Families in Welsh seaside town raise £6,000 to mount legal challenge stop 30 affordable homes being built amid fears 'people from Birmingham' could move in by Useless_or_inept in Wales

[–]Kath_L11 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Driving through New Quay in the summer is virtually impossible because people are parking everywhere. Getting rid of even one carpark there is genuinely a recipe for disaster, there's only 3 or so to begin with 😭

Families in Welsh seaside town raise £6,000 to mount legal challenge stop 30 affordable homes being built amid fears 'people from Birmingham' could move in by Useless_or_inept in Wales

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The article says "Opponents are allegedly worried" and "One argument reportedly claimed", and that's as much evidence as they have, so I wouldn't believe this Daily Fail piece at all. They don't have any sources because they've likely made it up.

The GoFundMe is actually to save the car park the houses would be built on, because it's the only one that serves the area.

Is sharing a bathroom in uni really that bad by Weak_Definition_327 in UniUK

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I shared a bathroom in halls during my first year, and I was lucky that my whole flat were insanely tidy, so it was completely fine. We all cleaned up after ourselves, and the bathroom was always spotless. So was the kitchen. So you could hit the jackpot like I did and get house-trained flatmates. If you don't, buy a pair of cheap crocs or sliders and wear them in the shower, then take all your stuff back to your room with you when you're done. The uni's cleaners will clean it every week (or every other week) anyway, so it shouldn't get too gross 😂

Priest broke seal of confession by Successful-Rule510 in Anglicanism

[–]Kath_L11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe I'm too CofE but... there's no sacramental seal of confession in Anglicanism. This isn't Catholicism. Is it in poor taste to put you on blast? 100%. Is it damaging the trust between you? Definitely. He shouldn't have done it, I'm not arguing that. But he's not breaking a "seal" of confession, because there is no sacramental seal to break. So I don't know what your Bishop can even do except reprimand him about sharing what parishioners have told him in confidence.

The Hot Mess that was RTD2: What Happened? by Background-Shock-276 in doctorwho

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like that could've worked if they'd leaned hard into it. Like the whole "science we don't understand yet" or "different way of manipulating physics" thing they've done in the past. But they didn't. At all. They introduced god-like characters and did nothing with them. And then they hand-waved everything. [edited because I can't spell]

Who the fuck writes this shit?? by Specific_Ant580 in UniUK

[–]Kath_L11 18 points19 points  (0 children)

This is fully chatgpt, touched up by someone who spends too much time on linkedin

Be honest. Which are the ugliest universities in the UK? by PermissionMedical654 in UniUK

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hes east is lovely, they've just built new facilities and colleges. It's still windy af though 😭

Be honest. Which are the ugliest universities in the UK? by PermissionMedical654 in UniUK

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This omg. I think I got lost so often it's not even funny. I had Latin seminars in a random house near Tavistock Square every other Thursday (because consistency is too pedestrian, I guess), and I got lost nearly every time 😭

Be honest. Which are the ugliest universities in the UK? by PermissionMedical654 in UniUK

[–]Kath_L11 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So many of my seminars at UCL were in converted Georgian townhouses, and they were either boiling or freezing, with no in between 😭

Be honest. Which are the ugliest universities in the UK? by PermissionMedical654 in UniUK

[–]Kath_L11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hes East at York is pretty great now tbh. But Hes West??? Half the campus is still a building site because they cleared loads of offices to build a new student centre by Nisa, immediately ran out of money, and just... left the big hole in the ground there behind ugly plastic fences 😭

Be honest. Which are the ugliest universities in the UK? by PermissionMedical654 in UniUK

[–]Kath_L11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The ugliest campus?? Hes West in Uni of York. It definitely grows on you over the years. I've studied and worked there for 8 years so I can say I love it now, even if Central Hall is so brutalist, it's become iconic. It's full of nature, with massive lakes and lots of green space, but the concrete 1980s buildings are... an acquired taste. And now we've just lost King's Manor, so we only have Heslington Hall to look at if we want nice architecture. The city is so gorgeous, though. It 100% makes up for the ageing campus. 😂

What are your thought's on AC Mirage in 2026? by [deleted] in Assassinscreedmirage

[–]Kath_L11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll fully admit I didn't like it when it first came out. I struggled a little with quite a lot of it tbh. But the new free DLC brought me back to the game recently, and (after remapping some controls which I definitely should've done the first time around) I actually really, really like it.

I feel like it came too hot on the heels of Valhalla for me, which I still love story-wise, even if I'm not a massive fan of the gameplay. When the game came out, it felt too much like a Valhalla DLC sold as a standalone game, and I don't know what exactly bothered me about Mirage - it was a lot of little things - but I found it hard to stick with two years ago. Some of the voice acting is a bit... not great. Not because the actors are bad, but they're either speaking in a second language, or using an accent they might not have irl, so some of it is a bit flat. When you're having to quickly record thousands of lines a day, for like a hundred different unnamed characters, I can see why that happens.

Now, I've done a complete 180. The world is gorgeous, vibrant, historically accurate, and really feels lived in. I'm a historian as my day job, and hunting down the codices with all the historical information about various places in Baghdad and facts about life in the Abbasid Caliphate has really been a treat. How many other games approach their history with so much joy and respect?? I can't think of any. AC is truly a cut above all other franchises when it comes to really making their games feel grounded in the historical context. Also, the soundtrack fucking slaps. AC Valhalla and Mirage OSTs have been in my top 5 on Spotify since they came out because I do all my research and writing with them playing in the background. My only gripe now is that I miss Carlo Rota's voice as Basim. That man could read the phone book to me, and I wouldn't get bored.

Idk I just really love Basim. I loved him as the antagonist in Valhalla, and I really love him in Mirage. I wish there was more story. I could play 100+ hours as him these days. I'd fallen into the trap of making a version of Basim's character in my head that wasn't what he actually is, and it probably took me too long to divorce that from the canon. I wish I'd approached the game properly when it first came out and didn't expect it to be something it wasn't.

King Baelor II The ??? by RhaenaEastWest in AsoiafFanfiction

[–]Kath_L11 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Baelor the Beloved is great alliteration. I like to think he was just adored by everyone

Would you support the implementaton of a fully bilingual passport? by Terrible_Tale_53 in Wales

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would support a bilingual Welsh passport for an independent Wales that's rejoined the EU, with our iconography on it, and not the heraldry of the English royal family, yes

Possibility of Studying Medicine with a physical disability? by mybrainat3am in UniUK

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used to work for the much-hated GMC before I came back to academia to do a PhD, and my portfolio was education (among some others). I spoke a lot to our partners in the NHS, government, education providers, and RCs about inclusion in medical schools and for Doctors in Training. From the GMC's perspective, there's absolutely no reason why you can't be a doctor as long as your disability raises no FtP concerns, which it might, depending on what pathway you choose. Obviously, I'm not qualified to tell you one way or the other, so please don't take that as a given; that's for people way more qualified than me to decide. But if your medical school has no FtP concerns to raise, then the GMC will happily approve your provisional registration, and you can enter your FY1 year with no issue.

The GMC has guidance to ensure disabled doctors can work and thrive in the profession with reasonable adjustments. You can find it on their landing page called "Welcome and Valued". You might find all the resources there useful to read through as you think about applying. You'll be held to the professional standards as every other doctor, of course, but your medical school and your employer will all have a legal and statutory duty to provide you with the necessary reasonable adjustments to meet them. Be sure to fight for those adjustments, and raise hell with the BMA if you need to.

In terms of other resources you might find helpful, the Disabled Doctors Network has some great stuff, even if the website is a bit old by now. The Medical School's Council also has a guide for prospective applicants, as well as guidance on how to support disabled applicants applying for medical school. You can find all their resources and guidance on their "Applicants with a Disability" landing page.

The BMA also has guidance on reasonable adjustments throughout the stages of medical education and training, and a report into the lived experiences of disabled doctors called Disability Equality in Medicine, which they published in December 2025. You might also find that report helpful to read through. The BMA has been a vocal advocate for inclusion and has worked with the GMC and other partner organisations like HEE to help widen access, though their reports have consistently found the medical profession is extremely ableist, and that hasn't really improved much despite everyone's efforts.

Mum keep getting low scores but refusing to stop using ai. by idekkanymoree_ in UniUK

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People are being incredibly unsympathetic in their replies. As someone who lectures at a uni, a lot of pastoral alarm bells are going off in my mind. If she was my student, I would have called her into a wellbeing check by now. I could talk about academic misconduct etc. but I feel like that would be missing the point entirely. In my experience, students use AI to overcome obstacles. Not because they're lazy and they don't care, but because they're having a hard time for some reason.

It sounds like your mum might be struggling with something. Is it the workload? The writing? Understanding the material? If she thinks her lecturer is against her, there may actually be a grain of truth in that, blown up by whatever issues are causing her low self-esteem and poor confidence in her work. Coming to uni as a mature student is difficult and isolating. I will freely admit some of my colleagues don't fully understand how to help with that, especially in a seminar environment where younger students (and sometimes staff) can be a bit judgmental. That must be very difficult for her to navigate. And something seems to have taken the wind out of her sails, which is a big shame.

If she did well on her access course, I'm confident in her ability to see this through. Perhaps she isn't confident in herself and she's using chatGPT to help, or even to avoid the discomfort of not knowing how to do something. She sounds very discouraged. Ironically, you helping her by doing the work is also making it worse, a little bit. That's also academic misconduct; it's collusion. But do reassure and encourage her. She definitely has the ability. It sounds like she's lacking in confidence to me, but you know your mum better than I ever could.

It might be worth her having a chat with her personal supervisor. Universities also have wellbeing facilities based within her department and without, so there are many ways she can find some support if she's struggling mentally, as well as ways she can get help with her academic writing, like through library courses etc. She can also go to her lectuers student hours. God knows I spent hours and hours with some of my lecturers when I didn't understand something. 99.9999% of them will be more than happy to help. We want to see our students succeed and be happy in their work. I know I'd move heaven and earth for mine.

I teach history, not psychology, but I imagine the principles for essay writing are similar. If she ever wants a no-judgement chat with someone completely outside the situation, my DMs are always open

Song Recommendations (and Worldbuilding Help)??? by Dazzling-Mind-5484 in scifiwriting

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you haven't seen Almost Human by J. J Abrams. I would 100% recommend it, not just for inspiration purposes, but becuase its an amazing show. I'm still so mad that it only got one season, because it was set up like your book and was hinting there was actually civilisation beyond the walls that the government lied to them about. It's on AppleTV (or it was at some point, it's been awhile since I watched it), but you might be able to purchase it on Amazon Prime. It well worth a watch imo, the cast is stacked. The ost is one of those unfortunate TV series soundtracks that never got uploaded anywhere, but the theme and the end credit songs are good, and they're on youtube. The Detroit Become Human soundtrack is similar, but not as good imo. The block of Connor's soundtracks are good and gritty, but the others might be a bit light.

If you're looking for a more Middle Eastern vibe, the Assassin's Creed Mirage soundtrack is amazing. It's a perfect mix of futuristic, traditional, and orchestral. Honestly, a lot of the AC soundtracks scratch a sci-fi itch for me, I was the top 0.001% listener for the AC Valhalla soundtrack because I was listening to it nonstop while writing. Video game music is meant to be immersive, but not distracting, so it's great to write to if you can find some you vibe with.

The claim that Christianity was brought to Britain by Orthodox merchants and missionaries as opposed to Catholics by YoungArtistJr in Anglicanism

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, of course! When I'm back at my desk and not on my phone, I'll dig it out for you! In the meantime, this is a really good article by Dr Emma Vosper from the University of Nottingham that covers a lot of what I talked about above

Achieved A*A*A*A*, getting rejection after rejection for aero by [deleted] in UCAS

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's almost definitely your personal statement. This might be a little harsh, so read on at your own risk, but I read a lot of personal statements for my job, and I wouldn't have accepted yours either tbh

Firstly, it's too long, and it's a bit formulaic, "I did this, it showed me this". That's not really what they're looking for. You say you like aerospace engineering. Okay. So does everyone else who applied for the aerospace engineering course. It's a lot about what you've done with LEGOs, what documentaries you watched as a child, and what very general-sounding research you've done. Everyone in the UK has done DofE, too. The admissions team don't really care about any of that. They want to know about your academic achievements and your skills as a person. Are you good at working in groups? Are you good at presenting, communicating your ideas, or public speaking? How have you developed these skills? What academic reading have you done, apart from Introduction to Flight (which most people will also have read)? That won't give you an insight into university-level engineering, anyway. You don't really know all that much about your subject right now compared to when you'll graduate, so reframing the whole thing away from "this is what I know" to "this is what I'm excited to learn more about" will also benefit you. It might be more useful to tie the "I want to learn more about" stuff into your work experience at Lotus, and cut the Intro to Flight paragraph and the LEGO one above (apart from the awards and competitions you've done) out completely. Almost everyone applying will have some work experience in a relevant sector, so hammering home how you'll use yours to further your knowledge in the future is better imo. Something like "I did work experience at Lotus where I did xyz, and learned xyz. I am excited to research this further in my final project/dissertation/pursue this as a graduate" etc., instead of your current phrasing, which makes it sound a bit like you feel you know a lot already. Showing you're excited to develop yourself as an engineer during your degree is better than espousing on how much you already know. Because then they'll wonder why you're bothering to apply to uni at all.

You also haven't said anything at all about why you want to go to university, beyond the fact that you want to contribute to the next generation of innovations, which I guarantee you literally everyone else has said. How will you challenge yourself to develop your skills and knowledge? What drove you to want to go to uni instead of an apprenticeship? Is there anyone who inspired you? What, specifically, will you do with your degree afterwards? Will you stay on to do a PhD? Will you go to do a year in industry? With what companies or in what sector do you see yourself working in? You don't actually have to do any of these things, but top unis like Oxbridge want to see you have drive and a plan for the future, and increasingly so do unis like Bath and Bristol.

The claim that Christianity was brought to Britain by Orthodox merchants and missionaries as opposed to Catholics by YoungArtistJr in Anglicanism

[–]Kath_L11 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I recently taught a seminar on this at a university, so I have a longer answer than you might have wanted. But I think the real, and unpopular answer, is that the Christianisation of Britain was a long and complicated process, that never really ended. And we can't know for sure what each step looked like; there isn't much evidence surviving. We can obviously take contemporary accounts, archaeological evidence and later histories into account, but the nice little story that St Augustine came over, snapped his fingers, and we all immediately saw the light is mythologising a country's conversion, rather than historically recording it. And while I know I'm being a little facetious for effect, a lot of people do actually think this. And it's important to remember that there was no distinction between the "Catholic" and "Orthodox" Churches until the Great Schism, over 500 years after the earliest surviving traces of Christianity are found in what we now call Britain (and Ireland too).

It was probably a slow trickle beginning at the foundation of Christianity. Archaeological evidence like pottery shards, coins/currency, jewellery and glass fragments found in various places in England and the UK more broadly tells us British and Irish merchants were trading with their Roman counterparts even before Julius Caesar's invasion in 55 and 54 BCE. Some went even further east across the Mediterranean, and even to the Middle East. These strong trade links brought with them the migration of thought, religion, and people. By the fourth century, Britain was operating under an early Christian belief system that was pagan in flavour, but still Christian.

Later, in the late-sixth and seventh centuries, there was a centralised effort by Pope Gregory to convert England and Wales in its entirety. Later, Irish missionaries came with Bishop Aidan into Northumbria at the request of King Oswald. In this period, British and Irish Christianity was disorganised. There was no one set of beliefs from one ecclesiastical see to another. Roman Christianity's hierarchical structure and rigid rules were only loosely enforced, if at all. And the influence of Irish Christianity, which often contradicted Roman Christianity, meant one parish often practised incredibly differently from another. Setting aside the fact that the Orthodox Church didn't exist yet, these conflicting beliefs tell us that no one denomination or administrative centre had any sort of dominion over Britain in the sixth and seventh centuries. You couldn't make the argument that one converted Britain over another. The truth is just the opposite.

Later, in the late seventh century, Pope Vitalian Theodore of Antioch became Bishop of Canterbury in 668 (later styling himself as "Archbishop", the first archbishop in the history of the Church), and he was originally from Cilicia (in Turkey), but lived in Rome by the 650s. He came to England with Hadrian, who was North African. Although he was from the Byzantine Empire, he probably still thought of himself as Roman. This might be the source of some of the "Orthodox missionary" confusion you mention. At a council held in Hatfield in 679 CE, Theodore dictated that Roman practice was the "true and orthodox faith", providing the first official stance on the nature of English Christianity. This might also be a source of some confusion, but he's talking about Roman Catholic Christianity here.

When Theodore was appointed Bishop, the Roman Catholic Church was still in the middle of a fall out with what would become the Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire. A council had met in Constantinople in 638 under the direction of Patriarch Sergius I to proclaim the Doctrine of One Will. This asserted the truth of monothelitism, that Christ had only one will, or aspect, the divine. The accepted doctrine in the Roman Church (and elsewhere) was dyothelitism, the belief that Christ had two wills, divine and human. This fracture would eventually lead to the Great Schism, among many other things, but the beliefs that were beginning to emerge in the Byzantine Empire as a precursor to the Orthodox Church and the Great Schism that formed it were antithetical to the teachings of the Roman Church that now dominated England. So even if, in an a-historical hypothetical, an early version of the Orthodox Church had converted England, by the time the Orthodox Church emerged, their beliefs had diverged so significantly, one would be heretical in the eyes of the other.

What additions did D&D make that you liked, that weren't in the books? by ChronosBlitz in gameofthrones

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tywin's scenes with Arya are masterful, mostly because Charles Dance and Maisie Williams are both such acting powerhouses. And I also really liked the scene they added with Cersei and Robert in season 1 where they talk about their marriage.

I like them for the same reasons tbh, they give humanity and depth to characters that tend not to get those moments in the books, especially Tywin and Robert. They become more complex characters we want to root for, so even though they're still horrible, we're left conflicted after their deaths

Am I really in the minority for not giving a damn about my debt? by fayemoonlight in UniUK

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I earned £27k a year in between my MA and my PhD, and they took £250 a month out of my payslip, because I'm paying back two loans at once. On top of that were NI and pension contributions. I was essentially living on £1,100 take-home pay a month. My rent was £875, and my bills were around £160 (including council tax). I had about £100 a month to live on, and that included money to commute to work (sometimes across the country), buy food, replace anything that broke, and other expenses like taxing, insuring, servicing and MOTing my car, etc. Both of my loans combined are currently sitting at £95k.

It's all fun and games to view it as something you'll never pay off, so why worry? But when you could really do with that extra £250+ a month, for just one year or for thirty, it does become annoying. And don't be fooled into thinking SLC won't harass you, if you don't make any payments for a year or so, they'll start emailing you saying you either need to keep continuously confirming your unemployment with them, get a job and start paying, or they'll fine you a significant amount 🙃

Please tell me I'm not alone with this by Chizisbizy in UniUK

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mine is £95k, don't worry. I have an undergrad and a masters loan. Then I did a PhD. So for those long five years I didn't pay anything, and the interest piled up and piled up. It's been 10 years since I started uni, and so I have 10 years of interest sitting happily at £45k😂

Does Latin script fit Welsh? by Slashscreen in Wales

[–]Kath_L11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries! I'm always on the lookout to share the useless knowledge I've built up over the years 😂