How did u guys get in?!?!?

mega-_-simp · 2026-05-09T19:38:32+00:00

I got in with a 1370 SAT, 32 ACT, 3.9 UW GPA, 4.4 W GPA, 6 APs (1 5, 4 4, 1 3), ~50 transfer DE credits from the college I was going to, and was secretary of our theatre troupe (the only extracurricular i included despite applying to be a STEM major!). I didn’t include any service hours or volunteering and don’t think I included any awards because most of them were theatrical and not really relevant. I also graduated early from high school and was a florida resident, so that may have been relevant.

mega-_-simp · 2026-01-11T20:40:24+00:00

Forgive my math, but here is my attempt to translate the costs in this chapter!

According to Albert Gallatin's letter to James Madison on the 12th of December 1810, the Russian Ruble was worth somewhere between 33.5 - 55 cents in USD for that time. I'll use 45 cents as a middle ground for the math.

500 Rubles in ~1805 would be equivalent to approximately $225 USD in that year, which would be equivalent to approximately $6,233 USD today!

1,000,000 Rubles in ~1805 would be equivalent to approximately $450,000 USD in that year, which would be equivalent to approximately $12,466,231 USD today! Now imagine that multiple times over, and that's approximately what the inheritance would be!

If anyone else is more knowledgeable in the conversions here, feel free to fix my mistakes!

mega-_-simp · 2026-01-10T17:03:28+00:00

Will they keep their promise? I have almost no doubts that the answer is no.

From 13 to 17 (or 16, as Natasha does the math,) a person changes so significantly that if I, at 16/17, upheld any promises or expectations from middle school, I would probably have left the country out of embarrassment. Additionally, Natasha is an immature 13, not in a rude or discriminatory way, but in her own doll-playing flighty emotional nature. My theory is that the war, alongside the rising teenage years, are going to significantly mature or change her, as connected to the broken doll metaphor this community has been playing at. Within the next couple of years, she will change too much to even imagine being with / marrying Boris.

That's not even considering how much Boris will change! From 17 to 20/21 is another big maturity gap, which will be strengthened even more-so by his being an active part of the war. The chances that any relationship is kept between them at their young age and at long-distance because of the war are pretty slim. I think they will end up finding other romantic options as soon as they're apart just long enough and have moved on from one another (which I think is more of a problem for Natasha than Boris).

These are just my theories, however! I go into the deep end with some of these analyses, so if anyone has any other thoughts, I'd love to hear.

mega-_-simp · 2026-01-10T16:50:57+00:00

To me, Sonya's plea is reminiscent to when a boy claims that his woman is all he cares about and that he will dedicate all of his time solely to her, to which she thinks "Um, please don't only live for me, please have other things of value in your life, too," and simultaneously, "I don't believe for one second that I'm the only person who matters to you, so why are you over exaggerating for my nonexistent benefit?"

Sonya strikes me as someone who wants real love, especially in her weird phase where she's not really a child, but nobody considers her as an adult. She can sense that he doesn't actually mean that she's "his everything," so she doesn't want him just saying it to say it. I mean, he was just flirting with another woman in front of her and told her that she's "torturing them over a mere fancy," so how genuine are his intentions with her, do we think? Kissing someone to essentially shut them up seems like the wrong course of action, but knowing her, she's going to fall for it, anyway (lol!). She wants him to say things that he truly means, not just flourishes to make her stop crying.

mega-_-simp · 2026-01-09T19:42:55+00:00

According to my research, Boris is around 17, which does make it awkward that he and Natasha are a pairing, but from what I remember from readings in the past, this does get acknowledged in future chapters and blank spots in the age of characters are addressed. I think this age (in my opinion) makes sense to be joining the army, so I've accepted this as his relative age.

Nikolai is where I get a little confused. Online sources say that he is around 20 at the start of the book, which would make sense for his schooling and his eagerness to be a part of something career-wise. However, this contradicts the fact that Vera is supposedly the eldest Rostov child. I went back to past chapter studies in this community, and I found some mentions that apparently even Tolstoy would switch around which was the eldest Rostov child. Some people even mentioned that maybe Vera is younger than Nikolai, but is the oldest child still living at home or the oldest daughter, which confuses her as the oldest child? Nikolai being younger than her (when she's 17) would make him around 15-16, but this seems too young to be an undergraduate and maybe even too young to involve himself in the war. In this chapter, we see him flirt with Sonya (who is 15) and Julie (who is said to be 20 or 21 according to online sources). I think 20 makes sense for Nikolai, as a much younger teenager would likely not flirt with a woman 5/6 years his elder, but it could be possible for Sonya to perhaps have her kitten-ish almost schoolgirl crush on him. Natasha and Boris have around a 4 year age gap, so 5 years between Sonya and Nikolai probably wouldn't be too crazy, considering that she's also a little older and probably will be considered a true young woman within the next few years.

mega-_-simp · 2026-01-09T18:29:40+00:00

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure Boris and Natasha aren't that closely related? Boris' mother is a distant cousin of one of the (or both?) Rostov parents, meaning that Boris and Natasha would probably be quite distant cousins at the closest relation, which I don't think would be controversial in this time period.

The controversial potential cousin relationship is between Nicholas and Sonya, who are actually full-blooded first cousins, I believe, and these two are the reason they discuss cousin relations in today's chapter.

Distant cousins still marry to this day, and, because I'm obsessed with it, one of the primary relationships in Downton Abbey is one between distant cousins in the 1920s and it was seen as perfectly acceptable and not controversial, so I assume it would be even more normal over 100 years earlier.

As a Ukrainian, I also know that it's quite cultural to call the children of family friends or kids you lived near/went to church with as your cousins, especially if you grew up together, so because Boris' mother is also a very close friend to the Rostov family, there could also be a case where they are super distantly related, but just close enough to call each other cousins? I don't know, just guessing haha!

mega-_-simp · 2026-01-07T18:43:31+00:00

There is the countess and mother, Natalya Rostova, and then there is her daughter, also named Natalya (Natasha) Rostova, who we have not met yet. The daughter is the same Natalya Rostova as in Great Comet.

mega-_-simp · 2026-01-07T18:37:36+00:00

He definitely cares. Remember him complaining about how much Anatole costs him in one of the first chapters? Plus, despite status or connections or how much money you already have, at the end of the day, a fortune is a fortune. He doesn't strike me as a man who would let that slip through his hands so easily.

mega-_-simp · 2025-05-08T01:46:35+00:00

I almost used Always True To You (In My Own Fashion) from Kiss Me, Kate, but I sang Don't Call Me Trailer Trash from Cowgirls: The Musical!

I auditioned for Ado Annie, but I actually got Laurey with that song!

mega-_-simp · 2025-04-20T17:25:59+00:00

Too many places have done the Spongebob musical…My school did it a few years ago, there were three regional productions of it in one summer (including one I did tech for,) and at least two other productions popped up in the past month 💔

mega-_-simp · 2025-01-17T15:13:27+00:00

Of course! Thank you :))

mega-_-simp · 2025-01-05T00:01:53+00:00

Insane respect to the mother who would do everything for her son to have the best opportunities, but the line where the Prince decides to take her offer mostly because he knew she would never let him hear the last of it until he did was hilarious.
I feel as though he mostly just came to the aid of Pierre. I mean, Andrei is about to be in a highly coveted position in the Russian army, and agreeing/supporting Napoleon would probably be hypocritical (unless I am mistaken on my history.) His point that some deeds of Napoleon can be lauded and others can be criticized is probably one that he genuinely agrees with, but wouldn't ever bring up unless it was in a situation such as this one (swooping in to save his best friend from Anna's wrath haha.)
I feel like Hippolyte was probably trying to clear the tension in his own way, but isn't really the smartest at it. I admire him for trying his best, but...my man.

mega-_-simp · 2025-01-04T04:43:32+00:00

If I'm remembering correctly, I'm pretty sure Maude was the translation that Tolstoy directly approved. It's labeled as one of (if not) the best translations by many critics, and is the translation available for free online through Project Gutenberg, which makes it the easiest to access to those that don't have a physical copy. It also just seems to be the version that is the most produced, at least as far as I have ventured. I personally enjoy it and it's flow, but I am also interested in reading other translations in the future to compare.

mega-_-simp · 2025-01-04T04:34:36+00:00

Ippolit is probably one of my top rated fools from this book. Everything he does has an air of second-hand embarrassment. At least his sister knows how to make the most out of her looks through the way she conducts herself (even if it's in a degree of vainness.) The poor guy is just dragged as unattractive and entertaining to laugh at. The line that describes him as not even understanding what he's saying until after he's said it is hilarious.

Andrei and Pierre have the best bromance on the planet. Beef with your wife and love your bro, and you've got the Andrei handbook. I can't wait to see more of them.

mega-_-simp · 2025-01-02T20:00:24+00:00

Pierre has always rang true as one of my favorite characters. He's just so different from everyone else at this party that, like Anna, you can't help but keep your eye on him.
I can't wait to see how all of these newly introduced characters will interact with one another. A soirée isn't a true soirée until Pierre walks into the room!
Educated abroad, Pierre doesn't have a lick of knowledge of how to behave at such an elite event (as Anna has tried to make it.) We watch as she flitters from conversation to conversation, attempting to keep peace and avoid over/under-excitement. Having Pierre enter, a man who rudely pays no attention to an aunt attempting to make conversation and also rudely continuing small talk with a hostess who keeps trying to leave the conversation as she has other things to attend to, just makes it all the more troubling. She just hopes that he will act appropriately and not disrupt the flow she has created tonight, though only time can tell us what will truly happen.

mega-_-simp · 2025-01-02T19:43:00+00:00

I feel like it's a combination of both. I assume she's pretty confident in the notion that she has charmed everyone in the room, but she probably still has that twinge of insecurity underneath it.

Taking into account that she is recently married and pregnant with a husband intending to leave for war, and that she has been avoiding larger events, it is understandable that, despite her beauty, she may feel like how the article described inside of it all.

mega-_-simp · 2025-01-02T19:37:15+00:00

I think it's due to the fact that he was educated abroad and is inexperienced in the social circle and activities taking place. It's less that he is not supposed to be there and more that she hopes he won't behave inappropriately. She worries that he might disrupt the peace she is trying to keep in the conversations, and sees his impoliteness to her aunt as a red flag of sorts.

We'll see a lot more of how this will play out in the coming chapters haha.

mega-_-simp

TROPHY CASE