a sword against apathy.

Gloria Mundus. 31 / F / Somerset, Victoria. Educator. [ oc rp blog ] [ about ] [ ooc/rules ]

[caligoascendant]

Oh what a blunder, I hadn't introduced myself.

I'm Caligo! Pleasure to make a more formal greetings, I'm sure I ended up following you in seeing you follow one of my fond friends. How splendid to see a time well spent with family! You were right about me not doing much, though, just a whole lot of lounging and getting pounced on. A pleasant norm! One I've grown quite fond of over the years.

I've seen charming things about that program. They recently made an episode on butchery in ye olden times, right? Spices and meats and all that fun filling stuff.

[in-transitu]

They're nice, bite-sized pieces of edutainment. Occasionally, I'll have a correction or qualification when something crosses one of my areas of expertise—even when taking care when drawing from primary sources, errors will be made by laymen. Overall, while I'd have notes if my own students submitted similar work, I think it's beyond passable given Miller's lack of formal expertise. (Between you and me, though, I often exaggerate my critique; I think my daughter likes to listen to me harp on these things.)

Gloria. The pleasure is mine.

[caligoascendant]

Good greetings this good evening!

May the night shine upon you in a pleasantly PEACEFUL fashion!

Whatever are you upto? I, myself, have finished storytime and have settled into a horizontal position.

[in-transitu]

Greetings, whoever you are.

Very little, though it seems that's likewise the case with you. My daughter and I have been procrastinating on bedtime by watching some of those 'Tasting History' videos.

[in-transitu]

Good evening.

[in-transitu]

Charlotte and I took a weekend trip to Albion, and today we saw a re-imagining of The Tempest at the Globe. My opinion on it hasn't settled, but hers are rather loud.

[nursemourningdove]

I think... that's a healthy way to... go about it...

I'm... not discouraged... I think... I don't think... anything could... discourage me... from doing my job...

[in-transitu]

Good. Well—I suppose that could be a sign of some unhealthy habit, but you'll be hard-pressed to convince me discipline and dedication is a bad thing.

[bromine-and-candy]

Hm! Sounds wretched! The technocrat bit, that is to say. Fantastic news on the fasttracking! Always good to have more educated people about!

[in-transitu]

You take what you can get. It's not as though I can wash my hands of the technocrat class; I've got a personal MPIC terminal here for a reason. Moving to a small town doesn't make you home-grown.

[bromine-and-candy]

Fascinating! Do you enjoy living there?

[in-transitu]

It's...fine.

Somerset is Verlamion's unofficial capital, even if the seat of government rests in Albion. The Victorian isles' industry as a whole has seen little but decline over the last century, but Somerset remains relevant on the world stage through its scientific research and the enduring titan that is its pharmaceutical industry. It's also where the International Science Consortium was founded, and where its main branch is still located—though these days the ISC meets in Babel, ever since the Great Yan became a member state.

For someone like me, that's all fairly decent. It gives me access to most avenues of learning, and I'm able to partner with some prestigious college preparatory programs to fasttrack my students to higher education. On the other hand, the culture in Somerset is rancid. The duchy is a matter of history, but entrenched power is difficult to excise. These technocrats still see themselves as nobility, and everyone else suffers for it.

[nursemourningdove]

I'm sure that's... frustrating... to some degree...

I know it... makes me... sad when... despite my efforts... to be professional... some people still see me as... too... depressed... to have good... beside manner...

[in-transitu]

It is what it is. It's something I've come to accept. Despite my passion for education, it's usually only the older children that can really appreciate it.

Even then, it's a toss-up—have they put aside their immature impulse to disregard everything any authority figure tells them? Of course, speaking to them without pretension and without looking down on them helps. Still, as with adults, there are going to be plenty who simply don't wish to learn. Combating this apathy is my raison d'être, but I'm only a single lever in the system.

I'm not discouraged. And I hope you aren't, either.

[bromine-and-candy]

I adore the petty! I think it's quite entertaining!

What fascinating sounding places, do tell me more about them, I've never heard of them! Though perhaps that's a failing on my part.

[in-transitu]

Likely not; while I've seen similar places through the MPIC, I've never once encountered a world that was fully alike my own. I don't mind answering questions about my world.

I live in the Somerset Metropolitan Area, on the island of Verlamion in what was once the centerpiece of a formerly dominant empire. These days, at least economically speaking, we're more of a satellite to the Alemannische Bundesrepublik, one of two remaining eastern superpowers, and the only democratic one.

[razporoniec]

A photograph from a few years ago of me, Bee! Raz is such a talented photographer. Very much captures my essence. I have this saved on my phone for if I need a profile picture on any website.

[bitterpainting]

Hard to say. Everywhere has it's negative points.

We lived up in Alaska for a bit, it was quite nice. Too cold for my tastes, but the landscapes I painted were beautiful.

It was a shame I couldn't witness the northern lights in all their beauty.

Here is relatively nice. We live near a sunflower field. It's beautiful.

I think my favourite place to visit is my parent's home in Ras El Hekma.

I grew up here in the states, near the great lakes. There was a beautiful park that ended up being cleared away for development. I was devastated.

[in-transitu]

The only one of those not returning useful results is Ras El Hekma—the rest, I agree, are captivating landscapes. Admittedly, I've always been someone who prefers to appreciate nature at a distance. I'm too much a fan of civilization to relish being so far from its absence. Nonetheless, the destruction of nature for civilization's advancement is always a tragedy. Doubly so if it's purposeless. We can do without so many parking lots.

[nursemourningdove]

Oh...? I don't think... being dour is... such a bad thing... personally...

[in-transitu]

Nor do I, but the children sure prefer him to me.

[nursemourningdove]

Ah... that's... fair... she is... very well loved... a very... bright and... energetic woman...

[in-transitu]

And I am dour and austere. It's little wonder I scare children. I scare adults, sometimes.

Our school is partnered with a local Carmental church—in a purely secular capacity, I assure you—well, from what I hear of her, she reminds me of that siren preacher.

[razporoniec]

My dear sister, moments before she was determined to try and drink an entire bottle of honey.

[jujulebee]

when i was a kid i had a rly restricted diet but my uncle would let me eat anything i wanted and what i rly loved growing up was sugary cereal and id bounce between brands i liked so he usually had like five different cereal boxes in the pantry at any one time and sometimes id get the stool and climb up real high (bc i am so so short) and id get down all the boxes and id mix them together into what i called honey snacks and id just eat it by the fist full until he noticed and stopped me because id make myself sick doing it and then id be super hyperactive for the next like several hours, sometimes i still do it but i dont get as hyper from the sugar anymore maybe thats because i eat so much sugar now or maybe im just always super hyper and never crash i mean sometimes i crash but mostly thats like a mood thing i really like dont get the energy crash from like sugar anymore its just like sometimes ur feeling totally fine right and then liek the next ur supes depressed which i think might just be a symptom of depression but like thats totally fine. thats normal im normal.

[in-transitu]

...Honey snacks. That's precious. Thank you for sharing that with me. I think I can imagine why your uncle kept his pantry stocked for you.

That is normal, by the way. Over 18% of adults report having been diagnosed with depression. While I'm sorry to hear you're among that number, you're hardly alone in those experiences.

[nursemourningdove]

She teaches... I believe it's third grade...?

[in-transitu]

Ah, another incongruency—I can't imagine teaching children that young. I applaud her for doing so, of course, but my personal focus is on creating pathways to higher education and realized ambitions. It's not that I dislike grade schoolers, of course. They're not usually the most fond of me, though.

[nursemourningdove]

Perhaps... I think you'd... probably like my mother... She's a... very sweet woman...

Her name is... Parting...

[in-transitu]

A fellow teacher is a good start, already—provided she's the kind genuinely invested in the futures of her students.