Submitting your essays to Empty Movement is easy, free, and more or less without consequences!!
This site wouldn't be what it is without donations; way back in the day, all the essays were mine (Giovanna) and the essays submitted by others were kind of 'guest stars.' That idea took off, and now the section is a repository for tons of amazing ideas and explorations of all things Utena. Now, it's more like our essays are the guest stars of a site that belongs to all of you. We just curate it!
If you are interested in having your essay on the site, by all means submit it to Yasha! We don't update as fast as Tumblr, no, but it is as permanent a place as you could put it on the world wide webs! We do, on occasion, ask someone directly if we can use their content here, but just because we haven't asked you doesn't mean we wouldn't love to have your essay here! Here follows a few things to note, as we do have requirements for what we will put up.
 We absolutely will not refuse an essay based on its content alone. This story has the power of an incendiary device to foster opinions and arguments, and we welcome them all. We make our own interpretations of the story very clear in our essays, and they're often controversial. We extend you the same courtesy, and will not refuse an essay we disagree with. After all, that's part of the fun! That said...
The goal of this site is to offer a variety of ideas and explorations, but it does dance on a line between 'academic' writing and op-ed. It's analysis we're looking for, with the understanding that opinions are often all that can be had given the degree to which this story is open for interpretation. Is the argument supported with facts from the story? Examples? We're not looking for opinions, we're looking for hypotheses: efforts to support whatever you're exploring in the work. Bias based on personal preferences and unsupported opinions aren't what we want here.
There is no limit or minimum with regards to length; as you'll see there are essays on this site longer than the script they explore. However, we do request that content be presented well. Spelling and grammar matter. Coherence and formatting matter. There are essays here that started as parts of forum conversations and blog posts, but were then edited to be presented in more of an essay format. Don't worry, we're not looking for APA formatting, just content that's self-contained and developed. If you're not sure whether something qualifies, by all means send it over! We're happy to help if you need proof-reading and such.
Much of the content on Empty Movement exists in no small part to facilitate conversation and analysis like what you find here. These are resources meant to be used! You can refer to the series scripts here, support your arguments with movie or television show screenshots I often chose for this specific purpose, use translations of the songs, refer to comments by the creators of Utena, and so on, and so forth. Yes, this reads like a plug, but it isn't one--you're already on our site, anyway. ;) Please reference and credit where it's warrented, and use the content in Empty Movement however you like. People that have donated translations and such have done so with the understanding their content will be used this way.
Please avoid the use of acronyms. If you submit something with them, we will replace the acronyms with their complete counterparts.
Spoilers do not need to be flagged or noted in your essays. It's made abundently clear in many places on this site that they are everywhere, and their presence in your essay is a given.
We will happily link back to your site, blog, Tumblr, or whatever else when we put up your essay!
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