Howdy, fam!
My name is Elizabeth Haste, but we’re internet friends now so you can just call me Val. I’m a queer writer and video essayist on the west coast. Chessie is my cat and co-writer, who says: 2wmnbp0er6541.
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Queer Identities in Smile for Me
Today is Valentines Day, a national holiday celebrating yours truly. And you know what always makes me happy? Application of critical theory! Using a queer lens, I can make a compelling case that Smile for Me’s central antagonist, Dr. B Habit, is both gay and gender-nonconforming. The rest of y’all nerds on dates and stuff…
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Paradise Killer: Facts vs. the Truth
Your honor, the prosecution seeks to prove here today that those in a position of authority are uniquely empowered to form and define their own truths. It will demonstrate that the law is neither purely logical, nor neutral, and that it can never be impartially enforced. Evaluation of right and wrong is inherently inseparable from…
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Ikenfell as an Exploration of Trauma and Healing
For the freshmen, Ikenfell is a turn-based RPG developed by Vancouver-based Happy Ray Games. It follows the adventures of “ordinary” teen Maritte, as she breaks into a magical school in search of her missing sister. Originally Kickstarted in 2016, the promise of queer Hogwarts instantly captivated many muggles still heartbroken over their own missing acceptance…
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Transgender Day of Remembrance
Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR), and the capstone of Transgender Awareness Week. Many of our peers here at WillowTree identify as transgender, so the Pride ERG worked really hard to assemble these resources for you all. In this article, we’ll talk about why we observe TDoR, about what it means to be transgender,…
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TL;DR – Never Split the Difference
I’m on a quest to read the founding texts of WillowTree, in part because I like learning stuff, but also because the air outside is poisonous and society is constantly two skips away from supernova. Anyway here are my notes on Never Split the Difference, by Chris Voss. Sleep tight!
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TL;DR – The Progress Principle
WillowTree has a growing list of career development resources which are foundational to its core values and culture. There’s usually a solid pamphlet worth of valuable information in them, but you can’t sell a pamphlet so the authors keep writing books instead. I’m on a mission to condense each one of these texts into its…
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Short Poems
It’s been a long time since I’ve attempted to write poetry, so I thought I’d have a go at it. As a bonus, I rediscovered what must be the last poem that I had written. I was still in high school at the time, and it is delightful. I’ve included it here at the end,…
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The Case of Little Consequence
Anna arrived at seven for sentencing. The door was closed, the hallway silent. Narrow bulbs buzzed and flickered overhead, the glass in harsh contrast to the dried out husks of moths, and worse. She checked the crumpled piece of paper in her fist again. There was still time to run.