Ellen Sophie Talks

  Let’s Talk About AI.  I recently started University for the second time. Let me clarify, I’m doing my master’s degree in creative writing. I am the proud owner of an undergrad degree in English Literature and creative writing. It is safe to say that I had a horrific quarter-life crisis, and as a result of this, my ten-year plan was completely derailed. I scrapped the original plan of being a teacher and decided that I would continue with my education until I could formulate a better plan for going forward.  I started classes on Monday, and other than a terrible sense of imposter syndrome, it is actually going very well. One thing that took me by surprise was the university’s new policy, which states that all courses must include AI at some point, whether that be in lectures and seminars or in assignments. Now this could be helpful for certain subjects, like IT-based ones or number-based courses.  I, however, am doing a creative writing course. Whereas if we use AI ...

  Let's Talk DND DND or Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop role-playing game which mostly takes place in a fantasy world with spellcasters and a range of imaginative foes to battle.  When playing DND, there will normally be a group of friends (in my case, there are 7 of us) who each create their own character to play as. One of these people will be known as either the GM (game master) or DM (Dungeon Master), and they oversee making the story run effectively, write the story, plan out each encounter and help to lead the players towards the ultimate goal of the campaign. Now, what do I mean by ultimate goal? Each game or campaign, as I’ll refer to it, has a goal that needs to be completed for the game to be over. For example, for the last campaign that I took part in, our goal was to find and defeat a dragon. This quest was given to us by an NPC at the beginning of the campaign, and we spent time navigating different obstacles to get there. DND is a fun game where you must use p...

  Let’s talk music. Specifically, the power that it holds. By power, I don’t mean it in a physical sense. Music can’t lift you or fix wounds. But mentally, music can do so much. Now I am one of those people who literally cannot function without some form of music playing.  I can be in the car for a short drive, ten maybe fifteen minutes. I still need music to occupy my ears. In a shop? I’ve got headphones on. It is very, very rare that I will be sitting by myself and won’t have some kind of music playing.  I recently sat down to think about why this is. Why do I need this melodic distraction all the time? I honestly believe it comes from a place of fear. I absolutely despise the quiet. If I can hear my own thoughts in my head, something is wrong. I fill every awkward silence in conversations. Normally, it’ll be with something just as awkward. Like I recently asked a date what kind of fruit they’d be. Absolutely stupid of me, but the conversation had ended, and I was not g...

  Intro to me! Hi! I’m Ellen, and at the time of writing this, I’m 21 years old. I recently graduated from the University of Leicester with a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. A whole bachelor’s degree in the arts. Arguably, the most unemployable degree I know.  I love all things books and film, with a particular interest in all things horror and fantasy. I wish I could say that my love for horror has been consistent throughout my life, but unfortunately, I am not a member of the Addams family.  My love for horror started as an act of rebellion after my parents decided that I was too young to watch Nightmare on Elm Street at a friend’s house. They said I was too young and refused to allow me to watch it until I was at least 16. I went behind their backs and used YouTube to watch clips and kill counts from countless horror movies. And thus, my admiration for the genre began. DO NOT ask me to pick a favourite horror flick, it is impossible. But the top thre...