Category: Junior Literary

If you’ve ever gone on a field trip, (which is very likely) you remember the joy of the teacher handing out permission slips and announcing the opportunity of a field trip in the coming weeks. And then losing your mind for the next several weeks or maybe that was just me. Is there anything more exciting than a field trip? I think I could get married and still remember my trip to Ship Island better.

You get a permission slip with a little stamp in the corner and enough body text for you to just properly sell your soul or something without noticing, and a dotted line at the bottom for your parents to sign away any chance of death, sickness, or heat exhaustion.

Now at MSA, we just send in money or just sign up to pay the fee, but back then it was a big deal! Especially if you had ADHD and being responsible for your own permission slip was your own personal 7th circle but I’m sure that’s a very niche experience.

Then, they would take you all out of class (except for the kids whose parents didn’t let them go,) and line you up to get situated into separate buses: 50 kids to a bus each. All crammed into a small metal container with leather seats and no proper ventilation. And then you stay like that for an hour and thirty minutes.

Annually, one kid tries to see how fast they can get the bus turned around before their teacher snaps at them. Last 15 minutes of the ride or so, they (the teachers) stand up despite the fact you’re not supposed to do that and mention you’re REPRESENTING THE SCHOOL SO NO FUNNY BUSINESS before they let you loose. Some kid would get lost, some kid would puke up the school lunch because bugs crawled in it, the teachers would force the rest to throw out the school lunches, it was an experience!

Possibly the grimiest experience of your life but an experience!

If you’re lucky, the field trip lasts the entire day, but most of the time you’re back by 1:15 pm (to make time for the bus ride back). One kid will presumably go home with their parents because they live in the area while the rest of you get to finalize the day by sleeping in terrible leather seats until the bus pulls back into the school (or the bus driver runs something over.)

and then no one in the school ever stops talking about it. the end!

My experience with Sci-fi has always been one of an interesting accord. When I was younger it was always something that I never took much time to realize I was consuming, even though I think in elementary school I lived and breathed for star wars. However, as I entered middle school I started to move away from it, and I haven’t really taken much time to absorb any kind of science fiction until the past few months. That was with Dune.

I also need everyone here to take this with a grain of salt because, for one I have not read the actual book, and two this comes from someone who really has not liked many mainstream produced movies from the last ten years. This is mainly due to the fact that I believe that the monetization of movies within the confines of these big production companies has heavily infringed upon the quality of the movies in which they  have put out, especially with animated films, however I digress, this is a topic for another day. 

At first I didn’t really even believe that Dune was going to be anywhere as good as star wars, mostly because of star wars’ previously acclaimed fame, however, I think that is what the main issue is with modern star wars is in the first place. I would go as far as to say that only movies that stray away from the original story line is what I truly enjoyed within the confines of the modern age of the star wars saga. The main example of  this it seems is rouge one, which is in my opinion the best piece of media to go out of lucasfilm production in the last thirty years. Sorry for the tangent, back to the main topic.

After watching the first Dune, without even seeing the second one I can confidently say that this story is immensely better than that of star wars, whether it be the quality, or the characters, or the system of weapons and powers within the cinematic universe, Dune just comes out on top every single time. I think if the Dune franchise had the opportunity to grow in the same way that star wars did than I am almost certain that star wars wouldn’t remotely come close.  Another important aspect of why I think that Dune is the better of the two is that without Dune Star Wars would not be what it is today, it might not have even been a thing at all. The sand plant, the giant worm, the other worldly powers and an inept storyline about a protagonist that turns from good to evil and the story turns to his son and daughter. There is just so much that is taken from Dune that I find it so incredible that it has not become a mainstream fact that most know about. I apologize, this was more of a rant than anything but, thank you for listening. I might make a part two once I watch the second movie soooo, look out for that.

As said in the title, Chinese history fascinates me.

China was ruled under a monarchy up until 12 February 1912 when a group of revolutionists in southern China led a successful revolt against the Qing Dynasty. The monarchy originally began around 2070 BC when Yu the Great established the Xia dynasty. China has had a total of 83 dynasties and about 559 emperors and kings.

The first dynasty in China was the Xia Dynasty and the very first emperor in China is said to have been Yu the Great. It’s also said he is one of the very few Chinese monarchs who were honored with the epithet “the Great”.

The very last monarch in China was Emperor Puyi of the Qing Dynasty. He ruled between 1908-1912 when China’s monarchy was overthrown. Ironically enough, he was only six years old when the monarchy was overthrown. He was born on February 7, 1906 and started his rule on December 2, 1908. When the monarchy was overthrown, he was not killed like you may think. As he got older, he tried to fight back for control over China but did not succeed. From my understanding, he gained control over some parts of China but later, that was taken from him. He also received help from Japan to try to gain control over China at one point.

At one point in time, China had their first and only female emperor, Wu Zhao (624-705). She was also known as Empress Wu Zetian. She ruled as the “Holy and Divine Emperor” of the Second Zhou Dynasty for 15 years. She had a reputation of being one of the most cruel rulers in China’s history. At the age of 14, she was chosen to become a concubine for Emperor Taizong. While being his concubine, she started having an affair with his favorite son who later became Emperor Gaozong. When Emperor Taizong died, she was sent to live as a nun, however, seeing as she had connections with the new Emperor, Emperor Gaozong, she returned to the palace and became empress consort. People have said that Wu Zetian killed her own daughter and blamed the former empress for her death, so Wu Zetian could take her spot. When Emperor Gaozong died, Wu Zetian forced her sons away from the throne and declared herself as Empress Regnant. While she ruled, she had several male concubines and established an office to maintain them all. Wu Zetian was also known for being a feminist, remarkable leader, and a strong military commander. She left behind a legacy as one of the greatest emperors in all of Chinese history. Towards the end of her ruling, her power began to slip as she began to be more paranoid and spent more time with her young lovers (mainly the Zhang brothers) rather than ruling China. Her paranoia resulted in a purge of her administration and she banished or executed anyone she became suspicious of. Her rule really started to decline as she became addicted to different types of aphrodisiacs. Eventually, court officials got sick of her behavior and murdered the Zhang brothers. She was forced to abdicate the throne so her son, Zhongzong, and his wife, Wei, could ascend to the throne. By the time Zhongzong and his wife ascended the throne, Wu Zetian was in poor health and died about a year later. Wu Zetian was buried with Emperor Gaozong in a tomb in Qian County, Shanxi Province. To follow tradition, a huge stele was built outside of the grave, but the marker remained blank. Today, Empress We Zetian is considered one of China’s greatest rulers and her character has appeared in many Chinese dramas including Women of the Tang Dynasty (2013) which starred actress Hui Tinghong as Wu Zetian.

To this day, there are still living heirs to the Chinese throne.

This Blog is mostly going to discuss Coral, a new addition to the Paw Patrol. This blog won’t get too heated as I am not even going to dive into the so called cat members, who make my eye twitch at the mere mention of. 

Coral is long-lost cousins with Skye, sounds like to me you heard about my girls success and wanted a peace, I am not making any allegations just seems clout-chasey. 

But basically she’s mermaid-pup hybrid????

FIRST OF ALL, most of the lore of Paw Patrol at least that I can gather is by comparing it to us, sense they’re human. Adding mermaids into this mix diverts all of what I can establish as canon. 

Also given that she is a “mer-pup” she’s works in “water-rescue” which wouldn’t bother me if WE DIDN’T ALREADY HAVE ZUMBA, who is not only AN ORIGINAL MEMBER but works in water-rescue as well. WE LITERALLY DIDN’T NEED HER. I have no issue with her assisting him but why does she get all the clout while he gets cast to the side. HE’S BEEN HERE. 

Also her origin story, so supposedly she heard a lullaby on a “mer-moon” follows it and ends up rubbing noses with a mer-pup thus turning her into one. Number one, no mermaid lore I have read has mentioned anything about a mer-moon. And I don’t think Paw Patrol deserves to contribute to mermaid lore. Also RUBBING SNOUTS? Like huh? I have never known mermaids to be “turned” to begin with but by rubbing snouts. Usually with Vampires or Werewolves(who’s lore I have opinions about as well) who need an exchange of salivia or venom usually through a bite. What meaningful transfer of DNA can be made by rubbing snouts, you need to swab a dogs mouth to collect DNA so like what? Also mermaids are akin to sirens so I get the lullaby but does Carol sing, why was she lured by a lullaby. Also you can’t introduce mer-pups and just move on like what else lurks in the shadows? 

Also back to them dismantling the lore I was able to establish, if there are supernatural good guys there has to be bad ones too and how are these puppies going to defeat them? Besides Zumba who’s equipped for water (without a tale) I might add. Just because he isn’t supernatural his contribution shouldn’t be casted aside. He deserves his flowers too. Plus Coral is corny name for her, that might sound like I am just being a hater but I am serious.

What’s up everyone. Today I decided to follow the trend that has taken over the class and I’m going to talk about food that I would eat from the Scooby-Doo franchise.

1. Scooby Snax 

See I honestly don’t know if these snacks are for dogs or humans because the origin of them depends on what movie or show your watching. But with the way Shaggy and Scooby agree to be live bait and go to scary places for them they must taste like haven or something.

1. Cheese Volcano 

I have an unhealthy small obsession with cheese and in this episode of be cool Scooby doo there was so much cheese relative food but the one I would eat the most would be the Cheese Volcano. Just look at that fountain of melty cheese. 

1. “Abandoned” Cabin feast. 

So, I couldn’t find a picture for this one but in season 1 ep.8 Be Cold, Scooby-Doo! The gang find this research cabin on the ground of a ski resort. Inside is this scientist who has gone a little mad from his week stay in the cabin by himself. He invites the gang in and offers him some of the food that his butler had prepared. The table had a large three-layer cake a whole turkey and some other food.

1. Movie Snacks 

I’m pretty sure that this scene is from Mystery Incorporated (Which I’m actually going to start rewatching today). My question for y’all is when watching a movie would you want all this food?

1. The Grim Reapepper 

Technically this isn’t a food but a sauce, but I’m still going to talk about it. This hot sauce is so hot that it makes your sweat boil as it comes off your skin. In the same scene as the picture at the top Shaggy’s eyes were literary boiling from how hot the sauce was.  

 

What was your favorite food/or meal on this list. I know that some people don’t like it for reasons, but I want to know does anyone here like Mystery Incorporated. I watched it as a kid. Another question I have is what would YOU do for a Scooby Snax? I for one would never go into some haunted place for a snack but you know cartoon logic.  

Well that all I have for this week guys. Next blog is going to be a little fantastical magical or something like that. It’s going to be a new story I’m working on.

Have a good Spring break everyone. 

                                 

                                                                 Hello! 

Throughout most of my childhood, Qubo was the channel where I could watch all the fun happen.  Every Saturday morning, I could watch young travelers’ voyage to Islands until they stop at Kingdoms with Fairytale Detectives.  I could watch Polar Bears that talk, ride on Magical carpets with poodles.   On Sunday mornings I can experience people being friends with dragons (while also pretending to be a dragon tamer) while I sit on my grandmother’s couch and eat eggs with bacon.  With Qubo my childhood was a little less scary, and it also put me through a big fantasy phase which I still have work from because it was just that special to me.  

So, now that I’m done with my intro, I’m going to introduce some more shows from Qubo. 

PIPPI LONGSTOCKING 

If you were to ask me to sing the theme song to this show right now, I would most definitely do it.  This show gave me so much freedom, because Pippi was free, and she made me want to travel every knack and cranny on Earth.      

Pippi is nine years old, but when I was younger, I thought she was older because of how braver she was compared to me then.   In the show Pippi is traveling the seas armored with her superhuman strength and Mr.  Nilsson (her friend monkey) while they are accompanied by her horse.  They also live in Villa Villekulla( A island where she was left) with a boy and a girl who are her friends that’s helping her look for her father who she lost at sea.  His name is Captain Longstocking.  In the show, the overarching plot is her looking for her father, but they go through obstacles on the way, mostly mysteries that need solving.  Like this one episode when it included some history and a ghost lady who killed herself (I think), it was a weird and scary episode.  

 

Rupert 

Rupert is so adorable, and his show has the aesthetic of warm hot chocolate freezing in snow.  I wish I could explain it but visualize a show that’s kind of like Max and Ruby mixed with Backyardigans, and mixed with some whimsical fantasy show involving magic carpets and mirror people that talk.  Rupert Bear and his friends are going on adventures in magical worlds, enchantment, and danger.  A lot of his adventures involve taming dragons in China or fighting mirror people that are your doubles. (That episode was called “Rupert in Mirror land”) It’s a bit of everything in this show with this cuddly bear. 

 

Sally Bollywood

Sally the Great Detective is a French – Australian show about a 12-year-old Indian girl who works in her own private detective agency called the SBI (Sally Bollywood Investigations). The is agency is inspired by from her father’s agency, Harry Bollywood.  In the basement of her home, Sally and her best friend Doowee investigate cases brought to them by their schoolmates.  They travel their local neighborhood with Sally using her detective skills and using technology Doowee invents to solve the cases.  This show would always occupy me while I was waiting for my grandmother to finish cooking her nice old bread pudding. 

Sandra the Fairytale Detective 

If you ever wanted to see how fairytale characters should actually react to a situation that they’re in, then this show is for you.  Sandra is from a long line of fairytale detectives that solves problems that come from The Land of Fairytales.  It’s now Sandra’s turn in the line, so she and her friend Fo (a 500-year-old elf), work together on the cases.  All Sandra has to do is throw on her overcoat and jump into the mystery.   I can say one of my favorite episodes is when Sandra helped Cinderella escape a bratty Prince Charming by getting him to fall in love with someone else.  That show was such a good lesson to me when I was younger.    

This week’s blog was going to be a show recommendation that I’ve wanted to do for a while. 

My freshman and sophomore year were spent waking up early and watching tv before school. I started with friends, then the big bang theory, futurama, and many others. I’m surprised I got through so many shows in just two years. 
Anyways, one of the most memorable shows I watched before school was Bob’s Burgers

Bob’s Burgers Doesn’t seem all that appealing at first, and I can’t quite pinpoint what I like about it. Maybe its Bob’s attitude toward everything, or how crazy the youngest child Louise is. But throughout the show there are some interesting episodes. 

If you’re looking for a show that produces good morals and life lessons, I advise looking elsewhere. I’m not saying that this show doesn’t have anything to offer, but… it really doesn’t have much to offer other than mindless entertainment. 

There was no real character development, or plot, or much of anything that I can remember, it’s humor wasn’t even that unique. It’s by far one of the strangest shows I’ve enjoyed and watched all the way through. 

There were only two characters that I think had some struggle throughout the series, and that’s Tina and Bob.
Bob obviously had to keep his shop afloat and work for his restraint, but I think Tina was the one who struggled the most. I don’t remember if she finally found someone, but I do remember her going through each season trying to find the lover of her life. In a weird way, she reminds me of Mable from gravity falls. 

My favorite character was by far Teddy. He was interesting and added a colorful output on each episode he was featured in. I can find him relatable in some ways, not really, but I did think he was funny. 
         All in all, its a hit or miss but It can be entertaining if you turn off your brain and just enjoy it. 

Earlier in the semester, we had some demo monologues we had to write for an assignment. Here are some leftovers

BASIL GREENE:

And I’ve always been surrounded by… You know. The thing. I think it’s just something ingrained in me, this sludge stuck to my body. Something I was born with until it grew and grew and now it’s just—me. It’s just who I am. Everyone wants to feel sorry for me, but I don’t think I even feel sorry for myself. Maybe I’m not fine with it, but I’m used to it, you know? Is it so bad to get used to it? To not be afraid of it anymore? I’m hanging my feet off the edge of a dock and know the water’s dangerous, but to not be afraid? As if the monster waiting for you at the bottom of the creek is… Friendly, even. I’ve known him my whole life. I see him clawing at the bottom of my feet, but I’d still like to believe he’s friendly. I’m never going to get rid of him, so I’d like to believe he’s friendly.

UNNAMED

It’s just… Terrifying. They’re never gonna see each other again, never gonna know each other’s faces, they were a split moment in each other’s lives. They were twined at the hip, they were inseparable, and their friendship still ended all the same. Their lives still ended all the same. Isn’t that terrifying? Nine seasons of watching something and they don’t even know each other’s names by the end. Nine seasons and it’s like you wasted your whole life.

[x takes a brief pause and turns off the TV]

I hate unhappy endings anyway.

UNNAMED VILLAIN

My name is one with fear. You do not hear it, do not taste it, but you know it. I know you know it well. You fought me many a time, and as we grace this song and dance, I wonder how long you will keep standing. How long before the foundation you’ve built us on collapses and you finally realize with all you’ve given, you still find nothing in this world to matter. I can reap it from the ground and rip the flowers from the weeds and I can tear the world asunder, and you’ll lose. And all this fighting, this pitiful fighting you wish to amount to, will be worth nothing. This work, this pitiful beautiful work you do, with every step and glide, as if you were a dancer, is only placing you like a buck in an open fire. And bucks can run, all they want, but everyone knows man has the gun.

 

The process of creating a poem is one that I wish that I even had close to down. It’s one of those things that are pretty much as sporadic as the mood swings that I wish I could overcome. Anyway, I didn’t mean to go that deep into a tangent in such a short amount of time. When it comes to my own personal development of artistic literary pieces it is always usually dictated off of one factor, that being the title, and whether I think of the idea for the poem itself first, or whether I think of the title first. For this specific piece that I am going to be sharing today I decided on the title first. This wasn’t because I couldn’t think of what to write (it was) but because I thought of it and how many metaphorical vises I could attach to it. But anyway here is the poem itself, I want to hear all of your opinions and process though too. I will touch on that in a second.

 

Pomegranate seed 

 

Love me like a pomegranate seed

 

An aperture of translucence.

A reddish glow.

Shapes crafted ever so

meticulously that it’s

as if it was molded

at the fingertips of

Gaea herself.

 

Love me even though none of that matters.

 

For the beauty of

an individual seed does

not span beyond the 

confines of the fruit’s rind.

 

As does the beauty

of any physical being,

when left in a room

full of people.

 

500 seeds to a single fruit.

My beauty is not my own.

 

Yet it is I who is awarded with the privilege of your love.

Whether you like or hate this poem is one thing, I don’t even know if I like it but I hope the publication I submitted to likes it enough.  But anyway there are a couple things that I wanted to touch on when it comes to the process of writing poems. For the most part I think that majority of the things in which I have written have originated not from a title but from an overall idea of the piece. However this one does not specifically possess that same background, and to be honest I am not exactly sure if I need to do any other poems like this, I know it is important to have a strong basis however I don’t think that there was for this piece, it was only the two words that created the title. So I just want to hear everyones opinion on itt. :))))

 

For this week’s blog, I thought I’d talk about the Chinese Prince of Lan Ling, Gao Changgong. But before I do, I want to give you a little bit of side information that is important.

Thousands of years ago in ancient China, beauty was more important for men than it was for women. Men wanted to be pale, slender, and tall. They wore light shades of foundation and put on lipstick. They also had very long hair. People didn’t cut their hair back then, because bodies, skin, and hair are given to them by their parents. Because of this, they must not be damaged. Cutting hair was seen as disrespectful to parents and barbaric. Because of this, it became a punishment reserved for extreme crimes. Now onto the story

There was once a man in China who was so handsome, he felt self conscious. He was the fourth son of Gao Cheng who was the elder brother of the emperor of Northern Qi, making him a prince of Northern Qi. He was given the name Prince Lan Ling as his land was known as Lan Ling. He was also a powerful general of Northern Qi. He worried that his feminine looking beauty wouldn’t intimidate his enemies so he would wear a mask into battle to seem more fierce.

The emperor at the time happened to be Gao Changgongs’s cousin, Gao Wei. Gao Wei was constantly worried that his cousin, Gao Changgong, would overthrow him as emperor so one day he sent a cup of poisoned wine to Gao Changgong, which led to his death. About four years after his death, having lost one of its greatest generals, Northern Qi was destroyed by Northern Zhou which resulted in all of the members of the Gao royal family being brutally slaughtered. In a roundabout way, Gao Wei signed his own death certificate when he killed Gao Changgong.

Fun facts: 

1. Prince Gao Changgong appears in a dramatized TV series called Prince of Lan Ling. It’s most likely called this as he ruled in LanLing county.
2. Prince Gao Changgong also appears in another TV series called Princess of LanLing
3. I have heard Prince Gao Changgong appeared in the video game Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but I don’t know if it’s true or not.
4. Also, I’m pretty sure that none of the historical pictures of Prince Gao Changgong survived to the present day.