her strength as needed. She's almost fully in her trance-like state at the beginning of the series (her "robotic" look that annoyed her coworkers). But once she joined the Forgers, taking on the role of Loid's wife and Anya's mother, the desire to concentrate on that mindset more often overrides her need to keep her strength peaked. Thoughts of Loid and Anya are now what can pull her out of her ASC, as we saw previously when she was keeping watch over the room at night, only for her "trance" to break when she thought about meeting up with them. But unfortunately, those thoughts can also be a hindrance when she's deep into a fight with a powerful opponent. This happened to a minor degree when she realized she was dragging her feet when fighting Barnaby, but as she fights the swordsman assassin, her lapse in concentration allows him to get the upper hand.

The moral ambiguity I mentioned in Part 21 is highlighted further when the assassin leader tries to call a truce with Yor, saying that he'll give her a share of the bounty money. Yor requests that he give up on Olka's bounty so there won't be any further bloodshed, something I find interesting since she didn't hesitate to kill all the other assassins without any negotiating. So the fact that she's willing to let the leader go proves that she doesn't just mindlessly kill everyone on a mission (even though that's what she was instructed to do). She's also staying true to what she said before that if you point a weapon at someone, you shouldn't complain if one is pointed back at you…since the leader wasn't on the attack in this case, she was willing to hear him out.

However, when she refuses his deal, he reminds her that they're all just people hired to fight on someone else's behalf, and her reason for killing – to put food on the table – is the same as all the other assassins. As Yor fights the swordsman, the thought that's holding her back this time is not only that a serious injury would mean she'd have to leave Loid and Anya, but how cruel it would be to them for her to suddenly disappear without a word. While the assassin leader continues to try and negotiate with her, she can't help but keep questioning her own reason for fighting – she doesn't want to believe it's for money, the same as theirs, so then it must be for her country…but she never thought she had some higher calling like that.

All these uncertainties distract her, resulting in the swordsman being able to knock her against the side of the deck. Surprisingly, as he stands poised, ready to cut her down, all Yor can think of in her dazed state is not her assassin job that's currently being sabotaged, but her mother/wife jobs of picking up Loid's shirts from the cleaners and returning Anya's books to the library…a clear indication that, when it comes down to her final moments, the responsibilities of Yor Forger have become more of a priority than the responsibilities of Thorn Princess. As Rebecca Silverman put it in this ANN article:

"She's more than just a big sister and an assassin now; she's a mother, a wife, and a person in her own right. Yuri's grown up, but Yor has too, and it feels like this is the moment when she realizes that she has a say in her own life. And if she wants to focus on being Mrs. Forger instead of Thorn Princess? That's a choice she's allowed to make."

When she comes back to reality for a moment, wondering why there's a man pointing a sword at her, what flashes in her mind is the reason she's in this situation in the first place: Yuri. But once again, the realization that's been hitting her over and over since getting the cruise assignment comes back one last time…Yuri is indeed all grown up and does not need support from her Garden work anymore. What's extremely tragic when this fact finally sinks in is that she's ready to die then and there…she decides not to resist and just end it all now that her main reason for fighting is gone.

As I've mentioned several times before, especially in Part 8, Yor dedicated her life to ensure Yuri's happiness, which resulted in her inability to consider her own worth besides being useful to others. Now that no one needs the one thing she excels at, she can't find any reason to keep going. Whether Garden brainwashed her into deeming her life meaningless without a reason for fighting, her crippling lack of self-esteem, or some combination of both, it's even more tragic that she can't even comprehend how sad certain people would be if she died. However, when it appears as though she's completely given up, upon hearing that the assassin leader is about to go after Olka, she throws one of her earrings at him to stop him.

She had just decided to stop resisting upon realizing that Yuri doesn't need her work anymore, so why would she suddenly care to stop the assassin? She seems confused about it as well, as she questions herself why she's even protecting Olka. I believe at this point she's formed a genuine bond with Olka as more than just a client to protect. So, despite still being dazed, she instinctively reacted upon realizing Olka was in danger. But the true reason why she hasn't completely given up becomes clear to her when she remembers Olka's words: "I just want to live a quiet, peaceful life."

A quiet, peaceful life…this is exactly why she became Thorn Princess. Not for money or for her country, but because she wanted to ensure Yuri could live a quiet, peaceful life, the same life Olka is currently seeking. Her epiphany continues as she realizes her desire to cleanse the world of needless tragedies hasn't changed, despite none of her loved ones directly benefiting from her work anymore. Yor may be naive about many things (due to her upbringing), but she's not ignorant about the sadness that exists in the world around her. And here is where she makes her decision to keep doing her assassinating, not because she enjoys killing people, not because she needs money, and not because she feels some higher sense of duty to her country – but because the result of her work will make the world a better place...because now, she has even more people whose happiness she desires to protect.

This renewed sense of purpose gives her the strength to fight back. As she goes full assassin mode on the swordsman, she tosses aside all of her previous worries about her profession and her own personal well-being – she doesn't care if she has to keep living a dangerous life, nor if she has to leave the Forgers (both of which were things she was concerned about while on the cruise). All that matters to her now is making the world a better place for others. It's also worth mentioning that Yor's inner monologue in this scene is one of the rare times I mentioned in Part 19 where she doesn't use keigo (polite speech). That's another clear indication of what a truly emotional revelation this moment is for her.

Her new resolve is fully solidified when she remembers that Loid complimented this aspect of her personality way back when they first met. She's grown to trust him so much that she confidently states he would acknowledge and understand why she does what she does even if she can't ever tell him about it.

Interestingly, she thinks of Loid in this situation instead of Yuri, who's the original reason she became an assassin. She knows that Yuri, being her (obsessive) brother and only "true" family member left, would forgive her no matter what. This is why acknowledgement from someone else, especially someone she respects as much as Loid, is so meaningful to her. And, unbeknownst to her, her reason for being an assassin is the same reason Twilight became a spy…to make a world where those they care about can live a peaceful life, where needless tragedies can be prevented, and children won't have to cry.

Continue to Part 23 ->

<- Return to Part 21

[nelsonbeauchejason]

I am celebrating my BIRTHDAY and here is my WISHLIST!

5 dollars, i would like 5 dollars (paypal / kofi)

$2+ ko-fi subscribers! (to help me build monthly income, you are my bread my butter and my cheese)

$10+ = a lovely restaurant meal

$30 = one day’s rent

grinch x tony the tiger original fanart because it causes psychic distress and i thrive on that!

i would absolutely love if someone could find a photo of a featherless flamingo bc i've looked but all i could find was this photoshopped raptor chicken

[aceshadowstar]

Healer for the Shadow Hero Volume 1 Manga Review https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/healer-for-the-shadow-hero/volume-1/.210205

[helenawatson525]

Readerly Exploration #5

November 27, 2023

Title: Vocabulary Practices in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Classrooms

Take Away: Encouraging word knowledge and general vocabulary during read aloud and non read aloud time. 

Silverman and Crandell (2011)

Nugget: There are so many benefits to children having access to early vocabulary. This article shares that the earlier children have access to vocbaualry, the more likely that they will have higher achievement. From a logical standpoint, the earlier you have access, the more beneficial it will be in the longrun. With that being said, finding ways to promote a rich vocabulary environment is very crucial to incorporate in the classroom. 

One of the first ways to incorporate a rich vocabulary environment is to encourage word knowledge throughout read alouds. Many times, a read aloud can simply just be the teacher reading the book to the students for “fun”. When this approach is being taken, students are striped of the richness that can really come from the book. Instead, when the teacher purposely stops, writes the word  on the board and elaborates on the meaning, this allows the students to gain vocabulary skills. Specifically, in the younger grades read alouds are easily incoprpated into lesson objectives, seasons and times of celebration. The second way to inciproate a rich vocabulary environment is to simply incorporate general vocabulary throughout the read alouds. This can simply look like the teacher using specific words and giving examples outside of the book context. Using both of these strategies allow for the read aloud to be more beneficial while engaging for the students.

 Narration:  For this specific article, I chose to engage in the activity of the reading process to increase the likelihood of text comprehension. In order to accomplish this task, I began to do research on the authors. When researching Rebecca Silverman, I found that she did much research on the impact that Covid had on Early Literacy Instuction. This sparked many questions. For example, “Were children read to more at home during Covid?” My thoughts were that if parents were spending more time with their children, did that allow for children to be exposed to rich vocbaualry through their parents reading to them?

[cstarling924]

Carly S. Readerly Explorations #5

Due: 11/13/2023

Titles: “Vocabulary Practices in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Classrooms” by Rebecca Silverman and Jennifer DiBara Crandell

“Word Study Instruction in the K-2 Classroom” by Cheri Williams, Colleen Phillips-Birdsong, Krissy Hufnagel, Diane Hungler, and Ruth P. Lundstorm

Big Take-Away:

1)When developing curriculum for vocabulary instruction, teachers need to keep in mind children who do not have much vocabulary knowledge. Depending on what all they know, not all vocabulary instruction will be beneficial to them.

2)The 9 tips for implementing word study are

Assess students’ word knowledge using multiple assessment tools

Use a homogeneous small group approach to instruction

Carve out time to prepare for word study instruction

Teach word knowledge, not just words

Demonstrate how word study can be used during reading and writing

Teach strategies that support students’ use of word study instruction

Make your word wall work

“Word work” should work, too!

Engage students in extensice “real” reading and writing

Nugget:

The graphs on pages 15 and 17 were interesting to see. Every strategy used the combined word work with vocabulary instruction showed improvement in the students from the pretest to the post test.

The first tip was interesting to me, assessing students word knowledge using multiple assessment tools. This seems like a very simple idea, but it was one I hadn’t thought of before. I always just thought along the lines of assessment, not thinking outside the box on how to get the most reliable data.

The task I chose to do is go through and highlight excerpts that reflect the authors purpose. I printed out the most important pages and attached them as my multimedia extension. The most important purpose statement I found for the first article was found in the conclusion. It says, “In sum, this study suggests that certain vocabulary instruction practices, when implemented by teachers in the absence of a highly specified intervention, are related to improved vocabulary outcomes for children. However, the effects of some practices may differ according to the initial vocabulary knowledge of the child, when the teacher uses the practice during the language arts block, and how the vocabulary is measured” (Silverman and Crandle, pp. 19). After having gone through and reading all about the study, which compared different strategies and levels of students, I recognized that this sentence took all of the conclusions found in the article and tied it up into a neat little bow. For the second article, I took a quote from tip 6, teach strategies tat support students’ use of word study instruction. This quote says, “If we want students to use word study independently and strategically when they are reading and writing, thn we must teach them how to do so” (Williams, pp. 6). This quote directly ties into the first article as well, putting the whole focus of word study on the student and helping them grow as thinkers during ELA practice.

Multimedia Extension: