Hi everyone,
I'm writing my BA thesis on fanfiction and I'm looking for essays made by fans addressing the fanfiction communities ( think arduinna's hummus essay for example ). I have found enough academic sources for my arguments, but really want to include the opinions of actual fans rather than solely academic sources and my own opinions. If you have anything you found interesting, impactful or compelling I'd love to hear about it!

So I kept up with Ninjago since it first started until I think season 10, and I remember liking most of it (but I only remember like 2-3 plot details about each season). I'm finally going back to revisit/catch up, and I'm almost halfway through season 2 (they just destroyed the mega weapon) and so far, holy fucking hell this might be one of the most irredeemably bad seasons of tv that I've ever seen. The pilot and season 1 were pretty good for what they were trying to be but this is just insultingly terrible. I could actually write an entire essay about how bad this is, and I'm not even halfway through yet. People tell me the second half is better but to salvage this they'd need to create like the greatest work of fiction ever created, and something tells me they didn't quite get that far.
Like I said earlier, just on these six episodes I could probably write like a 1500+ word essay on how painfully low quality the writing is in this story arc. It seems as if nothing was even remotely thought through, especially in the back half, this is about as phoned in as it gets. Sure, I've seen maybe one or two worse seasons of tv but at least with those (the only examples that come to mind are Velma Season 1 and Santa Inc.) it was clear that they were trying. Here, it seems like they wrote the first draft in one night and then just moved on to the next episode without bothering to do the slightest amount of revision, and it's borderline insulting. The plotlines are all garbage, Lloyd and Jay, the two worst parts of the first season, are somehow even more unbearably annoying, and the dialogue doesn't make any sense, and it actually feels insulting that this was allowed to be aired on tv.

"Why Did Jesus Die on the Cross?"

The main reason Jesus died on the cross was to defeat Satan and set us free from his oppressive rule. Everything else that Jesus accomplished was to be understood as an aspect and consequence of this victory (e.g., Recapitulation, Moral Influence, etc.).
This understanding of why Jesus had to die is called the Christus Victor (Latin for “Christ is Victorious”) view of the atonement. But, what exactly was Christ victorious from, and why? To find out the answers to these questions, we have to turn to the Old Testament, as that's what the apostles would often allude to in order to properly teach their audience the message they were trying to convey (Rom. 15:4).
The OT is full of conflict between the Father (YHVH) and false gods, between YHVH and cosmic forces of chaos. The Psalms speak of this conflict between YHVH and water monsters of the deeps (an ancient image for chaos) (Psa. 29:3-4; 74:10-14; 77:16, 19; 89:9-10; 104:2-9, etc).
The liberation of Israel from Egypt wasn’t just a conflict between Pharaoh and Moses. It was really between YHVH and the false gods of Egypt.
Regardless of whether you think the aforementioned descriptions are literal or metaphorical, the reality that the Old Testament describes is that humanity lived in a “cosmic war zone.”
The Christus Victor motif is about Christ reigning victorious over wicked principalities and Satan's kingdom, and is strongly emphasized throughout the New Testament. Scripture declares that Jesus came to drive out "the prince of this world” (John 12:31), to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8), to “destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14) and to “put all enemies under his feet” (1 Cor 15:25). Jesus came to overpower the “strong man” (Satan) who held the world in bondage and worked with his Church to plunder his "palace" (Luke 11:21-22). He came to end the reign of the cosmic “thief” who seized the world to “steal, and to kill, and to destroy” the life YHVH intended for us (John 10:10). Jesus came and died on the cross to disarm “the principalities and powers” and make a “shew of them openly [i.e., public spectacle]” by “triumphing over them in [the cross]” (Col. 2:15).
Beyond these explicit statements, there are many other passages that express the Christus Victor motif as well. For example, the first prophecy in the Bible foretells that a descendent of Eve (Jesus) would crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). The first Christian sermon ever preached proclaimed that Jesus in principle conquered all YHVH's enemies (Acts 2:32-36). And the single most frequently quoted Old Testament passage by New Testament authors is Psalm 110:1 which predicts that Christ would conquer all YHVH’s opponents. (Psalm 110 is quoted or alluded to in Matthew 22:41-45; 26:64, Mark 12:35-37; 14:62, Luke 20:41-44; 22:69, Acts 5:31; 7:55-56, Romans 8:34, 1st Corinthians 15:22-25, Ephesians 1:20, Hebrews 1:3; 1:13; 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:11, 15, 17, 21; 8:1; 10:12-13, 1st Peter 3:22, and Revelation 3:21.) According to New Testament scholar Oscar Cullman, the frequency with which New Testament authors cite this Psalm is the greatest proof that Christ’s “victory over the angel powers stands at the very center of early Christian thought.”
Because of man's rebellion, the Messiah's coming involved a rescue mission that included a strategy for vanquishing the powers of darkness.
Since YHVH is a God of love who gives genuine “say-so” to both angels and humans, YHVH rarely accomplishes His providential plans through coercion. YHVH relies on His infinite wisdom to achieve His goals. Nowhere is YHVH's wisdom put more on display than in the manner in which He outsmarted Satan and the powers of evil, using their own evil to bring about their defeat.
Most readers probably know the famous story from ancient Greece about the Trojan Horse. To recap the story, Troy and Greece had been locked in a ten-year-long vicious war when, according to Homer and Virgil, the Greeks came up with a brilliant idea. They built an enormous wooden horse, hid soldiers inside and offered it to the Trojans as a gift, claiming they were conceding defeat and going home. The delighted Trojans accepted the gift and proceeded to celebrate by drinking themselves into a drunken stupor. When night came and the Trojan warriors were too wasted to fight, the Greeks exited the horse, unlocked the city gates to quietly let all their compatriots in, and easily conquered the city, thus winning the war.
Historians debate whether any of this actually happened. But either way, as military strategies go, it’s brilliant.
Now, there are five clues in the New Testament that suggest YHVH was using something like this Trojan Horse strategy against the powers when he sent Jesus into the world:
1) The Bible tells us that YHVH's victory over the powers of darkness was achieved by the employment of YHVH’s wisdom, and was centered on that wisdom having become reality in Jesus Christ (Rom. 16:25, 1 Cor. 2:7, Eph. 3:9-10, Col. 1:26). It also tells us that, for some reason, this Christ-centered wisdom was kept “secret and hidden” throughout the ages. It’s clear from this that YHVH's strategy was to outsmart and surprise the powers by sending Jesus.
2) While humans don’t generally know Jesus’ true identity during his ministry, demons do. They recognize Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, but, interestingly enough, they have no idea what he’s doing (Mark 1:24; 3:11; 5:7, Luke 8:21). Again, the wisdom of YHVH in sending Jesus was hidden from them.
3) We’re told that, while humans certainly share in the responsibility for the crucifixion, Satan and the powers were working behind the scenes to bring it about (John 13:27 cf. 1 Cor. 2:6-8). These forces of evil helped orchestrate the crucifixion.
4) We’re taught that if the “princes of this world [age]” had understood the secret wisdom of YHVH, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor 2:8 cf. vss 6-7). Apparently, Satan and the powers regretted orchestrating Christ’s crucifixion once they learned of the wisdom of YHVH that was behind it.
5) Finally, we can begin to understand why the powers came to regret crucifying “the Lord of glory” when we read that it was by means of the crucifixion that the “handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us [i.e., the charge of our legal indebtedness]” was “[taken] out of the way [i.e., canceled]” as the powers were disarmed. In this way Christ “triumph[ed] over” the powers by "his cross” and even “made a shew of them openly” (Col. 2:14-15). Through Christ’s death and resurrection YHVH's enemies were vanquished and placed under his Messiah's feet, and ultimately His own in the end (1 Cor. 15:23-28).
Putting these five clues together, we can discern YHVH's Trojan Horse strategy in sending Jesus.
The powers couldn’t discern why Jesus came because YHVH's wisdom was hidden from them. YHVH's wisdom was motivated by unfathomable love, and since Satan and the other powers were evil, they lacked the capacity to understand it. Their evil hearts prevented them from suspecting what YHVH was up to.
What the powers did understand was that Jesus was mortal. This meant he was killable. Lacking the capacity to understand that this was the means by which YHVH would ultimately bring about the defeat of death (and thus, pave the road for the resurrection itself), they never suspected that making Jesus vulnerable to their evil might actually be part of YHVH's infinitely wise plan.
And so they took the bait (or "ransom"; Matt. 20:28, Mark 10:45, 1 Tim. 2:5-6). Utilizing Judas and other willing human agents, the powers played right into YHVH’s secret plan and orchestrated the crucifixion of the Messiah (Acts 2:22-23; 4:28). YHVH thus brilliantly used the self-inflicted incapacity of evil to understand love against itself. And, like light dispelling darkness, the unfathomably beautiful act of YHVH's love in sending the willing Messiah as a "ransom" to these blood-thirsty powers defeated them. The whole creation was in principle freed and reconciled to YHVH, while everything written against us humans was nailed to the cross, thus robbing the powers of the only legal claim they had on us. They were “spoiled [i.e., disempowered]” (Col. 2:14-15).
As happened to the Trojans in accepting the gift from the Greeks, in seizing on Christ’s vulnerability and orchestrating his crucifixion, the powers unwittingly cooperated with YHVH to unleash the one power in the world that dispels all evil and sets captives free. It’s the power of self-sacrificial love.

Why Penal Substitution Is Unbiblical

For the sake of keeping this already lengthy post as short as possible I'm not going to spend too much time on why exactly PSA (Penal Substitutionary Atonement) is inconsistent with Scripture, but I'll go ahead and point out the main reasons why I believe this is so, and let the reader look further into this subject by themselves, being that there are many resources out there which have devoted much more time than I ever could here in supporting this premise.

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:"-1 Corinthians 5:7

The Passover is one of the two most prominent images in the New Testament given as a comparison to Christ's atonement and what it accomplished, (the other most common image being the Day of Atonement sacrifice).
In the Passover, the blood of the lamb on the door posts of the Hebrews in the book of Exodus was meant to mark out those who were YHVH's, not be a symbol of PSA, as the lamb itself was not being punished by God in place of the Hebrews, but rather the kingdom of Egypt (and thus, allegorically speaking, the kingdom of darkness which opposed YHVH) was what was being judged and punished, because those who were not "covered" by the blood of the lamb could be easily identified as not part of God's kingdom/covenant and liberated people.
Looking at the Day of Atonement sacrifice (which, again, Christ's death is repeatedly compared to throughout the New Testament), this ritual required a ram, a bull, and two goats (Lev. 16:3-5). The ram was for a burnt offering intended to please God (Lev. 16:3-4). The bull served as a sin offering for Aaron, the high priest, and his family. In this case, the sin offering restored the priest to ritual purity, allowing him to occupy sacred space and be near YHVH’s presence. Two goats taken from "the congregation” were needed for the single sin offering for the people (Lev. 16:5). So why two goats?
The high priest would cast lots over the two goats, with one chosen as a sacrifice “for the Lord” (Lev. 16:8). The blood of that goat would purify the people. The second goat was not sacrificed or designated “for the Lord.” On the contrary, this goat—the one that symbolically carried the sins away from the camp of Israel into the wilderness—was “for Azazel” (Lev. 16:8-10).
What—or who—is Azazel?
The Hebrew term azazel (עזאזל) occurs four times in Leviticus 16 but nowhere else in most people's canon of the Bible, (and I say "most people's canon," because some people do include 1 Enoch in their canon of Scripture, which of course goes into great detail about this "Azazel" figure). Many translations prefer to translate the term as a phrase, “the goat that goes away,” which is the same idea conveyed in the King James Version’s “scapegoat.” Other translations treat the word as a name: Azazel. The “scapegoat” option is possible, but since the phrase “for Azazel” parallels the phrase “for YHVH” (“for the Lord”), the wording suggests that two divine figures are being contrasted by the two goats.
A strong case can be made for translating the term as the name Azazel. Ancient Jewish texts show that Azazel was understood as a demonic figure associated with the wilderness. The Mishnah (ca. AD 200; Yoma 6:6) records that the goat for Azazel was led to a cliff and pushed over, ensuring it would not return with its death. This association of the wilderness with evil is also evident in the New Testament, as this was where Jesus met the devil (Matt. 4:1). Also, in Leviticus 17:1-7 we learn that some Israelites had been accustomed to sacrificing offerings to "devils" (alternatively translated as “goat demons”). The Day of Atonement replaced this illegitimate practice.
The second goat was not sent into the wilderness as a sacrifice to a foreign god or demon. The act of sending the live goat out into the wilderness, which was unholy ground, was to send the sins of the people where they belonged—to the demonic domain. With one goat sacrificed to bring purification and access to YHVH and one goat sent to carry the people’s sins to the demonic domain, this annual ritual reinforced the identity of the true God and His mercy and holiness.
When Jesus died on the cross for all of humanity’s sins, he was crucified outside the city, paralleling the sins of the people being cast to the wilderness via the goat to Azazel. Jesus died once for all sinners, negating the need for this ritual.
As previously stated, the goat which had all the sin put on it was sent alive off to the wilderness, while the blood of the goat which was blameless was used to purify the temple and the people. Penal substitution would necessitate the killing of the goat which had the sin put on it.
Mind you, this is the only sacrificial ritual of any kind in the Torah in which sins are placed on an animal. The only time it happens is this, and that animal is not sacrificed. Most PSA proponents unwittingly point to this ritual as evidence of their view, despite it actually serving as evidence to the contrary, because most people don't read their Old Testament and don't familiarize themselves with the "boring parts" like Leviticus (when it's actually rather important to do so, since that book explains how exactly animal offerings were to be carried out and why they were done in the first place).
In the New Testament, Christ's blood was not only meant to mark out those who were his, but also expel the presence of sin and ritual uncleanness so as to make the presence of YHVH manifest in the believer's life. Notice how God's wrath isn't poured out on Christ in our stead on this view, but rather His wrath was poured out on those who weren't covered, and the presence of sin and evil were merely removed by that which is pure and blameless (Christ's blood) for the believer.
All this is the difference between expiation and propitiation.

The Content of Paul's Gospel Message

When the New Testament writers talked about “the gospel,” they referred not to the Protestant doctrine of justification sola fide–the proposition that if we will stop trying to win God’s favor and only just believe that God has exchanged our sin for Christ’s perfect righteousness, then in God’s eyes we will have the perfect righteousness required both for salvation and for assuaging our guilty consciences–but rather they referred to the simple but explosive proposition Kyrios Christos, “Christ is Lord.” That is to say, the gospel was, properly speaking, the royal announcement that Jesus of Nazareth was the God of Israel’s promised Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
The New Testament writers were not writing in a cultural or linguistic vacuum and their language of euangelion (good news) and euangelizomai would have been understood by their audience in fairly specific ways. Namely, in the Greco-Roman world for which the New Testament authors wrote, euangelion/euangelizomai language typically had to do with either A) the announcement of the accession of a ruler, or B) the announcement of a victory in battle, and would probably have been understood along those lines.
Let’s take the announcements of a new ruler first. The classic example of such a language is the Priene Calendar Inscription, dating to circa 9 BC, which celebrates the rule (and birthday) of Caesar Augustus as follows:
"It was seeming to the Greeks in Asia, in the opinion of the high priest Apollonius of Menophilus Azanitus: Since Providence, which has ordered all things of our life and is very much interested in our life, has ordered things in sending Augustus, whom she filled with virtue for the benefit of men, sending him as a savior [soter] both for us and for those after us, him who would end war and order all things, and since Caesar by his appearance [epiphanein] surpassed the hopes of all those who received the good tidings [euangelia], not only those who were benefactors before him, but even the hope among those who will be left afterward, and the birthday of the god [he genethlios tou theou] was for the world the beginning of the good tidings [euangelion] through him; and Asia resolved it in Smyrna."
The association of the term euangelion with the announcement of Augustus’ rule is clear enough and is typical of how this language is used elsewhere. To give another example, Josephus records that at the news of the accession of the new emperor Vespasian (69 AD) “every city kept festival for the good news (euangelia) and offered sacrifices on his behalf.” (The Jewish War, IV.618). Finally, a papyrus dating to ca. 498 AD begins:
"Since I have become aware of the good news (euangeliou) about the proclamation as Caesar (of Gaius Julius Verus Maximus Augustus)…"
This usage occurs also in the Septuagint, the Greek translations of the Jewish Scriptures. For instance LXX Isaiah 52:7 reads, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news (euangelizomenou), who publishes peace, who brings good news (euangelizomenos) of salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.'" Similarly, LXX Isaiah 40:9-10 reads:

"…Go up on a high mountain, you who bring good tidings (ho euangelizomenos) to Sion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings (ho euangelizomenos); lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Ioudas, “See your God!” Behold, the Lord comes with strength, and his arm with authority (kyrieias)…."-NETS, Esaias 40:9-10

This consistent close connection between euangelion/euangelizomai language and announcements of rule strongly suggests that many of the initial hearers/readers of the early Christians’ evangelical language would likely have understood that language as the announcement of a new ruler (see, e.g., Acts 17:7), and, unless there is strong NT evidence to the contrary, we should presume that the NT writers probably intended their language to be so understood.
However, the other main way in which euangelion/euangelizomai language was used in the Greco-Roman world was with reference to battle reports, announcements of victory in war. A classic example of this sort of usage can be found in LXX 2 Samuel 18:19ff, where David receives word that his traitorous son, Absalom, has been defeated in battle. Euangelion/euangelizomai is used throughout the passage for the communications from the front.
As already shown throughout this post, the NT speaks of Jesus’s death and resurrection as a great victory over the powers that existed at that time and, most importantly, over death itself. Jesus’ conquest of the principalities and powers was the establishment of his rule and comprehensive authority over heaven and earth, that is, of his Lordship over all things (again, at that time).
This was the content of Paul's gospel message...

Justification, and the "New" Perspective on Paul

The following quotation is from The Gospel Coalition, and I believe it to be a decently accurate summary of the NPP (New Perspective on Paul), despite it being from a source which is in opposition to it:

The New Perspective on Paul, a major scholarly shift that began in the 1980s, argues that the Jewish context of the New Testament has been wrongly understood and that this misunderstand[ing] has led to errors in the traditional-Protestant understanding of justification. According to the New Perspective, the Jewish systems of salvation were not based on works-righteousness but rather on covenantal nomism, the belief that one enters the people of God by grace and stays in through obedience to the covenant. This means that Paul could not have been referring to works-righteousness by his phrase “works of the law”; instead, he was referring to Jewish boundary markers that made clear who was or was not within the people of God. For the New Perspective, this is the issue that Paul opposes in the NT. Thus, justification takes on two aspects for the New Perspective rather than one; initial justification is by faith (grace) and recognizes covenant status (ecclesiology), while final justification is partially by works, albeit works produced by the Spirit.

I believe what's called the "new perspective" is actually rather old, and that the Reformers' view of Paul is what is truly new, being that the Lutheran understanding of Paul is simply not Biblical.
The Reformation perspective understands Paul to be arguing against a legalistic Jewish culture that seeks to earn their salvation through works. However, supporters of the NPP argue that Paul has been misread. We contend he was actually combating Jews who were boasting because they were God's people, the "elect" or the "chosen ones." Their "works," so to speak, were done to show they were God's covenant people and not to earn their salvation.
The key questions involve Paul’s view(s) of the law and the meaning of the controversy in which Paul was engaged. Paul strongly argued that we are “justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law” (Gal. 2:16b). Since the time of Martin Luther, this has been understood as an indictment of legalistic efforts to merit favor before God. Judaism was cast in the role of the medieval "church," and so Paul’s protests became very Lutheran, with traditional-Protestant theology reinforced in all its particulars (along with its limitations) as a result. In hermeneutical terms, then, the historical context of Paul’s debate will answer the questions we have about what exactly the apostle meant by the phrase "works of the law," along with other phrases often used as support by the Reformers for their doctrine of Sola Fide (justification by faith alone), like when Paul mentions "the righteousness of God."
Obviously an in-depth analysis of the Pauline corpus and its place in the context of first-century Judaism would take us far beyond the scope of this brief post. We can, however, quickly survey the topography of Paul’s thought in context, particularly as it has emerged through the efforts of recent scholarship, and note some salient points which may be used as the basis of a refurbished soteriology.
[Note: The more popular scholars associated with the NPP are E.P. Sanders, James Dunn, and N.T. Wright. Dunn was the first to coin the term "The New Perspective" in a 1983 Manson Memorial Lecture, The New Perspective on Paul and the Law.]
Varying authors since the early 1900's have brought up the charge that Paul was misread by those in the tradition of Martin Luther and other Protestant Reformers. Yet, it wasn't until E.P. Sanders' 1977 book, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, that scholars began to pay much attention to the issue. In his book, Sanders argues that the Judaism of Paul's day has been wrongly criticized as a religion of "works-salvation" by those in the Protestant tradition.
A fundamental premise in the NPP is that Judaism was actually a religion of grace. Sander's puts it clearly:
"On the point at which many have found the decisive contrast between Paul and Judaism - grace and works - Paul is in agreement with Palestinian Judaism... Salvation is by grace but judgment is according to works'...God saves by grace, but... within the framework established by grace he rewards good deeds and punishes transgression." (Paul and Palestinian Judaism, p. 543)
N.T. Wright adds that, "we have misjudged early Judaism, especially Pharisaism, if we have thought of it as an early version of Pelagianism," (Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said, p. 32).
Sanders has coined a now well-known phrase to describe the character of first-century Palestinian Judaism: “covenantal nomism.” The meaning of “covenantal nomism” is that human obedience is not construed as the means of entering into God’s covenant. That cannot be earned; inclusion within the covenant body is by the grace of God. Rather, obedience is the means of maintaining one’s status within the covenant. And with its emphasis on divine grace and forgiveness, Judaism was never a religion of legalism.
If covenantal nomism was operating as the primary category under which Jews understood the Law, then when Jews spoke of obeying commandments, or when they required strict obedience of themselves and fellow Jews, it was because they were "keeping the covenant," rather than out of legalism.
More recently, N.T. Wright has made a significant contribution in his little book, What Saint Paul Really Said. Wright’s focus is the gospel and the doctrine of justification. With incisive clarity he demonstrates that the core of Paul’s gospel was not justification by faith, but the death and resurrection of Christ and his exaltation as Lord. The proclamation of the gospel was the proclamation of Jesus as Lord, the Messiah who fulfilled Israel’s expectations. Romans 1:3-4, not 1:16-17, is the gospel, contrary to traditional thinking. Justification is not the center of Paul’s thought, but an outworking of it:
"[T]he doctrine of justification by faith is not what Paul means by ‘the gospel’. It is implied by the gospel; when the gospel is proclaimed, people come to faith and so are regarded by God as members of his people. But ‘the gospel’ is not an account of how people get saved. It is, as we saw in an earlier chapter, the proclamation of the lordship of Jesus Christ….Let us be quite clear. ‘The gospel’ is the announcement of Jesus’ lordship, which works with power to bring people into the family of Abraham, now redefined around Jesus Christ and characterized solely by faith in him. ‘Justification’ is the doctrine which insists that all those who have this faith belong as full members of this family, on this basis and no other." (pp. 132, 133)
Wright brings us to this point by showing what “justification” would have meant in Paul’s Jewish context, bound up as it was in law-court terminology, eschatology, and God’s faithfulness to God’s covenant.
Specifically, Wright explodes the myth that the pre-Christian Saul was a pious, proto-Pelagian moralist seeking to earn his individual passage into heaven. Wright capitalizes on Paul’s autobiographical confessions to paint rather a picture of a zealous Jewish nationalist whose driving concern was to cleanse Israel of Gentiles as well as Jews who had lax attitudes toward the Torah. Running the risk of anachronism, Wright points to a contemporary version of the pre-Christian Saul: Yigal Amir, the zealous Torah-loyal Jew who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin for exchanging Israel’s land for peace. Wright writes:
"Jews like Saul of Tarsus were not interested in an abstract, ahistorical system of salvation... They were interested in the salvation which, they believed, the one true God had promised to his people Israel." (pp. 32, 33)
Wright maintains that as a Christian, Paul continued to challenge paganism by taking the moral high ground of the creational monotheist. The doctrine of justification was not what Paul preached to the Gentiles as the main thrust of his gospel message; it was rather “the thing his converts most needed to know in order to be assured that they really were part of God’s people” after they had responded to the gospel message.
Even while taking the gospel to the Gentiles, however, Paul continued to criticize Judaism “from within” even as he had as a zealous Pharisee. But whereas his mission before was to root out those with lax attitudes toward the Torah, now his mission was to demonstrate that God’s covenant faithfulness (righteousness) has already been revealed in Jesus Christ.
At this point Wright carefully documents Paul’s use of the controversial phrase “God’s righteousness” and draws out the implications of his meaning against the background of a Jewish concept of justification. The righteousness of God and the righteousness of the party who is “justified” cannot be confused because the term bears different connotations for the judge than for the plaintiff or defendant. The judge is “righteous” if his or her judgment is fair and impartial; the plaintiff or defendant is “righteous” if the judge rules in his or her favor. Hence:
"If we use the language of the law court, it makes no sense whatsoever to say that the judge imputes, imparts, bequeaths, conveys or otherwise transfers his righteousness to either the plaintiff or the defendant. Righteousness is not an object, a substance or a gas which can be passed across the courtroom. For the judge to be righteous does not mean that the court has found in his favor. For the plaintiff or defendant to be righteous does not mean that he or she has tried the case properly or impartially. To imagine the defendant somehow receiving the judge’s righteousness is simply a category mistake. That is not how the language works." (p. 98)
However, Wright makes the important observation that even with the forensic metaphor, Paul’s theology is not so much about the courtroom as it is about God’s love.
Righteousness is not an impersonal, abstract standard, a measuring-stick or a balancing scale. That was, and still is, a Greek view. Righteousness, Biblically speaking, grows out of covenant relationship. We forgive because we have been forgiven (Matt. 18:21-35); “we love" because God “first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom. 13:8, 10, Gal 5:14, Jam. 2:8). Paul even looked forward to a day when “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10), and he acknowledged that his clear conscience did not necessarily ensure this verdict (1 Cor. 4:4), but he was confident nevertheless. Paul did in fact testify of his clear conscience: “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation [i.e., behavior] in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward” (2 Cor. 1:12). He was aware that he had not yet “attained” (Phil. 3:12-14), that he still struggled with the flesh, yet he was confident of the value of his performance (1 Cor. 9:27). These are hardly the convictions of someone who intends to rest entirely on the merits of an alien righteousness imputed to his or her account.
Wright went on to flesh out the doctrine of justification in Galatians, Philippians, and Romans. The “works of the law” are not proto-Pelagian efforts to earn salvation, but rather “sabbath [keeping], food-laws, circumcision” (p. 132). Considering the controversy in Galatia, Wright writes:
"Despite a long tradition to the contrary, the problem Paul addresses in Galatians is not the question of how precisely someone becomes a Christian, or attains to a relationship with God….The problem he addresses is: should his ex-pagan converts be circumcised or not? Now this question is by no means obviously to do with the questions faced by Augustine and Pelagius, or by Luther and Erasmus. On anyone’s reading, but especially within its first-century context, it has to do quite obviously with the question of how you define the people of God: are they to be defined by the badges of Jewish race, or in some other way? Circumcision is not a ‘moral’ issue; it does not have to do with moral effort, or earning salvation by good deeds. Nor can we simply treat it as a religious ritual, then designate all religious ritual as crypto-Pelagian good works, and so smuggle Pelagius into Galatia as the arch-opponent after all. First-century thought, both Jewish and Christian, simply doesn’t work like that…. [T]he polemic against the Torah in Galatians simply will not work if we ‘translate’ it into polemic either against straightforward self-help moralism or against the more subtle snare of ‘legalism’, as some have suggested. The passages about the law only work — and by ‘work’ I mean they will only make full sense in their contexts, which is what counts in the last analysis — when we take them as references to the Jewish law, the Torah, seen as the national charter of the Jewish race." (pp. 120-122)
The debate about justification, then, “wasn’t so much about soteriology as about ecclesiology; not so much about salvation as about the church.” (p. 119)
To summarize the theology of Paul in his epistles, the apostle mainly spent time arguing to those whom he were sending letters that salvation in Christ was available to all men without distinction. Jews and Gentiles alike may accept the free gift; it was not limited to any one group. Paul was vehement about this, especially in his letter to the Romans. As such, I will finish this post off by summarizing the letter itself, so as to provide Biblical support for the premises of the NPP and for what the scholars I referenced have thus far argued.
After his introduction in the epistle to an already believing and mostly Gentile audience (who would've already been familiar with the gospel proclaimed in verses 3-4), Paul makes a thematic statement in 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” This statement is just one of many key statements littered throughout the book of Romans that give us proper understanding of the point Paul wished to make to the interlocutors of his day, namely, salvation is available to all, whether Jew or Gentile.
In 1:16 Paul sets out a basic theme of his message in the letter to the Romans. All who believed, whether they be Jew or Gentile, were saved by the power of the gospel. The universal nature of salvation was explicitly stated. The gospel saved all without distinction, whether Jew or Greek; salvation was through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Immediately after this thematic declaration, Paul undertakes to show the universal nature of sin and guilt. In 1:18-32 Paul shows how the Gentile is guilty before God. Despite evidence of God and his attributes, which is readily available to all, they have failed to honor YHVH as God and have exchanged His glory for idolatrous worship and self-promotion. As a consequence, God handed them over in judgment (1:18-32). Paul moves to denunciation of those who would judge others while themselves being guilty of the very same offenses (2:1-5) and argues that all will be judged according to their deeds (2:6). This judgment applies to all, namely, Jew and Greek (2:9-10). This section serves as somewhat of a transition in Paul’s argument. He has highlighted the guilt of the Gentiles (1:18ff) and will shortly outline the guilt of the Jew (2:17-24). The universal statement of 2:1-11 sets the stage for Paul’s rebuke of Jewish presumption. It was not possession of the Law which delivered; it was faithful obedience. It is better to have no Law and yet to obey the essence of the Law (2:12-16) than to have the Law and not obey (2:17-3:4). Paul then defends the justice of God’s judgment (3:5-8), which leads to the conclusion that all (Jew and Gentile) are guilty before God (3:9).
Paul argues that it was a mistaken notion to think that salvation was the prerogative of the Jew only. This presumption is wrong for two reasons. First, it leads to the mistaken assumption that only Jews were eligible for this vindication (Paul deals with this misunderstanding in chapter 4 where he demonstrates that Abraham was justified by faith independently of the Law and is therefore the father of all who believe, Jew and Gentile alike). Second, it leads to the equally mistaken conclusion that all who were Jews are guaranteed of vindication. Paul demonstrates how this perspective, which would call God’s integrity into question since Paul was assuming many Jews would not experience this vindication, was misguided. He did this by demonstrating that it was never the case that all physical descendants of Israel (Jacob) were likewise recipients of the promise. In the past (9:6-33) as in the present (at that time; 11:1-10), only a remnant was preserved and only a remnant would experience vindication. Paul also argued that the unbelief of national Israel (the non-remnant) had the purpose of extending the compass of salvation. The unbelief of one group made the universal scope of the gospel possible. This universalism was itself intended to bring about the vindication of the unbelieving group (11:11-16). As a result of faith, all (Jew and Gentile) could be branches of the olive tree (11:17-24). Since faith in Christ was necessary to remain grafted into the tree, no one could boast of his position. All, Jew and Gentile alike, were dependent upon the mercy and grace of God. As a result of God’s mysterious plan, He would bring about the vindication of His people (11:25-27). [Note: It is this author's belief that this vindication occurred around 66-70 AD, with the Parousia of Christ's Church; this author is Full-Preterist in their Eschatology.]

I have my biology and chemistry entrance exam tomorrow. I want to know if its MCQs or will there be essay questions as well? What topics should i focus on and how much in depth should i study? Is it easy?
Any idea about what kind of questions they'll ask, it'd be nice if someone gives me some examples

I'm told women want a man who knows what he wants, so here's the whole nine yards. If there is anything here that you are not willing to accept, then don't. You will not change me now or years down the line. Obviously I intend to grow and mature (as one ought to), but I have decided who I am and what I want out of a relationship.
I am looking for a woman that I can make a permanent covenant bond with; I have no interest in flings or "long-term relationships."
I don't intend to come across as bitter or angry with any of this, just clear and up-front. It makes things easier for both of us.
A bit about me:
My faith in Christ is paramount in my life. I would not be where I am without him. In taking interests in various things, I've learned a lot about God's character and design. Each new thing I learn fills me with more worship of him and wonder at his works. It is very important to me that you share this admiration of God.
I have a full-time job that I am very satisfied with, but what I feel truly passionate about is art and storytelling. To be honest, I've hit a bit of a block lately as far as my output. But I've been trying to find my feet so I can make something valuable to share with the world. I think that art and stories are a fundamental part of being human, not just a luxury. So pretty much any kind of art will spark passion in me, be it music, cinema, video games, literature, video essay, sculpture, etc. I could go back and forth for hours on a lot of things. My hope is that you and I will be able to enjoy art together and create some of our own.
I frequently spend time with another gentleman from my Church and we enjoy conversations about personal projects and contemporary issues, along with walks along beaches and park trails. He is a very important friend in my life, and I am lucky to know such a kind soul. Things aren't well with my family, so I really need that kind of presence.
While I rely on my bicycle for transport (no car), it's not a problem for me. I've been riding bikes since I was in elementary school (maybe even before). It would be really nice to ride down some trails with you.
What I expect from you:
-You need to be a follower of Jesus Christ. God needs to be an active part of your life because I intend to raise our children under Biblical values.
-You need hobbies and interests apart from me. I'm fine with helping you find things you like.
-You need to have no mileage.
-You must be humble and respectful. "Boss babe" attitudes are not attractive to me.
-You cannot have any tattoos or piercings.
-No cosmetic products. It's not good for your body and I am attracted women, not makeup. This includes fake nails and fake eyelashes. I don't need you to look "pretty." You character is more important to me.
-Related to the previous, no use of image filters in photos. I do not like the type of people who are vain and vapid enough to feel the need to use filters on their photos.
-Again related to the previous, you need to have a limited social media presence. If you have a business or post something of value (like art, for example), then I have no problem. What I'm talking about is having an Instagram or Facebook account where you make random posts to nobody in particular to "update" the internet on your life or post tons of pictures of yourself online. Basing your self-worth on the comments and likes from strangers on the internet is unhealthy, and I find people's obsessive need to take pictures of themselves very unattractive and vain.
-If we marry, I expect you treat me as the head of the house. There can't be two leaders in a household because one will have to submit to the other.
-I expect you to view marriage as something that you put work into. Marriages are a team effort, so I expect you to be a help meet.
-You need to treat me like a partner, not an adversary. Getting into arguments and nagging me helps neither of us. You must have conflict-resolution skills and a solution mindset.
-You need excellent communication skills. This means understanding yourself, putting your thoughts into words other people can understand, and verbalizing things rather than expecting me to read your thoughts.
-You cannot play games with me. Telling me about other guys to make me jealous or planning dates for specific days to pressure me into committing to you are wicked and manipulative.
-While we are dating, you cannot have a "backup plan." I expect you to not be splitting your attention between me and other men. This includes spending time outside of work with other men (family excluded).
-You must be in shape. Don't be dishonest with yourself about your weight; check your BMI. This includes being underweight, anorexic, and bulimic.
-You cannot have taken any COVID-19 vaccinations from any provider.
-No smoking, drugs, or drunkenness.
-I expect you to completely renounce fast food if we date or marry. We will never feed our children McDonald's.
What you can expect from me:
-While we are dating, I will not be speaking to other women.
-I cannot meet your height, money, or attractiveness expectations. I am simply an average dude. I am critical, abstract, and imaginative in my thinking though.
-I will not ask you to do something that is unreasonable or demeaning. I will only ask of you what I expect from myself. No relationship is going to be 50/50 100% of the time, but I will put forth the effort I am able to. I expect the same out of you.
-I will not raise my hand against you. My hands will be a safe place for you.
-I will be available to listen to your troubles and help you bear through them.
-I will not demean you or humiliate you, whether or not you are in the room.
-I will show leadership in our house and exercise restraint with a mild temper.
-I will cherish you and treat you as my own body.
-I will devote myself to displaying my love for you in a language you understand, even if I am feeling distant from you because of troubles we face. I expect the same from you.
-I will not turn to another woman and betray you.
-I intend to keep every promise that I make with you.
-I will treat our children with patience and kindness, but diligently discipline them and instruct them appropriately.
Please tell me a bit about yourself and what you expect out of a relationship, but be practical and clear. A list of platitudes like "loyal, honest, etc" does not help me understand what you're looking for. Think about what your expectations look like in a tangible, everyday way.

Saturday 18 May 2024
Today in Philosophy of History
Further Elaborations on the Coming Coeval Age
My essay “The Coming Coeval Age” has appeared in Isonomia Quarterly for summer 2024. Last year I contributed an essay to the initial number of the journal. As with my recent paper in the Journal of Big History, “A Complexity Ladder for Big History,” this most recent essay isn’t narrowly about philosophy of history, but there are many philosophy of history themes in it.
The journal’s interest in the theme of isonomia was my point of departure for considering the institutional structure of civilization at the largest conceivable scales. What is isonomia? There is a passage in Book III of Herodotus known as the constitutional debate in which three speakers argue for the best form of government, with these three being monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy. Here is the first of three speakers in Herodotus advocating for isonomia:

“Otanes urged that they should resign the government into the hands of the whole body of the Persians, and his words were as follows: ‘To me it seems best that no single one of us should henceforth be ruler, for that is neither pleasant nor profitable. Ye saw the insolent temper of Cambyses, to what lengths it went, and ye have had experience also of the insolence of the Magian: and how should the rule of one alone be a well-ordered thing, seeing that the monarch may do what he desires without rendering any account of his acts? Even the best of all men, if he were placed in this disposition, would be caused by it to change from his wonted disposition: for insolence is engendered in him by the good things which he possesses, and envy is implanted in man from the beginning; and having these two things, he has all vice: for he does many deeds of reckless wrong, partly moved by insolence proceeding from satiety, and partly by envy. And yet a despot at least ought to have been free from envy, seeing that he has all manner of good things. He is however naturally in just the opposite temper towards his subjects; for he grudges to the nobles that they should survive and live, but delights in the basest of citizens, and he is more ready than any other man to receive calumnies. Then of all things he is the most inconsistent; for if you express admiration of him moderately, he is offended that no very great court is paid to him, whereas if you pay court to him extravagantly, he is offended with you for being a flatterer. And the most important matter of all is that which I am about to say:—he disturbs the customs handed down from our fathers, he is a ravisher of women, and he puts men to death without trial. On the other hand the rule of many has first a name attaching to it which is the fairest of all names, that is to say “Equality”; next, the multitude does none of those things which the monarch does: offices of state are exercised by lot, and the magistrates are compelled to render account of their action: and finally all matters of deliberation are referred to the public assembly. I therefore give as my opinion that we let monarchy go and increase the power of the multitude; for in the many is contained everything’.”

The three forms of government—monarchical, oligarchical, and democratic—are a perennial theme of Greek political thought that continues to echo through the history of Western civilization. Book III of Aristotle’s Politics goes into this in some detail.
After sending my essay off to Isonomia Quarterly I realized that one of the fundamental ambiguities about the idea of isonomia—and I would have included a footnote on this if I had thought of it sooner—is the ambiguity implicit in speaking in terms of the same law. What is it that is “the same” when we speak of the same law? “The same law” could mean that every particular law would apply to every particular person, or “the same law” could mean that the totality of the law, that is, the whole body of law, applies to the totality of the population. A body of law might involve different laws that apply differently to different persons, so that the second of the two senses does not entail the first of the two senses. If you read my essay you’ll find that I argue that the Greeks understood isonomia in the latter sense, so I won’t repeat that argument or the sources I cite for it here. But the fact that we might interpret a fundamental political idea in different ways poses the question of how these fundamental ideas outlined in antiquity apply to us today, if they do apply, and how they ought to apply now and in the future.
How will these traditional ideas be interpreted in future iterations of human society that might differ quite considerably from the world that we inhabit? How are we to understand isonomia within the context of a spacefaring civilization? For that matter, how are we to understand any classical Greek political theory in the context of future changes to society? For Westerners, this is our heritage, and how this tradition adapts or is adapted to changed conditions will give shape to the ongoing tradition of Western civilization.
In my essay I suggest that, on Earth to date, the expansion of political regimes has constituted what I call synchronic isonomia, when societies are distributed synchronically, that is to say, when they interact in the present across geographical distances. In a specifically legal context, this means the iteration of a body of law across a region of space. The possibility of what Frank White calls Large-Scale Space Migration would initially constitute synchronic expansion on a scale greater than that possible on Earth, but, if continued, it would eventually cross a threshold of diachronic isonomia, that is to say, when societies are distributed diachronically over time. In a specifically legal context, again, this means the iteration of a body of law, the same law, over a period of time. The strange, seemingly paradoxical aspect of this way of thinking is that the human scale of time could be distributed over a much larger cosmological scale of time while retaining its character as distinctively human history. I will try to explain how this could come about, but first I want to point out a peculiarity of terrestrial history that we haven’t seen as a peculiarity.
We are familiar with the idea that we see the universe form a peculiar point of view because we see it from the surface of a planet. Our planetary perspective has been the focus of the Copernican revolution, which has taught us that our apparently centrality in the universe is an artifact of our limited and parochial perspective. The Copernican revolution taught us to transcend our planetary perspective and to see the universe from a non-terrestrial perspective, but there is another aspect of the Copernican revolution that we haven’t yet explored, and that is seeing history from a non-terrestrial perspective. Part of this non-terrestrial perspective is simply to understand that, just as we are not in the center of space, we are also not in the center of time. But there’s more to it than this.
Einstein’s theory of relativity has made it possible for us to see time in a new way, and this can change the way we see history. In many of my episodes I have talked about the need to address the disconnect between philosophies of time and philosophies of history. History is constructed out of time, so a radical reconceptualization of time suggests a radical reconceptualization of history. The theory of relativity is such a radical reconceptualization of time, but many of the influences of relativity and gravity upon time are usually not noticed on a terrestrial scale, and all human history to date has occurred on terrestrial scale.
We can see the effects of relativity when we look out into the cosmos and use instruments to observe cosmological distances over which relatively is relevant, and to observe bodies so dense that they change the structure of spacetime. To date, our technologies have allowed us to measure the relativity of time under the influence of acceleration and gravitation, but we may, at some point in our history, develop technologies that allow us to interact with the universe at a scale at which relativity will change our history. When this eventuality comes to pass, we will eventually be forced to notice things about our history that hadn’t previously been problematic.
Our history to date has been the simplest possible history because it has all transpired on Earth. Earth is our sole inertial frame of reference for all historical events. There are relativistic effects within this inertial frame of reference, but they can only be detected by instruments of extreme precision because the influence of relativity lies below the threshold of human perception. For example, every planet drags its spacetime around with it as it rotates, which is known as frame-dragging. And even the relatively crude instruments of the nineteenth century could detect the perihelion precession of Mercury, which is an observable relativistic perturbation of the orbit of Mercury. This was first observed and noted to diverge from Newtonian predictions in 1859. These relativistic effects are, however, well below the threshold of impacting human history.
Technologies could change this. Relativistic space travel would be such a technology. This has been made famous by the so-called “twins paradox.” The twins paradox is invoked with greatest effect by the use of individuals to illustrate the difference between two clocks in different inertial frames of reference—usually a set of twins. This was called a paradox because it was initially thought to be impossible. We also saw this use of individuals to demonstrate the poignancy of time dilation in the film Interstellar. Here it is a father and daughter who are separated, with the father experiencing an accelerated inertial frame of reference, so that he returns, still a young man, to find his daughter dying as an old woman. This is great for drama, but this isn’t how any relativistic space settlement effort is going to play out, unless someone purposefully arranges something like this as a stunt.
Let us consider a simple example of what is more likely to occur. Suppose a settlement on another world established by several thousands of individuals, maybe tens or hundreds of thousands, like a small city, who travel to another planetary system, tens or hundreds or thousands of light years from Earth. The passengers on the starship in their accelerated inertial framework will experience time dilation, and they will preserve the cultural milieu of Earth has it was upon their launch. When they establish their settlement, there will be two human histories that bifurcate at the point in time when the interstellar settlement initiative was inaugurated.
However, the larger population on Earth will continue to drive cultural evolution at a far faster rate than in the settlement, while, in the settlement, human beings will be subjected to radically different selection pressures than prevailed on Earth, and they will also be a small community likely to retain the cultural milieu they possessed when they left Earth. We would then have two human histories, offset in time by the discontinuity of the relativistic travel time from Earth to the location of the settlement. For example, if the Earth and the settlement are a hundred light years apart, there would be a temporal discontinuity of a century. Life would go on at Earth, and a century later things would be different, but a century later the settlement would just be founded on the basis of Earth’s culture of a century before. This is a kind of historical complexity that we do not have today, but which could happen in the future.
Now imagine not one settlement, but a hundred or a thousand such settlements, each representing a temporal discontinuity from Earth’s history. A hundred settlements of ten thousand persons each would be an effort involving only a million persons, which is a very small proportion of the total human population; Earth wouldn’t even notice the absence of a million persons. Further, imagine travel among these settlements by relativistic spacecraft, and then the history of those who travel between settlements will be even more complex. In this context, depending upon the location of settlements relative to each other, and the date at which the settlement initiative was undertaken, an individual could effectively time travel into the past by traveling outward from Earth to a settlement that preserves the historical milieu at Earth at the time of its departure. You could not return to Earth without finding yourself accelerated into the future, but you could travel further outward to a settlement established from earlier in Earth’s history.
We get a similar, if slower result, if we substitute sub-relativistic spacecraft in conjunction with artificially induced torpor or hibernation—space arks, if you will. A slow boat to the stars would likewise preserve the culture of Earth from the time of its departure, with settlers being roused and resuming their lives once they reached the end of their journey, effectively cut off from a return to their familiar terrestrial milieu, but they would be able to visit other historical peer milieux if they take another slow boat further out into the cosmos.
The kind of distributed temporality that I am describing would achieve its greatest extent, and its greatest historical complexity, in the case of interstellar expansion. However, something similar could be realized on Earth at a smaller scale. Imagine a large scale hibernation project on Earth, such that about 10,000 persons are involved, enough so that there could be a rotating crew of a dozen or so that stays awake to tend the rest to make sure this continues to operate as intended. At some appointed time in the future, the whole community could be brought out of their hibernation and they would bring with them the culture of Earth from their date when they entered into hibernation, now displaced into the future. This would make it possible for temporally distributed communities to appear on Earth, without travel to other worlds or the use of relativistic technology. There are several science fiction stories with something like this as their approximate premise.
Whether through relativistic travel or human hibernation, historical communities could be preserved from all eras into some indefinite future, and in that indefinite future, these distinct historical communities would be synchronically present. This is what I call coevalism, when all ages of history are equally accessible. The idea of coevalism occurred to me many years ago, and not in connection with relativistic travel; I was thinking about the increasing fidelity of recording technologies. Written language is the most rudimentary form of recording technology, and is allows us the most rudimentary form of time travel, by being able to share the thoughts of those long dead. Since the industrial revolution, technologies have become much more sophisticated, with photographs, film, and sound recordings, with always-increasing fidelity to the original.
The rapid growth of computer technology and telecommunications in recent decades has made us aware that, if this arc of technological development continues, we will have nearly-perfect fidelity recordings. But in addition to recordings, we could generate states-of-affairs that never existed in fact, as in fantasy and science fiction, or we could generate the milieux of the past, both with a degree of fidelity equal to that of the present. Computers are already sufficiently sophisticated to generate simple films, and the reconstruction of past milieux can be done without computers as well.
In the original Westworld film on 1973, a past milieu was re-created using robots. Robotics hasn’t yet achieved this level of realism, but we could do this today with human actors, and we may yet do so someday with robots. In fact, we do this in a limited way. Theme parks re-create fantasy worlds populated with actors who make fantasy characters come to life. So coevalism can be realized at smaller scales than sparefaring civilizations, but it would be in a spacefaring civilizations with relativistic space travel in which the possibilities of coevalism would come to their fullest expression, and in which history would achieve its greatest complexity.
History is already extraordinarily complex, but I said earlier than our terrestrial history is the simplest history possible given the spacetime structure of the universe. It is when we begin distributing our civilization in cosmological time that historical complexity will cease to be a single linear continuum. The possibilities of spacefaring histories will be both facilitated and limited by our technology. These possibilities will also be facilitated and limited by the actual spacetime structure of the universe, which is a function of the distribution of matter in the universe. Just as terrestrial history has been shaped by oceans, mountain ranges, and rivers, cosmological history is shaped by stars, gravitation, and expansion, and human history that takes place within this cosmological context will be shaped by these forces. The point I want to make is that, while human history is complex, we are not necessarily limited by the complexity of the single inertial frame of reference of our homeworld.
When multiple inertial frames of reference are available to us, and travel between then is possible, the possible structures of history will dramatically expand, and with these possibilities human experience will dramatically expand, and I hope you can see how this can give a whole new meaning to the idea of speculative philosophy of history. In the conventional distinction between analytical philosophy of history and substantive philosophy of history, analytical philosophy of history is, according to Danto, “…philosophy applied to the special conceptual problems which arise out of the practice of history,” while substantive philosophy of history is a philosophical account of the historical process itself. This same distinction has also been called the distinction between critical and speculative philosophy of history by William Dray, and the distinction between formal and material philosophy of history by Maurice Mandelbaum. Here I emphasize speculative philosophy of history as that which reflects uon the actual historical process.
In addition to the speculative philosophy of history that considers the historical process, we can also imagine a speculative philosophy of history that concerns itself with the implications of speculative states-of-affairs upon history yet to come—historical processes not yet realized, but which may be realized someday. Many of the speculative states-of-affairs I can imagine involve human exploration and expansion into the cosmos. The speculative states-of-affairs we might encounter in the wider universe could involve scientific discoveries not yet made and technologies not yet constructed, the histories of life on other worlds and the histories of alien civilizations, as well as the histories that we will create for ourselves. It’s a big universe, and we might discover any number of unlikely or unprecedented existents.
In my episode on a complexity ladder for big history I argued that there may be distinctive emergents from historical knowledge, that is to say, the quantitative growth of historical knowledge may pass a threshold to become a qualitative change in historical understanding. What kind of emergents could these be? For example, an increase in the knowledge of our own history can change our understanding of ourselves. We are seeing this with the use of the genetic record to reconstruct the sequence by which human beings distributed themselves across Earth. In this way, epistemic emergents reshape our past and our understanding of ourselves.
In addition to these emergents from knowledge of our past, there may yet come emergents that arise from a temporally distributed civilization and the advent of coevalism. A temporally distributed civilization could also give rise to emergents in historical knowledge. The dawning realization of epistemic emergents yet to come in the future will shape our conception of what we can become (in contradistinction to increased knowledge of the past shaping what we are), reshaping our future, and we will need these epistemic emergents from a history of a greater order of complexity so as to understand the more complex world coming into being, and which our descendants will inhabit. Without these epistemic emergents we would not be able to understand the more complex world arising out of these novel technologies and the world they will bring into being. The future of philosophy of history has never been brighter, as we see that it will come to grappled with ever-larger and more complex problems.

Video Presentation

Youtube: https://youtu.be/fvmCoRrBiEs
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7IUqNAtSgQ/
Odysee: https://odysee.com/@Geopolicraticus:7/the-coming-coeval-age:d

Podcast Edition

Spotify: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/xkVzIKAcIJb
Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a31b8276-53cd-4723-b6ad-a39c8faa4572/episodes/de1bbc0c-a72f-452b-a20d-40ccd56889e0/today-in-philosophy-of-history-the-coming-coeval-age
Iheartradio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-today-in-philosophy-of-his-146507578/episode/the-coming-coeval-age-177527570/
​

Basically the title. Please provide constructive criticisms and keep in mind that I’ve never written an application essay like this before. The essay is as follows:
I’d like to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer because I want to contribute to making a lasting, meaningful impact on the world. I’ve been struggling for quite awhile now in looking for a job post-graduation, and the biggest reason for that is most jobs I see available are those in which the only reward is a paycheck. I don’t want to just work a 9-5 as a cog in the wheel; rather, I want to feel like what I’m doing matters, and working as a Peace Corps volunteer to uplift the lives of everyone I’m serving would provide a sense of fulfillment and purpose which would be lacking in most other opportunities available to me. I’ve considered getting into teaching high school social studies for some time now because that would also provide me with a sense of fulfillment in teaching kids how to better engage with information and help them to succeed both in the classroom and beyond. The specific position I selected to apply to (teaching English to people in Ecuador) wouldn’t be quite the same as that, but it would allow me to help them broaden their horizons and chances for success through speaking a second language that is widely used throughout the world. I also would like to expand my own horizons by learning about other cultures and meeting new people so as to better myself as a person, and working for the Peace Corps would be a great way to do that. Regarding overcoming the various challenges I would face as a Peace Corps volunteer (of which I’m sure that there are many), I feel equipped to deal with many of them. The most obvious challenge to me is that I will be living in a culture largely different from my own with people that I don’t know, and as such, I can imagine experiencing culture shock. To deal with that, I will attempt to view the opportunity as a learning experience in which I can learn more about the people that I’m living with as well as share my own experiences with them in a symbiotic way. I will also attempt to engage in plenty of activities with the local people. For example, I grew up playing soccer from 6th grade to 12th grade and played for a couple of seasons in an intramural league at my university, and since the Peace Corps website states that the people of Ecuador enjoy soccer, I can try to bond with them over a shared love of soccer. In essence, I will look to bond over the things which makes us similar while trying to appreciate those things that make us different. Another challenge that comes to mind is adapting to a new climate which is very different from where I live. To deal with this, I will pack a variety of clothing to be prepared for a number of weather conditions and use the tools and information provided by the Peace Corps to ensure my health and safety. This also extends to things beyond the weather, such as disease, injury, crime, etc. As far as intellectual challenges go (perhaps pertaining to teaching English, preparing lessons, etc.), I feel confident in my ability to cater to the needs of those I’m working with, as I have experience tutoring children in math as well as a philosophy degree which has bettered my critical thinking skills and ability to engage with many ideas.

(Example; like your given a school essay to do and it needs to be double spaced) like do you actually double tap space bar between every word? Cuz everything I was taught about grammer and typing growing up goes against that

Hello from Canada, Alberta, or America’s beaver hat. I keep on seeing that y’all get to do nothing after AP exams. Are provincial finals (in our province they’re diploma exams) not a thing?
For example:
In chemistry we still have a unit on organic chemistry, since it’s on the diploma exam.
In biology, we have a unit on human reproduction, also on the diploma exam.
In physics 1, we’re getting a head start on physics 2. (Which is actually a pretty good idea imo)
In English Language, we are still preparing for writing critical essays, since that is both on the provincial final and in the AP English literature exam next year.
And y’all just sit around playing video games in class? Is it a joke or y’all serious

Just took the CA Grade 5. Not sure if I passed but I guess I'll know soon! I think I got around passing, give or take. I had a hard time getting prepared for it and had also seen other people post some questions so I thought I'd give a little feedback and prep help.
Overall, for being a state run exam, I thought it was a pretty good/well written exam. It had a wide range of topics. The only poorly written questions were 2 or 3 questions that could have has an answer option written clearer, asked you which of these options would NOT help the issue. A-D options were possibilities, option E said "None of these apply". If I select E am I saying that options A-D would all NOT help the issue, or by selecting E am I saying A-D could all help the issue. Ultimately, pretty insignificant and only a couple of mix-up words that could have been clearer in an otherwise very well prepared Exam I'd say.
Equation Sheet: They provide the new and old one, but it's in a weird window on the screen that makes it not very easy to scroll through. New sheet is up top and you have to scroll down to the old one. That being said, being the Grade 5 you have to go through so many practice questions to prepare I think you should go into the exam having memorized the basic equations, and mostly memorized the rest to where you know where to scroll through the funky window they provide.
My suggestion: Have the equation sheet in front of you when you do practice questions and you'll make patterns on where they are when you take the test. Also, make your own equation sheet that has all the conversions and equations that aren't provided, like the Pounds formula or %Recovery or things like that. Write them in ways that fit you and you won't need the equation sheet they provide.
Essays: This is largely why I wanted to write this since there isn't much info on how these questions are laid out after they changed the exam. Similar to before, they present you with essentially a treatment plant and a situation/status, then they ask you how you would handle it, what actions would help/hurt/make no difference. Grade 5 level, the questions were appropriate to that level: construction plans, permit, making big picture operational changes to how things are done, cost analyses.
My suggestion: To best prepare for this, rather that having an okay knowledge on a lot of things you need to have a very good knowledge of the main/key items in todays WW Treatment. Troubleshooting different types of treatment plants, how everything affects each other or what DOESN'T affect a certain system. An example of something that really helped me from Drive Folder 2: ORWA Process Control And Trouble Shooting - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tayEhYYY7PheRuIlUMN-ilyo-ouIPzi6 . Studying stuff like this is the best way to prepare for this section
What also helped me a lot with this section was to go through a bunch of practice multiple choice questions and make notes on answers that they provide. Easy example (this wasn't on the exam): Grit Flow can be 0.7 to 1.4 ft/s, but ideal is 1.0ft/s. Writing down and memorizing those standard values will help in the essay section so when you're asked about a grit channel with 2.0ft/s velocity you have a hard number to rely on to support your answer on why you need to put another channel on to reduce velocity.
Math: Everyone's favorite. Study by Repetition, and when you study write everything out even when you know it. This is a folder from Drive Folder 1 that has a bunch of math questions and helped me a ton. Even though they're repetitive, you go through the same question 10 times in a row and you have it locked in. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19mrhyB2UJmc30GV7SmmxlL59-dx6yslF
My suggestion: I see a lot of courses/instructors that use tricks to getting to math answers fast. My suggestion is to not do that if it can fit the math part of your brain to just rely on good 'ol equations and units. It might take a while writing it all out over and over but it pays off on test time. All of the equations are basically derivations of the Pounds Formula and Mass Balance (exaggeration but not really). Dive into the equations enough and you'll be able to react fine with they through you a curve ball and you need to make adjustments to the formula.
Not sure if that helps or if I'm just rambling, I'm tired.. but these are all things I wish I knew 2 weeks ago haha Hope it helps. Below are the 2 Google Drive folders that have everything you need and more that have been shared a lot in this subreddit but need to get shared more haha. These were posted by 2 awesome individuals, Thomas and John you guys are heroes and I can't thank you enough.
Drive Folder 1: u/Thclemensen put together this folder:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hdTgSbOKluUaQxdR6y_jt1BD3gkUwcoI
Drive Folder 2: u/DirtyWaterDaddyMack put together this folder:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FCcqfjpBKqUqd4_yfoPOuS8_EbAyB319

As we all know a student ID can get you lots of discounts. But what if you already graduated? You can go back to school and obtain a genuine student ID!
The trick here is go to a wānanga (they are open to all ethnicities). They are well funded and they have easy courses, for example the Certificate in Tikanga. This is free for citizens and residents and you get to learn more about our indigenous culture.
It is supposedly to be a "Level 3" course but it was way easier than what I remembered Year 13 at college to be, similar to what you would do at intermediate school. The homework is literally copying the answer from the textbook into the workbook (except a single 200 word essay), it takes 10 hours max for the whole thing despite what it says on the website. Studying is completed at home and you meet with a tutor online for 4 times, half an hour each. They also mail you four big boxes of books which you can read after finishing the course and even give you stationery completely free.
Once you finish you also get a legitimate NZQA qualification which will look good on your CV, especially helpful if you want to emphasize your commitment to Te Tiriti.

New Flash everyone: the guy who hangs out with Daniel Greene(a pro-fairy rights socialist), is loved by redditors, and got a Hugo award is… woke. Who would have ever seen that coming? But, thanks to Jon Del Arroz making a video about it on May 18th, I am here to repeat the news back to you so there is an easily accessible source as to HOW he’s woke. Everything was revealed back in January 2023, but I want people to understand the implications and narrative that he’s presenting when he says his concerns about fairy rights. By the end of this, you will realize that people calling themselves Christian does not cause them to be immune to wokeness.
In fact, with how Christianity has influenced wokeness into existence, it’s likely a lot of "Christians" are what we can call “first wave wokeness”.
For context, Brandon Sanderson is a Mormon, part of the Latter-Day Saints (LDS). Mormonism is almost exclusively a US issue, and I’ve also noticed that there are a lot of youtubers who tend to be Mormon women(probably because they have other women in the house to do the chores). These people are great with money, big in business, and their church is anti-fairy. A lot of problems the fairy-rights activists have are with Mormon churches, which is strange for Europeans to witness with how open a lot of their churches are, outside of the US. Protestant, evangelical, unitarian, the national church of Denmark, it’s a big list.
But in 2008, Brandon wrote an essay about his Mormon beliefs on how Dumbledore from Harry Potter liked to have wands stirred around in his brown cauldron. His quote:

How does this relate to Dumbledore? I'm not trying to present him as an antagonist or a villain. All I'm saying is that if you believe in the truth of your message, then you shouldn't care if someone decent, respected, and intelligent is depicted as believing differently from yourself. Decent, respected, and intelligent people can be wrong--and you can still respect them. It's okay. That doesn't threaten our points, since we (theoretically) believe that they are eternal and stronger than any argument we could make.

Back in this time, Brandon had only been an author for 3 years, but he won an award for his first published book, Elantris. He was being careful with his words, and his take is considered liberal. He was trying to defend the backlash JK Rowling received for her (poor) choice of virtue signaling and tried to mend this defense with his own religion. Mentioning his religious views is what got him canceled back then, which he later apologized for in 2011:

I cannot be deaf to the pleas of [fairy] couples who want important things, such as hospital visitation rights, shared insurance, and custody rights. At the same time, I accept and sustain the leaders of the LDS church. I believe that a prophet of God has said that widespread legislation to approve [fairy] marriage will bring pain and suffering to all involved.

He was not backing down from his religion yet. His goal post moved to the legal ramifications of the US, which are separate from his church(remember, church and state, supposed to be separate in the US), but he was still saying his religion wanted him to oppose people calling it a marriage and having it in churches. This was a second “cancellation” that didn’t go very far, mostly because he was able to use religion as an excuse for his take, with the Christian Cake Packed With Fudge Scandal not happening yet(2018).
Fast forward to 2023, after he hangs out with a bunch of woke youtubers, and we get a new quote from Brandon:

The church’s first prophet, Joseph Smith, famously taught, “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.” My current beliefs are where I’ve arrived on my journey, as I attempt to show the love that Jesus Christ taught. I look forward to seeing further changes in the church, and I work to make sure I am helping from within it to create a place that is welcoming of [fairy] people and ideas. I would love, for example, to see the church recognize [fairy] marriage among its members. Both temporally and eternally. I would support ordaining [tinkerbell] men to the priesthood. (And would support the ordination of women, though that is another issue.)

That’s interesting. It seems like he made a complete 180 on his stance, claims that he’s always believed this new stance, blames Jesus for this new stance, and then doubles down on this new stance by adding female ordination(becoming a priest and higher) and even Tinkerbells. As time went on, he decided that his religion was totally wrong about fairies, and this 13 year difference means way more than the nearly 200 years Mormonism has been around. I believe a fellow Mormon, Shadversity, would love to have a discussion about how any of this makes sense, but I’m starting to feel that he’s the same way. Who knows if Ethan Van Sciver understands Mormonism as well as Brandon Sanderson does, with how easy it is to manipulate prophecies and reinterpret scripture.
But that’s been the point for a while, right?
Wokeness is here to restructure both historical evidence and even religions, in order to shift cultures and social institutions to obey this progressive change. Words are changed in the dictionary, social “norms” are changed to be updated for a “modern audience”, and postmodernists like Foucault were able to trick college kids into thinking the Greeks were all pixie fairies. Once a critical theorist gets their hands on something with power, their goal is not to keep it as it is. It is to keep it for themselves. This is why you will hear these people say everything is subjective, which is secret code for “Look at me: I’m the captain of reality now.”
But wait, it gets better! Brandon Sanderson continued with:

Back in 2007, I was mostly known only in my community, not to the world at large. The essay, then, was directed at my local community, and was more controversial among them (for being too liberal) than it was controversial to the world at large for being [fairy]phobic. That might surprise you, if you’ve read the excerpts that often float around the internet. This was mostly me trying to encourage other members of the church to be more open and welcoming of [fairy] characters and ideas.
That said, the essay does display the casual bigotry common to people who (like myself) have lived lives where we haven’t had to deal with some of the issues common to the lives of people suffering discrimination. Many of the assertions (such as my view on [fairy] marriage) do not reflect my current stance. After writing it, and interacting with those who found it objectionable–even painful–I came to understand them and their experiences better. Though they did not owe me that honor, they gave it freely.

You see, he's honored to hear about the life of a bug chaser.
Brandon cares deeply about the pain he caused to his wallet… I mean the fairies who saw his essay. He was an award winning author back then, he didn’t know it would be a global thing. It was supposed to be only seen by people in Utah, that’s it. This is what we call: bullshit. The woke rely heavily on gaslighting and pretending they’re ignorant of everything, while telling others that they need to learn and understand EVERYTHING about a subject before they are even able to mention it.
He was already big on reddit, he knew all about his fandom, and he knew about his publisher, Tor. The only thing that really changed is that now he is unable to stick to being liberal and he has to present himself as progressive. Why? Well, the new Amazon deal happened recently, and he’s the writer of the series The Wheel of Time. As if Rings of Power wasn’t evidence enough of how Amazon mistreats their properties, Brandon was forced to erase his own past, like Agent J in Men in Black, burning his own hands in the process.
I’m not surprised that he’s woke or even that Christians are falling to this woke inquisition. When I said first wave wokeness, I would like to clarify why it’s the catalyst for all of this stupidity. Wokeness is not of Christian values, but instead a parasite upon Christianity, in the same way Gnosticism and Satanism would be. When Christianity started to allow new sects, and a lot of these were considered valid, the crazy sex cults of the 60s opened the floodgates for a bunch of crazy reinterpretations. It’s the same way as how there are still circles of Christianity that go for flat earth theory or say that dinosaurs don’t exist, with these people usually at the forefront of the home-schooling movement.
It’s not that home-schooling is bad by itself, it’s that bad people use it to then have the good people using it be wrongfully grouped into the same area, in the same way gun-ownership does. This type of bastardization has always been a problem in the US, due to the lack of authority over what makes something categorized as such a thing, thanks to liberalism allowing the freedom to constantly change things. As time went on, this liberalism changed into progressivism, with the key difference being that liberalism is an allowance of change while progressivism is an enforced change. The liberalism of the 1800s allowed the Confederates to claim Christianity approved of their enslavement of black people, by blaming the story of Ham and using scripture to claim it was okay to enslave certain people for generations. We always see this strange cherry-picking of scripture from fake Christians, and this problem has expanded into the Vatican itself with the current and following generations of Popes.
A lot of times, we’ll hear news about how Christians are under attack, a bakery is targeted to expose discrimination, or even where people claim they were banned from twitch for being Christian. But what they get wrong is that they are in the same circle as liberal and progressive Christianity, their openness created this weakness to tourism, and most Christian circles have been taken over in the US since before the 60s. The south has a culture of being liberal, Mormons have a culture of being liberal, protestants are very liberal, all because the US began as a liberal culture in the form of classical liberalism. The libertarian argument is always used by these liberal groups, that changes into the progressive enforcement, and over the years these liberal people get infected by the virus.
Add money to the mix, and we have ourselves an endless chain of liberal minded people falling to wokeness. The “redemption” narrative, along with original sin, from Christianity is currently its main weakness. The appeal to ignorance is another weakness, with people playing skeptic as a snake slithers through the grass. Christianity isn’t the problem by itself, it’s the naivety that comes from blind faith, which then expands into a contradictory blind faith that people are good inside, only to later wonder why everything is changing for the worse when evil people are put in charge. Fantasy stories have been under attack by the woke for quite a while, long before they tried to appropriate Tolkien with Rings of Power.
The fantasy that is controlled by the woke is an extension to their attack on religion, because to them a fantasy story is no different than a bible. Mythological presentation, symbolic themes, a dream-like world to present morals to follow; the entire thing has been used by Brandon to then have him later claim that he’s always had fairy characters since the beginning. Sure, his religion says fairies are bad, but then he virtue signals by claiming he’s always made fiction about how they’re good. He would never say this if the publishing world made sense and if publishers were the way they were in the 1950s. That is because he would never have to choose between religion and money back then, with money always mattering more to the typical materialist.
I’m sure people will say that I’m being hard on Christians, or that I’m evil for saying this, or even that I am a satanist for noticing. These people would only be angry at the truth being said, which is the opposite of what Christianity teaches. Fantasy writers, like Brandon, have a lot of supporters, with this support merging between the woke and Mormons. So many feel that they need to make sense of their fandom, so they claim their religion is wokeness, converting it into blind Satanism. This is far from the truth and we need to condemn those who focus solely on radical subjectivity.
Especially if they blame God for their stupid takes, like how Brandon does now.

Hi all!
Doing a project for Uni and would appreciate some input if y'all wouldn't mind!
I'm assuming everyone here has written at least some kind of professional/academic paper as well as their creative pieces... I'm curious whether you have different 'writing processes' based on what kind of writing you're preparing to do.
To clarify, by 'writing processes,' I mean whatever you do to prepare to write: how you organize your surroundings, whether you listen to music, whether you type it out or write it on paper, both, etc. etc.
As an example, when I write academic papers, I typically have some sort of 5-paragraph-essay-based structure in mind and I like to have relative silence, if not white noise. However, when I write creatively (my preferred flavor is 'scientific fantasy'), I like to have some kind of music playing, perhaps a 'vibe ambiance' to fit the scene I'm writing, scribbled notes, etc.
What are y'alls conditions for writing? Do they vary based on what type of writing you're doing?

Warning!!! It is very long, essay-ish and opinion versed:
1.Mondrichs overstayed their welcome. Maybe if they were tied with the Bridgertans storywise, for example, if Benedict taught them about society instead of him having another random lover I would be for living them in. But we have yet to see four episodes, so they may be somewhat important.

1. They did Benedict dirty with this repetitive storyline. I would've preferred him still pursuing art or even experimenting with sexuality (looking at people quietly wanting him to be bi) than another throwaway woman (especially when the woman in question is looking so out of place, giving me 'a mysterious woman spy' vibe 🤷).
   
2. Lord Debling is an entirely other issue. They missed marketing there. He seemed so much more interested in Penelope in the pictures and sneak peeks. I expected that he would be into her weird flirtation and would pursue her more himself. But instead, he came off as totally passive and dull. It was Penelope who had to make an effort. It just looked like another 'a man does not notice how much attention I give him' story. They could've created a relationship that contrasted with that of Colin so that he would brutally realize how wrong he was not giving Pen the kind of attention she wanted from him and deserved. Also, it could be turned into him being too into her, or maybe if he had paid so much attention to her and realized that she loves Colin (and he himself does not have a chance), he could've helped Pen to get his attention. But in a way that Pen would not know. So, for instance, he would pay extra attention to her when Colin was near, or he would flirt with her in an obvious way. Or maybe he would've turned out to be too much into her, so Colin would have to step in, or something. Anything but the Debling we got.
   
3. The lessons - a mediocre idea with terrible execution. Colin offers help. He does not know that he loves Pen already. They are friends. Cool. But then they are a constant awkward mess even before the kiss, for what? Why they could not make them banter more like friends would do. The scene with a dead horse? (Great. Magnificent humor. Get me more of that through all of their interactions. They act as if they were almost strangers, and Colin suddenly decides that 'this girl whom I sometimes make small talk with needs help with finding a husband, so I will help her'. I wanted to watch Pen and Collins fall in love. Instead, I got two almost strangers, this girl who struggles to talk right around men and a wanna-be-lady's-man who's not supposed to like being one but is suspiciously too into it. Putting him with prostitutes right next to scenes with Pen when he looks happier with them does not do them any favors. They could've made him not enjoying this life a lot clearer. His journal excerpt (How can you be so intimate but yet so distant) and his interaction with prostitutes (I am not in the mood) are seriously not enough (and, like, he stays and watches❔️ Yeah, completely not into it...)
   
4. Moreover, I am disappointed because they had a good reason to give the role of a helper of Pen to Lady Danbury. It would be seriously better. They would not have to think of the lessons for Colin, and it would make sense that they do not see each other so frequently because they would run into each other at social events. This would resolve the problem of Colin not giving Pen any real advice and him giving her 2 lessons (?) before they decided to end them. Also, after the speech of Lady Danbury to Kate (previous season) it would make sense that she would want to help Pen. Maybe after the ball when the Queen asked about her. It would also make for a good excuse to look more into Lady Danbury and her relationship with her brother, and it would not prevent her from helping Fran as well.
   
5. They could've cut scenes of El and Cressida because they just took time and talked, especially the times when Cressida was talking with Deblin. Like, I get it rivalry and all but we could have Cressida flirting with bachelors in the background and not make the scene all about it but here we suddenly can't. In season 1 we got that she was after the Prince, and we didn't have to hear their conversations, but we saw them talking, and it was enough to make a point to show the story. They can keep her family life and all, but they could've just cut the time on the Debling rivalry.
   
6. The balloon scene - could've been good, but they shot it so poorly it turned out comedic. Get a big wind, make the balloon move fast, make the balloon knock something at Pen, or maybe put some animals in the vicinity and the balloon makes them afraid (it would be particularly funny to have some animal related to Zebra as irony to Queen previous statement about 'zebra themed party')
   

Overall, the Mondrichs and Benedict's hookups and scenes with Cressida could've been utilized better f.e. changed to Lady Danbury helping Pen, developing Colin's hate for a 'lady's man' life. The lessons could've been changed for sudden run-ins, and no one would complain. Pen and Colin could've bantered more, been less awkward, and turned awkward after the kiss.
The series lost a lot of the heartfelt feeling it always gave me, and I don't know where it went this season (maybe Daphne stole it while living for good lol).
THOSE ARE MY OPINIONS ONLY SO TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. The second time watching made me like this season more and it has much to offer but this post is about criticism not the highlights so seriously I do not hate it I am just picky with too high expectations after season 2.

If You're struggling to handle your Online Exams, Assignments or any other coursework, get help from Hiraedu and pay after the exam. Contact details for Hiraedu is: WhatsApp: +1 (213) 594-5657 OR Call: +1 727 456 9641
ASSESSMENTS I CAN COMPLETE:

• Online Courses (1 - 20 Weeks Long)
• Homework Assignments
• Exams Quizzes Tests
• Excel Projects
• Discussion Forum Posts
• Research Papers Term Papers Essays
• Employment Assessments

MY MATH SUBJECTS OF EXPERTISE:
I am very knowledgeable and proficient in assisting students in a wide range of mathematics classes. I can help students complete their homework assignments and other projects get an A on quizzes, tests, and exams (including proctored assessments) answer online discussion posts write essays & papers in MLA APA Chicago format and provide general overall academic help in each math course listed below:

• Advanced Placement Honors High School Level Math
• AP Calculus AB A.P. Calculus BC
• AP Statistics
• Biostatistics Bio-Statistics
• College Algebra Intermediate Algebra
• Business Calculus
• Business Statistics
• Business Math
• Calculus I Calculus II Calculus III (Calc)
• Geometry
• International Baccalaureate (IB) Maths
• Liberal Arts Math
• Logic & Reasoning
• Multivariable Calculus Multi variable Calculus
• Precalculus Pre-calculus
• Probability & Statistics
• Psychology Statistics Psych Stats
• Quantitative Reasoning Quantitative Methods Quantitative Literacy (Quant)
• Statistics (Stats)
• Statistics for Social Sciences
• Trigonometry (Trig)

STATISTICS HELP (MY BEST SUBJECT):

• I have a master's degree in Applied Statistics from a university in New Jersey, USA. As a result, I am very proficient in helping students with various types of Statistics courses including Biostatistics Business Statistics Elementary Statistics Probability & Statistics Psychology Statistics.
• I have extensive knowledge and skill with helping students get through various statistical concepts including all of the following in alphabetical order:
• ANOVA Bar Graph, Boxplot, Dot Plot, Histogram, Pie Chart Bias Binomial, Exponential, Poisson, Gamma, Uniform Distribution Central Limit Theorem Chi-Square Test Coefficient of Determination (R^2) Conditional & Relative Probability Confidence Interval Correlation Coefficient (r) Critical Region Critical Value Descriptive & Inferential Statistics Effect Size Expected Value Experiment vs Observation Goodness of Fit Test Hypothesis Testing Interpolation & Extrapolation Interquartile Range (IQR) Kurtosis Left, Negative, Right, Positive Skewed Distribution Logistic Regression Mean, Median, Mode, Midrange Multiple Regression Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, Ratio I Population Parameter Normal, Symmetric & Bell Shaped Distribution Null & Alternate Hypothesis One & Two Sample T-Test One & Two Sample Z-Test Ordinary Least Squares Outliers P-Value Pooled Variance (Equal Variances) Proportion R^2 Range Regression Regression Line Reject & Fail to Reject Ho Relative & Cumulative Frequency Distributions Relativity & Reliability Right, Left, One, Two Tailed Tailed Hypothesis Test Sample Statistics Sampling Methods (Convenience, Stratified, Simple, Cluster, Systematic) Significance Level (1%, 5%, 10%) Skewness Standard Deviation& Variance T-Score Test Statistic Time Series Type I & Type II Errors Unbiased Estimators Z-Score

ALGEBRA HELP:

• I am well-versed in helping students do well in Algebra 1 & 2 College Algebra Intermediate Algebra Pre-Algebra and I am very knowledgeable and proficient in the following algebra topics in alphabetical order:
• Absolute Values Circle Equation Domain Exponents Graphing Horizontal & Vertical Asymptotes Inequalities, Equations & Functions Inverse Functions Linear, Exponential, Logarithmic, Quadratic Equations Logarithms Maximum & Minimum Values of a Graph Number Lines One-to-One Functions Parallel & Perpendicular Lines Plotting Points & Ordered Pairs Point-Slope Form Polynomial Division Polynomials Radicals Range Rational & Irrational Expressions Rational Functions Real Roots Real Zeros Relations & Functions Slope Slope-Intercept Form Square Roots Standard Form of a Line System of Equations System of Inequalities Variables X and Y Intercepts

CALCULUS HELP:

• I am well-versed in helping students do well in Calculus I, II & III, Calculus 1, 2 & 3, Business Calculus, Multivariable Calculus, Vector Calculus and I am very knowledgeable and proficient in the following calculus topics in alphabetical order:
• Absolute & Local Maximum and Minimum Antiderivative Area & Volume Chain Rule Concavity Continuity Convergence Test Critical Points Curvature Curve of Rotation Curve Sketching Derivatives Divergence Test First & Second Derivative Test Fourier Series Implicit Differentiation Increasing / Decreasing Functions Infinite Series Integrals Integration by Parts Jacobian Matrix Limits L’Hopital’s Rule Maclaurin Series Mean Value Theorem Partial Derivative Product & Quotient Rule Reiman Sum Related Rates Simpson’s Rule Solid of Revolution Substitution Rule Taylor Series

Paid Help from Hiraedu: If You're struggling to handle your Online Exams, Assignments or any other coursework, get help from Hiraedu and pay after the exam. Contact details for Hiraedu is: WhatsApp: +1 (213) 594-5657 OR Call: +1 727 456 9641
ATTRIBUTES THAT SET ME APART FROM OTHER TUTORS:

• I firmly believe that I have many attributes and skills that set me apart from other tutors. Below is a list of qualities that makes me an ideal fit to help you master your coursework:

I CAN AID STUDENTS TAKING PROCTORED ASSESSMENTS:

• Proficient in CollegeBoard AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC & AP Statistics exams.
• Skilled with International Baccalaureate Math Exams: IB Maths HL & IB Maths SL
• Can intentionally answer a few problems incorrectly at the student's request.
• Can text solutions to the student while they are taking a proctored exam.
• Upon request, can purposely obtain grades below an A (ex: B+, B, C+, C-).
• I can stretch out the time to a plausible length for timed exams and assignments before submitting them.
• Have reliable software that can change my IP address to match the closest major city near the student.
• I have exceptional multiple-choice exam-taking skills. I have mastered the various techniques to make calculated guesses for the correct option in standardized exams such as the SAT & GRE.

I CAN VERIFY MY ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:

• I have no problem with requests to solve sample problems upfront to prove my knowledge & proficiency of the course concepts.
• I can provide glowing references & strong examples of work done for past clients to verify my academic skills.
• I can also provide, upon request, complete detailed calculations with explanations for solutions to the problems worked on.
• I am quite skilled and adept in using multiple modernized educational platforms and software, including but not limited to: Brightspace MyStatLab D2L WebAssign Canvas MyMathLab Blackboard ALEKS
• Can format term papers and discussion posts in APA MLA Harvard Chicago Vancouver OSCOLA IEEE format.

I HAVE PAID ACCESS TO OVER 15 STUDY-HELP WEBSITES AND MATHEMATICAL SOFTWARE:

• I have multiple paid subscriptions to a wide range of academic tutoring resources, including Chegg, Quizlet, CourseHero, Brainly, Grammarly, Study. com, Bartleby, Slader, Transtutors, Slideshare, StudocU, Turnitin, Academia, SymboLab, WolframAlpha, and Scribd to help guide to solve exam & homework questions that I may not immediately know.
• However, I am smart enough not to blatantly plagiarize solutions online but instead write them in my own unique words, formatting, & mathematical terminology.
• I have access to a very sophisticated graphing calculator and various mathematical software that provides step-by-step solutions to complex mathematical problems within seconds, allowing me to provide exact solutions to the student in a timely manner.
• I have impeccable handwriting and a high-quality mobile scanner app that allows me to scan written solutions in very legible high-definition JPG, PNG, or PDF formats.

MY AVAILABILITY & RELIABILITY:

• Depending on my availability, I can accommodate immediate tutoring requests, 1-24 hour, and 1-30-day deadlines.
• I can schedule live real-time online sessions and meet deadlines in an impressively timely fashion.
• I can provide quick notifications and updates of progress made in the student's class via email text phone calls.
• I can also be available to tutor students for Fall 2021 Spring 2022 Summer 2022 semesters.

MY EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE OF EXPERTISE:

• I am very knowledgeable and well-versed in a wide range of educational software to tutor students in including but not limited to: Acellus ALEKS APEX Learning Aplia Blackboard Brightspace Canvas Cengage CengageNow Connect ConnectMath Connexus CPM D2L Discord Edmentum Eviews Examity Excel Hawkes Learning Honorlock Khan Academy Knewton LimeSpring Lumen Maple MasteringChemistry MasteringPhysics MathXL (XL) MATLAB McGraw-Hill Microsoft Word Minitab Moodle MyAccountingLab MyEconLab MyITLab MyLab My Lab MyMathLab My Math Lab MyOpenMath MyPsychLab MySocLab MyStatLab My Stat Lab NCSS Open Source Software Pearson PERT PlatoWeb PowerPoint Prezi R Respondus Lockdown Browser with Webcam Sapling SPSS Stata StraighterLine Straighter Line WebAssign Web Assign Webex (Cisco) WebWork Wiley WileyPlus Wonderlic Zoom

SCHOOLS FROM WHICH I'VE HELPED STUDENTS IN :
As of 2021, I have tutored and helped students enrolled at the following U.S. universities community colleges county & city colleges schools for-profit institutions listed below in alphabetical order:

• A - C: American Public University System (APUS) Arizona State Ashford Brigham Young Brown Broward California State (Fullerton) Capella Chamberlain (Illinois) Colorado Technical Columbia Columbia Southern Cornell
• D - K: Dallas College Dartmouth DeVry Excelsior College Florida International Florida State Full Sail Georgia State Grand Canyon Harvard Houston Community College Ivy Tech Community College Kaplan Kennesaw State Kent State
• L - T: Liberty Lone Star College System Kaplan Miami Dade Michigan State CUNY State University of New York (SUNY) Northern Virginia Ohio State University of Phoenix (UOP) Penn State Princeton Purdue (Davenport) San Diego State San Francisco State San Jose State Southern New Hampshire Southern Nevada Stanford St. Petersburg Strayer Texas Tech
• UNIVERSITY OF: Alabama Arizona California (UC) Central Florida Chicago Cincinnati Florida Houston Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) Iowa Maryland Minnesota Michigan North Texas Pennsylvania Southern Florida Texas Toronto
• U - Z: UCLA Extension Utah State Utah Valley Valencia Walden U Wake Technical Western Governors Wilmington Yale

Paid Help from Hiraedu: If You're struggling to handle your Online Exams, Assignments or any other coursework, get help from Hiraedu and pay after the exam. Contact details for Hiraedu is: WhatsApp: +1 (213) 594-5657 OR Call: +1 727 456 9641
I OFFER FLEXIBLE PAYMENT PLANS:

• I offer several unique payment plans, including a weekly plan, a discounted monthly plan, a discounted half-now / half-later plan, and highly discounted up-front rates.
• I can accept the following payment methods for my services: PayPal Debit Cards Square Cash Credit Cards Cash App Venmo.
• Only people located in North America have access to Venmo Cash App Zelle.
• This is an excellent way to determine if the person you're dealing with is from the United States.
• Within reason, I offer a partial or full money-Back guarantee if the student is very unsatisfied with my academic services.

TUTORING AVAILABLE FOR OTHER SUBJECTS:

• For other subjects, you can reach out to me, and I can connect you with one of my tutoring partners who can provide general academic assistance for the following subjects:
• Art & Design: Art History Design Film Studies
• Business: Accounting (Acc) Biz Courses Business Administration (Biz Admn) Business Calculus Business Law Business Statistics Corporate Finance Economics (Econ) Finance (Fin) Financial Accounting Intermediate Accounting Intermediate Microeconomics (Micro) Macroeconomics (Macro) Management (Mgmt) Managerial Accounting Marketing MBA
• Computer Science: C C++ Computer Programming (Comp) Java Python R (Introduction & Intermediate Level Only)
• Humanities: Communications (Comm) English Literature Essay & Term Paper Writing, Editing, Proofreading Essays History Papers Philosophy (Phil) Religious Studies Theology (Theo)
• Mathematics: A.P. Calculus AB & BC Psychology Statistics AP Statistics Bio statistics Calculus I (1) Calculus II (2) Calculus III (3) College Algebra Differential Equations Discrete Math Finite Math Functions General Math Geometry Liberal Arts Math Linear Algebra Multi-variable Calculus Partial Differential Equations Precalculus Probability Quantitative Reasoning Real Analysis Statistics Trigonometry (Trig) Vector Calculus
• Science & Medicine: Anatomy & Physiology (A & P) Biochemistry Biology (Bio) Biostatistics Earth Science Environmental Science General Chemistry (Chem) Healthcare Medicine Nursing Nutrition Organic Chemistry Physics (Phys)
• Social Sciences: Anthropology Economics (Econ) Geology Law & Justice Liberal Arts Liberal Studies Political Science Psychology Sociology

THE OBLIGATORY "IS THIS A SCAM?" QUESTION:
Considering the fact that you found my contact information online, it’s understandable to be skeptical regarding the legitimacy of my services. Therefore, I’m willing to do all of the following to help you feel more secure in trusting me with your academic needs:

• 1) Speak with you on the phone and answer any questions you may have so that you have the opportunity to assess and analyze my tone, articulation, accent, diction, dialect, regionalisms, pitch, vocabulary, word choice, intonations, and inflections.
• NOTE: I’m a New Jersey-born Irish/Italian-American, but I have been told that I speak in an erudite & articulate suburban American accent with a “professor style” voice somewhat resembling the voice of actor: Ben Stein.
• 2) Agree to do some homework questions of yours upfront with the work fully shown in real-time to prove my mastery of the course content.
• 3) Send you screenshots of at least five past scores I attained from completing exams & homework assignments for other students in the same type of class you need help with.
• 4) Send you full screenshots of written exam solutions I wrote up by hand for students in the past in the same course that you need help with so that you can see my neat handwriting.
• 5) Provide you with the contact information of students who have utilized my services in the past who would be more than willing to vouch for my skills.

MY REBUTTAL TO THE OBLIGATORY “IS THIS A SCAM?” QUESTION:
At the risk of sounding arrogant, I consider myself to be at least marginally more intelligent (both academically & socially) than the average person. Therefore, if I ever decided to suddenly risk prison time, risk my reputation, and risk enduring the wrath of modern-day “cancel culture” by scamming people out of their money:

• I certainly wouldn’t do it for such paltry amounts of money. (i.e., anything less than $1,000 per victim.)
• I certainly wouldn’t choose high school & college students as my “target audience” to scam, considering that most people without college degrees have abysmally low annual incomes. Why choose low-income victims when it would be much more profitable to target high-income, high-net-worth individuals earning at least six figures a year? I have knowledge in business consulting, and I promise you that a business owner would be a MUCH more lucrative mark than a low-income college student.
• I wouldn’t choose such a time & energy-draining method of scamming people. Also, communicating back and forth with potential clients is an absurdly long time sink since only less than 10% of all potential clients who reach out to me actually become paying clients of mine. This means that 90% of my time communicating with potential clients ultimately proves to be a colossal waste of my irretrievable time & energy.
• If you pay me to provide academic services and I don’t deliver, you can always dispute the payment with the payment app and easily get your money refunded. If I were in the habit of swindling money from people, then all of my payment accounts would have been investigated and be completely shut down by now. And I would have been permanently banned from opening new accounts. Therefore, the fact that all my payment apps have been fully active for years should be sufficient proof that I haven’t had people consistently disputing payments sent to me.

HOW TO CONTACT ME:
Paid Help from Hiraedu: If You're struggling to handle your Online Exams, Assignments or any other coursework, get help from Hiraedu and pay after the exam. Contact details for Hiraedu is: WhatsApp: +1 (213) 594-5657 OR Call: +1 727 456 9641

• I take my work as a tutor very seriously, and I always aim to do my best to help my students excel in school. I have a solid and sincere passion for academic achievement, and with my help, I am positive that I can help students obtain very high grades with minimal stress and effort.
• Please feel free to contact me if you're interested in my services and would like to learn more. I'm available 24/7 via phone call, email, and text. Again, thank you for taking the time to read my Reddit tutoring ad, and I hope to hear from you soon!

My contact details:
WhatsApp: +1 (213) 594-5657
Call: +1 727 456 9641
Website: hiraedu. com
Email: [info@hiraedu](mailto:info@hiraedu). com
What are your Thoughts! Write in comments and ask for help if needed
Suggest more topic Ideas
Join this subreddit to help us grow!

Eivor is a bit of a strange protagonist.
She’s basically flawless and without blame. She’s brash and bold, proud and unashamed — brave and wise far beyond her years, yet able to be soft and compassionate when not brandishing spears. She’s got a knack for leadership, a strong moral compass and an even stronger muscular system with which to enact justice.
And she’s got bars?
As someone not deeply versed in medieval European histories, imagine my shock and confusion upon discovering that Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla included rap battling.
My first experience with Flyting had me asking so many questions about what I just witnessed that I couldn’t wait to begin Googling. I figured flyting probably was historically accurate, but if that’s the case, then what else can it tells us about the medieval warrior and about Eivor’s characterization?
I set off to find out.
--
Wikipedia and howstuffworks combined gave me a robust definition of flyting.
A ritual, poetic exchange of insults practiced mainly between the 5th and 16th centuries. Examples of flyting are found throughout Scots, Ancient, Medieval and Modern Celtic, Old English, Middle English and Norse literature involving both historical and mythological figures. The exchanges would become extremely provocative, often involving accusations of cowardice or sexual perversion.
The idea behind flyting was to influence public opinion of the participants and raise both of their profiles. And each participant wanted to make himself look better than the other, even if they were friendly.
Not only that, but flyting’s also the first recorded use of shit as an insult. That right there is worth this whole essay and then some.
--
I came away from those definitions with some small Euphoria, as they reinforce what I already expected from Ubisoft — historically accurate and (arguably) immersive side activities grounded in realism.
Unfortunately, none of the flyting foes that Eivor faces in this fantasy are founded in any real-world flyters. I was particularly frustrated when I realized Fergal the Faceless and Borghild the Alewife’s Bane were fictional features, not real historical fiends of rhythm and rhyme.
Two of Eivor’s syntax competitors are “real” in some sense, however.
In Norse mythos, Odin, Thor, Loki, Freyja and more would handle their Family Matters over a flyte from time to time, dueling wits and words as competition and entertainment.
In fact, one flyte we do see in game — Odin as he flytes over the river with Thor in the Asgard Arc — is likely a reference to a real medieval Norse poem; The Hárbarðsljóð.
In it, Thor jaunts back to Asgard after a journey in Jötunheim. He comes to a junction in which he must jump a large river, and thus hunts down a ferryman to shepherd him across. The ferryman, Hárbarðr, is Odin in disguise. He then begins to diss guys.
Ahem. ‘Guys’ being Thor, obviously.
First, Odin drops a yo-mama joke:

Of thy morning feats art thou proud, but the future thou knowest not wholly; Doleful thine home-coming is: thy mother, me thinks, is dead.

He keeps going, taking more shots than a First Person Shooter, this time saying Thor dresses like a girl:

Three good dwellings methinks, thou hast not; Barefoot thou standest and wearest a beggar’s dress; Not even hose dost thou have.

Thor says watch your mouth before I clap back:

Ill for thee comes thy keenness of tongue, if the water I choose to wade; Louder, I ween, than a wolf thou cryest, if a blow of my hammer thou hast.

Odin replies by saying Thor’s wife is fucking another dude:

Sif has a lover at home, and him shouldst thou meet; More fitting it were on him to put forth thy strength.

The version we play out in game isn’t identical to the real-world poem, but carries some similarities; Thor’s threatening to cross the river to fight Odin as well as his boasting of slaying giants are present in each.
Ratatosk is the only other ‘real’ flyting enemy in Valhalla. While Odin doesn’t flyte with Ratatosk in Norse myth to my knowledge, the flyting against the squirrel is thematically accurate, at least.
Ratatosk’s purpose is to scramble up and down Yggdrasil, scurrying spoken messages from the eagle that sits at its peaks to the snake that slithers at its base. The nature of Ratatosk’s messages is in line with the act of flyting — the mischievous rodent carries falsehoods and aggressive statements to stir up drama and distrust between bird and serpent.
Flyting took place not only in poems and folklore, but in town squares and royal court. It was a facet of medieval life and social interaction. This weaving of prose then, in this time period, seemingly was just about as much of an admired skill as the swinging of a sword. It’s no wonder our unbreakable warrior Eivor is so proficient with word.
--
Like, really proficient with word.
I mean, I know it’s me choosing the dialogue options, but sheesh, is there anything she can’t do?
Actually, Eivor’s expertise in flyting is strange to me. It feels random and unearned — out of character, even. It comes more unexpectedly than Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us.
It probably only feels out of character, however, due to our modern understanding of proficiency with words versus proficiency with might. Our current interpretation of verbal ability compared to physical ability would perceive verbal ability as the ‘softer’ of the two skillsets. Physical strength is typically interpreted as tough and more dominant. You don’t expect to see an MMA fighter composing poetry, do you? The qualities that modern thought attributes to writing and physicality don’t mesh.
But in reality — and historically accurately in Valhalla — medieval warriors weren’t just blind berserkers. They were actually artists, poets and writers.
We’ve already demonstrated how Odin and Thor — Norse myth’s most famous warriors — carried out flyting. There are plenty more examples of the burly and the brawn, the Viking and the warrior breaking out poetry and song. Other poems and sagas include the same thing, among the most famous of which is Egil’s Saga — Egil, a tough Viking warrior, would frequently break out into prose throughout the saga’s telling.
Beyond Vikings though lie other other examples from around the world. The Illiad contains instances of public, ritualized abuse. Taunting songs are present in Inuit culture while Arabic poetry contains a form of flyting called naqa’id. Further, Japanese Samurai were known to be frequent composers of haiku, while Japanese culture also gave birth to Haikai, poetry in which vulgar satire and puns were wielded.
This historical accuracy ends up eliminating the randomness of Eivor’s flyting ability. Despite her verbal finesse feeling unearned, we can surmise historically that Eivor has practiced the wielding of words plenty in her life before we take over as the player. She’s dedicated time to this.
Now that we know why she has it, we can take a closer look at what it does for her.
--
So, Eivor can rap. She can match you with her axe or she can match you with her words. She’s just about unbeatable.
Her mastery of words demonstrates on some level that she’s not all Push Ups and might is right. She’s not all bruiser and bluster, burn and berserk. She’s an appreciator of the finer things — the more abstract, mental skills that require brain power, deftness and finesse.
This duality of strength and genius rounds out Eivor into a deeper, richer, more admirable character. More than just raw muscle in pursuit of glory, Eivor’s mastery of verse demonstrates her prioritizing not just her body, but her mind.
And it goes a long way for her.
Eivor can use her prowess with prose to progress past pointless plot points throughout Valhalla’s plethora of arcs and missions. It’s just a stat check in the end, but with enough practice flyting and enough charisma gained, Eivor unlocks new dialogue options that bend the world around her to her will.
Witch hunters in Eurvicscire on the brink of terrorizing Moira can be dispersed verbally rather than brawled or killed. There’s an entire riddle-solving fetch quest in Wincestre that can be skipped completely by telling King Aelfred’s abbot fuck off (figuratively). Eivor’s sharpening of her mind protects her body, saves her time, and allows her to frictionlessly fell her endeavors.
Her articulate advances don’t just alter her into admirability, they allow her to influence people and progression. With semantics from her mouth and twists from her tongue, Eivor can have her way whenever she wishes. In a game this large, I’m only left longing that the opportunity to make use of this charisma wasn’t relegated to niches.
Regardless, if medieval England is butter, Eivor’s tongue is the hot knife that behooves her move through her subduing more smoothly.
It all just goes to show that ̶m̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ flyte is right.

I wanted to tell a little bit about my upbringing in this church as well as what led me to leave. This is essentially my story on leaving the church; sorry it's a wee bit long.
TL;DR: My ward was so kind and Christlike that it made me see how unkind and un-Christlike the church as an organization really is.
I grew up in a fairly progressive ward (by Utah Mormon standards) in the Ogden area. My ward had a very large emphasis on Christ and his teachings, and less emphasis on Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We shoveled driveways and sidewalks (sometimes on the sabbath after sacrament!), we did monthly service for active members, non-active members, and exmo's alike. Our youth leadership allowed and encouraged us to ask difficult questions. One leader would often say that our chapel should smell like tobacco and alcohol, and that people in jeans should be welcomed! Looking back, I would say that the ward I grew up in were true followers of Christ and his teachings, and not just "checklist Mormons" as my mom would put it.
This focus on service, love for our fellow man regardless of their beliefs, and encouragement of seeking truth was the perfect environment for me to learn the initial tools to see past the bullshit.
By the time that I was seminary-aged and taking classes, I ran into my first dose of reality. My ward was NOT like the others, nor did it produce the same kinds of people. Asking tough questions suddenly became a bad thing and that I just needed to pray more, or that I should rely on my faith more, or that I needed to study the scriptures more. It was like I was thrown into a sub-class of Mormon and that anything I did wasn't good enough. I became determined to show all of my peers that I was a capable, intelligent saint who would be mission-ready when the time came. I became a scriptorian, delving deep into footnotes, essays, talks, articles, all of it. If I was going to be a missionary, I needed to know everything.
My bishop at the time noticed this, and as soon as I turned 18 in June and recieved the higher priesthood, I was called to teach both Elders Quorum as well as Youth 12. I had my mission call, and was just waiting until the following November to head out. This teaching opportunity ended up being part of my undoing in the church.
My search for knowledge, no, my hunger for knowledge combined with my ward's example of being a kind, Christlike human made me start to see some differences in Church Policy vs Church Doctrine^TM. What was the difference? Why was there a distinction? How can I tell the difference? These questions were never really met with a satisfactory answer. I ended up having some anxiety issues surrounding my mission, so I decided to postpone a month before leaving. I kept teaching both classes, as it gave me something to do during church, and I was still actively searching for knowledge. Looking back, this is probably the point where I first tip-toed into becoming PIMO.
It wasn't until the pandemic that my wife and I were able to take a step back and assess how we really felt. We came to the conclusion that we were better off without the church setting the expectations for our lives. We could no longer support an organization that claims to be Christ's true church when the actions of the organization are antithetical to his teachings.
If it weren't for my home ward's example of what real Christlike figures are meant to be, their emphasis on being a kind person, and their enthusiasm for critical questions, I probably would still be in the church today. Those folks truly loved anyone who walked through the church doors, and I haven't been able to find that in other wards, even within the same area. They helped shape me into who I am today, and for that I'm grateful.
One last note: the stake was reorganized about a year ago, and my home ward no longer exists, it was split and absorbed into 3 neighboring wards. My mother is still active, and every Sunday she tells me that she misses the old ward. Not specific individuals, but the atmosphere. She's said she misses the "special spirit" that the old ward had. I don't blame her.

I’ve had a lot of adventures in my life.
I’ve traveled, made friends, seen sights, competed in sports, and participated in events.
Sometimes, following any of these endeavors, a small object would find itself in my possession. A knickknack, a totem, a doodad.
Maybe it was a collection of Mardi Gras beads from my trip to New Orleans. Or a t-shirt tossed by a cheerleader at a sporting event. A toy from a claw machine. A mixtape from a friend. A thank-you note. A cheap piece of junk from a tourist’s gift shop.
Whatever they were didn’t matter — what matters is that they were often a representation of whatever moment in time they came from.
I never threw these things away. I set them on my desk or on my shelves. When those spaces filled up, I bought two small storage containers. They’re filled to the brim and I’m currently filling a third.
Why keep the color-coordinated bandana a stranger gave me in the park during Pokemon Go’s heyday? Why hold onto the Save the Date from my high school friend who ended up getting divorced not two years later? What significance or use could I possibly have for those goofy White Elephant gifts my kickball team gave at the yearly Christmas party?
No purpose, no reason and there is none, respectively.
And yet I don’t want to let them go. You see, they are reminders of times and experiences — Keepsakes. Mementos. Souvenirs. In some ways, they’re a physical collection and documentation of my life.
It reminds me a little bit of this weird quirk I have when I play video games.
--
I likely dumped more than 500 hours across all my Skyrim save files. There was no other game, there needn’t be any other game and there still hasn’t been any other game since.
In my adulthood, I returned to one of its many definitive editions for one last victory lap. With my experience, memory and fully-formed adult brain, I approached the game methodologically, in an optimal order, carefully. I built my ideal character and crafted only what was needed — down to the last iron ingot. I explored, I experienced — I did every major and minor quest, making it my perfect playthrough.
One thing I love about Skyrim is the loot. Yes, there’s 20 million iron daggers and boring, inventory-cluttering useless items… but then there’s the special ones.
There’s the unique weapons at the end of each Daedric quest. The trinkets from the Thieves Guild. Spellbooks, statuettes and storybooks. The eerily-delivered note for the assassin’s questline. The robes of the king, the rings and necklaces of Jarls.
You know them — the items with one-of-a-kind names and designs that are specific to each of their quests.
You see, these items carry a story with them. How you stole for them or killed for them. Traveled, battled, talked, stealthed, lied, solved your way into their possession. They’re the game’s biggest treat.
That’s why, at the culmination of my final ever Skyrim playthrough, I bought a house in Whiterun and filled it with these objects.
Weapons and armors on the walls and on the racks, items and books placed carefully on shelves - but not just any weapons, armors, objects and books. Only the special ones. It was a house that told the story of all of my adventures.
I sat down in a chair next to Aela the Huntress in my castle, my throne room. I saved my game one final time.
--
For all of gaming’s swashbuckling adventures, magnificent worlds and large stretches of land to traverse, they don’t always give us too much to remember them by, do they?
I appreciate Skyrim so much for understanding the nature of the epic they were creating. The ability to fill your house with display cases, armor mannequins and weapon racks demonstrates the developer’s awareness of their playerbase and the scale of the adventures they were sending them on.
These are adventures to cherish, to tell tales of, to be remembered.
Will anyone else give me what Skyrim did?
…
The answer’s yes, actually.
It’s a fascinating yes, too — because not every keepsake system is cut from the same cloth. Games offer unique takes on the mechanic that energize it, give it new life and perspective and add layers of meaning to it in fresh ways.
And I’ve got plenty of examples.
--
In The Outer Worlds, special items you collected while out adventuring would be placed in specific locations throughout your ship, The Unreliable, upon return. These included things like:
• Posters • Signs • Various ISO items • Tossballs & Tossball cards • Golden bird statuettes • Many, many more
Sometimes these were stored by the game in your captain’s quarters, but other times, they’d appear in your squad’s quarters instead.
No matter where they got stored, these items were more than just junk. They were signature weapons of terrible villains whom you defeated, they were outlandish garb from flamboyant characters who painstakingly passed away to protect your life, they were motifs of resource-gouging corporations whom you shutdown for the good of cities and planets.
They were special, they were keepsakes. Their addition made The Unreliable feel alive and lived in, part of your own, unique journey, filled with the stories and tales of your adventure and — importantly and specifically to The Outer Worlds — your choices.
—
The second and third installments of the Mass Effect series contained model ships you could buy from vendors that would then go on display on desks or on racks in your spaceship, The Normandy.
These are a little different because you buy them, rather than slice somebody’s head off for them, but they still count.
What makes them still count here is twofold:
• Some model ships only become available after completing certain missions that actually involve the ship you’re buying a model of, so they still serve as a reminder and memento of specific accomplishments in this way • If you transferred your save data through the games, models you collected in ME2 would appear automatically on The Normandy in ME3. Being able to carry souvenirs into a sequel is exceptional, and a feat I’ve not found any other game to match.
Mass Effect: Andromeda saw a return of this feature, too. You ended up re-gathering old ships of yore in this installment, however. Andromeda also featured a more traditional collectible-style search; these model ships were looted from various locations in the world.
The original trilogy used the model ships as landmarks for its major moments, to be remembered across the series, while Andromeda paid homage to the previous games and encouraged its players to explore its world more thoroughly.
—
In Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, building up your burgeoning young settlement of Ravensthorpe is a central gameplay mechanic — as you acquire more resources to build with, the size of the village grows both in length, width and inhabitants.
The game includes optional side quests that change those who wander your evolving home and hub in medieval England. They include:
• Capturing a stray cat • Saving a fox from a burning home • Befriending a fallen hunter’s wolf pet
In each instance, the living being will join your settlement — the cat will stay underneath Eivor’s seat in your longship, the fox will wander Ravensthorpe and the wolf will welcome you in your personal quarters, howling at your arrival.
You can interact and pet them whenever you like, playing a short animation displaying the affection between the two.
These three “collectibles” don’t feel like trinkets, but living, breathing additions to your home that give it joy and life, as well as keep you young.
—
Speaking of Norse culture, central to Biomutant is a form of Yggdrasil — the WorldTree.
Central to Biomutant’s story is saving the old, decaying and currently-being-eaten-by-giant-monsters WorldTree. And there are two impressive quests in the game that reflect back to the player their efforts in saving it.
One quest saves the tree from festering toxins below its roots — and the tree’s colors change from green to fluorescent white as a result.
Another quest by the name of Aurora has you activate monoliths around the map that direct energy to the WorldTree. The quest climaxes by having the tree give off a swirling, sparkling aura that hangs perpetually while you travel the world and complete more objectives.
It even matches your affinity — if you’re taking the side of love and justice, the aura is white, while if you play for the destruction of the planet, the aura will hang black.
What’s special about these to me is that they don’t do anything. They don’t get you any closer to saving the world or the tree, but they definitely did something important –
The WorldTree’s central location in the map and absolutely massive scale allow for it to be seen at all times from just about anywhere in Biomutant’s world. This means, after I had completed these two quests, the fruits of my labor were on gloriously beautiful display at all times.
Biomutant’s mementos aren’t keepsakes you can’t take with you when you leave the planet — they’re visual celebrations of your hard work, an ever-present reminder of your endeavors and care for a dying world.
—
More briefly, Cyberpunk 2077 allowed you to fill V’s apartment with keepsakes as well, featuring dream catchers, posters, paintings, action figures and more.
In Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance Ace Azzameen’s personal quarters would fill up with medals and displays as you progressed through the game.
In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, some of the most legendary Zelda equipment ever was available to the player, including the Sword of Six Sages, the Fierce Deity Sword, and the Biggorons Sword — all of which can be hung in display cases in Link’s home.
Meanwhile, Uncharted 4 greets players near its opening sequence with an attic filled with memorabilia and keepsakes that Nathan Drake himself has kept after all these years. It’s not us — the players — ourselves collecting and hoarding, but it was lovely to see Drake thinking along the same lines as us souvenir psychopaths.
—
I’ll end with gaming’s classic — Mario. The red-hatted Italian also did the keepsake thing in one of his most beloved installments.
Super Mario: Odyssey allowed you to decorate The Odyssey with stickers and trinkets from your escapades by spending purple coins you could collect while out adventuring on one of the game’s many worlds.
A vanilla Odyssey player’s ship might look the same as it did at the game’s start, but a completionist might have a slew of trinkets and décor, like:
• Peach’s Model Castle • Dinosaur models and trophies • Shiverian Nesting Dolls • A plush frog • Flowers and a watering can from Steam Gardens • Statues of Pauline, Jaxi, Jizo • A lamp and rock fragment of the moon
Hell, the game director himself sounds like he’s read this very article:

“But what about decorating the ship? There’s a shop that appears in many kingdoms where you can buy souvenirs and stickers using the purple coins you’ve gathered.
Collecting memories is one of the best parts of traveling, don’t you think?” –Kenta Motokura

The ability to make The Odyssey your own evolved the traditional fetch-quest nature of collectible gathering and drove the player to go that little bit of extra distance in exploring and engaging with the various kingdoms and mastering the game’s platforming.
--
Video game narratives and their accompanying worlds are monstrously large nowadays. As enjoyers of the medium, us gamers spend a lot of time in them.
Like, a lot.
In recognition of this, game developers have given gamers a number of distinct tools to document their triumphs and sagas — each with their own unique flavor of congratulations and commemoration.
For our enormous investment with huge worlds and long, winding quests, something tangible we can keep hold of provides value, meaning, memories. They make our journey — one which we have committed so much to — special, transcendent, our own.
They give us things no other entertainment medium can give.
So fuck photo mode. A picture isn’t worth a thousand words — my keepsakes are.
(A special thanks to the members of patientgamers for their contributions to this post that helped inform this essay with games I have and have not played.)

So I was a fan of the LN's from back when the first season released. The things I identified with then, and the things I love about it now are still largely what I love about it. And I was for a long time willing to turn a blind eye to ALOT of what I felt were unnessicary parts of the story, as, this series is the work of an author, not something made FOR me. However as time has gone on, the series has leaned more into it's less savory elements, and it does genuinely hamper my enjoyment of the series now, to the point that I'm hesitant about the series moving forward (I stopped right before reading the succession arc). I'm just curious about more broader perspectives on the series, as someone who's going to attempt to lay out more than just "ew incest gross" arguments. I'd be happy if people are willing to engage in a more genuine discussion, but if not, hope you can at least enjoy the read.
I'll try and start positive, because I want to put it out there, I was largely positive on the series as a whole, and have recommended it to multiple friends with some pretty major caveats. And I have rolled out good faith defenses of each problematic elements of the show with in universe examples and reasoning. So the things that I genuinely love about the series. At the time, as someone who dropped out of collage, while always thinking myself the smartest guy in the room, it was easy to identify with a story that highlighted a character who's society's measure of a man wasn't accurately taken. I've since grown a lot since then, but I still do love this aspect of the story. Hatori's line saying "so this is what happens when a test doesn't accurately measure someone's strength" is a line that sticks with me to this day. I also love how deep the political intrigue is thought out, not to be overly exaggerated in my analysis, but there are times where the levels of geopolitical implications of certain actions are thought about on a level that you would expect from traditional spy fiction/thrillers. The fact that the implications of magical weapons and the socioeconomic implications of things like a fusion generator are taken into account with such detail is amazing to me. It isn't given a one side interpretation but rather a very realistic look at how the powers in play would fight over the use, implementation, and restrictions that might have to be placed on such technology.
Also the magic system, i feel like I don't have to preach to anyone about how cool it is, but it's cool, straight up, it's just cool, as a tech guy, to see the fusion of technology and magic in this setting is awesome.
Lastly the imperfect nature of the main character was always interesting to me. While the anime only ever hints at Tastuya's insecurities with subtext, LN fans will know his though process is PLAGUED with indecision and caution that remove him soley from the OP MC archetype that never thinks about or suffers the consequences of his actions. Yes in practice he is an OP MC, but just like how society inaccurately measures his strength because they don't value the thing's he's good at, the really fantastic character work putting in the juxtaposition of his OWN values, not aligning with his own strength is really smart character writing. Tatsuya himself doesn't care about regrowth, or his crazy abilities and capacity for magic despite his apparent disabilities in the magic department. While many people see him and recognize how powerful he is, none of that is what HE values. He values more than anything are the technical skills required to change the world through magical engineering, and while he makes GREAT strides throughout the series, ultimately he isn't at the point (where I am in the series) to effect the real kind of change he would like to see, outside role as the Yotsuba's secret weapon. The kind of ambition he might have fostered normally as just a young man, is still evident with his passions outside of the crazy family situation he was forced under.
Which is something else I love about the series, but with a bit of a mixed bag of feelings. The world building is genuinely really cool from a near future sci-fantasy setting. The staging of the energy crisis that led to the 3rd world war, the emergence of Mages, and the united pact against nuclear arms, only to be replaced by the very checks that locked the nations from nuclear armageddon. The cleaver setup and world play between the 10 master clan's naming conventions and even to a lesser extent the 100 supporting families, gives such a rich texture and great opportunities to have ENDLESS but distinct characters coming from every facet of society. Characters like the Chiba get to be all one note swordsman, then build upon individual character traits to differentiate them. Even the side stories with Morisaki Shun give texture to what otherwise should have been just a one off character that was done with after the first arc (honestly I wish we saw more of him as the series went on, and the ramification of him protecting the heiress of the no head dragons, the series clearly doesn't mind chinese influence being a driving antagonistic force, it would have been interesting to see them explore more morally complex but not completely antagonizing forces).
And that lead some to some of the negatives. In the same vein that the world building is very well thought out, I cannot view this piece as a piece of fiction divorced from the real world. Can you explain the incest, the way he writes female fashion and women with in universe explanations? Yes absolutely and I have gone to bat for it in the past. Preserving genetic bloodlines to increase the magical powers of a generation of magicians, when such a small subsection of the population have any degree of magic talent to begin with, would be paramount in the national defense of a country. Having siblings marry each other is both not even the craziest thing I can imagine NOR is the least crazy thing the SERIES has done to justify this. The fashion sense was born the energy crisis that predated world war 3, caused clothing to become heavier out of necessity and it became fuax pas to show as much skin, both as a means of survival and as a way to signal you had enough resources to keep yourself clothed. While the climate has recovered people's sense of fashion hasn't caught up yet, which is a great IN universe explanation for the more conservative forms of dress that seem socially permissible in the series. And the way they treat women as ladies constantly saying "is would be improper for a lady to be out at night by herself" can be (and this one is LESS SUPPORTED by the text but I think could be explained and inferred) to be part of the need to preserve reproducing members of society after a great famine that predated WW3 and further more of the "nobility" class of magicians which this behavior clearly emulates.
The problem with all of these is, the text also clearly wants to have it both ways and it just betrays a clear taste the author has that I find distasteful in the REAL world. Sure you tell women to cover up, but then you take every opportunity to put them in summer dresses, or skimpy costumes for performances, and dress up scenes. While all of this makes sense IN universe, I can't help but feel this is just a pandering to real world markets that like these niches, or further points to the authors own thoughts on the matter, with a regressive social structure that see's women lacking less moral and societal agency, having to "cover up" as it were, and the whole incest thing. It would be one thing if the series SAID anything about this. An interesting exploration on how both the Yotsuba and society as a whole put such immense pressure on all of these teenagers regardless of how competent they are, and them breaking that cycle of generational expectation would be perfectly in line with the broader social change Tastsuya is trying to work towards with his engineering endeavors. Learning to actually heal from, learn from, and distance himself from the ultimately toxic relationship he's being forced into with his sister would earn MASSIVE points in my book for actually tackling an uncomfortable topic with some nuance.
I'm going to sidebar for a moment because I know a lot of people love Miyuki and Tastuya in both the fanbase as a whole but this sub in particular. I'm going to approach this, in good faith and say all of you are fans of the characters and I'm not going to, nor do I think a majority of fans are problematic in their liking of this relationship. While I personally feel like the devotion Miyuki shows is pandering, as I said in universe it can all be explained and people can enjoy fiction for any number of reasons, I don't think anyone is gross or whatever for enjoying a pairing when the text of the show so adamantly presents it in the most positive light possible. BUT WITH ALL THAT SAID, i would be doing the rest of the series, which is so well thought out, to not lend a critical eye to the absolute blindspot the series has for this relationship. Miyuki's devotion to Tatsuya is born of her realization after being saved by him in Okinawa, that her life belongs to him because he saved it, and she will be at his side against all the injustices that he has and will continue to face. But that kind of single hearted devotion, is by definition, toxic to her growth as a person. No one can LIVE for another person and be a fully fleshed individual, it just isn't healthy and it cheapens what could be such a more powerful character that by her own rights has every right to grow with ambitions that still can ABOSLUTELY grow in parallels with, and in support of her brother. But the story doesn't really explore that, every choice she ever makes is with the approval of her brother or his ultimate success in mind. You cannot seriously get me to buy that their engagement and eventual marriage is a healthy one under these conditions. I am a modern man, I like my wife to be as strong willed as I am so we can make joint decisions about our life that we can both agree on, so hell call me biased but I don't actually think there's anything wrong with traditional relationships, but that's the thing, EVEN in traditional relationships, women aren't the objects that they're commonly straw manned into. While not all traditional relationships were like this, the foundation of them is supposed to be founded upon the idea that while men could be out in the world, providing for the family, the women would be at home nursing children, and making sure the HOME was taken care of. In practice this meant a lot of women were actually empowered to make many of the purchasing decisions for the house, under ideal circumstances (again in actuality I acknowledges the more problematic aspects of these relationships in history and that isn't the point of this post).
I bring all of this up to say that Miyuki isn't given the agency to grow enough as her own person outside being sometimes selfish over her brothers attention of her. If I had to write an essay on Tatsuya's driving purpose in life, I could write at length on interesting aspects of his character and his own inaccuracies when judging his own value, when he's so uniquely capable of judging others. But there is no similar depth given to Miyuki and that's just sad because the GLIMCES we get of her character are ACTUALLY great. Her interactions with Lina, were highlights brining to her a character that is as close to being her peer as we had up until that point in the series, but still having her show compassion to her situation because of how much it mirrored Tatsuyas despite being "competition" and someone who ostensibly was opposed to her brother. Her interactions could have been so much better with Ichigo Masaki ( a criminally underused character as a whole) but they never amount to anything other then him getting lil'broed the entire series. And Kuduo Minoru is just underutilized in his debut appearance during the upcoming Ancient city insurrection arc that's about to be animated. Tatsuya is able to be measured up against these characters to further his growth and further exemplify what sets him apart as an interesting character and Miyuki doesn't get the same opportunity.
There is so much more I can say, but this is crazy long and I suspect few people will read it all anyways. Some of this might be ranty but I have been stewing on these thoughts for ages, and with no one in my circle who has stuck out the series as far as I have, my only recourse is the broader fanbase to discuss my thoughts on the matter.
TL;DR- Tatsuya, the world, and the magic systems, the consequences, and the complex web of motives within the narrative are all huge pluses for the series, that ultimately get dragged down by the inordinate amount of time spent on what I feel is either pandering to certain audiences, or betray the authors less than savory tastes, that more than just being morally outrageous (because I don't really care about that) serves to under cut the otherwise great writing of the series, and I think that's the real crime. The incest doesn't bother me because a fictional sister and brother get together, it bothers me because it robs me of the potential character growth both of them could have had, fighting back against another backwards system in this world born of political and social necessities that would have rhymed with all the other themes of the series.
EDIT: yes I know I can just drop the series, if it isn't for me, and I might I really don't know, I'm just frustrated at what could be something that has so much potential, be inordinately focused on the least interesting aspects of it.

I passed the Bar in February 2024 in a UBE jurisdiction after failing multiple times. I told myself that if I ever passed (which to me me seemed like an unlikely miracle), I would pass on the resources that I used as a multi repeater working full time at a fairly demanding job. This post is to explain what resources I used, why they were helpful, and what changed from my failing tests to my passing test. I am just hoping this is helpful to someone.
I took the Bar in a non-UBE jx several times and failed, and once in a UBE jx for F24, where I passed with a 302. I was not a good law student, I work full time, I graduated 6 years ago. I understand there are people with more stuff going on than me (all the kudos to parents taking this test - you are amazing and you got this!), but I do genuinely believe I am nothing special for the purpose of passing this test. I did a few points better on the MEE/MPT's than I did on the MBE, but I got passing scores on both. My jx does not give the full breakdown, so I don't know induvial essay scores, just the MBE vs writing component scores.
Resources: The study resources I used in F24.
Note: I found this post from u/SingAndDrive that really made an impression on me. I used Barbri on my failing tests and it NEVER resonated with me. I also used AdaptiBar (more on this below). I knew I needed to figure out a non-traditional Bar prep that was budget friendly and worked with my 9-5 corporate job. The linked post was a great starting point for me, and I did end up using a few of the resources they used. P.S. shout out to u/SingAndDrive for that post, and for still responding to people asking follow up questions about their experience.
1. NCBE BarNow "Everything Pack" - This is for MEE and MPT's. I did over 70 essays total - 4-6 essays per topic (I recommend at least 5 per topic) tested on the MEE and then 5 MPT's (I always did ok on these so I was not worried. If you are, do more. This was invaluable and very budget friendly (maybe $130). It includes hundreds of real essays and MPT's and all of the corresponding grader's point sheets. At first I would read the essay, outline my answer a bit, and then literally copy the graders point sheet exactly. I did this for 4-5 essays before I felt I could actually try on my own. I timed my essays (30 min per essay in my jx) and treated it like a real test to the best of my ability. Sometimes I checked the grader sheet as I was writing.
2. SmartBarPrep UBE Smart Sheets - This is the only thing I used for remembering rules for the MEE's. What I like about it is that it focuses on the main things that are tested and tells you the highly and moderately tested rules. Does it cover literally everything ever test? No, but you do not need to know everything. The goal is not perfection - it's a passing score. I also love that it was $130. It has some resources about MPT's I found useful for formatting different types of MPT's and
3. NY sample essays for MEE essays - Free and helpful for a few reasons. First, if you look at the real essays by passing test-takers and refer back to the corresponding NCBE graders sheet you will see that great scores don't hit on every little point on the graders sheet. Sometimes passing scores come to the wrong conclusion. There is room for human error and perception in your responses. Second, it was so s helpful to me to see the format of passing essays. The MEE is all patterns (types of essays), do enough and you will begin to see patterns and patterns of how to format your response. I am very much a learn by watching person, and really needed the correct format laid out in front of me.
4. AdaptiBar - I used AdaptiBar during my failing tests, but the way I used it on my passing F24 test was very different. The big difference between my failing test and by passing test - a) I did wayyyy more questions on my passing test. In total, for F24 I completed around 1,600 questions. I'm sure I did like 600 on my failing tests. b) I reviewed every question I got wrong. For me this was reading the question again and then reading the full explanation of each answer. For one of the two tests you can take on AdaptiBar, I created an Excel sheet where I copied the question I got wrong in column A, the correct answer in column B, and the explanation in column C. I wish I did this for both tests. I don't know if I personally had time to do this for literally every question. I generally did 30 questions a day, all on one topic (more on my study schedule below). I reserved two Saturdays for a full 200 question test. MBE's are repetitive - they ask you a lot of the same base rules in different ways, and then stick these random niche exceptions/tiny rules in there. I highly recommend AtaptiBar or some other databank of NCBE questions with explanation. Do the licensed questions. It was the most expensive study aid I used by far, but I personally needed this resource to pass.
5. Goat Bar Prep - GoatBarPrep I wish I had found this subreddit sooner, but for the month I knew about it before the exam it was great. I read through the free megaposts for topics I needed help on. For example, I did not take Secured Transactions in law school and was starting from scratch. u/SnooGoats8671 is a wonderful teacher - he knows how to distill down complicated topics, and is an interesting and entertaining writer. Do not be fooled by the memes and silliness - this is the real deal. I did feel a bit like Alice falling down the rabbit hole and into insanity, but maybe that is part of the process. I personally bought a few additional resources from this tutor that specifically target tips and tricks on the MBE that gave me great results. For example, I saw a 10% increase in my Civil Procedure questions on AtaptiBar after using Goat Bar Prep MBE for Civ Pro resources. This was huge for me because I was basically hovering around 50% on Civ Pro (my worst MBE topic). I never directly reached out to u/SnooGoats8671, but others have stated he is very responsive and great to work with if you need a 1:1 tutor.
Failure vs Success: AKA, what changed?
While I did use (mostly) different resources, the biggest change was me - my attitude, my approach, and my effectiveness.
1. Passive vs Active Studying - I know you have heard this before, but it's the gospel truth - you NEED to practice active studying. Author Jessica Klein has some excellent thoughts on this in her book "Fck the Bar". Basically, you need to do the hard stuff. The extra un-fun stuff. Reading your rules is boring, but also passive. You need to write essays. Honestly, I didn't feel like I knew/started to memorize the rules for real until I starting writing essays. I started writing essays three months before test day, but didn't kick it in gear
2. My Study Schedule - I am someone who loves a schedule, so I made one in Excel that detailed what I was studying from December 2023 through the end of February 2024. I scheduled two wiggle-room days each month, but in December life and holidays happened and I missed a few days. In January and February my schedule would change a bit, but I never missed a day because I had scheduled two wiggle-room/life happens days. No topic left behind. I worked on a 14-day cycle, where each work day had one topic assigned to them and weekend days had two topics assigned to them. I generally stuck to the same 14-day loop of topics over and over again, so each topic was covered two times each month. I combined Agency and Partnership because they are best friends, and never studied Conflict of laws outside when it was on a combo MEE practice essay. I am not sure if this was unwise or a good move over all, but it gave me 13 topics for 13 days, and on the 14th day I worked on MPTs or full on MBE tests or I devoted that 14th day to a topic I was having trouble with. I did not do two-a-day topics until the last two weeks before the Bar. Again, I was studying full time and I didn't really have time to fully devote my day to two topics. Honestly, it was for the best because I always start of strong when studying and dwindle off and it gets later. Speaking of - I studied maybe 2-4 hours a day during the work week and 5-7 hours on the weekend. I was not nose-to-book the whole time I was studying, but I tried my best. It helps that my then boyfriend now fiancé looming over me playing FIFA in the same room I studied in. Every time I picked up my phone he would turn to me and ask, "What are you studying now?"
3. I Slept - No seriously. I went to sleep before 12AM. I never slept while studying for my failing tests. It sucked and I was a stressed mess. I was still a stressed mess this time, but I had way more brain function, wasn't burnt out, and felt physically better. For the record, I said "physically better", not "good". I did not feel "good". It was a lot of really hard, exhausting work and I never wan to do it again. It took me a month to gather myself up to even write all this. Anyways, get some sleep.
4. I was real with myself about why I kept failing - My multiple failures were a result of a few things. First, I was totally burnt out. Not sleeping, non-stop stress, and law school really sucked for me. I was just not in a good place. Before studying for F24, I had not studied for the Bar in at least two years. I was working full time, playing rec sports, had a boyfriend, and friends. I was in a good place. Second, I was studying ALL WRONG. All passive studying, nearly no active studying (see above). I FULLY believe I could have passed in the non-UBE jx I failed so many times in if I just did then what I did on F24. Finally, I acknowledged I was the problem, and decided to break the cycle. Better habits, new approach, worked within my schedule, and focused on discipline and consistency (Not my strong suite. Again, high recommend acquiring a FIFA playing study overlord - or an accountability buddy).
5. Test Day Mentality - I don't know if this is advice, but I walked into that testing center PUMPED UP. I was in a great mood - it was game day and I was ready to ball. A security person asked me how I was doing on Day 1, and I said, "GREAT!" and she said, "You are the only one." That is a true story. In retrospect I may have been losing my mind a bit, but hey, fake it until you make it, right? I tried my best to carry that mentality to Day 2. I also made a friend to hang with before, during lunch, and as we were leaving the test center - we still text! I am sure plenty of people need to be silent and alone to focus up, but for me, talking to someone (about work, life, whatever isn't test related) helped to keep my brain dynamic and awake. My friend was also a retaker who passed on F24, and I like to think having a friend helped them too.

Billing:
I'd love to see US Mobile adopt or start offering anniversary-day billing cycles so that plans renew on the same day every month. I know 30 day plan expirations is traditionally standard for the prepaid wireless industry and is certainly still common, but it is slowly on the way out with providers like Visible (and Helium, not that they're a precedent-setter, but you get the point) billing on your anniversary day instead of every 30 days. Unless I'm an anomaly, I'd imagine a good majority of people prefer it that way. Having your plan bill on a different day depending on the month is confusing and inconvenient at least, and at worst, a logistics issue for customers who have need to map their transaction dates quite closely.
US Mobile has massively bolstered its offerings in the past couple years and introduced premium features that properly rival the good aspects of the postpaid experience while still offering the freedom from bullshit customers love from prepaid. I feel that standardising billing cycles will be more convenient and even necessarily beneficial for many and will make the experience just a little bit nicer for people who value consistency. It would be nice to also be able to change your billing cycle. Although this would be nice to be able to do online, this isn't something I imagine people would (or should) be doing with any kind of frequency, so requiring a customer service contact for this particular action would be fine if not better.
Multi-Tenancy Expansion:
I think a lot of US Mobile customers bring our family and friends to US Mobile and I'm sure some of us end up assuming the family technical officer role, so being able to access multiple accounts with a single login would be great! Right now, there is a multi-tenancy User Management feature that lets account owners add secondary users onto their accounts, but each user needs to create a new login on usmobile.com using a new email just for that account. Adding the ability for one login to access multiple accounts would be amazing, so that with a single login, a user can access their own account and also be able to see any other accounts they may be viewers or authorised users on.
In my ideal world, I'd love for such a feature to work in two ways on the website, so users can choose: Either (a) have US Mobile show you a list of all your accounts each time you login so you can choose the one you're trying to manage or (b) set a default account for your login that loads automatically upon every login, with an account switcher in the menu bar that lets you move to a different account if you need to. It would be nice for users to be able to control which behaviour they would prefer in a profile section. For the app specifically, I'd probably nix option a since I don't think most people would want to pick an account every single time on an app, but they'd still be able to switch between accounts during an app session using the menu bar.
Dashboard Features:

• Updating CNAM information in the Dashboard would be so nice! I think this can be done for Warp 5G by contacting support, but offering it online would be great!
  
• Expanded line usage record access. I know there is a new feature that's going to allow access to PDF usage records (coming soon), but I'd really love to see bolstered record keeping and access, even beyond the limited 60 day period. With many carriers, you can usually access call, text, and data records for years worth of billing cycles in the Usage section, without having to make a request for it; it's just saved as part of the usage history. I know not everyone is a fan of this so I'm probably more of a lone wolf on this one, but merging call records access into Usage and moving the PDF download there too, then at least offering customers the option to keep records for longer than 60-90 days would be very much appreciated, so that it's there for those who want it, but off by default for those who don't. Perhaps a section in Line Settings called Extended Usage Records that you can enable and disable for each line as needed, which would require 2FA verification before it could be modified. Again, probably not a popular one but wanted to ask.
  
• Greater privacy control. I'd love to see a new Privacy section in the Dashboard that lets you control privacy settings for each line on the account, including being able to control the optional privacy features that many people would probably like more control over. It would be great to have a list of the various things US Mobile does with different types of data and a grid that lets us choose rather or not to allow uses of data for various purposes, and explanations for settings that cannot be changed as to why.
  
• SIM Swaps online made easier yet secure. You can currently change your SIM online by just changing networks completely, but being able to simply swap a SIM on the same network would be nice. Many carriers recently have made this way harder for "security purposes" instead of making the process itself more secure, and I think US Mobile has great opportunity to innovate here. Allowing SIM swaps online with eSIMs and pSIMs would be great. To keep things secure, I think both SIM and Network swaps should require 2FA verification and SMS or email confirmation. Example: I try to change my SIM: I have to verify with my authenticator app, then approve an SMS sent to the line number or approve the transfer by clicking a link in an email US Mobile sends. For those using SMS or email as their only 2FA options, perhaps require them to verify their security questions, verify with both SMS and email, or just require them to set up an Authenticator App first.
  
• Requesting account information online. Leaving US Mobile is almost always a travesty, but all wonderful things must come to an end at some point, and I think making that as easy as possible is only going to be honey that will make people want to come back. Plus it's pretty standard across carriers and it feels a bit grabby that US Mobile's Dashboard doesn't have it. I totally get the need to prevent Terms abuse, fraud, etc., but I think seasoned lines to request their port-out information online is a basic and necessary feature. I think an ideal way to set this up could be that the online dashboard only lets you port out lines that have been active for more than 28 (or some other number of) days, and lines younger than that will need assistance from Customer Care to ensure compliance.
  

Also, please consider not training reps to ask questions like "May I know why you are leaving us? 😢" when customers reach out to get their porting info. It doesn't come across very professionally and puts customers between an emotional rock and hard place where they feel like they have to feel bad for something that's just business. I think a more effective approach can be twofold, looking more like this: (1) have reps respond with something like, "We know it's important to LOVE your carrier and we want to make sure we're doing everything we can to make your experience awesome! While I'm processing your request on my end here, if you have any feedback you'd like to share with us, please don't hesitate to let me know!" And (2) sending a post port-out email with a link to a survey that customers can take to answer questions and share their feedback about the US Mobile experience. I think an approach like this will come across more genuine and feel less like an emotional pressure to avoid having you port out, thus incentivising customers to want to share genuine feedback that can help prevent customers from leaving in the future. Like the rest of this post, this is just my opinion, so obviously do with it what you please.

• WiFi Calling & e911 Address. This is more of a question, but does US Mobile just use the WiFi Calling address for e911 as well? You guys have been so awesome and added a per-line WiFi Calling address feature in the dashboard, but I don't see mention of updating the e911 address. Either adding an option to update that as well, or some text in the dashboard to tell a customer that the e911 address is the same as the WiFi Calling address, would be awesome!

I apologise if there's any duplicate suggestions that have already been addressed before (I checked the sub to try and avoid that). I know this is a super long post with a ton of ideas, so thank you to the US Mobile team for considering any of these and to anyone who took the time to read this freaking essay of a post lol.

I recently gave my semester-end viva in college and, surprisingly, I nailed it. I received positive comments like, "He's an intelligent guy" and "Yeah, he is very bright." It's hard for me to digest because I didn't feel like I did anything exceptional. Maybe that's how life is sometimes: you don't get appreciated for your hard work, and other times you get randomly rewarded for doing nothing.
Looking back at my first year in college, most professors were really nice to me, except one who occasionally gave me the cold shoulder. He got mad because I was giving him the silent treatment when he asked why I wasn't regular in college.
For example, one professor praised my writing twice in front of the whole class and was really nice, even if I hadn't attended his class for weeks. He asked me how I was or even random questions like how the traffic is today, he also told me to never stop my writing. It was really intresting how i met him, i was struggling in my fresher party, two seniors spot me and introduced me with him, it was like plot of, "perk of being a wallflower", so i think he had bit soft spot for me.
Another professor mentioned that he liked when I won second prize in an essay writing competition. He also accepted my assignments on the last working day with ease.
After my presentation, another professor told the class to stay in touch with me because I was going to be a big editor someday.
There was also a professor who didn't teach my paper but came to me randomly and said if I had any problems, I could come to him.
When I was presenting my final Vox POP project for one of my papers and felt it wasn't going well, I looked at my professor. His assertive gesture really helped me.
Last semester, one of my professors gave me a perfect score on my internal assessment, which was really cool.
My classmates have also been supportive. Quite a few of them told me I could come to them anytime if I had a problem. One guy, in particular, initially helped me a lot by repeatedly pointing out that I should look people in the eyes while talking to them.
An interesting thing I remember is a guy asking me, "All good, any problem?" I replied, "Yeah, no problem." He then said, "And that's the problem."
Although there were a few unpleasant people, they were easily ignorable.
And I can't forget Soccer team, it didn't end well as i thought because of internal disputes, but that was the first time in college, i felt i belonged somewhere.
College got better with time, lot of people started taking interest on me.
You may be wondering, why i am not going to college regularly, i too don't know that, but sometimes it get really harder to continue.
There's a pattern in my life that i can see, since some past couple of years, i look miserable, i don't have good reason for that but still i look that way.
For instance i have gone to attend a live comedy, i was sitting in front row so like every comedian there comment, what's wrong with me, why i am in depressed state.
Also couple of days ago my resident captain sit with me and asked, "why i am like this?" I really hate this guy he hiked my rent significantly, but i can feel that this time he genuinely thinking about me.
This part of me really pisses me of that, i can't express myself to other.
I am feeling like a Truman that, is my life like a script? And in current chapter i am trying to like myself like Epictetus said, "We suffer not from the events in our lives but from our judgement about them." Even the professor i mentioned earlier also told me to observe myself as i am really good at doing so but stop judging yourself, he too asked me to teach him to how to be peace with oneself regardless of external factors when I wrote about it in assignment.
I might have went bit random in my post, but i am feeling better after taking it all out.