On The One Hand, This Was Stunning And Im Hugging This Affirmation To My Metaphorical Chest. On The Other...this

On the one hand, this was stunning and I’m hugging this affirmation to my metaphorical chest. On the other...this assumes that the major concern, for the kid struggling to turn in an assignment, is the grade. I can assure you that it’s not (or not for many of us).

The smartest kids who still don’t seem to comprehend that 60% will help you not fail? They know that. They are not scared of a bad grade, or not only of that. They’re scared of disappointing their professor and of the threat that they might not really be all that smart. A bad grade earned because of a late assignment isn’t as threatening as a bad grade earned by a bad paper. One is about their behavior, which theoretically can change; the other seems to be an indictment of their capabilities, which are less fluid. (This is flawed logic, because turning in assignments consistently late would indicate a deficit in life skills, but it’s hard to see that when you’re in the weeds.)

I once turned in a paper so late it got me a C+ for the whole class - my only C ever - but I didn’t mind so much, because <i>at least my professor still thought I had good ideas in my paper</i>. At least my paper was honest and well researched.

So unfortunately, this inspiring post wouldn’t have really helped me, when I was stuck in that mentality. It wouldn’t have mattered if my prof had explained to me that I could bump up to a B- in the class if I turned it in two days earlier but 5 points worse. I was completely willing to sacrifice the grade for his good opinion of my scholarship, and for my own intellectual curiosity and pride in the assignment.

What might have helped is if he or someone else had sat me down and said “featherofeeling, I’ve seen the work you’ve done in other assignments, and I know you’re a good writer and capable of research. What I need from you now is to demonstrate that you can fulfill requirements, including sacrificing quality for timeliness if necessary. I probably won’t remember these topics in 6 months anyway, but I’ll remember your presence in my class.”

Certainly no one was obligated to tell me that, and no one really did; but if someone had wanted to help, it’s that kind of advice that might have gotten through.

A reminder that turning in assignments for partial credit is better than not turning them in at all. It is. Even if you think you’ve done a bad job and are ashamed of your work, or it’s way overdue, you take whatever you can get. Partial credit dramatically improves your grade over a zero, and I’m always astounded by how often even the smartest kids don’t really comprehend that. 60% is worlds better than 0%. Even 10% is going to help you. Letter grades are misleading and are not created equal. “F"s are mathematically valuable. Turn that late assignment in.

Tumblr hive mind comes through again

dark bee tumblr show me the forbidden bees

If you're a writer and you see this post, stop what you're doing.

WHENEVER YOU SEE THIS POST ON YOUR DASH, STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND WRITE ONE SENTENCE FOR YOUR CURRENT PROJECT.

Just one sentence. Stop blogging for one minute and write a single sentence. It could be dialogue, it could be a nice description of scenery, it could be a metaphor, I don’t care. The point is, do it. Then, when you finish, you can get back to blogging.

If this gets viral, you might just have your novel finished by next Tuesday.

AAAAHHH can we please have this?

Zimbits fantasy AU reminiscent of Harry Potter:

Bitty lands his broomstick with a heavy heart, lagging behind everyone as they go to the showers. Jack’s words are ringing in his ears, and he doesn’t want to give the captain any more reasons to scream at him. Jack almost acts like he knows what Bitty’s thinking, and agrees with him; he strips and showers in record time, and when Bitty comes out of the showers himself, Jack is already dressed and gone.

“Don’t worry, bro,” Holster says, kicking his pile of gear and then directing it onto the rack with a flick of his wand. “Jack’s just like that. It’s not personal.”

“Considering what he’s been through,” Shitty says, not looking up as he re-bandages his ankle, “it’s not surprising.”

“What did he go through?” Bitty blurts out, and then blanches when they all turn to stare at him.

He keeps doing this; barely a day has passed since he arrived at the Sameell College of Magic that he hasn’t accidentally said or done something that reveals he was homeschooled, didn’t go to one of the tightly-knit magical boarding schools. They share so many things: Slang, handshakes, fashions, in-jokes…

“He defeated the Dark Lord,” Holster says incredulously. “Twice. That not enough?”

…Oh, right. And knowledge of the stupid secret war Bitty’s parents did his best to keep him safe from all these years.

“Bits,” Shitty says, sitting up straight. “Be real with me here. Have you never heard of the Boy Who Lived?”

holy fucking shit

How would you describe Oedipus? I've been asking around and most people either give a generic description or "motherf*king" jokes so I was wondering how you'd describe his story? I see it as tragic but I just can't seem to paint the story from my mind to my mouth. I'm clumsy with words but I admire yours. You have this way with powerful, lingering stories, haunting tells and perfect endings. So.. how would describe the tragic hero named Oedipus?

oh, it’s a tragedy, of course it’s a tragedy, how can it beanything else?

but i think the tragedy is not in his actions, not in thefather he killed nor the mother he wed nor the children he sired. no, it’s notin what he did, it’s in who he was, the tragedy here is that oedipus was a good man and a good king and unlike so many mythical figures, he did not reap whathe sowed

the tragedy here is not that he was human and erred and suffereddue to his errors.

it’s that he did not err, and suffered, it’s that the sinsof our fathers are our sins too and we cannot escape them

the oracle of delphi gave a prophecy foretold that any sonof king laius would kill his father and marry his mother. so when his wife andqueen jocasta bore him a son, he had the baby’s ankles nailed together andordered him to be left to die.

laius erred. laius planned to kill his son of blood, who hadcommited no crime, who was in perfect health,  who had done nothing but be born. it is laiuswho committed the sin of infanticide, and through this sin all other suchevents transpire

a shepherd spirits the infant away instead of leaving him todie, and he is eventually brought to the house of king polybus and merope, werehe is adopted. laius and jocasta have no more children, even though this leaveslaius heirless. since we know jocasta will later bear four more children, weknow it is not her whom is the issue here. after laius commits this grievouscrime, he is left sterile, and this, here, is where i believe the curse trulybegins.

the curse over thebes does not begin with oedipus’s rule,with his supposed transgressions. it begins with his father’s sin.

oedipus grows up a devoted and loving son. he eventually hearsrumors about his strange birth and consults the same oracle his birth fatherhad, and is told the same prophecy. not knowing he’s adopted, he think theprophecy refers to polybus and merope, and he flees his home, horrified at thethought that he could ever harm his beloved parents in such a way.

he’s traveling, and upon a cross roads he meets his birthfather, laius. they do not know each other. they quarrel about who may precedefirst. it’s important to note that laius is the one who attacks first, who’s sooffended that this unknown man will not move for a king that he moves to killhim, unknowlingly attempting to murder his son a second time.

oedipus kills laius, not knowing he’s a king or his father, ratherthan let himself be killed, and fulfils the first part of the prophecy. onceagain, it is laius’s actions which are incendiary action here. if he has notattempted to kill oedipus, perhaps he wouldn’t have died. if he hadn’t thrownhis son away, oedipus never would have killed him, since he was so aghast atthe possibility of harming his adopted parents that he ran from his home andhis life rather than risk it.

oedipus acts in self defense. even if he hasn’t, laius hadalready tried to kill him once, although neither of them had been aware of it.a trial by combat would be the least of what oedipus would be owed. he breaksno laws, does not act in hate or malice or fear. oedipus kills laius, kills hisfather, but no great sin is committed. patricide is a sin, but defendingyourself is not, refusing to die is not a sin.

so he travels, and lands upon thebes, where a sphinx hastaken residence, eating anyone who attempts to enter the city and cannot answerit’s question, effectively cutting off all trade to thebes and trapping all itsresidents inside, lest they leave and never be able to return. was the sphinxhere when laius left? we do not know. it doesn’t say.

but if it was – did laius leave his city to die? was thisspinx just another piece of the curse laius had brought down upon thebes byattempting kill his freshly born son?

oedipus, a cleverer man than any who have yet tried to enterthebes, answers the sphinx’s question, and the creature leaves, having beendefeated by this man’s intellect.

oedipus is a man who has sknown himself to be strong enoughto kill a king, and clever enough to defeat a sphinx. he has not harmed any whodid not first try to harm him, was so against committing harm against those hecared about that he simply left them behind. oedipus so far has shown no fatalfloor, no poor judgement, nothing damning or ruinous.

jocasta’s brother, creon, had said any man who could ridthebes of the sphinx would be named king, and given his sister’s name in marriage.oedipus had not known about this before arriving. he had not come to thebeswith the intention of becoming king.

but king he becomes.

he is given jocasta’s hand in marriage, and the finalportion of the prophecy is complete. he weds and bed and fathers children withhis birth mother.

notice, however, that this only happens in the first placebecause of how honorable and kind oedipus is to begin with.

jocasta is in her forties, at least. she may be a beautifulwoman, but she’s not a young woman. yet there are no accounts of oedipus beingunfaithful, or cruel. jocasta bears him four children, two sons and twodaughters, when during those long years after oedipus she had not had anotherchild with laius. if oedipus had rejected this widowed queen, said her age madeher unsuitable, had taken mistresses, had kept her as a wife in name only –then perhaps so much pain could have been spared.

but he didn’t do that. oedipus took a wife twice his age, atbest, took a woman who was not a virgin, who had been the wife of this land’sformer king, and he dedicates himself to her. he is faithful and attentive, andshe must be fond of him, because she later tries to shield him from the truthwhen she uncovers it.

which part of his actions can we take account with? yes,jocasta was his mother, and it is incest – but he didn’t know that. he didn’twant that. to do otherwise than what he did, to cast aside his gifted bride,could only be considered cruelty. and oedipus was not cruel.

many years after this marriage, a plague strikes thebes. whyis not clear, because if it were truly due to oedipus’s actions, to the godstaking offense at this incestuous union between mother and father-killer,surely it would not have taken years to come to fruition?

but a plague comes, and the oracle says that the only way tolift it is to the see laius’s killer is brought to justice.

(is it laius, yet again, bringing sorrow upon his city? isit his restless spirit which curses all of thebes? it is a strange coincidencethat the infertility which he was cursed with after trying to kill his infantson is the same plight that now faces all of thebes.)

and of course, ofcourse, honorable and kind oedipus vows to bring the killer to justice,says that this killer will be exiled for his crime of murdering the king.

exiled, not killed, what a peculiar punishment, what a merciful punishment for a king killer,what a merciful judgement from a merciful man.

but things unravel, as they do. he tells creon to bring himthe blind prophet tiresias, who tells oedipus that he must stop digging intothis matter. but the good of his city is at stake, so he can’t of course he can’t,and tiresias calls him false for not knowing his true parentage. he and creonquarrel, and slowly, oh so slowly, the truth comes out.

a messenger comes, saying that his adopted father has died,and oedipus is relieved. not for any malicious reasons, but because it means hewon’t fulfill his prophecy of murdering him. he refuses to go home becausemerope is still there, refuses to take up the title of king that is surely hisby right, because he fears harming his mother. when the messenger says theoedipus is adopted, and there’s no reasons for him not to go home, jocasta finallyrealizes that oedipus is her son. she begs him to stop his search, desperate tokeep the truth from him.

jocasta knows, and tries to protect oedipus. she mustbelieve he’s worthy of being on the throne, he must have showed her kindness andaffection if she’s so desperate to protect him from the truth, even at theexpense of the well being of thebes.

but oedipus does not listen. he leaves, and finds the shepherdwho gave him to his adopted parents so long ago, and discovers the truth.

he is the son of lauis and jocasta. lauis is the man hekilled at the crossroads. he has killed his fathe and married his mother, allthem each unaware of each other.

after this, there are differing accounts of what happenednext.

sophocles’s account is most popular. he returns to find hiswife and mother jocasta has killed herself, and he takes the pins from herbroach and blinds himself, unable to stand the sight of her. he is then exiled,as he said laius’s killer would be, and his daughter antigone guides him untilhe dies soon after.

in euripides’s version, jocasta does not kill herself.oedipus is blinded by a servant of laius, and so justice is still served to laius’skiller, and he continues to rule thebes. i like to think jocasta rules withhim, alive and well, because she no more deserves death than oedipus deservesblindness.

the tragedy here is not in oedipus. it is in lauis, theclear villain of this story, the one who damned and hurt and cursed all aroundhim. he who caused so much strife, and then left it all for his son to fix, forhis son to struggle with.

but he did fix it.

oedipus was a fair and just ruler of thebes, a kind husbandto jocasta, a good father to his children, from all accounts, since antigone wasso devoted to him, and he was disappointed in his sons for their selfishnessfrom some accounts, because that’s not how he raised them.

perhaps oedipus is a story of how our fathers, ourpredecessors, those who come before us will curse us and damn us and leave usmore problems than solutions can be found

perhaps oedipus is a cautionary tale, and our tragic figureis not oedipuis, but laius, who made his own ruin, who’s spiteful hands leftscars on all they touched.

oedipus is a tragedy, but only because it reminds us thatour own undoing, our own unhappy endings, aren’t necessarily within ourcontrol. our own tragedies may not be our fault, may not be due to ourmistakes, be didn’t earn our unhappiness.

it’s not fair.

it’s not fair, and that’s the true tragedy of oedipus. thatgood, kind, clever, merciful people can do their absolute best, can showkindness and sacrifice and love, and in the end it won’t be able to save themfrom the mistakes other people have made.

oedipus was a good man, and a good king, and it may not havesaved him – but it saved all those in thebes.

yes, oedipus was blinded. yes, jocasta died.

but the spinx was gone, their line continued, and thebesthrived.

the tragedy of oedipus is the idea that we’re not in controlof our own destiny.

the triumph of oedipus is the idea that we need not controlit in order to have a destiny worth remembering.

It’s the bet that really gets me. How often do people bet on Jack’s hockey? How often on him losing? For that matter, on him losing it again, or the kind of drugs he’s on? This is so hopeful and wonderful, and I love Alicia so much in it. She’s vibrant and her own person, in what used to be her own space, and that shows even in how it’s set back from the rest of her family. This is how you write female secondary characters!

I wish you would write a fic where jack comes back from going to kiss bitty at graduation and his parents chirp him SO HARD bc his phone keeps goign off and he's all pleased and bashful about it and doesn't outright admit anything but it's SUPER CLEAR what happend

This is…. not quite what you wanted but it’s set at the same time and its similar. also its what popped into my head as i procrastinate my last paper so…

“Well, that one clearly just got laid,” you say to Ashlyn as the two of you finally get the chance to stand still and lean against the bar. You’re behind it and she’s in the little nook that servers hide in when they don’t want their tables to see them. She swivels her head to see who you are looking at. 

“Which one?”

“Table 4. Dark suit, blue tie, looks just like his dad.”

Ashlyn looks. Then giggles. “You’re fucking right about that. Look at him!”

“So laid,” you agree. “Probably after the ceremony too. And good too. You don’t walk around with a smile like that unless you got right fu–”

“Excuse me?”

Your mouth snaps shut. Hard. Because this place isn’t particularly fancy–but it is the traditional college bar and it is graduation. Which means all the alums and parents are back and you probably should not be talking like this. It’s a classy day. 

And it only gets worse as it turns because this place isn’t classy, but, goodness, this woman is. Reddish-blond hair perfectly styled in that long-bob that’s so in right now, red and white dress, fashionable belt, and blue eyes expertly enhanced by the slightest bit of brown eyeliner. Ugh. After only 4 hours of tending bar on graduation day, you are pretty sure you look like some sort of monster.

Also, she looks vaguely familiar. As if maybe you’ve seen her somewhere. Somewhere important?

Also, she is a paying customer who just overheard you gossiping about how one of the newly graduated college boys probably had sex within the past hour so…

Not a great moment for you, to be honest. 

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