#sidenote: I'm sorry if the read more option doesn't work

[lipshits-continuous]

I know your degree isn’t all maths, but do you have any tips/tools for studying maths at uni?

Hello, sorry this is a few days late, I wanted to give you a proper answer /lh

These are in no particular order of importance:

If you are having trouble with a particular concept or area, talk to someone. A fellow student, the lecturer, your academic advisor, your tutor (if you uni has stuff like tutorials), are even someone from mathblr. In one-to-one conversations, it's often easier to to ask specific questions and for the person helping you to try to frame things in a way you understand

The flip side of this is try helping other people that are stuck. Explaining things to other people helps make sure you understand them. There have been occasions where a certain proof or concept has clicked for a second time when I've explained it to someone else

Practice problems and exercises are invaluable. Not only are they great for building understanding and strengthening memory (as well as developing general mathematical rigour), they're also a pretty effecient way of identifying things you don't understand as well for you to work on. I think I've talked about this before but my revision strategy is to do problems to identify what I'm weak on, and then go over the notes of the weak points and do problems on that specific area until I'm comfortable answering questions in that area again, then repeat.

Remember to take breaks! When you're trying to tackle a particularly hard problem and you're getting nowhere, take a break and focus on something else (probably not other problems). Sometimes inspiration will hit whilst you're not actively thinking about the problem (this has happened to me many times, especially whilst I'm showering haha). Or when you then go to return to the problem, you'll get back into it and realise that the answer was actually no that hard after all, you were just fatigued by spending so long on it. Obviously this won't always be the case, there will be problems that you will need to ask for help on and that's okay too. Learning is about admitting you don't know things

Remember to have fun. University can get really intense and draining and it is good to find some balance outside of that. You might not always find that balance during term time (I'm still working on it myself but my terms are short(ish) but very dense with no reading week so it's quite intense) but even little things like setting aside an hour or two just to listen to music or play a video game can help.

Sort of related to the last point but also read about maths outside of the modules you are taking, especially if they are starting to feel like a slog. Try to find things that remind yourself why you enjoy maths and why you wanted to study it. Sometimes that won't work and it might be a sign you aren't enjoying your degree as much as you thought you would (this happened to me with physics and is part of the reason I switched to doing more maths). Something that I like to do is look at module options for later years in my degree and see what things look exciting.

Get used to self-study because it's a really helpful skill. If you're lecturer didn't explain something well or you missed a lecture because of illness or whatever, you're gonna have to catch up and the lecture notes/textbook are the first port of call (as well as a friend who did attend the lecture, but they might be busy). But developing the skill before you have to do revision for exams is quite handy and independent learning skills come in very useful when you go on later to do research projects. This also includes being able to find other resources that help you understand things, like other textbooks or YouTube videos and finding out what works before for you.

A small sidenote for studying in the UK, especially if you're starting in September/October is to expect lecturer strikes. As it currently stands, it doesn't look like universities are budging so be prepared for disruption. I can't really speak for how this affects specific universities other than my own so I don't want to make general claims.

All that said, these are what I've personally found useful so some people might disagree with me or have other things they'd also suggest (if that's the case please add onto this post).

If you're starting after summer then I sincerely hope your A Level results are what you hope for and that you get into your first choice!

[thebookbin]

Ravensong

TJ Klune

Publisher: Tor (Macmillan) Genre: fantasy, romance Year: 2018

Because Wolfsong got me out of a reading slump, I figured hey--why not? Let's jump right in to Ravensong. I am conflicted. I have feelings. This one definitely wasn't as good. Although, as a sidenote, it's really cool to view a writer at different points in their career and seen how they've grown. This is definitely one of Klune's earlier works. Where Wolfsong feels like a young gay teen's response to Twilight, Ravensong loses some of the nostalgic charm that I felt when reading Wolfsong.

The first problem with this book is it's scope. It covers a lot of Gordo's childhood, which is very interesting except for when it mirrors Ox's childhood from the first book and it makes Thomas' motivations look insane. Then, we basically get to reread book 1 from a different perspective, which would have been cool, except it left out the bits I am most interested in: namely the aftermath of the first book and Gordo and Ox's reconciliation. I had to slog through all the boring details but then it somehow blasted through that important part again. Once can be written off as you needed to make cuts for word count (although I would have argued different sections deserved to get cut) but twice is just a sin.

The reason this book feels like it was written by someone in high school is that it always chooses the option with the Most Possible Drama (except for when it doesn't--more on this later) but then when it tries to explain why this particular path was chosen there is no rational explanation so the rationale just falls off a cliff. Thomas goes from the gentle all-knowing patriarch to an unhinged egomaniac. In the first book, Ox gets left behind by the both the Bennetts and Gordo. When we go back in time to Gordo's childhood, we find out that Gordo was tattooed as a child by his father and Thomas' father (and nobody ad a problem with this) but they also left Gordo behind as a child and the intense psychological harm that did him. Which makes absolutely no sense as to why Gordo would turn around and do that same thing to the kid who he grew up with.

The explanations for all of this behavior were so paltry. They left Gordo behind because humans had attacked wolves and Gordo was a human, albeit a witch. Why did that mean they had to cut all contact? Thomas' explanation: it was "easier." I'm sorry, that's just psychopathic and turns Thomas into a villain. Gordo was like 12 and his mother was just murdered and his father imprisoned. He had no one except these people and they left abruptly and cut all contact. It's unhinged.

The other thing that made me knock off a star is Gordo losing his hand. Losing a hand adding an amputation and disability isn't the problem, in fact I think it could add a lot of interesting conflict to the story. My problem is Gordo's hand gets cut off and not only is it magically healed but 2 pages later, people are making jokes about it. Asking if he'll "need a hand" at the garage. He just had a major life-altering disability, and it wasn't given the gravitas it deserved. I wanted to witness Gordo's feelings, as someone whose career as a mechanic depends on his hands. I wanted to watch him adjust to life using his non-dominant hand. He lost the hand in the most dramatic fashion, but Klune didn't deal with any of the aftermath, and instead wrote it off.

With the lack of depth in the story, and the weird scope of the book, retelling the entire events of the first book, and the nonsensical motivations of the characters, I don't believe I will be able to continue the series. While I enjoyed the first book and it helped get me out of my slump, I feel that both the writing style and the plot are just too juvenile for me at this time.

storygraph | bookshop.org | local houston

★★½ WHAT IS WITH THE NONCONSENSUAL TATTOOING?! STARS

[minaa-munch]

Did Minato suffer abuse during the war to make him turn out that way? Did Kushina?

Abuse hm? Ano, I’m no expert, and I can’t exactly speak for Kushina because I haven’t explored her character [feel free to ask @himekushinada and @fox-mother for this one] but I have a few theories where Minato is concerned. Brace thy browser, anon. 

Disclaimer: know that I am no authority on abuse - I know what I know with regards to the very little that I’ve read and the...people I’ve bugged [I owe a certain copy nin and a drunk blonde thingus enough cookies to fill our basket of ideas]. Moreover, this pertains to my interpretation of Flake Sensei. To each their own, ne?

Before I begin rambling, I’d like you to keep a few things in mind: Minato, along with the rest of his generation grew up in hostile times. They didn’t have the luxury of being soft and squishy for long, and their actions in the manga reflect the nuance. As such, what could be considered as ‘emotional abuse’ didn’t necessarily translate as abuse, and therefore, was hardly a priority. 

That being said, it depends on how you identify ‘abuse’ because back then, in the midst of wars and dwindling resources, a lot of things were swept under the rug as expectations. As the militia of Hi no Kuni, shinobi were expected to prioritise missions over sentiments, their client’s safety over their own and -- basically, murder because they were getting paid for it. 

With regards to Minato; I headcanon him being an orphan who had none sans a grandmother to rely on. He loses said grandmother when he graduates the academy, and the void left by her is eventually filled by Jiraiya sensei. Brief history lesson aside, his grounding isn’t as...stable as most other’s [and they aren’t stable themselves to begin with] - the problems associated with that manifest in his need to be perfect. Demo, since he was an asset to the village that way, ‘twas hardly a matter worth pondering on, ne? That’s a sort of neglect everyone faced. Not just him. 

ANYWAYS on to abuse. From what I’ve gleaned from the manga so far, there exists a few...possibilities of the sort of abuse he could have suffered during the wars. I’m going to tackle physical and emotional in a certain context because my limited reading covers those. If you’d like to talk about something specific, let me know. I love such discussions. 

Emotional: Already covered a bit of this earlier on, but I’ll elaborate a little. Konoha lost precious manpower in the form of generations prior to Minato due to the wars. As such, the pressure on his bunch to be able to fill certain...voids, be it in the form of military, or as part of the driving force of their economy. Hidden villages procured funds through missions/Daimyō’s assistance, ne? They probably had a lot of expectations riding on their shoulders, which means little room for friendly socialising important for cognitive growth and more ‘must be an asset rather than a liability’. 

For Minato in particular, he was quite keen on maintaining a certain... appearance because of his reputation as a genius born once every decade. He could not allow that to dull for any reason, and went to certain lengths in order to achieve it. You can tell because of how quickly he became Hokage; charm, skill and all. As his generation’s new ‘legendary’, he was supposed to appear invincible and he kinda did, didn’t he? This is further enunciated by the fact that when he became Yondaime, the ‘legendaries’ of the previous generation, i.e., Densetsu Sanin had flown the coop - and don’t forget the Daimyō approved of Jiraiya [a major reason why he approved of Minato’s ascension as Yondaime, by the by - and this is besides the overwhelming Jōnin vote]. The system needed their sparkly new hope and he was it; the youngest Hokage in history with a Jinchuriki wife [-shoves conspiracy no jutsu in a closet-] 

Oh, and PTSD? Given the wars, every shinobi suffered from it in one way or form [it’s a given - enough to be considered a ‘norm’]. Minato does too, but his sparkles are very distracting. Gives the allusion that he actually cares, ne? Given the background I consider for him, there are very little things he truly cares about. He will use an individual if he has to. [Kakashi was his Jinchuriki wife’s bodyguard - the same Kakashi who only had Minato left in the world, and a sharingan that could potentially control a biju if the need so arose. Creative speculation, ne? I need to explore this conspiracy some time] 

Random note: There’s this nice little resource shared by the amazing ultimumspes on writing PTSD. Your question reminded me of it, and the writer and I thought I’d place it here in case anyone would like to consider it. _ 

Physical: As a reputed genius, Minato had a certain image that was often blown out of proportion by rumours and the fact that he was an apprentice to Jiraiya of the Sanin. Couple that with breaking Hiruzen’s record at the ninja academy, and you have a scary ninja child you don’t want to mess with. However, considering the incessant need for maintaining honour/dominance and the thread of - excuse my French - consistent male ego in the manga, it’s very possible that a fellow cadet could have challenged him at an outpost in order to test their own mettle, or establish a certain hierarchy over a scrawny little midget who suddenly thought of himself as good enough to participate in the war [whereas there are people who have been posted at the same outpost since forever]. 

Traditional Shinobi Sparring [Dentōteki no Shinobi Kumite] was a thing, ne? War brings out the worst in people, and with dwindling resources and massacred forces [the Densetsu Sanin’s generation and the ones before that], it’s unrealistic to imagine that everyone would still be all...fuzzy wuzzy with each other. Likewise, it is in the realm of possibility to suggest that Minato probably lost a match or two [not more, mind. Ego gotta come from somewhere]. Said losses, coupled with subsequent experiences in the Second Shinobi War, were probably enough to not only fuel his paranoia, but also to justify the lengths he has gone to with regards to evolving his fighting style so that he would be unbeatable. 

Attack regardless of the opponent being ready? Yep. Kill for sheer numbers? Absolutely. Steal intel/ninjutsu/informative scrolls from other territories if he found them interesting enough? You bet. Theirs wasn’t a profession or a system that fostered honourable means, despite Sakumo’s example persisting otherwise [Honour is more of a samurai thing, methinks]. A shinobi must look underneath the underneath and Minato dug deep. You can imagine a lot of characters from his generation went down similar routes - theirs is an interesting little rabbit hole one could explore for ages. Minato simply happened to be a lot sneakier.  

At the end of the day, you could say ‘abuse’ played a part...demo, but as much for him as it did for others. All of them suffered but said nuances didn’t register as ‘abuse’ because for them, it was probably the norm. Thinking along those lines, I can’t help but imagine that kunoichi - especially the foreign sort such as Kushina, or the common, non-special-clan-affiliated sort such as Anko [maybe?] - probably had it a lot worse. 

I digress. Hope this answered your question. Ano, unless by ‘that way’ you were referring to the heartless thingus I tend to write at times - that’s been explored here. 

[ravenadottir]

for science reasons I went through the first episode of s2 and picked a different boy to couple up with to do the gem scene and know what each of them are looking for in the Villa and their type. I didn’t do one with Noah for obvious reasons, but here are the results of my very scientific research:

For what they’re looking for in the Villa, Rocco, Bobby and Ibrahim all say, “Love, of course. I definitely think two people could meet somewhere like here and be a perfect match.”

Gary says, “Well I'm single, obviously. I haven't had much luck dating so I thought this would be a good opportunity to put that right.”

For their type, they’re all a combination of different aspects. The first two options are: “Oh! That’s an easy one. My mates would say…” vs “Ooh, that’s tough. I'm not sure I have a specific type. Everybody I date has something unique about them. But if I had to generalise…”

Rocco and Gary say that it’s easy, while Bobby and Ibrahim say that it’s tough.

The next options are: “I like a girl who's a bit on the chill side. Doesn't make too much of a fuss about things.” vs “I tend to go for girls that are a little out there. Who don't mind being the centre of attention.”

Ibrahim and Gary like a chill girl, and Rocco and Bobby like a girl who’s out there.

The third options are: “I also love a girl that puts effort into her look. Someone that's a bit more refined, you know? Who really likes to front.” vs “I also once had an ex that was really casual. She didn't spend ages doing herself up, or topping up her tan. I didn't realise how much of an attractive quality that was to me until then.”

Rocco, Gary and Ibrahim like a girl who puts effort into their look, and Bobby likes a casual girl.

The fourth final options are: “And I've been burned in the past before, so someone that's loyal is an absolute must.” vs “I enjoy a girl that doesn't mind me being a bit flirty with others, or one that keeps me on my toes. I feel like I need that excitement to keep things going, you know? It kind of shows that she's looking out for herself, being honest about what she wants.”

For Gary, Ibrahim and Bobby loyalty is a must, while Rocco likes a girl who’s supportive of him being a manwhore. (Also sidenote the fact that he says “I enjoy a girl…” is 🤢)

I’m wondering what Noah would say if it was possible to have that conversation with him. In my option I think he would say that he’s in the Villa for love, and then would say that he doesn’t really have a type, and likes chill girls who put an effort into their looks and are loyal. What do you think? Also, what would the other LIs say if they were able to have this dialogue?

Love your blog btw, I literally check everyday to see what new asks you’ve answered and to read what you’ve said. Sorry if this ask is super long btw!!!

PLEASE DON'T APOLOGIZE FOR A LONG ASK, you just did god's work and gave us precise information, anon! thank you so much for sending it my way!

so, usually i remember these by... heart? it's like, i definitely know the gist of it without knowing the precise dialogue, so i'm glad i didn't get stuff wrong without having the dialogues.

but having them is so helpful! i'm making a mini guide with those, for sure! and in the mean time, about noah and his responses:

"what are you looking for in the villa?"

i don't think he would say 'love' precisely. i think he would respond with "love... i think?"

"what do you mean you think?"

"i'm not sure i've ever been in love, so it's hard to say i'm looking for something i don't know how it looks when i see it. i'm gonna say i'm here to find something special... because i don't know what love looks like."

"what's your type?"

"i want someone that keeps up with me." he smiles warmly. "and by keeping up i mean staying under the radar. i don't like much fuss myself so i tend to stay out of the spotlight, and i like girls that are the same." he sighs. "i also like girls that feel comfortable with putting a little more effort into their looks. i'm always dazzled when i see someone fully produced."

"i've had complicated relationships in the past... it's hardly the reason why i'm here but still. none of them worked because i guess neither of us knew what we wanted."

definitely a huge nod to how his route would look like, and preparation for our suffering :/

but i definitely agree with you, anon, and thank you so much for the love and the guide, i'm making it in your honor!

[painted-crow]

Fictional double Birds, webcomics edition!

I found/rediscovered some more Bird characters for y'all~

These pals are all webcomic characters, so you can read their stories for free :D the name headers link to the first page of their respective comics!

Just a reminder, clicking the images gives you better quality and can make the text easier to read. I've put alt text on the images with the relevant info--sorry if this still isn't the most accessible post. ^^;

Henry Jekyll (The Glass Scientists)

Thanks to @aubade-things for reminding me this comic exists, and for discussing it with me! I binged the whole thing a few days ago, haha.

The Glass Scientists is a webcomic about a haven society for mad scientists, in a world that does not like them. Jekyll here is trying to keep it from falling apart, but between mad science shenanigans, plain old lack of funding, and a fellow called Hyde who is definitely not the same person, who told you that, he's... uh... struggling.

Jekyll screams Badger secondary at first, his Bird secondary is just VERY burnt.

He idealizes Badger as a huge part of how he thinks a Proper Gentleman should be, and he has this super uptight Badger performance that does noooot actually make him happy.

His primary's shaky, too, but he's working on it. This just about says it all, honestly:

Yes, that is a figment of his own imagination yelling at him for using Bird secondary to sort out a major piece of his system.

Jekyll is peak "person who looks like they have their shit together but is actually a mess underneath" and I'd be okay with him being a little less relatable thank you very much

He is slowly reclaiming his secondary though:

Sidenote: I have had almost that exact experience, about the same topic, during a period where I'd burned Bird secondary.

(Seven year old Paint was obsessed with the idea of plant medicine. You know how some kids mix up "potions" with stuff from their back yard? I wanted mine to work. I had this giant textbook about it and everything.)

Alas, remembering was less useful to me; all it really gave me was an extra uncanny experience reading this webcomic :p

Thistle (Daughter of the Lilies)

Thistle is a cinnamon roll hiding a whoooooole lot of trauma and anxiety. I'll let you find those panels for yourself, though. Instead, here she is entertaining some children with her magic:

Sometimes she sounds like a Badger primary, but she's a full-fledged Bird:

Her secondary is a little singed, too, but hers is WAY better off than Jekyll's. She's doin ok.

Spoiler warning: the current comic arc shows her face, which is a major reveal--so if you want to puzzle out what her deal is on your own, start from the beginning and avoid the front page for now ^^

She's also super relatable, but in a way that doesn't bug me. I'm trying to figure out why Jekyll does... I think it's that he's an example of a very burnt Bird secondary that looks seriously familiar to me, but his primary is unstable too and I find that unnerving--I've never burned mine. To me, he feels deeply unhealthy in a way that Thistle doesn't at all. Thistle's morality is very clear and bright; the parts of her system she struggles with most are about how she sees herself, but I deal with the same thing (it's probably less common for Birds not to) so that's fine.

That does say something about the general tone of the two stories. DotL deals with some heavy topics, but it's a much more optimistic feeling world with a much more stable protagonist.

DotL fights with Girl Genius for rank as my favorite webcomic, period. Everyone should go read it, it's beautiful and funny and relatable and tragic and then it's funny again. Also there are dragons! At least one of them is plot relevant, and several of the pages he's on got turned into posters by popular demand because the art is just that good.

Speaking of Girl Genius:

Gilgamesh Wulfenbach (Girl Genius)

Girl Genius is a gaslamp fantasy comedy adventure romance about mad scientists, and it does all of those things really well at the same time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's a goldmine for Bird secondaries.

This story has also been adapted into ebook and audiobook versions, so if comics are hard for you to read, that could be a more accessible option!

Snake primary is the most popular (Agatha, Tarvek, Zeetha, Bang, Krosp, Lars, and most of the Jagers) but there are a few Birds hanging around. The Baron is a Bird primary, I think, and Othar is some form of Exploded Idealist (double Lion?) but I'm going to focus on Gil because he's a main character.

The page that cements his primary for me is this one, where he's arguing with Snake primary Zeetha (who is Loyal to Agatha). Agatha's been the victim of some weird mind control stuff by the story's BBEG, but Gil hasn't gotten that context yet and the Baron (his dad) is convinced Agatha IS the BBEG.

And yes, he's technically pantsless in this scene but hasn't realized that yet either. It's not his fault... the "ability to rant" part of a Spark's brain wakes up long before their situational awareness does.

Also lol @ Zeetha's reaction. Gil is one of Agatha's Important People, and Agatha is Zeetha's, so he's safe, for now, if he behaves.

As for his secondary:

And:

Like many of the cast, Gil is a Spark and very vulnerable to nerd sniping. RIP his lost sleep.

Also mine, actually. I'm gonna end this here and try to go back to bed ^^;

Happy reading!

[brittapcrrys]

hey, can you please tag posts that refer to suicide? even when it's an informative/educational post, it's still a triggering topic for many and without tags it went straight past all filters (and i have a LOT to be careful lol). anyway, hope you have a lovely day! sorry if this sounds demanding, i tried super hard to not make it come across that way as it wasn't the intention!

TW: suicide mention (in ask text and referenced/implied in my response)

hey, i'm SO sorry!!! i hope you're doing okay, and im genuinely so sorry for putting you and others at risk like that. the post has been tagged appropriately now

i usually do tag it - mentions, even allusions to it, but if it's the post i think it is (i scrolled back and i think this is referring to the anti-carceral therapy approaches post, bc that's the most recent relevant untagged post i can see?), i think i read, liked & reblogged it at different points during a 3-day migraine, which probably means i shouldn't be reblogging such widely triggering content while in that state bc.... the most basic safety measures can, evidently, slip my mind. but if there's any more posts you or others see are untagged, and if you feel able to, please let me know!! im gonna go back and search for any others myself in a sec but if this is something ppl have noticed i overlook regularly... yikes at myself but i need to know.

thanks for letting me know - not demanding at all!!! i appreciate that this may well have been an incredibly distressing and difficult situation for you overall so you (and others) have my sincerest apologies, and also my gratitude for the reminder here!!

* * * * *

as a sidenote - if you're using both of the built-in tumblr filters and content blockers, im a little surprised that the post wasn't filtered for you? in my personal experience, the combination of ~double filtering~ terms in the Tags and then again in the Post Content sections has blocked pretty much every post (save my own, and ads) to mention / be tagged with / even a reblog that originally was tagged or contained the filtered terms. like, this site is buggy and inadequate in so many ways, but then they updated the blocking and filtering earlier this year (?? last year??? must've been last year) they did it well.

so below is a quick grab of mine:

so my full list of filtered TAGS is.... incredibly long and im v glad that these are more 'red flag OP tags' on display more than common triggers - ant!-ant!, as!acore, cott@gecore, to block anything tagged on my dash, OR and posts that OP had originally tagged as such, from my view

and then filtered POST CONTENT you can just see 'hollowuscr' which i think is also in the tag list but the story there is a while back there was a sort of... unreality / horror-esque rp promo interactive blog and i found it and the associated puzzles and analysis etc incredibly unsettling and realised it had caused me to dissociate.... so i tried the then-new filtering option and it was all GONE because everyone was either tagging, @ ing or just writing the url in their posts abt it all , the filter(s) caught all of that and while the posts still existed on my dash they had the "blocked because it contains filtered words #xyz" overlay. and it's worked for me across my dashboard and in-dash blog viewing on both desktop and the mobile app. doesn't filter posts if u open the blog in it's own tab, but as far as im aware that's a limitation on all filtering/blocking options available rn.

so if you're using that filtering option w/ the keyword in question here and it's NOT catching mentions in posts, that may be something to contact support about because that's literally their own description of what it's supposed to do

but if it's simply that you've overlooked this additional form of filtering/blocking content, hopefully you can add a few terms to it to give yourself that extra bit of protection and security. not that it needs to be completely in ur hands, triggers are triggers and we all need to be mindful to give adequate warning!!! - but sometimes mistakes happen, and other times....people are just absolute arseholes, and i know it's been very helpful to me since i found out abt the updated tumblr filters so i hope...maybe....it either already is, or can be, useful to you!