#you have a lot of bold opinions on how English should be be spoken for someone who is not even from earth

[fritzmonorail]

Why is Two being so mean? Is it just the writer? I don’t remember him being like this.

Like wtf don’t talk to Jamie like that. I don’t even know if I wanna watch this. Feel free to tell me if I’m overreacting. I’ve never heard the doctor hate on the way their companion talks like that.

He doesn’t even sound like he’s joking. He sounds genuinely mad. And poor Jamie’s just taking it like a champ. Who wrote this? Does he have some personal issues with Scottish people that he needs to work through?

In short, my first impression of Six’s era:

People are mean here and I want to go home.

[deijnar]

The only one who makes me nervous

Incredible but true - I wrote something! And am posting it!

This is my piece for the great @mysme-rbb and I got to collaborate with @braincellbank, definitely check their artwork out! The CMC used in this is theirs ^-^

You can also find the fic on Ao3!

So here goes a lot of fluffy, cute Jaehee pining~

╰⊱♥⊱╮●╭⊱♥≺

With suspicion, Jaehee squints her eyes at the ingredients on the countertop of her and Lila's brand new cafe. After months of preparation and an almost breakdown when she asked them to become her partner for this adventure, Jaehee's dream finally comes true - a cute, domestic yet elegant cafe that she owns with her best friend.

But…

"There was more chocolate."

Lila's eyes widen and they furrow their eyebrows, looking at the potential crime scene as well. "Huh? What do you mean?" They check the scale. "It's the exact amount we need for the recipe."

Jaehee shakes her head, looking at the pieces in the bowl. "I could have sworn I put more in there…"

"You're probably just nervous! We're about to bake our very first cake for the cafe, isn't it exciting?" 

The way they beam at Jaehee makes her chest feel warm and her knees go a little weak, causing Jaehee to forget what she was just thinking about entirely.

"That must be it, I'm sure you're right. This is what I've dreamed of for a very long time, I feel all… fluttery inside." To hide her soft chuckle, Jaehee turns her head away a little and shields her mouth with one of her hands. Showing emotion is still… foreign to her and she is still shy about it.

Lila clicks their tongue in disapproval. "Now come over here and let me see that stunning face of yours, we have work to do! I'm all excited for this too but I'm waiting for the proper view." Demanding, they motion to the space across from them, followed by a little wink.

As all of Lila's teasing does, their comment makes Jaehee's heart hiccup in her chest, a too familiar heat already painting her cheeks in a soft blush. There’s only one way to deal with them when they get like that…

Speaking Korean, especially if the sentences are long and spoken fast, is the only way for Jaehee to feel like she is still somewhat in control when she is around Lila. Given that Korean is not their first language and they’re still learning, they tend to get really sheepish when they don’t understand something. And, for Jaehee, it’s the only weapon she has to not let Lila’s boldness knock her out. 

Normally, she speaks English around them or slow, easy Korean. But not in moments like this.

“If only you knew what you’re doing to me with such behavior…” 

Jaehee keeps her voice low and talks fast, even a fluent speaker would have had trouble to understand her.

“What was that?” The cocky grin on their face immediately shrinks to a shy expression and Jaehee can’t help but feel a little guilty, although relieved. 

Of course she hates it to make her friend feel insecure, she wants to make them feel just as strong and support them just as much as they do for her. But sometimes she has to do this, only to not combust due to the hidden feelings in her heart.

“Oh, nothing. Let’s start baking.” With a somewhat apologetic smile, she walks up to Lila and stands on the other side of the countertop, looking at the instructions in front of her. Now, she has to fire Lila’s confidence in themself again. “How about you start with the dough while I try out these decorations? Your doughs always turn out amazing.” The proud gleam in Lila’s eyes that Jaehee likes to see so much is back immediately. “They do indeed. What are you making?” Curiously, they get to their tiptoes, trying to get a peek of the picture she is holding. “Some flowers.” Calculating, she leans her head to the side, inspecting the pictures as well, lowering the piece of paper so it's easier for Lila to see. “I’ve never tried to make these before but I wanted to set myself a challenge. Hopefully, they’ll turn out fine.” “I’m sure they’ll turn out perfect. Like you.” One of Lila’s hands lands on Jaehee’s cheek, presumably for encouragement, and Jaehee can practically feel their chuckle as she straightens as if the touch burned her skin. Which it really seems to do, given how hot she feels all of a sudden. “Y-yes. I… Maybe. Yes, I’ll do my best.”

Not knowing what else she could possibly say that wouldn’t give away how fast her heart is beating, Jaehee gets to work. She presses her lips together and tries to ignore Lila’s gaze she can clearly feel on herself as she begins to knead and color the fondant. 

Luckily, Lila decides to be merciful and not make any more comments that get Jaehee out of her concentration, maybe so they can get to work as well. 

It doesn’t take the young woman long to forget everything around herself as she fully focuses on the task at hand. She gets lost in the thrill of trying new, challenging things and the rewarding feeling when an experiment with one of her utensils works out, giving the flowers as they are described in the instructions her own twist. One petal after the next is formed and, after some time, Jaehee finds a routine, the activity having a quite calming and almost meditative effect on her. 

Her thoughts wander.

And, as they do so very often, they wander to the wonderful person standing in front of her right now. 

It’s been a few months since they’ve met, got to know each other and even ended up as close as they are right now. Not much, in Jaehee’s opinion, and yet she can barely recall a time where Lila hasn’t been in her life, much less can or does she want to imagine a future without them. They have saved her from her monotone, stressful life that never would have gained her any kind of happiness and turned it upside down. They have turned it into an unpredictable, exciting adventure, the only goal being to chase their dreams and find joy. Together.

Never again does Jaehee want to be without Lila’s stirring presence that doesn’t only bring spice but also light into her life.

Of course it hadn’t been easy for Jaehee to admit to herself that she’d fallen in love. Of course she had been scared of rejection, of the possible heartbreak. Of the risks that come with loving someone so deeply, even after such a short period of time, only falling deeper for their captivating soul more and more with every passing day. 

But no matter how strong her fears had been, by that, they only became the evidence for her feelings for Lila. And finally, after multiple sleepless nights, Jaehee had not only faced the truth that she’s helplessly lost her heart to the best friend she’s ever had, she also came to the conclusion that all of this turmoil is worth it. That the nagging fear is nothing compared to the exciting tingle that runs from the center of her stomach through her entire body as soon as Lila walks into the room. That a possible heartbreak is a price she is willing to pay, as long as she gets to feel the way she does for a little while longer every time Lila smiles at her, only her.

And now, they’re working together, they’re partners. Maybe they’ll never be more than that, friends and partners, but Jaehee knows that, at least, they will always be together. Even if she should slip one day - Lila won’t just leave her for the way she feels. In that, Jaehee trusts unconditionally. In Lila, she trusts unconditionally.

Before she knows it, she’s used up the last bit of fondant, has created the last flower for the day. Proudly, Jaehee looks down at the decorations in front of her, all kinds of blossoms in many different colors, shades and sizes spreading out on the table. 

"I did it!" The excitement in her voice is very clear and maybe, normally, she would try to conceal it to keep her countenance. But right now, she's way too happy and feels way too safe and comfortable with Lila to even care.

"I knew it!" There's some flour on Lila's cheek as they grin at Jaehee. "I told you they'll look perfect. You did it!"

Far from sick of looking at her own creations, Jaehee smiles down at the sugary decoration in front of her again. Then, she turns her head up to look at Lila again, unaware of the fact that her friend had just started leaning forward to peck her cheek. 

Lila's lips land on the corner of Jaehee's mouth and she freezes. Time seems to stop and so does her heartbeat.

As to be expected, Lila isn't fazed by it at all. On the contrary, they seem to enjoy it quite a lot judging by the amused grin on their face and the fact that they stay much closer than they'd need to. They're not even saying anything and yet Jaehee feels like she will be reduced to an inarticulate, blushy mess in mere seconds. 

There’s nothing she can do but pointedly look to the side to stop her brain from short-circuiting. No matter how much she wants to look at her stunning friend, she can’t, knowing that, if she would, she couldn't rip her eyes off the lips she so badly wants to feel on hers.

And at that moment, there's just one thing Jaehee can do.

"While investing in the stock market, it's very important to maximize the possible outcome for your transaction while simultaneously minimizing the risk you take."

Although she's speaking her native tongue, Jaehee stumbles over her own words with how quickly she is saying them. Also, she's not even sure if what she just said actually makes sense.

Yet, the words have the effect she was desperately hoping for - Lila softly shakes their head, the threateningly teasing expression on their face making way for utter confusion as they subconsciously draw back a few inches.

Jaehee hates it as much as it makes her feel relieved.

"What?"

"Nothing!" Quickly, Jaehee turns to face the table again, unnecessarily starting to sort the flowers still laying there by size. If she's confronted with that gorgeous face any longer, she won't be able to hold back anymore. "We should-"

Before she can bring up her suggestion to give the cake more layers than they'd originally planned, Lila gently places their hand on hers on the table between them. 

If she is honest to herself, Jaehee knows that she wants nothing to be between them anymore, to separate them.

At first, she still refuses to look at Lila. Even without getting lost in those lovely eyes of the person that saved her from the miserable life she has been living - the speed of her heartbeat is already concerning. 

But the light caress of their soft fingers on her skin makes her slowly, carefully, look up at them again, bringing her even closer to the figure she wants to embrace and never let go. 

She really wants the piece of furniture gone.

"Do I truly make you this nervous?"

Lila's voice is low and raw, not hiding the emotions behind their words. They sound surprisingly hopeful and… a little scared?

Not trusting her voice to do what she wants, Jaehee just nods. Shouldn't Lila know about the effect they have on her? With how much they've been playing around with it, Jaehee has been convinced they know.

But Lila shakes their head.

"I mean, is it me who makes you nervous? Or is it the flirting, the teasing? Would you get flustered by anyone acting like this?"

Trying to calm down her rapidly beating heart, Jaehee shakes her head. She swallows, wanting her words to be audible and the truth in them to be apparent. 

"I get flustered because it's you, Lila. It's not just the teasing. Everything you do makes me nervous somehow. But at the same time, you're the only person that can truly calm me down."

As to prove her statement, she nervously averts her gaze. She doesn't know much about friendship and how it works, she's worried she's said too much. And Lila is so close… Concentrating is impossible.

Time seems to be standing still. 

This may be because Lila stands still, a thing they usually never do. It makes Jaehee feel a bit uneasy, she isn't sure what to think of this or what to expect, it's so atypical for her friend.

Her thoughts keep running, trying to figure out what exactly is happening right now and how to act further. Eventually, after not finding any satisfying answer, Jaehee decides to slowly turn her head back to look at Lila again. 

The intensity in Lila's eyes keeps her in place as soon as their gazes lock. Now both of them seem to be frozen in time, just staring at each other.

(by @braincellbank​)

Jaehee has no idea what this means or what step should be taken next, let alone by whom. She just knows that she doesn't want to look away.

When Lila finally moves, it happens suddenly and fast. 

Jaehee's eyes widen when they suddenly jerk forward, and they widen even more as Lila presses their lips to hers.

It takes Jaehee's brain a moment to catch up to what's happening, to understand it. To understand that this is real, that what she's secretly dreamed of and fantasized about for weeks and months truly is happening, right here and now.

But as soon as it sinks in, her eyes flutter closed and her free hand, the one Lila isn't touching, finds their cheek.

The kiss feels like heaven.

Soon, Lila relaxes into Jaehee's touch and the frantic, nervous hectic of the firm pressing of their lips shifts into a soft, loving exploration.

In no time, Jaehee is entirely captivated, forgetting that the world exists around them and even if she would remember, she wouldn't care. All she cares about is Lila. 

Lila's touch, their warmth, their scent. The fact that this kiss feels even better than she could have ever imagined it. 

Her heart beats so fast it seems like it's trying to fly out of her chest to catapult itself into the sky to rejoice.

And Lila's lips taste so sweet…

Too sweet.

With a gasp, Jaehee breaks the kiss.

"You did snack on the chocolate! I knew it!"

Throwing their head back, Lila laughs, their earlier stillness nowhere to be found anymore. Their smile is just as wide as Jaehee's and they look just as happy as her.

Jaehee couldn't care less about the chocolate.

"Guess you've caught me." Another sly smile makes it to their lips. "Guess I'll have to make up for it…"

A quiet, displeased noise slips over Jaehee's lips as Lila draws back. But soon, they've made their way around the table and Jaehee finds herself in their arms, embracing them as well on instinct. 

"I don't think I want to bake anymore today." 

They're both grinning at each other before their lips meet in another kiss.

[iamsherlockedondoctorwho]

hello!! i happened to write that post where you explained the grammar differences between asl and spoken english, and it was so helpful!! but now, i wanted to ask-- let's suppose i'm writing a dialogue-- do you think i should write, like, the literal translation or should i write “complete sentences” that match the meaning?

(sorry a lot of amy of the message sounded disrespectful!! for my whole life i've been basically completely uninformed, so i'm really trying my best to get to know as much as i can!!)

oh my gosh HIIII!!! 🤗this is the post with tips on writing sign language right?? 

I loved that post, honestly, because it’s good information a lot of people don’t think about or know!  I love that you are trying to learn as much as possible, it truly makes all the difference. The fact that you cared enough! 

When it comes to writing dialogue for deaf/hh individuals, I’m no expert either, but I would say having a basic understanding of signed languages makes a HUGE difference. I would use complete sentences as you would for any other character, because it would probably be more distracting to use a direct translation. But that’s just me. The written form of ASL, Glossing, is a bit annoying and hard to read honestly. I would nooooot recommend using that for character dialogue. But if someone was interested in how to write out ASL, that's a good thing to look into?

However, when writing for a deaf/hh character just be careful with the dialogue you write. There are a lot of things in English that don’t translate. Mostly things that don’t have literal meanings. English metaphors don’t translate well haha. But on the whole, having a character who is fully deaf, that doesn't have some miraculous ability to read lips is 🙌🏻

Also food for thought, the fact that hearing loss has a wide range can change the character you’d write as well! Determining how the characters hearing loss affects their communication is the big starting point. I have a friend who is profoundly deaf in one ear, but most people never know because it doesn't affected her ability to communicate as if she were completely hearing. Other than when she sleeps on her good ear, and doesn't wake up when you yell at her to haha. So this is why I loved the point about the deaf and Deaf because there’s a real difference. My friend is, partially, deaf. but she’s not Deaf. She doesn’t identify as Deaf. Whereas, another person who is HOH may identify as Deaf and prefer to use sign language. 

However, if you just say a character is deaf most people are going to assume profoundly Deaf until you explain otherwise. 

I’m not a writer, but I can pretty much say any effort you make to portray a deaf/hh character accurately would be greatly appreciated by many!

Also sorry for the long response, I get WAY to passionate about this stuff haha. I tried to bold the important parts that actually answer your question, in case you just wanna skim that whole mess I just wrote haha 😅 oops 

Also if anyone else has thoughts or opinions on this topic feel free to chime in! I know my blog is not really focused on deaf/hh until I get a crazy need to spew it at you guys, but I think there are a few here who are also deaf/hh/activists. 💕

[definitelynotplanetfall]

so about that orientation/preference brouhaha

Having slept nonzero hours and having mulled this over a bit

I don’t exactly have a horse in this race as a filthy Fake Pseudo Ace That Doesn’t Even Have The Decency To Be Aro Or Gay Or Even Completely Ace I Mean Stolen Valor Much. It’s literally impossible to criminalize not having sex. Utterly unenforceable. I get that I’m not being targeted here and my opinion doesn’t really matter except as a barometer for “is planetfall a good person” (which I am not, and could have told you without any of the fuss). I have no specific love for the phrase “sexual preference,” I don’t think I have ever even used it, but also it’s such a nothing distinction. I do not care that Important Organizations declared it offensive years ago, because the reasoning they used to do so is silly, and of the people I’ve seen saying it definitely is not offensive what on earth are you on about, a bunch of them are LGBTQ.

And again, to address the issue that spawned this specific instance of this discourse, given Barrett’s record and the way homophobes do seem to insist on saying preference, it probably is a signal she intends to use her power in bigoted ways.

But like.

First of all, it is incredibly foot-shooty to say the evidence of her prejudice is the fact that she said “sexual preference” and not “sexual orientation,” which requires a fair bit of contextual understanding to see what the problem is and looks like pedantic hair-splitting without that knowledge, when shit like this exists.

Second - I’m sort of Von Wokensteining here, and to my understanding this entire argument started from one tweet or something similar, and it’d be misleading to assert “this one tweeter is the avatar for progressivism!“

EDIT: That’s not correct, it was a senator at her hearing rather than a rando providing commentary. I should have confirmed this myself and only learned it a few days later. This shows how accusations are taken out of context and passed around demanding judgment. I definitely could have spent more time reading about this incident, because I am a shitty excuse for a person with unlimited time. Every random Joe Blow does not have that luxury.

In my defense I was not paying attention to the hearing because I just assumed she would be maximally bad on all issues, considering who appointed her, and that was not a swamp I really wanted to wade through.

However.

People rushing to defend the assertion that “sexual preference” is self-evidently offensive gives at the very least an impression of a unified ideological coalition.

And, I said this in the last post but it bears repeating, the left lost the right to use “born this way” rhetoric the moment it became a semi-common talking point that you need to challenge your attractions if you aren’t attracted to an adequate cross-section of your area’s ethnic makeup or whatever. To intentionally try to change your attractions. To choose your attractions, if I may be so bold.

The charge against “sexual preference” is that it implies that orientation is a choice, which is supposedly hopelessly reactionary. Even ignoring for a moment that it does not in fact imply this, you do not get to tell people it is indefensible to IMPLY things that your side SAYS OUTRIGHT.

Also, quite frankly, I consider myself to have been made more ace during my lifetime by certain prevalent messages (and other hyper-targeted ones), and like, if the argument is actually that non-innate sexualities are illegitimate, does that mean that there can be no moral objection to someone raping me because the sky wizard said so?

[edit: screaming redacted]

It literally does not matter whether who you’re attracted to is a choice or inborn or whatever because that is not the moral dimension, the moral dimension is “does it hurt anyone?” which it fucking doesn’t why is this so difficult

I don’t give a shit about the rhetoric. The rhetoric sucks. The rhetoric is wrong.

Third, I’m extremely suspicious of any sort of euphemism-treadmill type anything, but one thing that’s especially suspect is when someone says “X term is offensive to Y demographic” against the wishes of that demographic. Like, my circles are not the widest, but I have mostly seen LGBTQ people being upset at being spoken for against their own wishes, sometimes with people chiming in and helpfully saying “no, see, you should be offended! This article says you are offended so stop pretending not to be!”

I am not trying to make a false equivalency of the relative badness levels but please, try to appreciate the poetic irony in unironically deploying “The Dedicated Truth Decreer said the innocuous-on-its-face thing was bad” in this of all possible situations.

It’s the “listen to X (I am not X, and X that disagree with me are not real X so don’t listen to them)” thing. The entire authority of that sort of article rests on the authors speaking for groups, so when members of that group say “this is bullshit pedantry and not offensive, and in fact your declaring it offensive on my behalf makes me feel less safe in places purportedly organized for my benefit” does in fact undermine the authority of those declarations.

Fourth, this is not as strong of an argument and really super tangential, but I’m personally sick of people just... giving things up because bad people claim them. I don’t extend this infinitely, so for instance Hindus trying to reclaim the swastika are probably right on the level of “it is wrong that this important symbol from our culture has been made synonymous with the greatest evil in living memory, and this change should be reverted,” but it’s so culturally ingrained that I don’t know if it is possible to fix at this point.

However, I remember when a bunch of Nazis were like “we own Pepe the frog now” and the response to this was like, “Yeah! Let them grab whatever culture they want, it is tainted by their even saying they want it! Also all Pepe memes made before this point are retroactively fascist!” and just...

That’s fucking transparently stupid. That specific thing has abated and you can find lefty Pepe memes now, nature is healing etc etc, but the “anime = fascist” thing hasn’t and it’s so so mind-numbing that you would just cede entire genres of art and start asserting that anyone who enjoys them is automatically irredeemable without considering what effect this might have on how unhinged you look or your ability to say your ideal world is better than theirs. I remember arguing with someone about this circa 2016 and I said something to the effect of “well what if instead of next they claim jazz” and they said it would suck that nobody could listen to jazz anymore. (iirc, this person was white which makes it extra hilarious/depressing, but the forum thread where it happened seems to be deleted so assume I made this up from whole cloth)

The reason I bring this up is part of the reason people say “it implies orientation is a choice” is because that’s what homophobes say it means (in contradiction to the literal words, naturally) and why they insist on using it. It’s less of a concrete thing, but the two feel isomorphic.

Lastly... OK so in my other post I used sort of a cringy programming metaphor, because I was half asleep so the only part of my brain still functioning was “comprehension of programming problems” amirite fellas. I don’t like definition debates in general but it seems like a lot of the people insisting “preference = choice” are using different definitions, so this is mostly just to show how that is not the only obvious interpretation.

A sexual orientation is a description of what gender(s) someone wants to have sex with.

A preference is a description of what someone wants.

Therefore a sexual orientation is a type of preference.

Note that nothing there says anything about origin or mutabiliy. Just that if you ask someone what their orientation is, you will get information about what they do and don’t want.

I need to stress that based on the context that sparked off this debacle I can understand why someone’s interpretation of the phrase might be “orientation is a choice” - even though I think it’s wrong to assume that’s what is meant by the phrase inherently, it’s a reasonable reaction to pattern-match talking points.

But the other thing is that it’s probably wrong to perma-delete the phrase because it isn’t gibberish.

What I mean by that is I get frustrated whenever someone is talking about an expenditure of energy and time related to feelings, and someone else comes along and screeches “THAT’S NOT WHAT EMOTIONAL LABOR MEANS”

and yes, that is not what the jargon phrase “emotional labor” means

but the person you’re yelling at was in fact describing labor that is emotional, and due to the way English works, you are allowed to delete the “that is” and move the adjective before the noun. Some would even recommend this in the name of concision. (And as I’ve said before, “emotion work” as a substitute phrase is...linguistically unpleasant to say the least.)

Saying that you can’t say “sexual preference” is sort of in the same boat. People will want to talk about preferences that are sexual, because there are more variables than just orientation, but those things still matter and should get a category name and look the entire argument falls apart if you don’t make bizarre assumptions about the connotations of the word “preference” and there are only so many ways I can state that fact.

IN SHITTY CONCLUSION

The fact that I wrote out a giant post defending a phrase I don’t otherwise care about reveals some sort of deep moral failing.

[imaginemycroftholmes]

Name: Rachel

Age (note that if you are under the age of consent your score will be significantly lower for Marriage, Friendship and Partnership): 27

Gender: F

Occupation: Teacher

Nationality: Caucasian

Country of origin: US

Personality type (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator): ISTJ

Education: Bachelor’s Degree

Marital Status (if not applicable put N/A): N/A

Number of children (if not applicable put N/A): N/A

Who would you shoot out of John, Sherlock, Mycroft and why:  John.  He’s been shot at before, knows what to expect, knows how to handle wounds and trauma.  He is also very good in high pressure situations.

Height: 5’2”

Position in the family (oldest, youngest, middle): Youngest (by a minute I’m a twin! :P )

Best subject: English

Favorite Subject: English/Music

Worst subject: Biology

Last song listened to: Emperor’s New Clothes by Panic at the Disco

Favorite color: Purple

Thoughts on Molly and Sherlock’s impending relationship: Good luck.  I hope she has the patience of a saint.  Though I have a feeling she will keep his butt in line! 

Illness/allergies/impairments: Seasonal allergies, eczema

Last sentence uttered to another living human being: Could you please help me?  I can’t reach.

Hair color/length: Collar bone length; orange and red

Who do you feel more sympathy for Sgt. Donovan or Anderson’s wife: Anderson’s wife.  Not only did she have to go through the cheating, she also had to go through the downward spiral that was Anderson after Sherlock “died.”

Eye color: Hazel

Constantly cold, hot or prefect: Cold

Seven Noteworthy skills (ex: can play an instrument, fire most guns, ride a unicycle, etc.): Classically trained musician (Opera, piano, ukulele, guitar), can pick locks, can change a tire, handy with tools, organizational master, good at memorization, and good at negotiating/deescalating situations

Nine noticeable sins: (ex: moody, bad listener, selfish, etc.): Perfectionist, overthinking, moody, anxiety, terrible sweet tooth, self-deprecating, frequent shopper, pessimism, and sarcastic

Languages known/spoken: English, some Spanish, Does music note reading count as a language (it should! :P)

Cats, dogs, both or other: Dogs, allergic to cats L

How often you help your community (1 never, 2 sometimes when prompted, 3 average, 4 often, 5 weekly): 4

Favorite Holmes family member: Mycroft

Body type (1 obese, 2 overweight, 3 averages, 4 fit, 5 skinny): 2

Number of past lovers (put N/A if virgin or not seeking marriage): N/A

Level of cleanliness (5 slobs, 4 messy, 3 average, 2 pretty clean and 1 spotless): 2

Would you rather piss off Sherlock or Mycroft: Sherlock.  To really piss Mycroft off…may God have mercy on your soul

Rate your mental health on a scale of 1-5 with one being terrible and 5 being fine: 3-4

Rate your confidence on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being poor and 5 being Sherlock levels: 3

Combat level (1 sitting duck, 2 somewhat okay, 3 can hold their own, 4 pretty damn good, 5 a proficient fighter): 3

Circle of friends: 2-3

Who do you side with more Sherlock or Mycroft: Probably Mycroft.  Sherlock throws himself into insane situations, many times without a lot of planning. 

Level of intelligence on a scale of 1-5: 4-5

Who do you side with more Mycroft or Mrs. Hudson: Mrs. Hudson.  She sees things that he simply cannot because she thinks in a different way than he does.

Introvert or Extrovert: Introvert

Political alignment: Left

Who would your rather be trapped in a long car ride with Mummy Holmes or Holmes Senior: Holmes Senior

Go to outfit for everyday: T shirt and jeans when I’m not at work, casual dress and flats when I’m at work

Go to outfit to impress: A-Line cocktail dress, nice heels, curled hair, smart makeup with a bold lip

5 hobbies (not to be confused with noteworthy skills): Singing, crocheting, writing, reading, and playing room escape games lol

Opinion of Rosie Watson and Mary Watson: Rosie is the most precious child to ever grace this Earth and Mary Watson was a loving wife and mother

Favorite music/book/movies: Music: folk, rock, oldies  Book: murder mystery Movies: Action/Comedy/Science Fiction/Classics

How well you take rejection on a scale from 1-5: 3

Religious or religious affliations: None

Kids or no (note this is wanting them not the ability to have them): Maybe?  Not sure.

Out of the Holmes family (Siger, Violet, Sherlock and Eurus) who would you kill, maim, kiss or roommate with and why:

Kill: Eurus—Any other option would leave her a danger to herself and others Maim: Violet—Her mind would still be intact and Siger would still be able to take care of her Kiss: Siger—Wouldn’t make it awkward, and dealing with his family he deserves a peck on the cheek :P Roommate: Sherlock—he seems like as annoying as he might be as a roommate, he could be very handy and useful in certain situations

Do you think what Mycroft did with Eurus (at the time) was justified and needed: I believe that Eurus was and is still a threat to herself and others.  She is extremely mentally unstable and needs constant surveillance, which any kind of civilian service would not be able to provide for her.  While she seems to be happier now, I don’t believe she will ever be allowed to be released into the public.  I think, which the decision is extremely tough, and will impact the lives of those around her, that the decision is both justified and needed.

Please bold the following that you wish to have with Mr. Holmes:

Friendship

Partnership

Marriage

Mentorship

=======================================================================

There are 10 sets of 10 coins. You know how much the coins should weigh. You know all the coins in one set of ten are exactly a hundredth of an ounce off, making the entire set of ten coins a tenth of an ounce off. You also know that all the other coins weight the correct amount. You are allowed to use an extremely accurate digital weighing machine only once. How do you determine which set of 10 coins is faulty?

I think what you have to do is take one coin from the first set, two from the second set, three from the third set, going all the way up to ten.  When you weigh them, you will know which set is the one with different weight by how many hundredths the weight is off by, e.g. if the weight is off by five hundredths of an ounce, you will know that it was the fifth set that had the irregular coins.

Bruce is an inmate at a large prison, and like most of the other prisoners, he smokes cigarettes. During his time in the prison, Bruce finds that if he has 3 cigarette butts, he can cram them together and turn them into 1 full cigarette. Whenever he smokes a cigarette, it turns into a cigarette butt. One day, Bruce is in his cell talking to one of his cellmates, Steve. “I really want to smoke 5 cigarettes today, but all I have are these 10 cigarette butts,” Bruce tells Steve. “I’m not sure that will be enough.” “Why don’t you borrow some of Tom’s cigarette butts?” asks Steve, pointing over to a small pile of cigarette butts on the bed of their third cellmate, Tom, who is out for the day on a community service project. “I can’t,” Bruce says. “Tom always counts exactly how many cigarette butts are in his pile, and he’d probably kill me if he noticed that I had taken any.” However, after thinking for a while, Bruce figures out a way that he can smoke 5 cigarettes without angering Tom. What is his plan? 

If you take 1 of Tom’s cigarette butts, on the 5th cigarette you will be left with a butt to put back into Tom’s pile (See drawing)

What is the true origins of a fortune cookie?—Okay this may be wrong.  But don’t they originate in the US…I think in California.  

Answered correctly: 2/3

Mycroft’s answer:

Dearest Rachel,

It is nice to find your submission gracing my hands once again as finding educators is a very herculean task with the increasing demand needed in the colonies. Although I am not a religious man myself I pray that your career receives the needed assistance and respect that it deserves considering the amount of work most teaches put into their craft for the sake of the students and on a grander scale; the future of civilized society.  It almost takes a person worthy of sainthood in order to find people that are willing to teach with such a large dagger hanging precariously over their heads should they fail to meet state standards but to those that stay or choose that journey I salute them.

While I find it a bit disconcerting that you would hold favor with Mrs. Hudson over me when pitted against one another I can see why the choice would be made should we be too similar in nature however, with political aliment I have no doubts we would see differently enough not to need Mrs. Hudson’s interference in order for us to butt heads metaphorically on a subject. I find no surprise that most are choosing to maim mummy and kill Eurus but am colored surprised when people would actively share a space with Sherlock even after the whole debacle with Mary. Sherlock is not an easy person to room with and I say that as both his brother and former co inhabitant from when he was detoxing, then again rooming with my father would also be rather strange so the question tells me a lot about the person when the choose between the four.

I do agree however that reading sheet music should constitute for a form of language as few outside of musicians themselves can read it. I know in the beginning Sherlock had some trouble learning it unlike Eurus who took to it faster than anyone could anticipate. In fact I would dare say that Eurus was only ‘playing dumb’ in order to get Sherlock to play with her. I appreciate that you would choose to piss off my baby brother as you would indeed be correct that crossing me would be...detrimental to any persons social, financial, and mental well-being but rest assured I am not prone to overly emotional outbursts and dramatic plots at revenge unlike some people in the Holmes family I could name.

Moving forward I would find it interesting to talk more about this over coffee but sans the sweets (I’m on a diet currently and Sherlock has taken to texting me ‘Hey fatty’ almost every hour on the hour until I lose a stone) but I predict that such a exception won’t put you off too much correct?

See you at precisely at 2:54. My assistant will text you the location and details.

-M     

Friendship: 8.79/10

Partnership: 9.1/10

Marriage: 7.99/10

Mentorship: 10/10

[fabelgis4680]

Module 7

Malcom X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” – I appreciate the prologue on religion differences and how though their practice is different and may be conflicted over, the true conflict that needs to be united over despite differences is the overall oppression black people are experiencing under the white men in power. It is immediately stated right after that it does not mean that they are anti – white, but that they are anti-exploitation, anti-degradation, and anti-oppression. If white men don’t want to see it as them then they should stop exploiting, degrading, and oppressing. 1964 was only a few years before my parents were born. This illuminates the reality of post slavery oppression that continues to today. I have heard before of Malcolm X’s opinion on voting. What I am understanding is that he considers voting as a waste because their vote will give them nothing in return because the system is not in their favor and is under means to oppress them. I haven’t heard of a dixiecrat before.

W.E.B. DuBois’ “Strivings of the Negro People” – 1897 – I can compare the oppressed question that DuBois is given of “How does it feel to be a problem” to being persisted to today with people of color and specifically and almost identically to the book “How does it feel to be a problem” by Moustafa Bayoumi on being young and Arab in America. I had to google shades of the prison-house and it took me to a poem called “Immitations of Immorality.” He recounts the double consciousness and struggle of being black and an American. DuBois states over 50 years before Malcolm does “The power of the ballot we need in sheer self-defense, and as a guarantee of good faith.” To quote “there is to-day no true American music but the sweet wild melodies of the Negro slave; the American fairy tales are Indian and African; we are the sole oasis of simple faith and reverence in a dusty desert of dollars and smartness.” Is this contributing to the truths of music / stories being sourced from African Americans but not given the rightful accountability or profits?

Frantz Fanon’s “Reciprocal Bases of National Culture and the Fight for Freedom” – 1959 – The whole first paragraph lends to a lot of information on colonialism, disrupting and conquering people, a cultural obliteration that is over simplified. Occupying power and banishing natives and systematically enslaving. Fences and signposts being an basic factor. Brings me to reflect on the start of property and claiming land just by fencing it off. Can be compared to the idea of walls that are a buzz of today. “The poverty of the people, national oppression and the inhibition of culture are one and the same thing.” And “Colonial exploitation, poverty and endemic famine drive the native more and more to open, organised revolt.” Then it goes into literature and colonialism and the different narratives and consciousness and national consciousness.

Stokely Carmichael’s “From Black Power to Pan-Africanism” – the listen is different from the read, but in the listen he states, “Brothers and sisters” uniting being African in America because there is unity from America’s history of all being stolen and brought to America and experiencing the same struggles and oppressions under slavery and post slavery. He is calling the fighting an extended war that America. Revolution relying on truth and justice. The read delves into many critical comparisons with pan Africanism, Malcolm x, Marxism-Leninism, Muhammad Ali getting paid substantially less, and continued consequences under capitalism.

Melvin B. Tolson’s “Dark Symphony” – “Thorns of greed on labors brow” and “Black slaves singing” their verses give visualization to the words. These rhymes remind me of what DuBois was talking about with original music / stories being sole from African Americans. The poem is expresses the grim, bloody, and pain. “Barricades of Jim Crowism” and calling to advance past.

Amiri Baraka’s “Black Dada Nihilismus” - *May I just add I really appreciate the audio reads* There is low New York Art Quartet music playing in the background with Baraka in the recording. The website gives highlighted words with given definitions are very useful. It is explained that Baraka doesn’t actually want the gruesome stated lines to be true, but the gruesomeness needs to be accounted for to understand / hear the narrative that is given a shy eye when black people have been systemically fallen victim to the gruesome. It stated in the side bar “The New York Times critiqued the song for its violent imagery, specifically in these lines. The article goes on to describe Baraka’s “highly-political avant-garde” as a “call for black revolutionaries to rape and murder in the service of liberation.” I don’t think they understand.

three poems by Aimé Cesaire – To the Serpent – A little hard to read, searching for the right animal to adore then it gets to the serpent. “God gives not you hold supremely.” And “Serpent delirium and peace” going to how the serpent is a threat and that though “threat a sagacious hand that does not pardon cowards” I do not quite understand this poem or what it may be critically analyzed to be compared to. There may be euphemisms beyond my awareness. It sounds a little religious mentioning the fig and altar.

At the Locks of the Void -  This poem is more understandable than To the Serpent. There is more imagery and metaphors. There are a lot of comparisons. Cesaire is giving full amounts of detail to the text. Things that stick out to me are thirst, hunger, blood, disease, graphic, religion, and Europe. “Europe, eminent name of the turd”

Forfeiture – This poem is interesting. Closing with the line, “ay I am standing and in the sole whiteness that men have never recognized in me.” But preceding this includes mentioning genitalia, gruesome descriptions involving urine, snakes, the planets, and earth.  

“Bread” by Kamau Brathwaite – I do not understand this poem. The lines touch a little on a realistic bread “adding water” or kneading.  But I do not understand what the words are making around it. The ending states “rolled into night into night w/out morning rolled into dead into dead w/out vision rolled into life into life w/out dream” which I think is comparing the rolling of bread to these. I will search for a guide / explanation to this poem.

Decolonising the Mind by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o – Language and Culture. I remember in class talking about how language should be saved and continued through natives. I think written language differentiated from spoken language was also conversed about of importance. Like how Ngugi states him and his family speaking Gi kuyH in the fields and at home and the importance of telling and retelling stories. After some schooling with his native language, colonizing and nationalism had the schools taken over to formal English education. Because of the declaration of a state of emergency over Kenya in 1952, others had to “bow” before English in differences involving corporal punishment for using native Gi kuyH.

excerpt from Aimé Cesaire on Negritude – a revolt against the European feeling of superiority and the result of an active and attitude of the mind on the offense. Stating to refuse oppression and to be against inequality. The system to revolt against is “characterized by a certain number of prejudices, of assumptions which generate a very strict hierarchy” For Africa to forward on from colonialism.

Jean Michel Basquiat paintings – I really enjoy his art. I believe I have been exposed to Aaron Douglas’ Birth of the blues before or at least its color scheme style may have been used as inspiration elsewhere. I did a project on an artist Chris Ofili who also uses culture and music aspects in his art similarly.

“The Radiant Child” by Rene Ricard – On tags, graffiti, rapping. “Graffiti refutes the idea of anonymous art where we know everything about a work except who made it” therefore comes the tag. As talked about in class, Basquait’s was “SAMO”.

material on Aaron Douglas: - a part of the “New Negro Movement” or “Harlem Renaissance.” Used silhouette forms in a friezed format, is this like a “freeze” or paused picture? The commotion in his art does look like a paused moment. Aspiration itself shows many chained hands all paused in an upward reaching moment.

YouTube playlist of Black political music – The variety in this playlist is very wide. With Billie Holiday, Kendrick Lamar, NWA, Beyonce, Sun Ra Jazz, Sam Cooke and many more.

On NWA – I’ve heard Fuck The Police, Seen Ice Cube in the family movie “Are We There Yet” and in 21 Jump street, Heard Dr.Dre with some 2000’s hits but that just might be all I know. Reading into the socially conscious rap I perceive the wave returning and persisting with Kendrick Lamar, Vic Mensa, and Beyonce to “expose the truth” as well.

Fela Kuti – Lagos Nigeria, in the 70’s created the bold Afrobeat music. A style and movement inspired by the Black Panthers and Malcolm X, voiced anger and protest against military rulers and corrupt oil industry. Music for revolution.

Amiri Baraka articles – Diz, or Dizzy Gilliespie, the late 40’s to 60’s music to Sun Ra with Afro American Jazz with Brazilian Samba styles, Pan American Funk, and orchestras making music that drives itself and transforms.

Music & black – the Black Power playlist shows substantial music that is meant for revolution and exposing the truth on an artistic platform. With the political messages in soul, funk, and jazz  this music expressed problems that need accountability and change.

[imaginemycroftholmes]

Mycroft Fan Submission Form

Name: Ellen Age:28 Gender: Female Occupation: Registered Nurse Nationality: American Country of origin: The USA Personality type:INTJ Education: Bachelors (BSN) Marital Status: Single Who would you shoot out of John, Sherlock, Mycroft and why: I would probably turn the gun on myself. I don’t think anything but extreme circumstances, my child or spouse’s life, could cause me to take a life. Height: 5'5" Position in the family: I am the oldest of four, one sister and 2 brothers. Best subject: Sciences have always been my strong point. Favorite Subject: Maternal/Child Nursing Worst subject: I didn’t necessarily have a worst subject. If it did not hold my interest I did the bare minimum to maintain my GPA. Last song listened to: “We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off” Ella Eyre Favorite color: Blue, all of them. Thoughts on Molly and Sherlock’s impending relationship: It’s about time. Illness/allergies/impairments: I’m allergic to latex and have seasonal allergies. I have Celiacs, Reynaud’s, and ADHD mixed. Last sentence uttered to another living human being: STAT labs, cultures, and CXR as the left side sounds diminished and temp is 103? Hair color/length: Dark brown and below my shoulders. Who do you feel more sympathy for Sgt. Donovan or Anderson’s wife: Anderson’s wife, she did not make them sleep together. The vows of a monogamous relationship should be upheld. I don’t understand cheating and feel it is the ultimate betrayal. Eye color: Blue Constantly cold, hot or prefect: I’m always cold. Seven Noteworthy skills: I am an exceptional listener. I am determined I sing well enough. I have good observation skills Critical Thinking Patience Calm under pressure Nine noticeable sins: I can be too sarcastic. Stubborn Impulsive Overly self critical Easily Bored with things that don’t interest me Emotionally withdrawn My resting facial expression is mean Perfectionist Blunt Languages known/spoken:Only English. I am learning Spanish. Cats, dogs, both or other: Dogs. I have 2. How often you help your community: If you refer to my job as my community then 4. Favorite Holmes family member: Mycroft. Body type:3 averaged Number of past lovers: 2 Level of cleanliness: 2 Would you rather piss off Sherlock or Mycroft: Sherlock. He is emotional and once the emotional response has run its course the anger is usually forgotten. Rate your mental health: 4, gotta get more sleep. Rate your confidence: I would say a 3 on average. Sometimes I question myself. Combat Level: 3 Circle of friends: I have a small tight circle of close friends but many casual friends. Who do you side with more Sherlock or Mycroft: Mycroft. Level of intelligence on a scale of 1-5: 4 Who do you side with more Mycroft or Mrs. Hudson: Mycroft. Introvert or Extrovert: Introvert Political alignment: I am all over with my political views. I find it very hard to find one party I align with a majority of the time. Who would your rather be trapped in a long car ride with Mummy Holmes or Holmes Senior: Holmes Senior. I’m sure he would be very pleasant to talk to. Go to outfit for everyday: Long pants, tank top, and sweater. Honestly though I wear scrubs every day. Go to outfit to impress: A dress and heels 5 hobbies: Painting Reading Writing Hiking Dog training Opinion of Rosie Watson and Mary Watson: I love children and find it very hard to have a poor option of any child. I think they are all brilliant. I am indifferent to Mary. I cannot say what I would do if I were to be made to make the choices she did in life. Favorite music/book/movies: I love anything by J.R.R. Tolkien and reading a lot of medical, science, and various non-fiction books. I very much enjoyed the Wonder Woman movie. I will and do listen to any and all music. How well you take rejection on a scale from 1-5: I handle it pretty well, so about a 4. Religious or religious affliations: I was raised Catholic. Currently I do believe in God but I do not associate with any religion. Kids or no:I very much want children Out of the Holmes family (Siger, Violet, Sherlock and Eurus) who would you kill, maim, kiss or roommate with and why: I would kiss Violet in a close friend. Maim Sherlock but verbally. Eurus would be the only one I could see killing in a very extreme circumstance. Roommate Siger, I feel there is a lot about him we don’t know. Do you think what Mycroft did with Eurus (at the time) was justified and needed: I am the oldest and fiercely protective of my family. I understand where Mycroft was coming from. If I believed it was best for my other siblings safety and well being to contain another sibling, I would. I could also see the reasoning of lying to my parents of their death. As for using her to help the government, I often wonder if it was the only way he could justify interacting and seeing Eurus. I know I’d look for any reason to still visit them still.

One day three Greek philosophers settled under the shade of an olive tree, opened a bottle of Retsina, and began a lengthy discussion of the Fundamental Ontological Question: Why does anything exist? After a while, they began to ramble. Then, one by one, they fell asleep. While the men slept, three owls, one above each philosopher, completed their digestive process, dropped a present on each philosopher’s forehead, the flew off with a noisy “hoot.” Perhaps the hoot awakened the philosophers. As soon as they looked at each other, all three began, simultaneously, to laugh. Then, one of them abruptly stopped laughing. Why?

I guess he realized that they were laughing at him too so realized he had owl droppings on his head as well. It’s funny when it happens to others but not to you.

A 120 wire cable has been laid firmly underground between two telephone exchanges located 10km apart. Unfortunately after the cable was laid it was discovered to be the wrong type, the problem is the individual wires are not labeled. There is no visual way of knowing which wire is which and thus connections at either end is not immediately possible. You are a trainee technician and your boss has asked you to identify and label the wires at both ends without ripping it all up. You have no transport and only a battery and light bulb to test continuity. You do have tape and pen for labeling the wires. What is the shortest distance in kilometers you will need to walk to correctly identify and label each wire?

I don’t really understand this one but I’ll take a shot. So I’d group them to make dealing with them easier and label the groups at the start. Then take the grouped end down with me so that I could test and figure out which wire goes with which using light bulb and battery group. I’d label as I go. Then I’d have to walk the end back to the start. So 20km? I don’t know. I just know when labeling lines and hooking them up, I always go down and back up.

A woman is sitting in her hotel room when there is a knock at the door. She opened the door to see a man whom she had never seen before. He said “oh I’m sorry, I have made a mistake, I thought this was my room.” He then went down the corridor and in the elevator. The woman went back into her room and phoned security. What made the woman so suspicious of the man? He knocked on the door. You’d just open you’re own door.

Please bold the following that you wish to have with Mr. Holmes: Friendship Partnership Marriage Mentorship

Mycroft’s answer:

Ah, a nurse. I believe that you dear Ellen may be the first I have come across with the piles of applications and find it very refreshing to come across yours. So far with your questions you managed to answer two out of three correctly which is very promising as is your hobby for training dogs. Did you know that Sherlock at one point decided he would attempt to train a stray dog that had wandered into our neighborhood? A filthy if not friendly fellow. It was a shame that mummy wouldn’t allow Sherlock to keep him as I figured it would be a great companion for both him and might socialize Eurus a bit however after the ‘incident’ with Victor I feel fortunate that the poor creature found a loving home elsewhere. I can sympathize with the what others may call “resting bitch” face as both Sherlock and John claim that I have it despite my best efforts to look more enticing to young Watson but alas, I fear that she too like her father is wary of me and my intentions.It is also very comforting to find someone that validates my past decisions concerning the distressing business of Victor because even in my age I feel it was right and if I had to go through with again I would only change a few things like putting her into isolation in the first place without outside interference. Your line of work sounds very intriguing as from what I gathered you must work with adult or child like patients versus infants labs but I could be wrong. I’d love to discuss it over dinner.

-M

My dear Ellen,

Friendship: 9/10

Partnership: 8.9/10

Marriage: 8.8/10

Mentor-ship: 10/10