- Research Log 4: Conclusion -

I survived!!

As you finalize your research paper, reflect on the process as a whole. What have you learned about writing a Humanities Core research paper? How have the lectures made you think differently about the scholarly research connected to the Worldbuilding theme? What understanding of worldbuilding have you constructed over this year? And, considering what you wrote in your Digital Archive at the beginning of the year, what have you learned about yourself as a writer, researcher, and thinker?

Ok, first off...

Happy Pride Month!!

It feels rather fitting that my project has come to an end during pride month :}

Putting the TRANS in Transformers. Hell yeah.

Nightshade drawn by me <3

me with EarthSpark

// Some things I wanted to say about this project that I haven't had the chance to say yet

As you can probably tell by now, this project comes from an incredibly personal place for me. Nightshade as a character means a lot to me, as someone who's agender and queer. I love their mannerism so much GOSH I can go on gushing about what an incredible character they are. Obviously, I do have some critiques regarding the queer representation in EarthSpark and in general (wrote a whole paper about it duh). But the way that EarthSpark handles Nightshade's character with such care and respect genuinely makes me so happy.

❝ What a wonderful word ❞

for a wonderful experience.

I will always love this line from the show <3

I chose EarthSpark as my primary source partly to spite all the haters. There are a lot of people, Transformers fans especially, who dismiss EarthSpark as "just another kid's show with bad animations". Admittedly, the show's Seasons 2 and 3 aren't that great, but I will die on the hill that Season 1 is peak. I think Season 1 has a really compelling story with great potential. Ultimately, I believe that every story, no matter how "bad" someone says it is, has some value and is worthy of analysis.

storyboard of "Missed Connection", one of the episodes I talked about in my essay

good o' fandom as vines

Before I got into Transformers I was under the impression that it's a dudebros franchise. But the truth is it has a fairly large queer fanbase and these robots are gay af. I think it's really cool that as a part of my project I got to explore what about Transfromers seem to attract queer folks :D

this is my sense of humor

// Reflecting on the Research Process

Reading secondary sources can be fun as hell.
You can write a research paper on just about ANYTHING. Some writers are lowkey unhinged in the best way possible.
I love reading articles and finding the PERFECT quote. It's the moments of "this paper is actually such a banger" and "this is so brilliant how did they even think to put it this way" that keep me going🔥🔥
Best decision I've made was to keep a running list of all of my secondary sources in a Google Doc and add quotes to it as I read. Omg it made my life 100 times easier when I started writing as I didn't have to go hunting for quotes.
Some of my favorite secondary sources I've read:
- - Hacking Xena (Shout out to Prof. Ruberg for showing me this!)
  - The Erotic Delirium of Michael Bay's Transformers (It's as unhinged as the title sounds.)
  - Nonbinary character design in gaming (I love how the researcher created their own illustrations for the project.)
Something something academia shouldn't be behind a paywall...

// Some Helpful Tips

⭐ Your thesis will change as you write and that's perfectly fine. I didn't finalize my thesis until the beginning of Week 10 lol.

⭐ It's okay to write paragraphs that are a page long. Don't let structure constrain you.

⭐ Find a Writing Center tutor you like and go meet with them once a week (if not more) starting Week 5 or 6; it'll keep you motivated to write & prevent procrastination!

⭐ And perhaps most importantly:

Pick a topic you're genuinely passionate about!

I cannot stress enough how important this is. Don't pick something just because it's "easy" or has a lot of secondary sources directly analyzing it. If it's something that's personal to you, even better—it heightens the stakes as you will want to do your primary source justice and therefore feel more compelled to write >:)

My biggest takeaway when it comes to Worldbuilding?
Probably the fact that literally everything is Worldbuilding.

Worldbuilding,

Constructed by Me.

Fiction can never be divorced from reality and the cultural context in which it's produced. From character design to the construction of gender, societal norms are projected onto fictional narratives.

At the beginning of the school year, on the homepage of this digital archive, I had written down:

Art is a microcosm of human culture.

I think this statement still holds true.

It's just that doing this research project made me realize the implication is more grim than I had initially thought. To quote my own words, it seems inevitable that the construction of fictional worlds would end with a mirror image of our own world, replicating structures and values that continue to marginalize those who are the most vulnerable.

This video almost made me cry. If you like video essays give it a watch! Or just watch the conclusion part to see why this show matters to me and others.

One of the best things about Human Core is that it forces you to write. A lot.

It's been great experiencing my growth as a writer throughout the course. With every essay, I feel like my writing improves significantly, and I have a better idea of what I'm doing. My evidence is that I'm happy with every paper I've written, which means I'm definitely doing something right.

There are people who can write better than me, for sure. But, I think I'm not half bad :]

Honestly, it doesn't feel real that the research project's over now. Reality hasn't quite settled in for me yet.

It's been a real journey, and I'm proud to say that I'm really happy with the end result. I've delivered my vision.

⋆⸜ Cheers to a great year of Humanities Core! ⸝⋆

'Til All Are One

References / Image Credits

Sources:

N/A

Header Image:

"Home, Part 1." Transformers: EarthSpark, season 1, episode 17, Entertainment One, 2022. GIF taken from here.

Other Images:

Graphics: pride dividers by @cafekitsune, NB hearts, rainbow flowers

Miscellaneous EarthSpark GIFs: batch 1, the hug

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