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tinietaehyun · 2 years ago

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Star Crossed Lovers Rivals ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥✧˚ · .

[Rival!Taehyun x Fem!Reader]

Pairing: Rival!Taehyun x fem!reader

Genre(s): Romance, enemies to lovers, fluff, hints of angst! (Also particularly academic rivals to lovers bc it is phenomenal to read), post-college au.

Contains: Swearing/Profanity, mild mentions of explicit behaviour (more so tension lmao). (Wow! I’m not writing angst for once!)

Summary: “Oh just a B? What happened? I thought you were on top of your game? Don’t tell me, you didn’t study?” Your world comes crashing down in shambles as you furiously glare daggers into the raven haired boy in front of you as he condescendingly smiles with his gleaming A+ paper in hand. He was so infuriating; you wanted to punch his handsome face so bad.

Wait, handsome? God no, you’d rather be caught dead than ever think he was...wait what were you so pressed about again?

Shit.

His lips form an arrogant smile, “Cat got your tongue?” Your gaze darkens, “You’re so dead the moment the bell rings.” He brushes past you as he chuckles, “See you after class, sore loser.”

Surely his heart must be racing just as much as yours does right? Right?

How could you two ever fall for each other?

—————————••••••••••••••—————————

You miserably scan through your résumé. This had to be your third interview this week. A list of exquisite grades lines your sheet with your very accomplished credentials alongside the many efforts you put into extracurriculars when you attended college.

Even the work experience you gathered during that time whilst balancing exams, holy fuck! What more could they possibly want from you? For what preposterous reason could you not get a job. You tried to craft the most perfect résumé and it still wasn’t enough. You knew the labour market was competitive but not this competitive.

Frustration builds up inside you, like a shaken bottle of champagne you knew you were on the brink of exploding. Your crumbling student debt was one issue but the main issue was you had to pay rent very soon and your own savings were surely not going to hold up if you didn’t get a better paying job soon. At the moment you worked in retail (which in summary is terrifying dealing with a plethora of customers- mostly bad).

You let out a pitiful laugh peering back at your résumé. What was the point of working so hard back then? A year and a half ago, you were on the brink of exhaustion trying to reach number one all for a bunch of stupid grades. You competed so hard. Competed with...him.

You wonder how he’s doing now? You’ve not spoken to him since you left college with a degree in business psychology. He’s probably doing way better than you were. That snobby little arrogant-

You catch yourself smiling instinctually. Fuck. Your heart feels warm as though a woollen blanket encompasses it. You often realise how much of your college life you spent with him. Not that you’d ever admit it to anyone, you actually missed your senseless and petty bickering. You missed his cocky grin and you missed his glare when you beat him in an exam.

You let out a sigh; well that time of your life is over. You maybe do regret not using college as an outlet to enjoy yourself and not constantly trying to compete and work hard. You wished you could have gotten to know your so called rival behind his vast array of A+ grades.

Perhaps you wish he could have gotten to know you too behind your academic achievements.

“Miss Y/n. You may enter for the interview.”

You perk up in your seat shakily clasping at your file. “Ah, yes thank you.” Well, here goes. You tightly grip at your file. You were sure, if you didn’t make it through this interview. You’d keep trying again and again.

You were no quitter.

—-

Your hands tremble as your eyes scan the email. At first when the notification popped up your heart plummeted. You just knew that it was going to be bad news. You tried procrastinating in an attempt to not read it however curiosity got the better of you. Perhaps a tiny fraction of you had an ounce of hope that you’d maybe gotten the job.

You click the email open and begin scanning through the array of typed words:

[Congratulations! We are delighted to inform you of your acceptance at our company. We’ll be glad to see you on our amazing team!]

No way! You blink astounded. You got the job! You’ve finally got a decently paying job! Something you could work with and in a few years time maybe even think about getting promoted to a managerial position. You scan the rest of the email’s details feeling all sorts of jittery excitement.

You’d be starting next Monday. You couldn’t believe it, maybe you had a stroke of luck after all. You started preparing yourself for your new job filled to the brim with gratitude and thrill.

Soon enough the very Monday you had anticipated arrived. Though you weren’t quite as excited as before; now your mind more filled with anxiety and fear at how your first day would go instead. What could possibly go wrong? It’s the marketing department, there’s nothing to be afraid of right?

Your eyes glance up hearing footsteps coming down the sleek modern hallway. You wipe your clammy hands and attempt to look somewhat confident. You had been told one of the employees would be tasked with guiding you around and showing you the general gist of your duties as an employee here. You definitely had to make a strong first impression!

Your gaze meets the tall, ebony-haired figure only for your heart to almost come up to your throat. No fucking way? That surely isn’t who you think it is?

“Holy shit,” the figure comes to a pause a few metres in front of you.

You find yourself standing up; your knees almost buckle. Fate was indeed fucking around with you like a ball of yarn between a kitten’s paws.

The male’s lips curl into the same disgustingly attractive smirk you’d seen thousands of times. “Well, I heard the new employee was over qualified. I didn’t think I’d see you here though. I knew they exaggerated a bit.”

You grit your teeth in annoyance. There it was the ever so condescending tone of voice accompanied with that signature head tilt to the right. You smile overly sweetly, “When I heard someone was going to guide me, I thought it would be with someone more experience.”

He scoffs, “What happened? Didn’t you say you were gonna work for some big company? Become the executive manager.” He’s taunting you.

You lean forward, file in hand with a condescending smirk of your own, “What about you Kang Taehyun? Didn’t you say you were going to become a marketing executive at THE biggest company in the country? This company is big but not the biggest.”

Taehyun’s gaze darkens and his jaw tightens. “Piss off.” You hum delighted, “See not so funny when the tables turn is it?”

He rolls his eyes. “Whatever. Can’t believe I have to babysit you for two days.” You mutter, “Believe me I’m just as enthusiastic as you are.” A snort escapes his lips. “Yeah, yeah, follow me then.”

He begins the tour of the office. Numerous curious eyes are set on you both as the burden of ‘newest addition to the department’ now dwells on your shoulders.

Your eyes absorb what he’s wearing. A sleek white shirt with a loosened blue tie. His sleeves rolled up to his elbows showcasing his strong arms. It appears he still hasn’t stopped working out since college. How unfortunate for you.

Your cheeks begin to warm. You hated to admit it but since college he’d definitely changed. He’d unfortunately gotten more attractive than he already was. He must be fighting off dates left, right and center. Not that you’d relate. You’d only dated one guy in college (you shudder) you agreed to never think about that memory again. Big yikes.

His dark hair sleekly hung in strands over his forehead with his sharp eyes peering through. Taehyun always had somewhat of an intimidating expression; whether it was unintentional or not you didn’t know. You wondered if through your years together if you ever genuinely saw him smile…

“I’d like you to repeat what I just said.” He sharply shatters your internal conversation. You splutter awkwardly. Well fuck. “Uh…”

Taehyun deadpans at you, “Yeah, fuckin’ thought so. How did you graduate again?”

You sneer. “Oh? You’re asking me that? 2nd rank?”

By the end of your degree after endlessly fighting, when the finals rankings of grades came out he turned out to be second place in your batch whilst you were thrillingly first (by a four point difference but that’s not important).

He sneers, “Mind your tone, newbie.” You snort, “So cringe.” Taehyun mutters, “I was beginning to forget how fucking insufferable you were back then.” You cooe all doe-eyed, “Aw, what a shame. Glad I arrived just in time to refresh your memory.”

He grates his teeth and runs his fingers through his locks. His lips twitch slightly before he spins back around, “Anyway, I’ll teach you how to use the printer and scanner and then I’ll take you to your desk.”

You found yourself smiling. It was odd, all he was doing was insulting you and making sarcastic remarks (you doing the same back,) however it made you feel giddy. It reminded you of the same rivalry you had back then. That rivalry was what gave you motivation to work as hard as you did.

“So that’s about it. If you have any other doubts-“

You interrupt, “Yeah, ask you. Got it.” He scoffs, “No, I was gonna say don’t ask me. Annoy someone else. Or suffer.” You pout, “God, you’re even sweeter than I remember.”

He rolls his eyes and is about to walk back over before you murmur, “Wait.” He raises a brow, “Hm?”

“Uh, actually nothing.” You find yourself slouching into your seat. He gives you an exasperated stare before walking off. A heavy feeling sinks into your heart; he didn’t truly hate you right? What if your attitude was making it worse?

Maybe you should stop retaliating for a bit. You’re coworkers now, not in college. You had to remain professional. Yeah… that’s it.

Another day passes by uneventfully with you asking other people for help pitifully whenever the printer got jammed. It’s not your fault the printer is so shit. (It was an expensive one and it was clearly your fault.)

You groan, “Every fucking time.” Your newest dilemma was trying to adjust to the company software and trying to correctly input in the numbers and formulas in Excel. You were damn good in fact, except for today.

Your numbers didn’t seem to be creating the correct chart. You had gone wrong somewhere with the inputting but no matter how ever many times you tried editing and reading through it, you couldn’t see the problem.

You hear a snicker behind you and you spin your chair around to see the infamous man you wished to avoid. You groan. “Not happy to see me?,” He pouts.

You wave your hand nonchalantly, “Leave me alone. I don’t need your condescending tone behind me.”

Taehyun murmurs with a cocky smile, “Yeah but those charts look shit.” You glare at him, “Yeah, I’m aware.”

He places a hand on the back of your chair as he steps closer. The scent of his cologne climbs up your nostrils overwhelmingly. Shit, he smelled good. Hints of warm wood, bergamot and mint maybe. Whatever concoction it was, it made you almost feel dizzy.

“What’s the issue? Chart formatting or inputting? Let’s check the formulas you’ve put in.”

You huff, “I don’t need your help.” He arches a brow, “Oh really? It’s not like you’ve been sitting for twenty minutes staring at the screen with a look of despair or anything.”

“You-!” You bark. He leans over placing his hand on the mouse almost scaring the shit out of you when his hand brushes against yours. You place your hands on your lap awkwardly. Taehyun was insanely close; leant over your right side using the back of your chair as a support.

You didn’t need help…right? His brows furrow intensely as his maroon irises scan and dart across the screen with incredible speed. He appears to murmur to himself. The intense look of concentration seemed to make your heart palpitate. His cologne enveloped you like a blanket.

“Mm, I think the problem is here. See this, we’ll replace it with another formula, I think it’s easier with this one. Can I shift some of this?” You find yourself nodding along with whatever he says paying attention to him working. He’s clearly gone through the exact same problem as you.

Soon enough the charts start looking much, much better. The way you wanted them to appear. You find yourself feeling defeated. He’s probably thinking of how stupid you are. You peer down at your lap at you mumble out, “Thank you.”

He doesn’t move from beside you and you hear him pleasantly hum, “Couldn’t hear you? Mind saying it again?” You scoff to yourself. What a nuisance! “Thanks, Tae…hyun…” You find yourself stuttering as your peer up to angrily say thanks. You forgot how close his face was to yours.

Taehyun stumbles back up to standing. The more seconds pass and you realise his cheeks are blossoming into hue of red. He clears his throat, “Anyway, good. Be grateful.” You roll your eyes, “Oh my saviour.”

He smirks, “Don’t beat yourself up over this by the way. I know what you’re like. I made the same mistake on my first week here. Obviously not ever again. But yeah, another coworker helped me.”

Was this his way of trying to cheer you up? He knew what you felt? Of course he did. He wanted academic validation and was just as much of a perfectionist as you were. He even saw you at your most vulnerable. It was as though you were two sides of the same sheet of paper.

You find yourself smiling a little too hard. He appears to be staring at you too.

There’s a silence between you two. You expected him to leave. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t let the words leave his lips.

So you do something that you’d never thought you’d do. “Hey Taehyun…do you wanna grab coffee together?”

His eyes that you usually saw as very sharp and murky, for the first time glistened in intrigue. His lips curl into a mischievous smile, “I suppose you do owe me. I can put the coffee on your tab.”

You groan as you stand up after saving your work. “I never said that.” He hums, “You implied it.”

“I didn’t imply shit.”

With that, you find yourself walking beside Taehyun to the company café. He orders a Caramel Macchiato accompanied with a freshly baked flaky croissant (all unfortunately on your tab).

“This reminds me of the time I bought you lunch after you were sobbing because you got your first C grade.” Taehyun grins taking a massive bite out of his croissant. You both sit down and you snap, “Fuck you. First and last C grade by the way. You know how hard I studied for that test! The teacher didn’t like me, I swear!”

He murmurs with a smirk, “Sounds like an excuse to me. I still remember you sniffling and your puffed up cheeks. I think that was the first time I saw you cry, actually.” You whine, “You’re so mean, you know that?” He snorts, “Oh? So you’re not?”

You knew passing was all your parents asked for. It was a hard exam, so getting a C was amazing. You were grateful but…you felt for your own personal standards, it wasn’t good enough. You know better now, of course. You put a lot of pressure on yourself back then. You knew Taehyun did too. How did he handle it?

“You know, it was stupid how hard we competed against each other back then. It was fun, but stupid. We both had huge sky high aspirations but here we are working at a regular company.” Taehyun murmurs swirling his coffee.

You softly murmur, “It’s okay.” He inhales deeply, “Yeah, it’s okay.” He hums putting back on his blunt facade, “Anyway, at least I wasn’t the only one brought down. Here you are.” Taehyun grins, “Think about it, that C grade you got made no difference?”

You glare, “Very funny.” Your mind flickers back to the memory.

“Here.”

You attempt to hurriedly wipe your tear-stained face. You didn’t want him of all people seeing you this pathetic.

“No use in trying to hide that you’re crying.” He sits beside you on the the grass under the tree. “If you’re here to rub it in, kindly piss off,” you sniffle out. “On a normal day, maybe. But…hey. Look at me.” You shake your head. “Oh come on, y/n.”

“You’re not a failure. This is not the end of the world, y/n. You did well okay. Even I didn’t get an A. Our lecturer didn’t teach shit. It’s not our fault.” He huffs out. “Everyone got hit hard.”

His voice cracks slightly, “I get it. I get what your feeling.” You peer up at him with glossy eyes. He holds a sadness in his eyes. At that moment you knew he was also experiencing the same pain as you. It maybe insignificant or stupid to others but to him, he knew.

“As I said, here.” He holds out a paper bag. The smell of food wafts from it making your stomach rumble. Oh yeah, you hadn’t eaten lunch. You peer inside, there was a burger, fries and an ice cream cup. He ordered you food.

“You didn’t have to-“ you splutter. “Too bad, I noticed you didn’t leave the campus to get lunch today like usual. A-Anyway, don’t get used to this treatment.” Taehyun mutters. He brings out his own bag with his own order. He gets himself comfortable beside you as he starts taking his food out of the takeaway bag. “Well what are you waiting for? Go on, eat.”

Your heart races. He was eating with you. Your academic rival, your so called enemy was eating lunch with you. lunch that he bought. Taehyun chews as he says, “Just you wait, I’ll beat your ass next week though. We have a seminar in Mrs Webbs’ class that we’re getting graded for.”

“Yeah keep talking out of your ass. My Powerpoints and presentation skills far supersede yours.” He snarks, “You talk big for someone who still types on Microsoft Word 2010 version.”

“Shut the fuck up, my dad will upgrade my laptop soon I swear.”

You’re brought out of your reverie with Taehyun accidentally slamming his knee against the metal table support. You murmur, “Deserved.”

He yelps, “For what!? I did fucking nothing!” You smirk to yourself, “Yeah I know. Still deserved.” “You act like you’re a twelve year old commenting on Tiktok.” He scoffs rubbing his knee.

“We should do this more often.” You find yourself murmuring. “What slandering each other? Wasn’t college enough for you?” He smirks playfully.

“I mean you can’t tell me you don’t enjoy our bickering?” You mumble sipping your own drink. He leans his head back exaggeratedly as if deep in thought. “Well…I suppose I happen to enjoy it ever so slightly.” You don’t know why but your heart happens to jump around in your chest at the admittance.

“See!” You call out. He rolls his eyes biting his croissant again. “Maybe you’re just a masochist,” he replies with a snark. You gawk at him, “Well you’re the one being mean ninety percent of the time, so maybe you’re a sadist.”

The table goes silent with other members of the nearby tables giving you both awkward stares.

“This out of context sounds really bad you know.” Taehyun clears his throat appearing to find the ground more interesting all of a sudden.

Your cheeks heat up and you scoff, “You and these people around us are just dirty minded.” His eyes narrow and be coyly smiles, “I wasn’t the one who insinuated that they liked being bickered at and insulted. You were. Like being degr-“

You sharply stand up with your half bitten pastry in hand, “Well, seeing that you are being immature, Taehyun. I’m going to have to cut this coffee break short.” He promptly follows behind you. You hear a sound that you’d thought you’d never hear.

It was odd. You’ve never imagined what it was like to hear him genuinely laugh. Yet here you were. You turn around; your arm clasping the strap of your bag. His eyes glimmer as they widen. The sound of laughter that escapes him is so…it’s definitely unique. You liked it. His wide smile as he rushes after you cackling at your embarrassment.

Taehyun’s dark hair bounces as he jogs to catch up to where you stand. “Oh come now, you didn’t have to leave me like that, I wasn’t serious.” You mutter, “Yeah, yeah.”

He looks beautiful when he genuinely smiles. You clear your throat flustered as he catches you staring at him and you start walking off again. “Ugh, wait!”

So it carried on like this, your occasional talks from across your desks became daily bickering. Even both your fellow colleagues were amused by the bickering and other witty comebacks that you both hit each other with. Your once in awhile coffee breaks became eating lunch together everyday.

Of course neither of you would admit that you in fact enjoyed each other’s company a little too much.

“You know he definitely likes you.” You roll your eyes at your colleague Momo. You didn’t want to build up unnecessary hope. He probably thought of you as a friend, a friendly rival that he liked to be witty with. So you shouldn’t raise your expectations either.

You two were rivals to the bittersweet end.

“How can you both be so fucking stupidly smart? Are all nerds like this?” You deadpan at her. “What I meant was, your feelings are very obvious towards each other.”

“Don’t you think it was fate to meet him again?” She was a hopeless romantic; something that you were not. She gushes, “I can see the way he peers at you over the top of his monitor. Whenever he passed by your desk the smile on his lips…ah!”

You freeze, “Be for real right now.” She smiles teasingly, “Why don’t you test out my findings yourself?” You glare, “Must be nice to spectate from the side huh?” She shrugs innocently, “What can I say? You’re the main character here, not me.” You release a drained sigh.

Feelings from the past were mixing into a worrying concoction of hope and romance. Did he truly see you that way? Or were you setting yourself up for failure?

So just like Momo said, you sat yourself at your desk and began to work, typing away. You feel your heart pound in your chest. Your eyes briefly move up across the desk divider and you almost feel the world slowing down to a halt. Just like she said, there he was peering over his computer monitor like a cat peeking over a kitchen counter with its paws.

His immediately peers down at his desk clearly embarrassed he got caught. You can’t help but breathlessly laugh. Your heart flutters uncontrollably. That was the cutest thing you’d seen from him. It wouldn’t hurt to tease him a little right?

Maybe he’d tell you his reason if you just gave him a little playful nudge.

You find him near the filing cabinets a bit later and decide to approach him with a mischievous smile lining your lips. “Hey.” He peers up folder in hand, “Oh hey.”

“Just here to grab some files, the manager asked for February’s reports,” Taehyun hums. He notes your teasing expression and he tilts his head, “What’s got you so high and mighty?”

“The fact I caught you staring at me two to three times over your monitor.” You dramatically sigh, “It’s truly a burden to be so stunning. Even you my mortal enemy, can’t resist.”

“Now what makes you think I’d look at my public enemy number one with heart eyes?” He scoffs closing the file. You hum, “Oh? So, I’m your number one?”

“You have very selective hearing. Might want to get that checked.” He snorts. “You have tunnel vision, because you only seem to be looking at me,” you huff.

His gaze shifts and he tosses the file to side on one of the emptier shelves. Taehyun begins to walk forward speedily catching you off guard. You find yourself stumbling back into another one of the metallic cabinets with an awful bang. Thank goodness it was just you two in here.

You let out a squeak as he suddenly leans over you blocking your attempt to escape. His gaze swirls in a mix of emotions but yet that cocky smile is triumphant on his face as always.

“You know since college, I have to give it to you. I never seen someone with such sharp wit. It’s actually very annoying.” He hums. You’re more preoccupied that he’s got you trapped between him and cabinet.

“Worried someone is gonna walk in? Oh, if they do. You’re gonna have to explain this one. Not me.” He hums. His eyes scan every crevice of your face making you shiver. “You’re the one who got us in this predicament. Now if you would just kindly move your arm-!”

He leans in even closer. You might faint you think. His cologne overwhelms your senses and you hate how attractive he is this close up. “You damn well could have just walked around me; I only have one arm up. Yet you’re choosing to stay.”

Shit, he got you good. You peer away, “Whatever Taehyun.”

“Just admit you like me.” He shamelessly hums into your ear. You scoff, “you first.”

“Oh come on, you were making heart eyes from the first day.” He cooes. You snap back, “No, I was not!”

(Yes, you in fact were.)

“We’re getting nowhere.” He huffs. You glare, “Just say it.” You peer down noticing how close his lips are. He does the same mannerism.

“I have an idea, if that’s okay with you.” He whispers leaning in. You close your eyes, “Yeah. That’s okay.” No more words were exchanged except for a sweet kiss, a passionate wordless exchange of how you and him felt.

After all, you two were too stubborn to be the first to admit it. So what better way then to showcase it than this?

You both walk out of the cabinet files in hand flushed. “So.” You mumble.

“So…” He responds back. “Are we like…? You know? Or was it just an in the moment kind of thing? Because that’s not what I’m looking for.” You spill out all at once.

Taehyun stops walking and starts laughing making you whine, “Oh don’t be like that. Answer the question! It’s vital information!”

“Well my precious rival, it was not an in the moment thing. I was hoping you could in fact be my one and only rival.”

You smile at him, “Rival? Only yours?” He nods, “Only mine.“

“You do know I’m asking you out hypothetically, yes?” He raises a brow. You smack his arm, “Yeah, I’m hypothetically saying yes. Yes. We got that. Are we both clear?”

Taehyun hums pleased, “Then. Then yeah, be prepared. You’re gonna get a date so phenomenal you’ll never find a better man.”

You roll your eyes, “How romantic of you. You sound like a loser.” He scoffs, “That’s not how you should be talking to someone who’s gonna take you out on a date.”

You groan trying to contain your smile, walking beside him, “You’re insufferable.”

He hums with a pretty smile, “I know. You are too.”

———————••••••••••—————

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outfoxt · 5 months ago

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Another Käärijä Research Project

aka: käärijä style-shifting project

as a preface, here are my (non) qualifications for this project and the circumstances under which it happened:

I am a linguistics student, and this past semester I took a course on sociolinguistics. the goal of this project was to become familiar with the concept of and analyze style-shifting (it's more commonly known as code-switching online but theres a difference and this is style-shifting), specifically by analyzing the speech of one person. We had the option to study oprah or to have someone else approved by my prof, so you know I had to ask my prof if I could study jere. This project is solely my intellectual property; even though I had a tutor help me a lot, everything written in this paper and on this post was my work alone.

now, on to the actual findings! the full paper and transcripts will be linked at the end :D

the actual variables (words or sounds) that I studied were the pronunciation of r, and use of the word "the".

to make things a lot easier from the get-go, i'm going to introduce you all to one of my favorite websites, ipachart.com (the international phonetic alphabet [ipa] chart is a big chart with an entry for every sound that exists in a language. this handy dandy website has an audio recording for each one of those sounds).

go to this website, and then scroll down to the table. go to the column labeled "post alveolar" and then click on ɾ and ɹ. those are the sounds i studied in this paper! ɾ is the finnish r and ɹ is the american r :)

so basically what i did to find instances of my variable was i just looked up a bunch of esc interviews and listened out for use of the different r sounds. i also transcribed the entire dinner date live because i love torture apparently :) the specific interviews and lives/stories are in the bibliography of the paper :p

after i transcribed all the interviews and lives/stories i went through and highlighted every instance of the r sound. then i calculated the ratios of ɾ to ɹ based on the context they were spoken in. the two contexts i looked for were formal contexts (sit-down interviews) and informal contexts (literally anything else).

i found that jere uses ɹ WAY more often in formal contexts than he does in informal contexts, and the same in reverse with ɾ.

i then went back to the transcripts and looked for all instances of the word "the". i also looked for instances where i thought it should be present, but was omitted. i calculated the ratio of present vs omitted "the"s in formal vs informal contexts and made some charts.

the graph with the smaller black section is "use of 'the' in formal settings" and the one with the smaller green section is "use of 'the' in informal settings" (the images are transparent, sorry)

i found that jere uses "the" WAY more often when in formal settings! there were also some instances where he added a "the" where it was unnecessary, which is studied at length in this wonderful paper by @alien-girl-21

something i also noticed that i elected not to study because this paper took enough energy on its own was that in formal contexts, whenever the "or" sound came in the middle or at the end of a word, jere wouldn't pronounce the r. it stuck out to me mostly because i heard words like "performance" turning into "perfomance", which i thought was an interesting quirk.

unfortunately i was somewhat limited by both my brainpower and capacity to do more work on this paper in the relatively short timeframe i was given (2 weeks) and the fact that i was given a 5 page MAX for this paper (not including a bibliography). i had a lot of fun doing this though and am definitely planning on studying jere for for academic credit again in the future if given the chance!

also i would like it to be known that i spent an hour searching for that 5 second clip of the urheilucast where jere said that he used to sell kitchens and understands english better than he can speak it.

link to a google drive folder with the actual paper i wrote and the transcripts of the interviews with notation:

please feel free to send me asks and dms with questions or comments about this paper! i absolutely love rambling about linguistics :3!!

#i think this is everything!#it always feels so much shorter than i think its going to be #both because of how much effort i put in #and also because i was constantly comparing myself to cyns paper 😅#my irls kept reminding me that i didnt have to and in fact wasnt allowed to write 43 pages analyzing jeres speech #but i kinda wanted to #i also wrote this paper on april 2nd #i remember that because the previous day i spent all day booping #and then i literally worked all day from 9.30 until 23.30 on stuff for my linguistics class #because i had this paper due on friday or saturday and i had a research summary due on that thursday (the 4th)#it was so much work that made some things worse but god was it worth it #linguistics my beloved <3 #käärijä #into the tag you go #i reserve the right to edit this post if i realize there are any problems #linguistics

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lyralit · 11 months ago

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4.1.24 - the importance of learning new things

As much as I think academic & work focus is incredibly important going into the new year, one of my other goals is to practice doing more: to learn all of the things I want to do, in addition to work, in addition to writing. I want to know how to do thousands of little things, and I think the longer we wait, the less likely we are to do them.

Picking up a new hobby doesn't have to be buying a dozen textbooks and spending hundreds of dollars on lessons because you might have the slightest interest: it can be from whatever you have here, now, and you'll never learn if you don't get started.

Some of the things I've been getting into (as I've mentioned before) are baking & crocheting. it just feels so cozy and nice & I love the idea of comfort.

here is a list of things I want to / you should try that's new!

learning a new language. fifteen minutes a day, I kid you not. I'm learning latin on duolingo and I don't ever think about it, but when I do it (25 day streak 💪🏻), I'm starting to notice my improvements

consuming good media. and that's not scrolling for half an hour on tumblr. it's books—deep ones and silly ones and ones about romance and dragons and apocalypses. it's movies! I watched keira knightley's pride and prejudice twice in the last few months, and also three men and a baby which is something I never thought I would watch, but it was quite funny I think. and I learn from it: I cannot write humour or romance for the life of me, so it's basically studying to write (is the self-gaslighting too evident?)

learning to crochet. I made a silly little headband today, after scrolling through pinterest and desperately wanting one. I started crocheting in december to give as gifts (I completed none of my wips, much like when I write) and used the tools I had around me: an old rainbow loom hook and whatever string I could find. now I'm proud to say I can read somewhat fluently crochet acronyms.

baking. I keep saying this. I know. but when I tell you a two years ago I was exploding cupcakes in the oven and last month I made bakery-style cookies...I made bread! a loaf of bread! (in a bread machine, but it's so good and I instantly made another. there is one in the bread machine right now). honestly it just made me feel that much better about improvement, and trying new things, and that is the mindset I want for the new year.

learning to code. in all honesty, I never thought I was a compsci - engineer kind of person. then this year, out of sudden (masterminded) urges, I joined a bunch of tech and robotics initiatives, and maybe it's the sense of community (I can rejoice in finding another nerdy group) but now I am happily chauffeuring myself to these meetings 4h a week. I'm looking into pursuing more into the fields of eng and science. and I'm learning some code from one of the friends I've made!

starting a blog. ...I know most of the people who linger around my blog stay for the writing content (the last posts have turned this writerblr into a digital diary, and I'm only half sorry for that). but since I've joined tumblr (almost three years ago now!) I've got to meet so many wonderful people (including you!) and want to try so many things.

and I get it. it's overwhelming. so here are some starting goals that maybe I'll try also.

start doing art. -> make a card for someone as a gift.

learn a new sport & start exercising. (I'm trying out track & field in the spring, so stay tuned to figure out how that goes) -> see if someone will come play ball with you. do 1 or 2 youtube workout videos a week.

film videos of your daily life. it doesn't need to be for posting! -> edit together clips you've taken for a last year recape.

start a scrapbook. -> print out photos and dig up construction paper. decorate a page.

make a poetry journal. -> go on pinterest to read poetry! pin styles you like and set fifteen minutes to writing.

make a regular journal! -> write once a day. just try: goals for the day in the morning, or a recap at night.

try your hand at gardening. -> research plants that grow well in your region. see if any of the seeds you may have at home are useful. water your lawn. buy a plant and try to keep it alive (set reminders, leave it in front of your sink)

learn to make candles. -> watch a youtube tutorial. see if you can play around with candles you already have.

play chess. -> see if someone will play chess with you. no? chess.com is right there. go make an account. go find a stranger.

learn to play an instrument off youtube. -> maybe you have a piano sitting around, or a guitar you've never touched. you don't even need to master it. pick a song you like and google that. no instrument? maybe there's a way to play drums with home items.

go for a run. -> once a week. a set time. just shoes and the outdoors. too cold? go to a gym and use a treadmill. maybe that's not possible? skip rope.

start / join a book club. -> just you, or some close friends, or people online. a book a month. talk about it.

** on that note, would anyone like to join a tumblr book club? slide into my asks and maybe we can get a blog list!

thank you for reading again <3 until next time.

#lyralit #writerblr #blog post #creative writing #writblr #writing prompts #writing ideas #writers block #writing #writers #mental health #taking breaks

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johaerys-writes · 8 months ago

Note

Hi! I’m pretty new to the world of Achilles and Patroclus (I read The Song Of Achilles last month) and I just saw your post about your love for them. When you said “there's just so much stuff out there about them (tsoa, hades game, the iliad, a bunch of other myths and adaptations, non fiction books, academic papers etc)” I was wondering if you could touch on the other myths and adaptations part maybe? I’m not exactly sure where to begin there but I would appreciate any guidance you could give!

Oh boy I don't know where to start either because there's a LOT. I don't want to overwhelm you so I'll just list a few key myths and adaptations off the top of my head:

Adaptations

So as far as adaptations go, I will include works where both Achilles and Patroclus show up and that are inspired by the Iliad.

Hades Game: I'm pretty sure you're already familiar with this, just mentioning it just in case!

Aristos the musical: it's a musical as the name suggests, and it revolves around Achilles and Patroclus' lives from Pelion all the way to Troy. It's really lovely and has made me emotional on numerous occasions and I love revisiting it every so often! It also has a Tumblr account: @aristosmusical

Troilus and Cressida: this is Shakespeare's take on the Trojan War and it's quite interesting, not really faithful to the Iliad but offers a sort of different perspective on the characters and the events that led to Hector's death.

Achilles (1995) by Barry JC Purves: it's a short stop motion film using clay puppets, it's on Youtube and it's only 11 mins and I think it's worth a watch! I find it very compelling visually and any adaptation where Achilles and Patroclus are lovers is a plus in my book 🫶

Holding Achilles: this is an Australian stage production by the Dead Puppet Society, I really enjoyed it and I found it an interesting blend of TSOA and Iliad Patrochilles, which also featured some cool new elements that I hadn't really seen before. It used to be free to watch for a while but now I think you have to pay to watch it, there's more info on their website.

The Silence of the Girls: a novel by Pat Barker, it's a take on the events of the Iliad mostly through Briseis' eyes, I personally didn't really like the book or the characterisations but hey both Achilles and Patroclus are in it so it might be worth a read.

There are some other novels I've heard of where Achilles and Patroclus appear (A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes, Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane) and also a TV show called Troy: Fall of a City but I haven't read/watched them so I can't really rec them

Myths

Most myths revolve around Achilles, there aren't that many with Patroclus I'm afraid, but here are some of my favourites:

Achilleid by Publius Papinius Statius: this is an epic poem about Achilles' stay on Skyros disguised as a girl and his involvement with Deidameia. It's interesting but I'd personally take the characterisations and events in it with a grain of salt because Romans were notorious for their unsympathetic portrayal of Greek Homeric heroes but it's still a cool thing that's out there and free to read online.

Iphigenia at Aulis: a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides, it's basically the dramatised version of the myth of Iphigenia's sacrifice in Aulis which predates the Iliad, there are many obscure versions of this myth but Euripides' sort of updated version is my favourite, I will never shut up about this play!! Lots of a nuance and very interesting portrayals of Achilles, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Clytemnestra, Iphigenia and pretty much everyone in there, well worth a read.

Lost plays: there are several plays in which Achilles appears but that have been lost or survive only in fragments, but two of my favourites are Euripides' Telephus and Aeschylus' Myrmidons. Telephus takes place before the Trojan War, while the Greeks are on their way to Troy. I really like Achilles' characterisation in the fragments that remain and also the fact that he was already renowned for his knowledge of medicine and healing despite how young he was. The fragments that survive from Aeschylus' Myrmidons I think are fewer but the play was extremely popular at the time it was presented to the public and it sparked a lot of controversy re: Achilles and Patroclus' relationship and who tops/bottoms so I think that's kind of funny lol.

There are lots of other obscure little myths about Achilles that I've picked up by reading various books, papers and wiki posts on the matter and that are just too numerous to list here, but what I will mention and that I think concludes the myths section of this post pretty neatly is that the Iliad and the Odyssey are not the only works about the Trojan War that were written, merely the only works that survived. The rest of the books in the Epic Cycle have been preserved either in fragmentary form or in descriptions in other works, and I think the Epic Cycle wiki page is a good place to start if you want to get an idea of what each of those books contained.

I hope this helped! 💙

#patrochilles #achilles #patroclus #the iliad #homer's iliad #if I remember anything else I'll probably add to this post but I think that should be enough for now #there's just! so much stuff!!#happy reading/viewing/listening 😁

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milkywayhou · 8 months ago

Text

You've Got Email (König x OC: Medical Student!Snow) PART II

Summary: When the Colonel from some Private Military Corporation group accidentally send KorTac's secret file via email to a random civilian girl and now they develop some weird relationship.

TWs: Curse words (from Snow), slow burn (kinda). I just wrote this for fun

Words Count: 3k (The email contain 2k+ words while the rest was Snow's 4Chan post)

----

From: [email protected]

To: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

03/16/23 at 00:16 am

Subject: Paper Killing Me Slowly

Looks like my essays have finally done me in, Colonel. I officially declare these assignments a cruel and unusual form of torture. If my crippling debt doesn’t end up being the death of me, it’ll definitely be this never-ending pile of papers.

I swear my professors are deliberately trying to break me with their sadism disguised as “learning.” At this rate, I’ll be old and gray before I actually get to practice real medicine.

You’re probably chuckling over there in your super secret PMC headquarters, happy that my suffering brings you some minor amusement. Let me tell you, it’s not very fun on this end! By the way, since you never seem to shut up about your big important KorTac work, I did a little digging on you guys out of sheer boredom the other night. Let’s just say your organization isn’t exactly the most transparent, is it? Not that I expected any less from a sketchy bunch of psuedo-military operatives.

But what can I say, you’ve piqued my curiosity Colonel. There’s clearly more to you and your operation than meets the eye. Not that I actually care or anything…

Dying a Slow Death by Paper Cuts,

Snow

----

From: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

To: [email protected]

03/17/23 at 07:15 am

Subject: RE: Paper Killing Me Slowly

About time you resurfaced from whatever academic torment was keeping you occupied, doctor-in-training. Unlike some, I’ve work that can’t be put off for frivolous distractions like “curiosity.” While your professors’ standards may seem unduly harsh, rigor is integral to developing excellence. Quit your complaining and buckle down.

As for digging into KorTac’s operations, I’d suggest focusing energies inward on your own development instead. What we do is of no concern to civilian meddlers seeking petty entertainment.

Now then, your well-being – have you been maintaining proper rest and nutrition amidst studies? Medical training will matter little if you work yourself into an early grave. Take care not to bite off more than you can chew, doctor. Your potential is wasted by burning the candle at both ends.

Stay vigilant. And do try to check in more frequently going forward. Ensuring no volatile elements fall through cracks is priority, after all. But you knew that already.

Colonel König

KorTac Commanding Officer

----

From: [email protected]

To: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

03/18/23 at 02:26 am

Subject: RE: RE: Paper Killing Me Slowly

Ooh, is the big bad Colonel actually concerned for little old me? How touching. Don’t worry, it’ll take more than some papers and late nights to do me in. I’m tougher than I look!

Though I appreciate your oh-so-subtle inquiries into my well-being. It’s cute that you care, in your own gruff, annoyed kind of way. Really warms the heart.

As for your warnings about focusing inward – I’ll have you know theoretical pondering is a crucial part of intellectual development, unlike SOME people who just brood and bark orders all day. Live a little!

Besides, you’re far more interesting to think about than cell membranes or DNA transcription or whatever the hell I’m studying these days. At least you provide some entertainment value while also agitating that permanent stick up your butt.

Not that I’d ever actually chew on you or anything…or would I? You’ll never know! Consider it some encouragement for YOU to stay vigilant as well, Colonel Killjoy.

Try not to miss me too much! I’ve got my course to slowly finish killing me. Ta ta for now ~

Snow ;*

----

From: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

To: [email protected]

03/18/23 at 03:04 am

Subject: A Question of Priorities

Hmph. Always with the fanciful notions and attempts to get under my skin, aren’t you girl? As amusing as your antics may be at times, they divert from more pressing matters.

Why is it you seem to find time for this inane correspondence, yet claim such a full schedule? Have you no family, social life or other obligations beyond schooling that demand attention? It’s late – most functional humans your age are asleep at a respectable hour.

Or is replying to my messages now the highlight of your days? I fail to see what could possibly be so engaging about our exchanges as to warrant daily disruptions to your studies and rest. Do explain, medic, before I’m forced to conclude it’s some misguided fixation driving this behavior.

Now then, I’m certain both our times can be better spent. This will be my last correspondence on the subject unless you’ve a sensible reason for continuing. I expect a clear one if we are to correspond further. Is that understood?

Colonel König

KorTac Commanding Officer

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From: [email protected]

To: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

03/18/23 at 03:13 am

Subject: RE: A Question of Priorities

I can’t believe I’ll live to see you wrote ‘Hmph', but oh well.. No need to get so worked up over a little late night emailing. You’d think I personally offended your entire army or something with how tightly wound up you always are.

To answer your interrogations – no, I don’t have much of a social life between school and work. All my friends are in the same crazy overloaded boat. And family’s not really in the picture anymore, so it’s just me.

As for why I reply to YOU – it’s certainly not any fixation, don’t flatter yourself. I often check emails late at night to make sure I didn’t miss anything from professors. And sometimes replying to your grumpy missives provides a brief distraction/comic relief from the academic stress barrage. Not like you give me much else to look forward to in my messages other than another lecture on “priorities” or thinly veiled warnings about security. Add some fun or levity once in awhile why don’t ya?

Might improve that permanent stick up your butt situation. :)

Anyways, I don’t see how this harms anything. If anything, it’s helping me decompress from the intensity of my program for a moment. But don’t let that inflate your ego – you’re really not THAT interesting, Colonel.

So relax already. I have my priorities in order. Now are you done interrogating me, or can we get back to our regularly scheduled program of friendly pestering via email?

Barely slept,

Snow

----

From: [email protected]

To: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

03/17/23 at 03:20 am

Subject: RE: RE: A Question of Priorities

Look, I’ll admit you’re…more interesting than most people I could be corresponding with at this hour. There, I said it. Are you happy now?

I have way bigger fish to fry at the moment than whatever mind games you’re trying to play with your interrogation emails.

So let’s call a truce on analyzing each other’s motivations too closely, yeah? I’ll focus on my “priorities” as much as possible, and you can go back to doing…whatever it is you ominous PMC dudes do all day. And we’ll both be happier for it.

Anyways, I better get back to hitting the books. You take care, Colonel. Try not to have an aneurysm overthinking all this too much!

Snow

P.S. Please say something nice back for once instead of another lecture. I dare you.

----

From: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

To: [email protected]

03/18/23 at 08:47 am

Subject: RE: RE: RE: A Question of Priorities

Very well, consider the matter settled as far as I’m concerned going forward. Your reasons for continuing this…discourse seem harmless enough, and who am I to deny you an outlet of levity in trying times. Though I stand by my advice on maintaining focus.

As for what we “ominous dudes” occupy ourselves with daily – it’s primarily strategy, training, intel analysis and security planning, you named it. Not as exciting as how the tabloids depict, I’m sure. Mostly tedium with moments of terror.

In any case, we all have our burdens to shoulder. Yours may differ from mine, but remain no less important in their own domain. So chin up, and do carry on with your studies unhindered whenever renewed vigor is needed. Perseverance is the quality that leads to true achievement against the odds.

Now then, I’ve said my piece. Take care, Farron.

König

----

From: [email protected]

To: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

03/18/23 at 12:20 pm

Subject: A Brief Observation

Dare I note the absence of your typical rigid sign-off that just screams “I’m an important military man, hear me roar!” Could it be you’re loosening up ever so slightly after our numerous exchanges? Developing a bit of a soft spot for little old Snow, perhaps?

I knew there had to be more beneath the surface of that tough-as-nails exterior of yours. Everyone has layers, after all – even secretive PMC commanders who like to pretend they’re robots without emotions :p

Anyways, I should let you get back to your no doubt very serious operations instead of speculating on your hidden depths. Just wanted to say thanks for the rare pep talk, Colonel. I’ll be sure to keep that determined spirit thriving even on my darkest academic nights.

Now get back to work! And try not to think too much about whether this means we’re actually becoming…friends???!. *gasp* That is, if your heart can handle it without exploding first.

Ciao for now~

Snow

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From: [email protected]

To: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

04/04/23 at 10:56 pm

Subject: Radio Silence

So are you really going to leave a girl hanging with no reply, Colonel? I know you big tough military types are always running off on secret missions and whatnot, but c'mon, at least let me know you're not dead in a ditch somewhere.

It has been, what, over two weeks since our last correspondence? That's got to be some kind of record for you.

Wonder what'd have you all occupied that you can't even spare 5 minutes to tell me to get lost.

Please don't say you finally got sick of my pestering and had me discreetly eliminated from a distance. That would just be rude. And boring! I thought we had something special going here.

Joking aside, do try and stay safe out there - whatever "there" may be. The world of medicine could always use more capable folks like yourself, for better or worse.

Anyways, dropping you another line just in case you check email between top secret missions. Don't be a stranger for too long, alright Colonel Grumpy Face? I'll be here annoying as ever when you get back.

Snow

----

From: [email protected]

To: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

04/10/23 at 02:53 am

Subject: A Brief Addendum

Ugh, I don’t know why I’m even telling you this in my state but…I guess you're on missions, but this radio silent make me worry, you know. The lack of contact, not knowing if you’re alright. It’s infuriating. I try not to think about what might happen to a control freak like you out in the field but it creeps in anyway.

Just come back in one piece next time, you hear? As grating as you can be, these exchanges have become a constant. Don’t you dare go getting yourself killed, König. Idiot.

Snow

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From: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

To: [email protected]

04/17/23 at 08:01 pm

Subject: Delayed Response

Farron,

Apologies for the lack of reply these past weeks – mission took longer than expected due to unforeseen complications. Extracting our assets took priority over trivialities such as correspondence.

Debrief and post-op work ongoing, so this must be brief. Merely wanted to assure you of my return and wish continued success moving forward. Consider this an open line should pressures seem insurmountable.

Now back to the grind. Take care, Farron.

König

----

From: [email protected]

To: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

04/23/23 at 01:29 am

Subject: Drunk Musings from Your Favorite Medic

Colonel Köniiiiiiiig!

Hope debriefing is going well or whatever very secret soldier stuff you’ve been doing. Took you long enough to check back in, mister big important commander man! Anyways, I just wanted to share some very deep thoughts I’ve been contemplating after many drinks with fellow stressed out med students. You see, I have this theory…

Your call sign, König. That means King in German right? Very regal and powerful choice if I do say so myself. But it got me thinking – why choose that name, hmm? Is it to hide some deep insecurity and need to always be in control? A way to cope with feelings of inadequacy by lording power over others?

I crack the code, Colonel! You’re really just a big softie inside who picked König to hide your true emotions. How else can you explain putting up with talking to lil ol me all this time, huh? There has to be some secret weakness in there somewhere for you to entertain my antics so much!

Anyways, thanks for listening to my very serious conspiracy analysis brought to you by many tequila shots. Please feel free to deny everything and lecture me more in your next email sober Snow! Gotta go pass out now zzzzzzz.

Your favorite Inebriated medic,

Snow 🥴

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From: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

To: [email protected]

04/23/23 at 04:48 am

Subject: RE: Drunk Musings from Your Favorite Medic

Farron,

It seems your dedication to unraveling mysteries extends even to matters best left untouched. While I appreciate your concern in your addled state, speculating on subjects beyond your clearance level will only lead down unproductive paths.

As for my call sign’s meaning, names are but signifiers – their derivation holds no relevance to function.. I lead to secure progress, nothing more; what I choose to call myself matters not.

Now then, onto more constructive matters – have you recovered from your overindulgence? I trust your studies aren’t suffering unduly.

Stay focused, stay determined. All else will sort itself in due time. Now get some rest – I’ve operations to oversee, as always. Perhaps next we’ll converse under calmer auspices. Take care, Farron.

König

----

From: [email protected]

To: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

04/23/23 at 11:24 am

Subject: RE: RE: Drunk Musings from Your Favorite Medic

Good morning Colonel,

Ugh, I vaguely remember sending those emails last night and…wow, what a mistake that was. Please accept my sincere apologies – drinking too much and spouting off about things I have no business speculating on was beyond idiotic and uncalled for.

The tequila clearly had a stronger hold over my judgement than I realized. I hope I didn’t offend or overstep any boundaries with my drunken ramblings. You of all people don’t need me stirring up nonsensical theories in your line of work.

Woke up with the worst migraine too, so that’s my penance I suppose. A stark reminder not to mix heavy studying with binge drinking ever again! Lesson well and truly learned there, I assure you.

Anyways, I’ll leave you to your important duties. Thanks as always for tolerating my antics, even when they’re fueled by alcohol. I’ll be sure to keep future correspondence more sensible. Apologies again, and have a good day! Ughhh.. the sun is too bright today

Your favorite regretful medic,

Snow

----

From: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

To: [email protected]

04/23/23 at 12:01 pm

Subject: RE: RE: RE: Drunk Musings from Your Favorite Medic

Farron,

Water under the bridge. Focus on recovery and studies, leave past indulgences in the past. You’ve a bright future; guard it well.

No further need for apologies. Your potential is why I continue our exchanges, however unconventional. Now focus inward – your wellbeing is priority one.

Get some rest. We’ll converse again once equilibrium returns. Take care.

König

----

From: [email protected]

To: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

04/24/23 at 07:10 am

Subject: Cat Tax (Don’t Open if Allergic!!)

Good morning Colonel,

Feeling much better after sleeping most of it off. Thanks for being so understanding as always – you’re really not so bad once you loosen up every now and then.

Anyways, since we’re always discussing serious matters, I thought I’d lighten the mood by sharing some pictures of my precious furball Luna. Maybe they’ll provide a brief smile during your no doubt super secret soldier day.

Attached file:

-Luna_SpyingOnTheNeighbors.jpg

-Luna_ContemplatingWorldDomination.jpg

-Luna_FloofOfAnnoyance.jpg

Don’t say I never bring you any joy, mister serious! Hope you’re having a decent one so far. Chat later – I’m off to class.

Your favorite medic and part-time cat model agent,

Snow

----

From: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

To: [email protected]

04/24/23 at 10:37 am

Subject: RE: Cat Tax (Don’t Open if Allergic!!)

I must admit, those images provided a brief reprieve from the tedium of paperwork. Your feline companion appears quite the charismatic specimen.

“Luna_SpyingOnTheNeighbors.jpg” made me chuckle – she seems to take her surveillance duties quite seriously. And who can blame her for fantasies of domination in “Luna_ContemplatingWorldDomination.jpg”? Such ambitions are understandable.

As for “Luna_FloofOfAnnoyance.jpg”… let’s just say I know that look all too well from subordinates who try my patience. Quite the fitting names for her photos, med student. Well done.

In any case, please extend my thanks to your cat.

Now back to the grind. Go learn and make that clever mind of yours even sharper, Farron. I expect top marks, as always. Keep well, Farron.

König

…

From: [email protected]

To: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

04/24/23 at 10:40 am

Subject: RE: RE: Cat Tax (Don’t Open if Allergic!!)

Are you a cat person?

----

From: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

To: [email protected]

04/24/23 at 10:52 am

Subject: RE: RE: RE: Cat Tax (Don’t Open if Allergic!!)

An astute observation – yes, I harbor a soft spot for feline companions. Their self-reliance and pragmatic nature resonate. As young recruits, we briefly had a unit mascot that served morale well until retirement.

Now get to studies, Farron.

König

----

From: [email protected]

To: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

04/24/23 at 03:17 pm

Subject: Luna Photo Bomb

Colonel,

Thanks for indulging my curiosity about your feelings on felines. As an appreciation for your candor, I want to share something more with you – my Luna photo archive!

I’ve uploaded my entire photo folder of my furry friend to my G-Drive. The link is here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XYZ123

In there is a folder simply called “Luna” with nearly 10,000 photos documenting her entire life so far. I know you said you appreciated the brief distraction, so feel free to browse to your heart’s content if you have any downtime!

Just a warning though – my other personal folders are in there too, so please don’t go nosing around elsewhere. Luna folder only, got it?

Enjoy (or not?) and let me know if you have a new favorite shot of her royal fluffiness. Now back to the books for me. Stay safe out there!

Your favorite cat photographer,

Snow

----

From: Colonel_Kö[email protected]

To: [email protected]

04/24/23 at 09:39 pm

Subject: RE: Luna Photo Bomb

Farron,

I appreciate the gesture, but while I’ve no doubt Luna’s archives showcase captivating moments of her royal adventures, discretion is my foremost duty. Perhaps another time, under less sensitive circumstances.

For now, your updates on her antics and insights into companionship are solace enough.

Stay focused on your studies. Your quick mind will serve lives one day. As for myself, duty calls me elsewhere once more. Take care and give Luna a pet for me. Until next time.

König

----

>>Anonymous

05/05/23(Fri)00:29:59 No.132921714

Feelings for a shadowy Colonel dude…help??

Image: [Sad peppe with glasses.jpg 204kb, 400x400]

>Be me, a tired med student swamped with exams

>Get random encrypted email from some “Colonel” guy

>Inside is classified military info about shady PMC ops

>Decide to fuck with him for laughs since have death wish from stress

>Surprisingly he actually replies and doesn’t leak my info

>Realize he’s actually pretty interesting under the hard ass exterior

>We start casually emailing about life and work

>Turns out Colonel guy has sorta relatable perspective on things

>Months pass and our talks become one of the few bright spots in my week

>His dedication is admirable, even if his job seems emotionally taxing

>Learn he actually has a soft spot for cats and sense of humor under layers of protocols

>Physical appearance is unknown but I picture tall, handsome grizzled badass (don't ask me why)

>Problem is I think I’m starting to actually like this enigmatic online friend???

>Nothing will ever happen since he’s eternally deployed and I barely know him

>But I look forward to his messages and appreciate his advice

>TF do I do anons??? How do I stop these growing feelings for a shadowy rando I email???

Pls help, this med student doesn’t need any more stress :’(

Anonymous 05/05/23(Fri)03:12:29 No.132921892: >>132921714(OP)#

I’d say don’t overthink it. You clearly care for him as a friend. Keep things light, see where it leads once you’re both free. Lives with purpose are sexy; maybe there’s potential. Just live in the present for now 

Anonymous 05/05/23(Fri)03:56:33 No.132921904: >>132921892#

Thanks anon, you make a good point. We clearly get along well so maybe it’s worth exploring more after graduation. I’ll try to just enjoy our talks and see what happens naturally.

Anonymous 05/05/23(Fri)07:34:02 No.132922100: >>132921714(OP)#

I’d be careful, he’s in a position of power over you. Just make sure you aren’t getting emotionally manipulated without realizing. Stay wise and protect your heart sis <3

Anonymous 05/05/23(Fri)12:49:44 No.132922146: >>>132922100#

you’re so right, anon. I’ll be vigilant for any imbalance since he knows a lot more about me. Our relationship so far has been respectful, so hopefully it remains that way. Thanks for looking out, it means a lot <3

Anonymous 05/05/23(Fri)11:57:06 No.132922468: >>>132921714(OP)#

Pics or it didn’t happen (of the cat). Also military guys are freaks, be cautious but maybe have fun while you’re young! You never know what could happen.

Anonymous 05/05/23(Sat)08:14:26 No.132922513: >>>132922468#

Image: [Luna_yawning.jpg 958kb, 500x500] Here’s the sweetie in question! And good point, I’m gonna stay cautious but keep an open mind. This med student is gonna enjoy her 20s however they play out ;) Thanks for all the advice anons!

Just quick update haha. I happen to have many free time today :D

Also, Comment, Love and Reblogged are very appreciate! 💖

#könig cod #konig mw2 #cod mw2 #cod fanfic #könig x oc #könig mw2 #cod x oc #cod oc #könig call of duty

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sickletadist · 6 months ago

Text

Notes from Tickling Academic Paper

So, I thought I would do a summary post about this academic paper on tickle fetishism that was published in a journal called Frontiers in Psychology. The paper was done by 2 German scholars out of the Institute of Pathophysiology in Mainz, Germany.

These are just scribbles from the article, which I will link at the bottom.

The study got its data from polling on Twitter! The poll was shared by 5 influencers (I wasn't able to find who, but I will keep digging), who shared the poll with over 27,000 collective followers. Basically, a poll of tickle fetishists.

-The study was really looking at the connection between tickling and sexual desire, which unfortunately excludes people in the community who enjoy tickling from a non-sexual place.

-From the abstract, some of the data that caught my eye:

a quarter of the respondents reported experiencing orgasms only from tickling.

88% reported experiencing sexual satisfaction through tickling by itself

For most of the respondents, tickling desire decreased after orgasm

This next point was very interesting to me:

The degree of ticklishness in someone had a trend in dictating preference for being tickled rather than tickling someone. Basically, academia is coming for all of you ticklish Lees lol

Two types of ticklish responses are mentioned:

Gargalesis - This is more vigorous than playful tickling, with roaring laughter and uncontrollable reactions in the ticklee.

Knismesis - This is softer tickling, where the Lee is tickled by more gentle touches on the skin.

We all know these two types of ticklees. I feel bad for the Lees who fall into both camps...Not 🤣

It should be noted that a significant amount of respondents noted that they enjoyed both!

There was even a footnote about how back in the 60's and 70's tickling was used as an intervention treatment in certain forms of therapy. Unfortunately, upon further research of that point, it seems that the individuals who were often subjected to tickling were individuals who were living with mental health problems. It sucks that there is a moment in history where tickling served to enforce the ableism that existed (and still does) in society.

That said, that same footnote linked to a paper where computer scientists constructed a novel foot tickling device and tested it on willing participants (I think a bunch of Lees were just triggered with that last statement lol).

One thing tickling in the BDSM world has in common with the acedemic world is that it is hardly known or seen! A meta-analysis of over 200 studies on the particular topic of "touch studies" found ZERO instances of tickling mentioned. The authors note how odd this is given the prevalence of tickling in society as a form of playful behavior.

Now let's go to data from the results:

In terms of gender (unfortunately, the authors only polled for Male and Female, excluding quite a bit of our community who are non-binary, agender, etc), 74.3% were males, while 20.7% were females (it looks like there was a % that didn't identify as either that were excluded from the paper.

73.3% identified as East Asian, while Americans were 13.8% and Europeans were 8.3%.

79.7% identified as heterosexual.

The majority (56.3%) identified within the 20-29 age range while the 30-39 age group (my people) were only 22.5% of the sample.

Gender based analysis revealed (according to this study) that females tend to be more ticklish, and prefer lighter tickling (this surprised me, considering how many ticklish guys we know who are whiney and ticklish lol)

There is a pretty good balance of ticklers and ticklees, with Lers being 29.8% and Lees being 35.8%. 34.4% were switches (again, my people lol)

This next note is kind of endearing. More than two thirds of participants noted that exposure to tickling scenes in television influenced their tickle fetish. They even name dropped all the classics like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Popeye, Kikis Delivery Service, and even Lupin the Third!

Some more notable data points on sexual preferences and tickling:

25.8% of respondents reported never having sex (I am assuming that they mean penetrative sex of some sort)

55.8% of respondents noted experiencing arousal from BDSM acts other than tickling

37.6% of respondents report experiencing distress from tickling.

33.8% of respondents (the most of any group) reports engaging in 10-29 minutes of tickle activity on average during play.

70.1% of Lees reported enjoying childhood tickling, while ticklers at 20.6% enjoyed it much less.

This next data point hit home for me, because at one point I was convinced that tickling arousal was monopolizing my ability to be sexually aroused by othermeans.

-Sexual satisfaction by tickling alone shows a negative correlation with sexual satisfaction without tickling.

Basically, if you enjoy tickling, but unsure if you can enjoy anything else, there is a likelihood you do! That said, there are also people in our community who only experience arousal through tickling.

There was a section at the end who talked about how the higher number of Japanese respondents was likely due to the engagement of the tweet from the 2 Japanese influencers who polled their audiences. This could be due to the visibility and acceptance of tickle fetishism in Japan compared to America and Europe.

Overall, I found this paper to be important! Despite the few shortcomings, this could prove to be a great resource for understanding our community, and perhaps lead to a greater understanding of our fetish, for those who are interested.

What this paper doesn't do is get into the why questions of tickle fetishism, like why do we enjoy it in the first place?

It does mention briefly that tickling has been studied as an intellectual curiosity since the times of Aristotle, although there are histories of tickle fetishism that go back even earlier in non-western societies.

I hope this summary was helpful, enjoyable, accessible, and provided a positive experience through learning more about our community.

Here is the link to the paper

Frontiers | Tickle fetishism: pleasure beyond playfulness (frontiersin.org)

#tickle thoughts #tickle tickle #tickletorture #tword community #tickle video #tickle art #tickle scenarios #ticklish #tickle content #armpit tickling #tickling

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cnestus · 1 year ago

Note

re: your last post about career options in entomology, consider this an invitation to talk about what you think about molecular systematics and its role in taxonomy/phylogeny. i'm an undergrad currently in a lab focused on the phylogeny of benthic marine inverts, and the vast bulk of our work is based on molecular data. i'm interested in hearing your thoughts on the topic!

i should be clear and say that i have no inherent problems with molecular systematics as an approach to taxonomy, and in many cases it can be a tremendous boon to the field and pretty much the only way to untangle some particularly gnarly taxonomic knots.

i guess my problem arises from how the ascendancy of molecular systematics is crowding out traditional morphological taxonomy, to the point where, like i was complaining in my last post, many subdisciplines are disappearing because nobody is replacing the aging and dying experts on many groups of insects and other organisms. i think that very few people who do molecular systematics would themselves argue that they should replace traditional taxonomists, but i also think that academic administrators and funding agency bureaucrats see the difference in "efficiency" between one scientist who needs years if not decades to publish a comprehensive monograph on their study group, and another who can slam a bunch of samples through a machine and describe a hundred new species in a semester, and would prefer to fund the latter. i'm being unfairly reductive here of course, but my point is that in the publish-or-perish culture of academia, being able to churn out papers faster will always be rewarded and tilts the game way towards molecular taxonomists. even incoming grad students who want to study to become morphological taxonomists are having a harder time securing the funds to do so.

i just worry about what things are going to look like in even 10 or 20 years from now when the last of the old-timers have died off and very few have been replaced. even if you can technically identify an organism of interest through sequencing it's CO1 gene or whatever, that's no replacement for having an actual expert who can way more quickly and authoritatively tell you what it is without having to be connected to Genbank.

(far more minor, but i also think that molecular work places far too great of an emphasis on dogmatic phylogenetic taxonomizing over more practical groupings. this is pure old man grumbling but i absolutely can't stand how every few years someone recategorizes some group of insects based on their genetic sequences and suddenly i gotta relearn a bunch of new taxonomies and relabel a bunch of shit because every group's just gotta be 100% monophyletic. fuck monophyly! i will not elaborate on this!)

anyway back to my main point, again i'm sure i'm being reductive and unfair and there are absolutely labs that make use of both morphological and molecular taxonomic methods, but it's just a worrying trend to me. i just can't help but feel like the ascendancy of molecular systematics is of a piece with the inexorable automation of so many other jobs and disciplines, like a robot replacing the craftsman it was ostensibly designed to assist.

#entomology #nobody is allowed to yell at me about my opinions on taxonomy #im just a little guy #and im very sensitive

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julie-schwieters-supremacy · 2 months ago

Text

life update 2 !!

hello hello i kinda forgot about tumblr for a little bit im sorry mooties honestly not a lot has been happening ive kinda js been doing nothing but its the holidays so yippee

im going back to school in 3 days so thats fun (its not) i have a coding assessment (last coding assessment yes !!) thats due ON MY BIRTHDAY which is in 2 weeks and i havent started so thats fun

i also had a science report and 6 math tasks i forgot about so i dont think my academic comeback is happening anytime soon. im doing romeo and juliet in english and decided to try and finish a 35 page booklet (ive done 11 pages and my hand hurts) because starting coding felt like too big of a task

i cleaned my room today !! and washed my hair

oh guys i cut myself bangs the other day... theyre a bit long and theyre in my eyes but hey id rather too long than too short

i bought a bunch of clothes !!!! and i got false lashes for an early birthday present and i also bought a few books which are so unsimilar to what i normally read but they are

becoming supernatural by dr. joe dispenza

different not less by chloe hayden who also plays quinni in heartbreak high !!

the body keeps the score by bessel van der kolk

ive read through a little of the second two !!

i also am in the process of making one of those tiktok cardboard sharks. im stuck on the paper mache bit where they glue napkin or whatever down. i let it dry last night and some of its coming off so i have to go redo that

life has been okay? not really but its ok im gettin through it?? i think me and someone im very very very close to are drifting apart

also is it just me or does anyone else feel like they drift away from their friends if they dont hang out with them during the holidays? because all my friends are overseas so :(

oh also i went to a really cool fair that happened like a week ago and went on 2 of the scariest rides ive ever been on in my life !! like i went upside down about 50m in the air and it was scaryyy but i love rollercoasters and other rides like that

me and my friends (looking at u @quackethh) made a satire magazine with for an english task last year are doing the second one !!! so im really excited for that cos it was funny as shit

WAIT I JUST GOT REALLY SCARED BECAUSE I HAD A DANCE REFLECTION AND ANALYSIS TASK THAT I HAD TO SUBMIT AT THE END OF THE TERM AND I THOUGHT I DIDN'T SUBMIT IT but i did so its okay

i finished one of my shifting scripts !!! im really happy about that i js need to tweak it but yeah

sorry for the long post gang :( ilya have an amazing day muah muah

#recap #monthly recap #life update #update #long post #blog update #update post

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lemonhemlock · 11 months ago

Note

Do you have any book recommendations?

i'm looking for book recs myself! saved a bunch on my storygraph acct if you're interested i'm sunsetcypress over there xoxo

i went a really long time just reading academic texts as i was scrambling to finish my phd so i'm really behind with reading fiction. more reason to find the previous post preposterous as i'm well acquainted with the feeling of poring ages over opaque texts and confusing methodology, trying to decipher the meaning of the damn article, only to find that not only did it not promise to do what the abstract claimed, but i couldn't even use it for my own paper 🤦‍♀️ neither could i relate to the "have you thought of not reading boring texts" mentality. LOL.

anyway i can deff recommend the book i'm currently reading, which is little friend by donna tartt. my goal for the end of this year is to squeeze the goldfinch in there as well (fingers crossed pray for me etc). i loved it so much, her writing style is so evocative and she has this very enviable ability to craft very vivid, very distinctive characters with rich inner lives. in this book in particular, the majority of the POV characters are female and it focuses on one family and the effect that the death of their son/brother/nephew still has on them years later. so we have a tween girl protagonist, her teen sister, their mother, their grandmother, their 3 aunts (all the old ladies are SO kooky), their housekeeper etc. little harriet is such a spunky adorable little girl, tough as nails and disobedient but surprisingly attentive and considerate towards her family in a way that's not soppy but really, genuinely endearing.

the narrator is omniscient so we get to hop through each perspective and inhabit their head a little while and it's done with such easy grace and artistry, just a proficient feeling for juggling when to show and when to tell. the "showing" / indirect characterisation is downright stunning and i don't want to fawn too much but miss tartt sometimes hits you with a detail that is just breathtaking - like, i struggle to describe it but i sometimes had to put the book down because it was tapping into the collective consciousness too much :)) whereas the "telling" part / exposition is done in such a way that it seems like she's imparting spicy gossip to the reader

^idk how much you'll be able to get from such a disjointed segment but harriet's mother has been living in a state of near-catatonic depression since her son died and their POC housekeeper has been the one to take care of the children and the house. there are racial politics in the book too and it's fascinating to see how much you can gleam from a character's throwaway comments or passing thoughts

i'm still easing into it as harriet is just starting to investigate the death of her brother but this world already feels so rich and organic and i honestly think i could just read about these women's mundane lives even if nothing of note happened.

i really wasn't expecting to like a book with a child protagonist so much or about this subject matter, but there you go. it's a marvel how a crafty author can engage your interest

^another little snippet: harriet had been reading about adventurers freezing to death in antarctica when their cat died and witnessing it awakened the inherited bereavement of her brother's untimely death

#anyway that comment was just so removed from my reality #as a fellow 0-5 bracketer myself #i went a little crazy with collecting book recs as i feel like there's so much ground to cover now that i have a little bit of freedom #ask #anon #lemonleaf.txt #reading blog

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and-then-there-were-n0ne · 1 year ago

Text

A smart friend recently told me he muted a prominent academic on Twitter.

“Why?” I asked.

“I like his books and think his ideas are brilliant,” he replied, “but on Twitter he’s so obnoxious that I noticed something: The more of his posts I saw, the less I respected his books. So I muted him to stop that from happening.”

To keep his respect for this academic’s best ideas intact, my friend chose to reduce his exposure to this academic’s erratic online behavior.

This method can help retain perspective not only for individuals, but for groups as well.

A while back I read a study about the “perception gap” from the Hidden Tribes Project.

The perception gap is the difference between what each political party thinks of the other versus the reality.

Here are a couple of intriguing findings from the study:

People who read the news have a more distorted view of their political opponents

Compared with political extremists (who consume a lot of news), politically disengaged people are 3 times more accurate in guessing how their political opponents think

The analogy between political parties and a single individual isn’t perfect.

If you want to form an accurate judgment about a person, knowing how they behave on social media might be a useful data point.

But if you want to form an accurate judgment about a political group, then being relentlessly exposed to the most extreme and online members of that group is a bad way to do it.

Remember: The vast majority of Twitter users never post at all.

What you see on the bird app is posted by a handful of weirdos.

Only 22 percent of U.S. adults are on Twitter.

Ten percent of users post 80 percent of all tweets.

If you rely on Twitter for political information, you are being informed by pundits (and bots) residing within 2.2 percent of the population. This small group tends to be the most politically extreme.

Reading political news makes you dumber. But reading political tweets lowers your IQ even more.

Reviewing the perception gap study, it was nice to get some empirical backing for something I’ve long practiced: muting words on Twitter.

My initial decision to mute words on Twitter was not to become smarter—that was just a fortunate side effect.

I mainly did it because people tend to sink to lower versions of themselves whenever they speak about political topics on social media.

If someone is going to discuss a contentious political issue, I’d rather read their essay, paper, or book than their Tweet. On social media, the desire for validation often overshadows the desire for clarity or truth.

Of course, if you make your living through political commentary or something, then muting doesn’t make sense. But if consuming political content doesn’t make you money or make you happy (often, it makes you unhappy), then why expose yourself to all of it?

It is mystifying to see people complain about how toxic Twitter is. The platform gives you the ability to mute and block! Take responsibility and control of your own experience.

Some people might be worried that by muting words they will no longer be “informed.”

Trust me: if something truly noteworthy occurs, you will know. People will tell you. They will message you. They will send you links. They can’t help themselves.

I have a bunch of words muted. Yet I knew on the same day as everyone else about Ukraine, the Uvalde shooting, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, etc.

I learned the concrete facts about these events.

But my feed wasn’t inundated with hot takes about them. Which made Twitter much more pleasant.

The mute function just prevents tweets containing selected words from appearing on your timeline. If someone sends you a link to a tweet, you’ll still be able to see it. Mute is primarily useful when you are scrolling.

So here are some words I mute from my Twitter feed:

Guns

Shooting

Ukraine

Putin

Tragic

Abortion

Election

Mask

I can’t believe this has to be said

Let that sink in

I’m so sorry

BLM

Biden

Trump

MAGA

Democracy

Loan forgiveness

Taylor Lorenz

Imagine thinking

Climate

Yikes

Greta Thunberg

Relatedly, a couple years ago I read a study indicating that certain words (what the researchers termed “moral-emotional” words) were more likely to predict virality.

Each of these words in a Twitter post is associated with a 20 percent increase in retweets.

I located the words in the supplemental material of the study. Then I visited Twitter and muted all of them.

Here are the words:

Attack

Bad

Blame

Care

Destroy

Fight

Hate

Kill

Murder

Peace

Safe

Shame

Terrorism

War

Wrong

Interestingly, muting all of these words makes Twitter more boring.

Which means I’m quicker to put my phone away and read a book or an essay or a paper instead.

Which is better for everyone.

#henderson #twitter #rob henderson

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sarasa-cat · 2 years ago

Text

Fwiw, after various casual hypothesis testing (oh so casual, oh so non-scientific) last week on how this latest round of so-called "chatbox AI" (aka, bad investment nonsense) is able to write fanfiction, last night while watching partner play a video game on our big screen, I had a few more pointed/strategic convos with the Stochastic Charlatan.

Actually, the reason why I felt inclined to do so was that I just read an opinion essay by Noam Chomsky (ffs) that gave ChatGPT quite the spanking (I'll provide an unlocked/paywall-pass-thru link in another post) **and then** in the comments section of that essay, I read one truly inane comment by someone who mistakenly believed that the deep conversations they had been having with ChatGPT had been teaching them all sorts of new concepts in a variety of academic topics of their interest.

Now, I know -- from my initial test of chatgpt in late 2022 -- that this software hallucinates all sorts of nonsense. Back then (maybe early December of 2022?) I heard a whole bunch of conservations about how university students were using chatgpt to write essays for homework. I wondered, "hm, can chatgpt do my (prior) job of designing and teaching a university level course?" The answers I received on that lazy saturday afternoon were both HILARIOUS and TROUBLING. It wasn't just that the answer was "omfg NO! It definitely CANNOT" but that the chatbot acted as if it could.

DUNNING KRUGER EFFECT LEVEL CONFIDENCE while giving me horrid results for curriculum design. But boy oh boy did little ChatGPT act super confident while hallucinating nonsense and while propagating certain kinds of bias. Anyhow, back then I just wrote it off as one big whatever.

But then, a few months passed and this nonsense was back in the news full force, hyped up like wild. Last week @sarahawke posted a few hilarious chatgpt-written fanfics, which made my brain start forming casual hypotheses (and, see first sentence of this post).

Last night I had a few ideas for discussion topics that I knew (or strongly assumed) it was trained on: topics that are publicly available on the internet, that tend to have "correct vs incorrect" answers for certain factual things but that base collection of factual propositions also lend themselves to a lot of inferencing/wiggle-room/interpretation in how they are applied, that have contained amounts of controversy (meaning, the topic has reasonably strong signal strength w.r.t. signal-to-noise ratios), AND (most importantly) the topic has some a few sources on the public internet that are considered 'authoritative' for the facts. And, of course, topics that I happen to have relatively deep levels of expertise in -- meaning, I could "easily grade the papers without an answer key" or I could lecture on the topic or demo the topic or discuss it in length or whatever. After all, my interest was in fact checking a hallucinating bot. ;)

The results were ... interesting. As in serious Stochastic Charlatanry. Dunning-Kruger effect a la chatbot.

The things that have me concerned are these:

Unless you actually know your shit about the topic you are asking it to tell you about, you could very easily fooled, especially when the chatbot's results are plausible and some of it passes a fast, cursory-skim google test.

This is troubling because someone with expertise will never feel a need to go through the painful process of getting anything vaguely useful out of this chatbot whereas someone with lower level knowledge will ... but they just won't know which bits are nonsense and which bits are factually correct, much less how valuable the factually correct statements are with regard to context. As in: yes, Fact A is technically correct but impractical or uncommon in the context they are discussing with the chatbot.

The other thing is that once the chatbot says something that is 100% factually wrong, it starts doubling down on that mistake, and it will continue doubling down on that demonstrably wrong statement every time you ask or re-ask the question until you finally prod it hard enough with factual evidence that forces it to correct itself. Alternatively, you could just tell it "dude, you are wrong. X is never the case when Y" and it seems to weigh that input heavily and immediately correct itself (although I have no idea if it always carries this correction over to future conversations with other people -- something for me to test by making a separate account). I have some more "experiments" to continue conducting tonight to look into this further but, also, to see how it carries those corrections forward during future inferences that require knowledge of those corrected facts.

Honestly, chatgpt's lack of being able to correctly inference and apply important contextual knowledge Does Not Shock Me because that doesn't seem to be how it was created.

(Fwiw, I did not click on the thumbs up or thumbs down icons, or the "redo your answer" icon, or provide any feedback via the UI. all I did was chat with it like I was having a text chat with someone else because I wanted to simulate being a person who thinks this thing is providing authoritative info)

Currently, my largest concern about these kinds of "suck up the internet and make massive statistical inferences about """knowledge""" bots" is that their confident charlatanry is very enticing to the lazy, the busy, the overburdened, and the ill-informed.

IRL, I have dealt with my fair share of people who engage in confident charlatanry, or who repeat nonsense and then double down on said nonsense repeatedly. I mean, part of that is being human -- we all carry mistaken info in our heads -- but the confident charlatanry really makes me concerned. It... reminds me too much of dinner table conversations with people I (no longer want to) know in Silly Valley.

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jaderimehardt · 10 months ago

Text

Supplies! \o/

I only ordered a few additional items to help fuel my motivation with pencil drawing, because I already have so many supplies as it is- and they arrived today. One thing in particular was critical, as it was a solvent. It's what's going to give me a "painting" looking effect with my colored pencils on water color paper.

Couple other things were more 'quality of life' things that I've seen my new favorite artists use and I never knew existed. I believe I'm ready to go now! All that's holding me back is time, inspiration (which comes and goes), and skill (that I keep educating myself daily on- but I need practice too).

👆🏻 New stuff I got today.

👆🏻 After I opened the pencils and eraser. You can see how thin the eraser stick is- which is great for getting into smaller areas for finer details. I have thicker eraser sticks and I've used those for years but it could never get into small areas for details and that's something that has always bothered me about it. It's something I always wished it could do.

This matte pencil set really caught my attention as someone who loves the anime Bleach. Even as someone who just loves drawing in the manga style in general. A set of black pencils is a must have, imo 💗. I will be using these a lot. Both of these.

Before I show off more of my junk (lol, I'm not joking, a lot of my supplies are nearing like, 10 years old aside from this new stuff 👆🏻) - you'd be surprised at the shelf life of art supplies.

I want to throw in another art video that I found today that I think would be incredibly helpful for people out there, especially to people who are just starting out or people who are struggling, OR people who are trying to speed up their art poses, OR looking to improve their poses.

It's not mine, it's from the same person I've been linking the past two days now? I think it's safe to say I love his videos 🥰

youtube

Drawing poses for me is 50/50. Sometimes I can breeze through them, and other times it's a total miss (takes me forever to figure out what I'm doing). I don't know if it comes down to... I don't know what pose I want to do? Or if I just don't know how to do the pose that I want to do. It's probably 50/50 on that too, lol 😅

I know I struggle with hands and I have to reference hands a lot. But in any case, I liked this vid a lot, and if I could only recommend one art vid to watch, it'd be this one. Or at least it'd be in the top 5.

Cause you don't want to be like me where someone tells you to buy this thing:

Yep, that's right. I own one. I bought it when I worked at an Arts & Crafts store several years ago. (retail job, oh boy~ 🫠)

And you do the thing because you love to draw. You buy it. But you have zero academic knowledge of art, you simply doodle in your free time. No level of object perspective or education/knowledge in shading/toning/coloring. So when you go to draw this "doll" to paper, it looks completely ~flat~.

That vid will teach you how to avoid that. How to NOT do that. So, I suggest watching that vid. You want your characters to look like they have some life, right? 🤨

(Also yes, my bedroom is an octopus playground. I have 30+ octopus plushies. 🐙💓 Think I've mentioned this before in a very old post, but if I post pictures, you're likely to see an octopus.)

When I found all these amazing videos from these fantastic artists, I went rummaging for all my old art supplies and found a plethora of stuff.

👆🏻 Art books. I have a ton of paint brushes too but I didn't take pictures 🖌️. I actually started using some of them for makeup pre-covid (and then stopped wearing makeup entirely), and then I started using some for mica powder with my resin projects.

I need to clean them and figure out which ones I want to designate where 😅. Paint brushes are honestly very versatile, especially as an artist. They're handy to have around.

I found my miniature hoard of colored pencils. I don't have large sets- just a bunch of small sets. So this should be interesting but I don't see this as a bad thing because I'm technically still a beginner. If this does become a hobby I love and dive deep into- sink into, get consumed in... I'll upgrade my "tools", i.e. my pencil sets. But for now this is way more than enough.

👆🏻 On the left (or the very top depending on how tumblr is putting these in order), the black pencils are the snoopy pencil set. This is an exclusive set I got when I went with my Mom and a friend of hers/ours to the Charles M. Schwartz Museam. I remember being on the fence about buying this set because it wasn't exactly cheap 🙃 but the opportunity to buy it again was... well, unforeseeable.

Looking at them now, the price of the set is average (in today's market, but this was years ago so it was rather pricey back then). I just clearly haven't used them much, if at all 😅

And at the time I didn't know you could buy these online. They're here if anyone is interested: https://charles-m-schulz-museum.myshopify.com/products/time-for-school-colored-pencil-set

The image on the right (or bottom) is all my washi tape! This is used for taping down watercolor paper to keep it from warping. I'm actually so glad I found all of this.

There's just a few things I'd like to gather together still, but I have them around the house. I want to put them in my little "drawing cubicle", lol. Like a petri dish and sand paper. Two watercolor glasses... 🤔💭

Just have everything in one place~ to easily grab and have ready to go at any time 😊

#jade.blog #Youtube

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sagendipity · 3 years ago

Text

the law of attraction: de minimis

a quackity x reader law school au

part one, chapter two

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“Now turn to your left and say hi to your partner, the person your significant other will hate, after you blow them off on Valentines day to do voir dire.”

Alex chuckles, the sound drawing your gaze right over to him. You sigh dramatically, but can’t help yourself from letting a fond smile take over your features.

“Figure it’s time to introduce myself,” Alex quips, holding out a hand invitingly. “Alex.”

“Yeah,” you say, as you take his hand and shake it. He is warm, and your hand fits perfectly in his. “I picked up on that.”

“You will each work in teams of two within larger groups. I will assign you into a group. Each group will have a defense and a prosecution. You do not get to choose which side you represent. You do not get to choose your client. You do not get to choose the crime.” The professor rakes his eyes across the room of students. They all, including you, are silent and sitting attentively. “The only thing you get to choose is how well you represent your client, whether your client be the accused, or the state.”

Beside you, Alex lets out a low sigh, almost a whistle. His knee is bouncing, the black fabric of his track pants bunching up around his knee with the movement. You want to reach out and straighten it, fix the three white stripes running parallel down the side.

“You may know this: the university is granted a courtroom at the William Kunstler Courthouse for academic use. When you leave this room in a few moments, you’ll find informative packets on my desk.” The silver-haired man grabs a heavy stack of papers, and spreads them out on his desk like a dealer spreading a stack of cards. “Take one. It contains all the information you need to win your case, and pass this class.”

Your breath catches in your throat- you had a feeling this was coming.

“If you lose your case,” your professor says. “You will receive a maximum of a B+ in my class. If you win, you are guaranteed an A.”

The static sound of unsettled murmuring steadily rises in the echoey lecture room. You glance over at Alex, who is leaning back in his chair, legs crossed casually. He’s fiddling with one of the hoodie strings that hangs from his collar.

“This mock trial will work as any other real case. Your jury consists of freshmen students in a jury studies elective. They have no knowledge about this case, and you should treat them not as students, but as ordinary citizens when you go through voir dire.”

Alex huffs a laugh again, a little noise that is quickly becoming very familiar to you. “Explains why he went over voir dire for three hours last week.”

Despite the anxiety thrumming through your veins, you nod in accordance. Your fingers thread and twist through each other, the poor ring on your index finger falling victim to your fiddling. You pull it off your finger and twirl it around in your lap, the metal warmed from your body heat even if you feel more frigid than not.

“A real judge will be presiding over your case. Kissing up to them by bringing them a gift basket and ‘thanking them for their time’ is not frowned upon, but it is not effective. They are the only truly impartial ones in that courtroom, most of the time.”

With every word out of your professor’s mouth, you feel your exhaustion growing.

Isn’t this what you want to do? Isn’t this what… everyone here wants to do, for the rest of their lives?

You look to Alex. He’s looking at the professor with bright enough eyes, but the bags underneath them tell a different story, the skin taking on a bluish tint. His relaxed posture, his crossed arms with his fingers tucked into his own sides, the confident yet also unreadable expression he tends to wear still constant as ever. He looks like he knows something you don’t, and that should scare you.

You slide the ring back onto your finger and fold your hands atop your desk.

“The only difference from a real trial is that you have more prep time, and that you have your partner to help you with your side of the case. Both of you will be present in court, choosing jurors, delivering opening arguments, questioning witnesses, presenting evidence and arguments, and, yes, delivering your closing statements. You better get comfortable with your partner. Your futures rest in each other’s hands.”

You think you feel a headache coming on. You’re about to put your entire future, the fate of your entire career, in the warm hands of someone who is, at this point, just this side of total stranger. That should scare you.

“Everyone take a packet on your way out. I suggest you get coffee or a meal with your partner in the time you would spend in this class on an ordinary day. Information about Wednesday’s class is in the packet. We are meeting at the courthouse.” The professor spreads his arms wide, an enthusiastic grin suddenly spreading over his face, looking as out of place as a daisy on a sidewalk full of snow. “Welcome to real criminal procedure. Class is dismissed.”

“Here, before I go.” Alex’s voice pulls you out of your stupor with a gentle hand on your upper arm. You think you can feel the warmth seeping into your chilled skin through the thick fabric of your coat. You look down at where his hand rests on you, his skin a beautiful contrast to the dark red of your coat. Then, you notice his other hand- holding out a post-it note. “My number. I’m really sorry, I have to go- I have a thing to do for a friend- but, are you free this afternoon for lunch, maybe? We can get to know each other a bit before we start spending hours together each day.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” you force out, the teasing normally coming naturally, but today it feels like speaking around a rock in your throat. “Um- you have to go?”

“Yeah, sorry, it’s a- work thing.”

“I thought you said it was for a friend?”

“It is- look, it’s complicated, I’m sorry. I promise, you can have me as soon as I’m done, I’ll call the minute we’re done.” His furrowed brows stab at your resolve, the questioning facade you put up disappearing like a melted snowflake.

Taking the post-it from his outstretched hand, you carefully fold it into quarters and slip it into the pocket of your slacks. Before you do, you catch a glimpse of a little :] scrawled at the end of the string of numbers.

“What makes you think I want you?” you quip back after a moment.

His face falls for a moment, before he gets the joke and his brown eyes spark back up with the intensity of a firework. An unapologetic laugh bubbles up from his chest, an addicting sound that you feel echoing in your own chest, as well throughout as the high-ceilinged lecture hall.

“I’ll grab you a packet,” you say, nodding your chin at the table at the front of the room that has assembled a bit of a crowd around it. “Go, get your thing done.”

“You- thank you!” Alex grins, his hand on your arm squeezing in some sort of a thank-you before he leaps to his feet and grabs his binder. “I’ll see you soon- promise.”

“Promise,” you nod seriously, holding up your pinky.

You don’t expect him to turn on his heel and link his own finger with yours, pulling your hand tight against his for a moment before nodding with an enthusiasm entirely inappropriate for the situation. Then, he is actually gone, with his green jacket slung over an arm and the papers in his binder fluttering as he whisks out the door.

You notice that the frost in the windows had cleared when you see him jog across the street. He crosses just in time for a gust of wind to threaten to tear off his beanie- he slaps a hand down on top of his head, unruly black strands curling around the edges of the hat as he disappears around a crowded street-corner.

You sit yourself down in the library with a pen, a highlighter, and a steaming cup of coffee from the campus coffee shop. For midmorning on a Monday, the library is packed. Most of the students are windblown and dusted with snowflakes, their jackets pulled tightly around their shoulders as they seek out shelter from the horrible weather to chat with friends, classmates, and partners.

One of the only open tables rests right in the corner, sandwiched between two wide windows. You find why it’s empty very quickly, the thin glass doesn’t do much to stop the icy air from leaking in. Regardless, you shoulder your messenger bag onto an empty chair before setting yourself up in the chair farthest from the window. The packets you’d grabbed from your professor had taken a bit of a beating in the trek here, both dotted with little spots of water from stray, melting snowflakes.

Wincing as you smooth the packets out with your hand, you carefully wipe away an ink smudge that one particularly big snowflake had created. The words “de minimis” are smudged out, at least you think that’s what had been there, considering the following sentence.

A court of law is focused on the smallest things. Arguments are described as de minimis, as in, having their foundation built upon the smallest of things. One partial fingerprint is enough to seal someone’s sentence. One word misspoken is enough to cause a mistrial. One sentence too far is enough to get yourself held in contempt. The smallest things seal fates and shape lives, in law as in life.

You take your pen and carefully scrawl in de minimis onto the dampened paper.

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