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#I’m not completely satisfied with the end result but that just means i can work on improving

syrena-del-mar · 6 months

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Only Friends, Sizzling or Fizzling?: Overall Series Review

I quite literally have so many thoughts on Only Friends that I don’t know when I’ll be able to put them fully into words. So this is going to be a disjointed list of my running thoughts.

This means that the following will be filled with spoilers. So if you haven't caught up, and don't appreciate spoilers, read with caution.

How the friend group came out: I will say, I went into the show wishing the friend group would be destroyed with people going their own ways or at least the couples… Instead, we got Boston ostracized from the group with him meekly extending an invite for the rest of the group to meet him next new year in New York. Now, I’m not fully on the Boston-did-no-wrong boat, because I do think several of the things he did warranted apologies, but I also agree that he deserved just as many apologies back. I really wish the show had either gone the direction of everyone begrudgingly reconciling, the friend group completely destroyed, or at the very least truly acknowledging how they all hurt each other. But as much as the ostracizing of Boston left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, I guess the outcome mirrored reality. Friends band together when they all feel wronged and Boston had self-sabotaged his relationship with all of them.

Boston and Nick: I’ve seen some murmurs about Nick was hypocritical about saying that Boston doesn’t have to change but still leaving him, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Nick loved Boston, knew how Boston was, but also let himself be taken by his own fantasies of a monogamous relationship. He even acknowledges to Sand that Boston was being fair with him... which I still think this is debatable, because I strongly believe Boston and Nick needed a whole conversation about non-monogamy long before Boston started making out with Boeing. I'm actually relatively happy that Nick and Boston didn't end up together, for both their sakes. Nick wanted and needed that monogamy from Boston, he realized that he would never get that from Boston. He may love Boston for who he is, but that doesn't mean that his love can overcome that need for monogamy. Meanwhile Boston doesn't want to be monogamous, even if he does want to be Nick's boyfriend. This was never going to be solved even with all the power of love. They had different needs and Nick wasn't willing to put himself through that pain of understanding Boston but neglecting his own needs, so he let him go. Now, my issue lies in the execution of getting to that point. Since the beginning of the last quarter of the show, Boston and Nick got incredibly sidelined. As a result, their story development suffered for it. I think we were lucky if we even saw them for about 5 minutes after episode 9, it almost felt as if the show didn't know how to reconciliate their story once Boston was out of the friend group. I don't think P'Jojo was intentionally going out to villainize Boston's non-monogamous preference (assumingly, based on his other works) and I don't think that fans are reading it as so are being deaf/illiterate, but rather the vagueness due to the lack of story-telling time that Boston's arc had really fed into it. Also, maybe it was just me, but the sense of time in the story felt incredibly confusing when watching these last couple of episodes. So Boston's admittance of self-sabotaging his relationships, asking to be Nick's boyfriend, then making out with Boeing feels like it all occurred with 72 hours; it gave me whiplash and made me disappointed.

Sand and Ray: Out of everyone, I'm the most satisfied with their outcome and journey to it, but even then I still have a little criticisms. First off, let me get the airplane out of the room: Boeing. I'm in the boat (unironically) that Boeing should have been introduced much sooner and have been utilized more to create the suspense of potential rift between Sand and Ray. Or even more development of Sand and Boeing before SandRay got together, because I swear the emotional stakes lagged for me, because I'm not sure why Sand would have even been swayed by Boeing when he had just confessed to Ray that he couldn't live without him either. I understood why Sand was so hostile with Top, but I'm not sure I understood BoeingSand as well. So this whole cockfight just felt needless and an attempt at a last bit of messiness, because how underdeveloped it was. Now Sand and Ray, as individual characters, I only have minor qualms about. I wish we had learned more about Sand's dad and Ray's relationship with his father. From what I've seen, there's so much context that was left out behind Ray's backstory, that it would have been nice to explore even 5% of it. Now we kept hearing about Sand's dad, but it just felt like a lost plot point. I wish we really had time to delve into Ray struggling with his addiction and rehab. Aside from those minor complaints, I'm happy with where we left them and I hope they're able to go around festival-to-festival with a lot of love and success in their future.

Mew and Top: I have very little to talk about them, mostly because I skimmed through their scenes. Now this isn't because I think that Force and Book were bad in their scenes, because it was the exact opposite. They skeeved me out so incredibly much, that it was suffocating to watch their scenes. I wanted Mew to be more that a judgmental, holier-than-thou, character, especially when he stooped so low to revenge-porning Boston. I wanted him to acknowledge that he was just as nasty as he perceived Boston to be, but instead he always felt so sanctimonious and self-righteous that it was nauseating. With Top.... I wish we had gotten more towards his backstory with his fear of being alone due to the fire. It completely went over my head that the fire scene in the last episode was supposed to show that Top was finally able to handle his trauma better and that he was a better person because of Mew. His backstory was so little and came in just disjointed scenes, that I just made no connection and didn't come out of that scene with any emotion other than confusion. They came out of everything together... Not surprising. I have no comments neither positive nor negative towards that aspect.

Cheum and April: Cheum was as aggravating as Mew for me. Self-righteous and I swear she didn't like anyone in her friend group other than Mew, and even that feels questionable. She had literally no faith in Mew being a grown adult and kept pulling Top around when Mew was going through a breakdown. I felt no love from her when it came to Ray, so I always wondered if their friendship was solely out of convenience. Then the final blow was with how she dealt with the Atom x Boston situation. I completely understood her initial reaction of believing Atom and even confrontation, as a sibling, I would also deck a friend if they SA'd and were lording over my sibling's head a nude picture. But the moment that she knew Atom was lying and she just hugged him? Yeah.... I lost most of the little respect that I had for her. Pity points for that tiny apology that she gave to Boston, because she was the only one that did so, but definitely was not enough for the accusations that she brought against him. ALSO! Her absolutely shit-talking April's passion and work to her friends? That's not lack of communication between April and Cheum, that was just so backstabbing of her. April is a better woman than I will ever be, because I will never have the patience to deal with a girlfriend that thinks so lowly of my work. April, I wanted so much more of our indie-film queen. I wanted more out of her relationship with Cheum, especially with that truth-bomb that Ray spilled out. I wanted both of them to do the hard work of saving their relation other than just sweeping it under the rug. I wish we had seen so much of her!

P'Jojo and Vivienne: This is a tricky situation, so I'll be very brief on my thoughts, but I really hope these two never made it to Tumblr. Creators always getting involved with fandom spaces are always going to be difficult to navigate, this time around it seems that feelings were hurt and anger arose on both sides... Criticism of one's work will always be around and its more prominent the bigger the fandom is, which for most BLs, I think Only Friends was under a huge magnifying glass. It's nice to see staff interacting with fans about their work, but I do think there should be a line drawn. I'm not sure if their crossing of the line was for better or worse.

Final Thoughts: Anyways, this show will be missed because I did come out of the weekends enjoying the vast majority of it. I even have a couple of metas half-written, so maybe I'll get around to finishing those in the coming days. For a show that promised mess, it did deliver on that front, but I can't help but be sad that its coherence fizzled a bit towards the end. Maybe I'll come back to it in a year or two with a better appreciation of the vision, but for now... I'm mostly satisfied while also conflicted on what I think about the end. OH! And before I close this off... What the hell happened to the confessionals/talking head/asides? Why did we drop those off in the latter half?

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newgenog · 9 months

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REVENGE

Notes: This is NOT part one of chapter seven. As a reminder, we've switched to weekly teasers for each chapter.

If you're just stumbling across this, and haven't already done so, please stop and start by reading chapter one.

This #Batwoman AU is based on the ABC tv series #Revenge. Ryan Wilder had just about everything taken from her when we met her, and she was doing her best to get it back. In this version of the story, that means taking some people down along the way. And, she's definitely no hero.

Hopefully you're recovered from chapter 6, and ready for our season finale. I'll try to hold you over with out of sequence and context teasers while I wrap this up. See you next Friday for teaser 2 for chapter 7.

CHAPTER SEVEN SNEAK PEEK

TUESDAY, JULY 10TH, 8:00 PM, THE HOLD UP

Ryan made it through her second day back to work after the holiday that became a regressive spiral into feelings she thought she’d buried, after Angelique put a Crow in a coma, after Luke was attacked by another Crow and hospitalized, and of course after Sophie found out who she was and Ryan crushed her when she admitted she never intended to tell her the truth. In reality, going to work was probably Ryan’s best option, because being left to her own devices at a time like this could result in literal bombs being placed and set everywhere her enemies frequented. But that kind of quick ending wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying as ensuring the plan she’d spent years devising came to fruition, nor would it be fitting enough justice for them. They didn’t deserve quick endings. They needed to experience complete loss and total destruction. They needed to see her thriving in spite of everything they took from her. The only way that would happen was if she got her house in order.

Fortunately, Sophie did still help, as she'd promised, and at least a couple of Ryan’s obstacles were now less threatening. She hadn’t spoken to Angelique in almost two days, and figured she too was barely keeping it together, wondering when the next Crow would jump out and try to take her down. So, Ryan goes to The Hold Up to give Angelique the news that Sophie had shared with her earlier that morning. She can’t deny that knowing with confidence Sophie won’t be there, because she’s currently on her shift with Luke, has influenced her timing.

She walks up to the bar and a very worried Jordan greets her.

Jordan: “Hey, Robyn…how are you holding up?”

Ryan: “I’ve definitely been a lot better than this, but I’ve also been worse. So…”

Jordan: “I hear that. Well, have you eaten anything?”

Ryan: “A little…earlier…haven’t been super hungry.”

Jordan: “Not surprising, considering. Why don’t I at least put some of your favorite fries in front of you, and we can see what happens?”

Ryan: “Look at you, taking care of me…”

Jordan: “I might be concerned about Luke, but you were there…I can’t even imagine what that was like. And, I’m going to guess you’re not leaning on my sister right now… So, yeah, anything I can do.”

Ryan: “That obvious, huh?”

Jordan: “Oh yeah…but I’m not worried about you two.”

Jordan winks at Ryan, and she smiles back gingerly, appreciating the hope.

Ryan: “Are you here alone?”

Jordan: “My mom’s in the kitchen, even though she should probably be heading home soon. But, it’s our TikTok queen’s night off, and with Soph so occupied right now…I mean, it’s hella dead in here, anyway. So it's not like she’s working hard.”

Ryan: “Wait, who’s your TikTok queen?”

Jordan: “Oh, you didn’t see…?”

Ryan: “I’m not really on socials like that…”

Jordan grabs her phone, taps it a few times, and then slides it over.

Jordan: “I’m going to go put your order in. Enjoy the show!”

As Jordan walks away, Ryan watches Angelique and another woman feed each other shots, what looks like for the third time based on the empty glasses nearby them. Then she tongues the girl down. As she pulls away, she snatches a panda hat off of her lipstick lover's head, placing it atop her own, and dances away to loud hip-hop music playing throughout the bar. The clip, taken on a customer's phone, has over fifty thousand likes, which is a lot for Gotham. The Hold Up is tagged as the location.

Ryan puts the phone down on the bar, completely furious. What about that was laying low or sticking to her routine?

Ryan: “Hey, Jordan! Can I get those fries to go? Think I’m just going to head to bed early.”

Ryan's night is actually about to get a lot longer.

~~~~~

To be continued…

We finish season one and chapter seven in August. Let's do this!

Follow #SaveBatwoman on all socials please! Support the Writer and Actor strikes.

#wgastrike #sagaftrastrike #StopCancellingDiverseShows

#batwoman #wildmoore #ryan x sophie #wildmoore week #ryan wilder #sophie moore #save batwoman #fanfic #lgbtq #wmw23

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peterstamatin · 3 months

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Breakthrough and the Sisters

(by caspiancomic)

As Film Crit Hulk would happily remind us, “the ending is the conceit.” The ending of a work ought to summarize and crystallize the themes of the preceding story. Whether this manifests itself as Kurtz’s pitiable “the horror, the horror” during his death being a reflection of his animalistic life, or as Lt. Raine declaring cheekily to the camera that his most recent work may just be his “masterpiece”, the final decisions made by the author or authors of a work ought to represent a bite sized version of the thematic heart of the work. Videogames are a unique and complicated medium in this respect. On the one hand, many games offer only a single ending to conclude the events of the story, and this is in its own way fine. But in order to complement their interactivity, many games have multiple possible endings, with the final moments of the story being determined partially by the work’s authors, but also partially by the audience.

How exactly multiple endings are incorporated into a game’s story is up to the game’s developers, but they tend to fall into a few major schools. One, which for my purposes I’ll be called “graded” endings, involves the ending changing to reflect the skill of the player. In a game with graded endings, certain endings are considered “better” than others, and there is often an implication that only one of them is the “true” or “canonical” ending. Konami’s Suikoden series tends to implement graded endings, for example. In the first Suikoden, recruiting all of the game’s 108 Stars of Destiny before the final battle at Gregminster allows the player access to the “good ending”, failure to complete that goal in the allotted time will result in the “bad ending.” A second category of games have what could be called “adaptive” endings, in which the conclusion to the game is determined by the player’s actions during the game, but the endings themselves are all equally valid and none are necessarily considered canonical. In Catherine, depending on decisions in dialogue options made throughout the game, the player will receive either a Lovers, Cheaters, or Freedom ending (although admittedly, these categories are further subdivided into True, Good, and Bad). Silent Hill 2 is another good example: its varied endings are all satisfying conclusions to the preceding story, and which one the player receives depends on his or her actions during the game.

I could rattle on forever about videogame endings, and in the future I may do exactly that, but for now I’m here to specifically discuss the ending of The Void. To what category does The Void belong? I suggest that The Void could be said to have “optional” endings. Not, like, you can choose to have an ending, or you can decide against it. The endings are “optional” in the sense that every ending is equally legitimate, and all are available to the player. The only determining factor in which ending the player gets is which ending they choose. Off the top of my head, Bastion makes a similar decision- at the end of the game you are presented with your options, and which option you select determines which ending you receive. No strings attached, no fine print, the decision is left entirely up to you.

This makes life much easier in some ways. LPers, overly curious gamers with too much time on their hands, and obsessive completionists have often found themselves playing through a game multiple times to see the game’s various conclusions. If the means to achieve a certain ending are too demanding, or too similar to the criteria for other endings, then you may try multiple times in vain to access the coveted Dream Project ending.

But the reasoning behind having “optional” endings isn’t just to make life easier on replays. The idea driving the decision to implement “optional” endings is that the challenge isn’t in obtaining the endings, but in deciding between them. In Bastion, there are two options (three, kind of, depending on the results of an earlier decision), and players are invited to make whichever decision they feel is most correct and represents the most satisfying climax to the game’s story. In The Void, there are thirteen options. Each ending (with the arguable exception of one) is presented as being wholly acceptable, and all endings are considered equivalent to one another in terms of legitimacy. The question, then, becomes not only which ending do you choose, but why?

As I discussed in my last essay, the ultimate goal of The Void is to ascend one of the eleven Sisters, or to ascend the Spirit. The content of any given ending is similar enough to all the others that a more cynical player might wonder what the difference is between them. But for the more enlightened player, the act of deciding on a Sister (or oneself) represents a journey of self-examination and criticism that few games can deliver. The “ending”, the cutscene that follows the drawing of the Glyph of Breakthrough, is not the reward for the player’s effort. The reward is internal- it is self knowledge.

What follows is a role call of the Void’s Sisters, with a bit of biographical information and a healthy dollop of personal interpretation and speculation. The observations are not exclusively mine (I assure they would be quite dull if they were), they are indebted to CannibalK9′s poll of the goons of Something Awful, who lucidly argued in favour of their preferred Sister as CK9 was approaching the finale of the LP. The instalment of the LP in which these opinions are collected can be found here: Part 1, Part 2. And, for the curious, a run-down of what the Sisters have to say upon having their third heart opened is found here. In addition, the rather inspired idea of contrasting a Sister’s physical manifestation from that of her Soul Obscura comes from a chap called Joshua Meadows, whose own article on the game’s representation of sex and nudity was an inspiration for this entry.

I originally planned to include a brief paragraph speculating about what each Sister’s created world would be like, but worried that my subjective musings might steer the reader’s opinion one way or the other. Besides, exactly what will happen to the Sisters upon ascending remains somewhat unclear. To some degree they seem to believe that they will retain their consciousness and free will after Breakthrough, and will be able to experience the Upper Limit as one of its citizens. But more than that, many of the characters refer to Breakthrough as creating a world based on the ascended Sister in some way. It is suggested that every Sister contains the germ of an entire unique world, and that Breakthrough is the process by which this bulb of life is nourished by Colour so that it may sprout on the surface. Perhaps the world could be said to exist within the Sister, and will be expelled and realized once the Sister pierces the membrane separating the Upper Limit from the Void. Perhaps the Sister in some way is the new world, either representing it as an autonomous part of the whole, or acting as a living manifestation of the world, “as the flavour of the ocean is contained in a droplet or the whole mystery of life within the egg of a flea.” In any case, each Sister is a microcosm of civilization, an ambassador for her personal world, a living representation of the possibility for life above.

I have also meaningfully omitted the verse of poetry that is read for each Sister’s “ending”. This is only because I plan to address the meanings of these verses all together, in a separate (and upcoming!) article.

Finally, before we get into the body of the article, I want to make a quick mention of the selection criteria. In short- there are none, except what you decide should be your own criteria. The game offers no guidelines for making your decision, and does not suggest in any way that one Sister might be more “correct” than any other. How and why you come to your conclusion is totally up to you, and any conclusion you come to is totally valid. Maybe you decide to trust your gut, and go with whichever Sister is your favourite, even for reasons you can’t put your finger on. Perhaps you will choose whichever Sister will set the best example for the Upper Limit, and will create the most prosperous or successful world through her ascension. Maybe you will make your decision for physical reasons, choosing whichever Sister you find the most beautiful, or whichever Sister inhabits your favourite chamber. Perhaps you will choose to liberate whichever Sister you perceive to suffer the most from her predicament in the Void.

How you make your decision is utterly in your control, and the information that follows is presented only to attempt to create as complete a portrait of the Sisters as I can manage, for the benefit of anyone on the fence or otherwise incapable of choosing or differentiating between Sisters. Remember, why you make your decision and how you chose your selected Sister is just as important, or even more important, as which Sister you chose. The point of forcing the player to make this decision is to force the player to examine him or herself critically, and make a decision based on his or her own values. So if you’re in a sharing mood, I’d love to hear in the comments not only which Sister you chose (or would choose), but how you came to your decision.

And now, without further set dressing, let’s discuss the Sisters.

Sister Death is something of a cipher. She has a very strong, proactive relationship with the Spirit that borders on the maternal, and she is totally willing to sacrifice herself for his benefit. Like Aya, she has unique nicknames for the Spirit that no other Sister uses- but unlike Aya’s taunting cries of “Killer” and “Wanderer”, Sister Death calls the Spirit “My Sweet,” or “My Love.” She is completely honest with the Spirit, and not only helps him but volunteers to help him, even to her own detriment and death. Without provocation, and even before being fed, she is committed to the Devastator, teaches him to survive this hostile environment, disguises him as a Brother, and sends him on the path towards salvation.

However, her relative youth, combined with the fact that she is ostracized from the Void’s “society”, leaves us with little of the evidence we can use to analyze the other Sisters. Her “greenhouse”, if it can be called such a thing, is a bombed out ruin. Her chamber is most remarkable for its tentacle-like columns of rock that lash out from her island. Since her chamber is closest geographically to the Nightmare, it is the most chaotic in appearance. The only evidence that life even could bloom here is the rotted, hollow tree carcass she hides in. The only true comparison to be made between her physical and spiritual bodies is that in her Soul Obscura the Nameless Sister makes no attempt to hide her misery. Although in her tree she stands upright and addresses the Guest directly, in her Obscura she is bent-backed and sorrowful, hugging her knees in a desperate act of self-comfort. As her hearts are unlocked, she appears to swim through her Obscura. Perhaps the “air” is thicker in the Void towards the Nightmare: compare the northerly Yani and Ole’s aerial and graceful reactions to having their hearts opened.

Sister Death does have favourite Colours, though, and they are telling of some elements of her personality. Her taste for gold ought to be obvious: she trusted Golden Eyes with her life before she even properly met him, and so trusts him to complete his task that she gives her own life to aid him. The Nameless Sister’s preference for emerald, though, offers us some food for thought. Death never mentions one way or the other if her treatment by the other denizens of the Void bothers her, but her need for defensive emerald suggests that she does find her isolation painful. Her combination of gold and emerald, then, suggests a deep loneliness: her desire to trust and be trusted is all the more intense for the defence mechanisms she must keep up in order to keep her feelings from being hurt.

Sister Ava stands in tremendous contrast to Sisters Death and Uta, probably the only Sisters you will have encountered when you first meet her. If your journey through the Void took you from Death’s greenhouse straight to Uta’s grotto you would be forgiven for believing the Sisters would all be gloomy, delicate, and fragile. Sister Ava is evidence early on that warmth can, in fact, exist in the Void. Ava’s chamber, the alcove, represents the first almost completely manmade chamber, with no natural elements whatsoever. Her chamber specifically contrasts with Uta’s grotto, which is characterized by water and frigidity, by featuring a warm colour scheme and plenty of flickering candles. Ava’s personality is a welcome contrast as well. After Sister Death’s apologetic timidity and Uta’s apathetic lethargy, Ava is lively, flirtatious, and demanding. She is also, however, manipulative and selfish relative to her Sisters.

Physically, Ava stands unspectacularly in her chamber. Her Soul Obscura, however, reveals more of her nature. She lies, seductively posed, and her bonds take the form of rose petals and stars. The candles that decorate her chamber actually follow her into her Obscura, suggesting they are more than just decorative trinkets, that they could be considered an extension of who she is as a person. Candles are beautiful, of course, they give off light and warmth, but they slowly destroy themselves by performing their only function. Perhaps Ava’s seemingly straightforward personality is a mask for a more self-destructive character? As her hearts are opened, her body language becomes more openly seductive, and her language becomes more flirtatious.

Ava’s upfrontness about her needs renders an analysis of her Colour diet almost unnecessary. She desires amber above all else, symbolic of hunger as it is. Ava is one of the Sisters who will openly ask the Taboo Breaker for Colour, which Sisters are supposedly unable to do. She also explicitly refers to her own hunger. This is worth bringing up because we know from various sources that the Sisters are starving, but they don’t all mention it outright. In fact, many Sisters ask you to use your Colour elsewhere, or not at all, or anywhere except on them. Ava’s taste for violet, the colour of inspiration, is reflected in her elaborately decorated chamber. Her poisons are revealing as well. Her undisguised attempts to manipulate the Spirit is an expression of her distaste for gold. As for her hatred of azure, I suppose you could say it is representative of her lackadaisical nature.

Ava’s flirtatiousness is contrasted by her despotic Brother, Whaler. Where Aya is coquettish and suggestive, Whaler relies on threats and brute force to impart his will on the Devastator. However, the two do have something in common: selfishness. Ava’s selfishness takes the form of a demanding nature rooted in starvation, which under the circumstances could be forgiven. Brother Whaler’s violence, though, has its roots in egocentrism and self-righteousness. Even among the Brothers, he stands out as particularly cruel. Ava seems not to fear him, though, and lies about him to Devastator. She claims the Brothers- Whaler specifically- will not mind if the Spirit opens her hearts, and even attempts to convince him that the taboos are no longer in effect. Considering Whaler is one of the most zealous brothers when it comes to taboo breaking, it is difficult to imagine how he would react to hearing that particular lie coming from his own Sister. True to her Colour diet, it would take a great hunger indeed to inspire someone to concoct such a high-risk and creative lie.

Sister Uta’s most pronounced characteristic is her melancholy. Everything about her from her chamber to her Colour diet, her body language to her ambient score, it all suggests world weariness, depression, and malaise. Her chamber in particular, although livelier than Sister Death’s, is cold, uninviting, damp, and almost completely unfurnished. Her only allowance for her own comfort is a simple canoe-like hammock, in which she quietly lies, ignoring the Spirit, and gazing unblinkingly at the one-eyed moon above her chamber. Although she shows the Spirit no interest in her physical manifestation, in her Soul Obscura she is much more attentive. Without any hearts opened she sits bolt upright and stares into the camera, and as her hearts are opened she becomes more relaxed but no less observant. Uta is characterized by deep, unwavering concentration in both her physical and spiritual forms, but her Soul betrays that she is more attuned to the actions of the Guest than she would like to suggest. Also significant in this vein is that despite her seemingly ambivalent nature, she will actually aid the Guest by providing him with a heart that he needs to complete his otherwise impossible trial.

Uta’s Colour diet, then, will not surprise an attentive reader. That she would desire emerald ought to be obvious, since her physical inattentiveness but spiritual investment in the Spirit suggests that she puts walls up to defend herself from those around her in spite of actually caring about them. Her love of silver, likewise, manifests itself as frugality with energy- both her body and her soul are at rest, not wasting the life-giving Colour by expending it on physical tasks. Her desire to hoard Colour through inactivity is reinforced by her hatred of amber: she doesn’t want to digest her precious morsels any faster than she absolutely must. Her hatred of crimson could be a simple reflection of her inactive nature, but it also suggests that in spite of her affected nonchalance, she does not explicitly dislike the Guest.

Uta’s Brother is Mantid, the first Brother to enter the Void, which makes him roughly analogous to Uta who has a chance of being the first Sister (after Sister Death) encountered by the Spirit. Uta’s disguised concern for the Spirit is in harmony with Mantid’s relatively friendly disposition towards the same. However, the face Mantid shows the Guest is not representative of his entire character. Sister Ava refers to Mantid’s cruelty, and meaningfully suggests that he “has no sense of humour.” This could go some ways towards explaining Uta’s defeated nature: Brother Mantid’s draconian reign over her has drained her of energy, and she remains as motionless as possible so as to avoid her Brother’s wrath.

Sister Echo is the first wandering Sister the Spirit is liable to meet, and this characteristic will make her instantly stand out from the rest of the sorority. Like Sister Death, her lack of certain characteristics shared by the other Sisters makes her difficult to read. Not only are we lacking sufficient information to analyze her as deeply as the other Sisters, but her entire personality seems to revolve around being cryptic and mysterious. She is also quite helpful of the Guest, volunteering information that is generally reliable.

As a wandering Sister, Echo has no chamber, only a Soul Obscura. For this reason we never see Echo in her physical form (if she can even be said to have one). Although this makes it impossible for us to determine the degree to which her exterior representation of herself is a true reflection of her inner thoughts, in a way it can be almost as illuminating on its own. Echo is totally exposed to the Spirit. She could be said to be completely honest, in that by only ever exposing us to her soul, she makes no attempt to sway the Guest with the representations of her body. Unlike Ava, whose self-serious physical form was different from her playful soul, Echo only ever has one face to show the Devastator.

Her helpful, but unknowable nature are telegraphed by her Colour choices and poisons. Violet- creativity- is one of her staples, and her inspired poses and wordplay are testament to that. She also desires silver, representative of frugality, prudence, and wastelessness. This expresses itself through her helpfulness: she doesn’t waste words flattering Doppelganger, nor does she attempt to mess with his head and obscure his path by telling him lies or half-truths. Her creative inclinations do interfere with her otherwise helpful nature though- despite usually telling the truth and providing useful information, she does tend to do it in a manner marked by obfuscating poetics. Her poisons are azure and crimson, which ought to be clear to anyone who has observed her deliberate and delicate body language.

What is not totally clear is why Echo does not have a chamber. Sister Aya’s aggressive nature probably makes her too much of a headache for even the self-aggrandizing Brothers to deign to handle. Yet Echo’s elegant and peaceful sashays through the Void are left totally unchallenged. Perhaps it is out of some kind of respect? Maybe the Brothers consider her harmless, and as such not in need of the same strictness placed on the other Sisters? Her relationship with Aya is also never fully explained. How did Echo come to be Aya’s mistress? Why does Echo never mention the relationship at all, leaving the relationship feeling one-sided? Why does Aya worship Echo with one breath, and claim she is insane with the next? How did two Sisters of such vastly different temperaments come to form a master/pupil relationship at all? Why do the Brothers allow this? Any analysis of Echo’s character leads to more questions than answers. Knowing Echo, she would probably enjoy hearing that.

Feral, animalistic Aya is a fascinating character, totally unlike the other Sisters in so many ways. Obviously the fact that she is without a Chamber or a Brother puts her in the minority automatically, but she is also distinct from the other Sisters because of her pure, undisguised loathing of the Guest, who she usually calls by her own nicknames- particularly Killer, Wanderer, and Murderer. Sister Aya is spectacularly aggressive, she insults and belittles the Spirit, comes and goes as she pleases, and even the Brothers seem to have no interest in trying to control her. Like Echo, she could be said to be completely “exposed” to the Spirit, in that we never see her physical form and only ever have access to her Soul Obscura. This could suggest that her inner and outer lives are in total harmony, and that she sees no reason to act one way in spite of feeling another.

Despite this apparent honesty, Aya still seems to be slightly misleading the Spirit. In my Beginner’s Guide, I referred to Aya’s taste for amber as representative of a hunger to which she will never admit. She demands the Taboo Breaker give all his Colour to her mistress, Echo, but her desire for Amber betrays her own hunger. This makes her subservience to Echo all the more meaningful, if in spite of her own starvation she still only wants the best for her mistress. I almost don’t feel the need to mention how crimson affects her personality, since she is far and away the most aggressive Sister. Her hatred of gold ought to be obvious enough: she hates the Taboo Breaker, so why should she trust him? She clearly doesn’t think he’s capable of making the right decision on his own, so she feels the need to guide his hand as inelegantly and obviously as she can. Her hatred of silver is somewhat telling, though. Perhaps she doesn’t care about wastefulness because she doesn’t care what happens to the Void, only Echo.

In spite of (because of?) her aggression, I actually rather like Aya. In fact, behind Yani she is probably my favourite Sister. On the face of it this seems pretty unlikely, since the two are really quite different in personality. So I suppose by analyzing those features that Aya and Yani actually do manage to share I could learn quite a lot about myself. I’ll spare you that particular bit of soul searching for now. Feel free to draw your own conclusions about me based on the information provided, however.

Sister Eli’s no-nonsense personality, strong sense of conviction, and super cool chamber makes her a favourite among fans. Eli’s uniform (accessorized with a leather riding crop), dirigible focused chamber, cropped haircut, commanding attitude, and bone dry sense of humour are all reminiscent of a high ranking military type. She waffles between getting right down to business- teaching the Guest some of the specifics about Breakthrough- and playfully mocking him by suggesting ascension is only possible with the help of the power of “true love.”

Eli has much in common with Sister Ava, whose second heart must be opened before Eli can be visited. Both of their chambers emphasize manmade structures over naturalistic flourishes, both are alert to the presence of the Spirit while he is in their chambers, both ask the Spirit to feed them in spite of this behaviour apparently being impossible, and both have props in their Soul Obscura. Unlike Ava, though, whose decorative candles invited further analysis of parts of her personality she may have been hiding or minimizing, Sister Eli’s cannonballs serve the purpose of emphasizing those parts of her personality we have already noticed. Speaking of cannonballs, Eli’s Brother is Ironclad. Eli and Ironclad serve as something of an exception to the usual logic behind Brother/SIster pairings. Where most of the Sisters are wed to a Brother who will serve as their antithesis or nemesis, Ironclad seems to have been chosen to be thematically resonant with Eli: he complements her rather than contrasts with her.

Eli’s desire for crimson ought to be easily understood: although she is not as aggressive towards the spirit as Aya (or even Ava), enjoying instead a cordial relationship with him, she still has all the hallmarks of a character who is aggressive generally, and even hordes weaponry in her Soul Obscura. That her anger is not focused towards the Taboo Breaker could be due to the influence of frugal silver. She is careful and deliberate with her energies and indeed her rage: she knows the Spirit is not her enemy and may even be useful to her, so she directs her anger elsewhere. Her distaste for violet is easily enough understood, and is represented by a straight-talking demeanour marked by to-the-point conversations with the Spirit. A lack of creativity may also be the reason her sense of humour is so dry.

Most interesting though is Eli’s hatred of gold. In all her interactions with the Guest she shows no signs of refusing to trust him, and although no Sister could be said to have a “healthy” relationship with her Brother, Eli’s similarities to warlike Ironclad makes their coupling probably the least invasive of the lot. It’s possible, then, that Eli’s directed aggression really is intended for the Spirit, and she just has the sense not to unleash a hateful tirade against the entity that might save her life. Sister Death, after all, says that Eli would spend a thousand years in the Void for one day on the surface: she shouldn’t like to frighten away the one person who could give her just that. Also interesting is that upon opening her third heart, Eli has genuine-sounding words of kindness and gratitude for the Guest. Either Sister Eli is a tremendous actor, or without showing any outward signs of it at all we have witnessed a character arc for Eli- going from focused white hot hatred to calm understanding as the Spirit continues to feed her Colour.

If you choose to make your decision based on which Sister you think would be most benefitted by being freed from the Void, you will almost certainly choose Sister Ima. Crucified against a medieval torture device, Ima spends her days contemplating the pendulum that perpetually swings above her head. As her hearts are opened, the pendulum lowers, and she comes closer to being split down the middle. For Ima, being fed Colour and being threatened by the blade are the same: as she comes closer to true life, she also comes closer to death. This direct conflation of life and death makes her somewhat representative of the Void as a whole: neither life, afterlife, nor prelife; its inhabitant neither living nor dead. Ima and her plight have another direct connection to the Void in her descending scythe. The swinging blade serves as the visual cue that the Brothers have selected a Sister for “interrogation” (read: torture) during the witch hunt of the Agony cycles.

Ima has a peculiar characteristic that makes her unique among the Sisters: her physical self in her tower and her spiritual self in her Soul Obscura are in total harmony. The tortures she suffers bodily are identical to her mental tortures. Like the wandering Sisters, this can be interpreted as a kind of “honesty”: her physical presentation and her mental state line up perfectly. However, Ima has almost certainly not elected into her situation. More than honesty (or in addition to it) her harmony of body and mind probably represents a particularly strong oppression at the hands of the Brothers. Ima’s Brother is Caterpillar, whose relationship with the Spirit is two-faced and parasitic. Caterpillar claims he will be your mentor, but before long he has abandoned you, presumably because he could not get what he wanted from the Guest. Although he is generally supportive (if curt) to the Guest’s face, his treatment of Ima betrays a spectacular cruelty we never see directly expressed. Like Brother Mantid, Caterpillar is careful to present himself a certain way to the Spirit (and player), and we have to be alert to be able to see through their apparent civility. This self-serving dishonesty makes Caterpillar an effective contrast to Ima, whose personality is most marked by selflessness and helpfulness towards the Taboo Breaker.

As for her Colour choices, nobody would blame Ima for desiring emerald’s protection. She also, of course, desires azure, so as to be agile enough to avoid the scythe’s final descent upon the opening of her last heart (and believe me, it is a photo finish- she probably needed every drop of azure she got). The straightforwardness of her needs is in harmony with her honest nature: unlike the other Sisters, who present themselves one way but feel another, or who attempt to hide the flaws of their personalities that their Colour choices nonetheless lay bare, Ima’s needs are simple and direct. This does manifest itself as a distaste for violet’s inspiration, however. I suppose in light of her condition it would be unfair to blame her for being practical and plainspoken. She also hates amber, which makes sense. If her metabolism were too quick, she may lose her precious emerald and azure, and not have enough left in her to avoid or survive her final encounter with the blade.

Una’s smithy is, if not the largest in terms of square footage, certainly the busiest, liveliest, and most imposing. While other Sisters may favour manmade structures like houses or blimps over the other Sisters’ more naturalistic grottoes, ponds, and trees, none of the Sisters besides Una have a chamber that could be said to be industrial. The rhythmic pounding of an armada of hammers reverberates through the high ceilinged corridors of this imposing stone cathedral to industry. Even the soundtrack is percussion heavy and energetic, contrasting it with the weepy theremins and plinking piano tunes that populate the rest of the Void.

Una herself invokes images of not only industry, but religion. She kneels before a raging fire apparently in reverence, and in her Soul Obscura she writhes in a combination of burning agony and religious ecstasy. Fire, as a visual theme, follow Una into her Soul Obscura, possibly as a result of her fixation on them in her physical form. Her bonds take the forms of flames, and as her hearts are unlocked she writhes across the field of coals at her feet. Perhaps this intensity is a side effect of her feeding on crimson and azure?

The more direct effects of her diet become clear as she speak to the Guest. She is extremely hostile towards him, maybe even rivalling Aya in her hostility. She admonishes the Spirit for his failures, and even blames him for things that appear to have happened before his arrival in the Void, including the deaths of forty Sisters. She places a great deal of responsibility on the Spirit, and claims it is his incompetence that has led to the Sleeper’s predicament. It should come as no surprise, then, that she is poisoned by gold. Her matter-of-fact method of dealing with the Guest is also reflective of her distaste for violet.

That Una’s assigned Brother is Patriarch is interesting. Brother Patriarch has an amicable relationship with the Spirit, and is even understanding and forgiving of the Spirit’s murder of him. Why is the oldest and wisest of the Brothers assigned to Una? Is it because his level headedness was though to be a suitable counter-balance for Una’s ferocity? Is Patriarch’s relative friendliness meant to contrast with Una’s aggression?

One more thing worth mentioning about Una is her response to having her third heart opened. Like Eli, another crimson-favouring Sister with an aggressive temperament, Una eventually comes around on the Guest. Recanting her earlier vitriolic abuse of her potential saviour, and abandoning her self-destructive impulses, Una will suddenly use her azure and crimson to channel a hitherto unseen lust for life, and unabashed desire to ascend to the Upper Limit. This about-face, and confirmation of life in a world as dead as the Void, endears her to many players.

Sister Ire is the oldest of the Sisters, although she is not particularly old objectively speaking. Besides her age, she has many characteristics that make her distinct from the other Sisters. Probably the thing about Ire that most players will first notice is her nudity- even in her physical form her breasts are exposed. Ire as a whole is much more explicitly sexual than the other Sisters. Although any Sister can be seen naked by opening all her hearts, their nudity almost never has sexual undertones, being conflated instead with freedom or liberation. They are naked as newborns, which is appropriate considering their impending rebirth in the Upper Limit. Ire, though, has an atmosphere of sexuality around her at all times. As she is fed Colour she writhes and poses erotically, and even her musical track has a borderline pornographic bass line.

Like some of the other Sisters, Ire has a prop in her Soul Obscura. In fact, she is the only Sister to have a naturally occurring object accompany her soul. The dead tree that she sits on, stretches on, lies on, and grinds on could almost be said to be analogous to her. Although she is really not that old (she claims to be nineteen), there is still much emphasis placed on her age relative to the other Sisters, and the implication is that she is “dried-up” rather than wise with age. It’s worth noting, however, that she actually is quite wise. Or at least knowledgeable. As she is fed Colour, she teaches the Taboo Breaker many things about the Void and the dangers of using Colour carelessly. In fact, it is only through Ire that many of these gameplay elements are taught concretely, rather than obliquely implied.

Her Colour diet leads to an interesting balancing act of personality. Like Ava, she desires amber, the Colour of metabolism and hunger. However, where Ava’s hunger was reinforced by violet’s inspiration, creating a manipulative and coy personality, Ire’s hunger is soothed by gold’s trust. This tears Ire in two directions: on the one hand, she trusts the Spirit to reward her knowledge with Colour, but on the other she still feels anxious enough about her starvation to ask for Colour directly. Her taste for amber is underlined by a distaste for silver: she doesn’t like to see Colour wasted that she could feed on herself. Furthermore, many of her gameplay lessons are specifically about the importance of not wasting Colour. Her distaste for emerald is interesting, though. Perhaps the fact that she would be poisoned by emerald’s protection is the reason she appears nude in her chamber? She is so opposed to the idea of protection, of barriers, that she presents herself completely unguarded to all who enter her chamber.

Everything about Yani seems purposefully engineered to evoke sympathy in the player- or maybe I just feel that way because she evoked so much sympathy in me. Her dilapidated and apparently haunted house borders on being totally inhospitable. Her spartan bedroom is uninviting, and frankly a little frightening. Her situation is so dire that even her striking red tentlike bed barely livens the place up. Everything about her is hidden. The way she kneels sheepishly in the centre of her bedsheet fort, which is itself a bastion against the ghosts and loneliness of her chamber. Her Colour diet is reflective of someone who leads a rich inner life: violet suggests creativity, and combined with azure she could be said to be “quick thinking”, talented at improvisational arts. Her Soul Obscura reinforces this observation: although physically she is shrinking and unassuming, her soul is graceful and creative, performing delicate ballet dances while perched on top of a globe.

Her poisons betray more of her personality. Her distaste for amber mirrors her fear of being fed when you first meet her. Most tellingly, though, she hates emerald: the Colour of defence. Creative spirits tend to be fragile creatures, and the very act of creating something is to bear one’s soul, destroy one’s self-created armour and expose one’s greatest insecurities and fears. That emerald would poison Yani’s soul- cut her off from her own creativity- is interesting when contrasted with the highly defensive nature of her physical surroundings. In this sense Yani seems to be of two minds- both desiring and rejecting a layer of armour to protect her from the world.

Yani’s assigned Brother, Warden, is almost her total opposite. Where Yani is selfless, helpful, friendly, and creative, Warden is greedy, aggressive, self-aggrandizing, and dogmatic. Warden’s physical form represents a twisted subversion of Yani’s comforting bedsheet fort: where the luxurious silk construction represents a castle or bastion, Warden’s dangling skeletal ribcage represents a prison. The contrast is made here between Yani’s self-imposed withdrawal into her defensive sub-chamber and the stifling imprisonment enforced from without. If Yani’s chosen hermitage allows her to more intensely focus on her inner life, Warden’s body-prison represents stagnation, of the body and the mind.

I suppose for me any discussion of Yani in this context means asking the million dollar question: why would I choose her? I think it’s her “internal” nature that I most associate with. Like Yani, I consider myself to lead a rich inner life. The vast majority of my creative endeavours are squirrelled away in notebooks and sketchpads that I never show to anyone else. I don’t find positive reinforcement to be a necessary element in my creativity, and will often create something solely for my own amusement. I find the quiet satisfaction of a drawing competently executed or an essay that is a marked improvement over a previous draft to be immensely satisfying, and usually don’t feel any desire to have my work validated by the approval of other people. In this sense I consider Yani to be something of a kindred spirit.

Sister Ole will probably invoke strong feelings in the average player, a lot of the game seems to be geared towards endearing the player to her. Early on, almost as soon as the Guest has been disguised as a Brother, she becomes your promised Sister. From that point on, she periodically cries out to you, wondering where you are and if you’ve abandoned her. Eventually she is given away to Brother Montgolfier, and Aya mocks the Spirit by claiming he will “corrupt” her. Her chamber, like Yani’s, is a relatively modern looking house in a state of dilapidation, seemingly haunted by unseen poltergeists. A neglected wedding dress gathers dust in its own room, while another contains a piano that will play a sorrowful tune if painted with Colour. Ole herself stares sadly out the window of a room containing a baby’s crib- hence the name, Ole’s cradle.

Ole’s personality seems engineered to be endearing as well. Her love for gold manifests very strongly as unconditional trust for Golden Eyes, but that isn’t all. She also claims to love him, and laments that she could not be his “bride.” As she is fed Colour, she admits she is excited to ascend to the Upper Limit, but begs the Spirit not to send her if it would result in his death. Ole’s affection for the Spirit rivals even Sister Death’s. Her taste for violet is expressed not as creativity (although the presence of a piano in her chamber suggests she is a musician), but as curiosity. Unlike the other Sisters, who offer the Spirit information a little at a time (and who cannot always be trusted), Ole is as much a stranger in this world as the Spirit himself. Her poisons are relatively straightforward: that she despises azure is reflected in her calm, inquisitive nature, and her hatred of crimson is clear in her love for the Guest.

One of the characteristics that sets Ole apart from the sorority is her mobility. As she is fed Colour, she responds in her physical form as well as in her Soul Obscura, standing up from the window ledge and following the Spirit with her eyes after her first heart is opened. Ole’s Obscura is fantastic as well. She is one of the Sisters who has a prop in her Obscura: a swing, which she will begin to energetically ride as her hearts are opened. The purely recreational prop she keeps in her Obscura, coupled with the infantalized name of her chamber gives her an air of childlike innocence. The playful manner of her spirit draws a parallel between Ole and Yani, as well.

And there they are, the Sisters of the Void. Although my reductive surface-scratching can hardly begin to convey the Sisters in all their complexity, I hope I have managed to provide clarity in some areas, and raise important questions in others. To play The Void- or even to experience it vicariously as I have- is to understand how truly real, and lifelike, the Sisters are. It’s a testament to the creators of the game, to the character designers, writers, and performers who bring these characters to life, that they feel so full and realized. To even describe them as having been “designed” and “performed” feels alien, and almost disrespectful- to me and to many others they are simply the Sisters, as real as any person you care to name. And yet, in spite of how corporeal they all manage to feel, most players will be able to definitively choose one (or perhaps oscillate between two or three), that they decide to ascend. As Sister Echo would say, there is only one true Sister. The Sister any given player selects would be, for him or her, the realest of the sorority- his or her one true Sister.

As a closing thought, I suppose I am forced to admit that choosing to ascend the Spirit is as absolutely valid an option as selecting one of the Sisters (in fact, in the original Russian Tension, it was possible to ascend a Sister and the Spirit). Where, then, is my analysis of the Devastator? How can he be meaningfully compared to the Sisters to determine who most deserves Breakthrough? Such an examination is, of course, impossible. The Spirit is mute, and has no will of his own except for that will the player enacts through him. The Spirit is the player. What could I possibly have to teach you about yourself? If you size up the eleven Sisters and none of them endear themselves to you more than any other, none of them move you with their suffering, none of them inspire you with their conviction, and none of them seems deserving of a chance at a real life on the surface, by all means feel free to ascend yourself, Golden Eyes. But if you do, I do have one thing to teach you about yourself: you might not be a very reliable or objective judge of character.

#the void #тургор #turgor

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psychewritesbs · 1 year

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Right.

So... apparently there’s fans who believe that Athrun loved Lacus and that is why the memes about Kira stealing girlfriends exist. But I must admit I never got the impression that Athrun ever saw his engagement to Lacus as anything more than a political alliance that was in everybody’s best interest.

And watching GS again I have to say I am doubling down on my headcanon because... well...

Their dynamic is so...

Basically Athrun is so not emotionally available to Lacus... like at all.

It’s so Scorpio of him to put up emotional barriers any time she tries to get close. Like in the screencap above where he actually refuses her touch and walks away from her.

And I get the sense that in the early episodes of GS Athrun didn’t understand what it meant for him to want to open up to someone and to actually want to be present in a dynamic with someone.

His dynamic with Lacus was something that was an expectation set by others after all. So there’s an element of forced interaction between the two of them.

Yes, there’s all the haros he’s given her, so there is definitely a sense of Athrun expressing something about his inner self through the creation of objects that he then gives her.

It’s just that given the current state of their interactions early on in GS + the fact that their engagement is very likely the result of a desirable political alliance because of their respective fathers, there’s an element of “doing what a good fiancé would do.”

I’ll not deny that he very likely cares for Lacus. I think it’s completely undeniable actually--the haros being evidence of it.

It’s just that in a situation such as theirs where they are initially forced to interact with one another because they are to be married someday, I imagine both Athrun and Lacus came into this engagement thinking “ok this is who I am supposed to marry” instead of “ok this is who I want to marry.”

And so the basis for their dynamic is this forced interaction that they both have to make work because other people have told them it needs to work. Both Athrun and Lacus then brought their own personalities into the dynamic in an attempt to meet this external expectation.

I also have to say that as a fellow water sign, I can’t imagine that Athrun found it satisfying to not feel an emotional resonance to Lacus. I say that because if he felt that emotional resonance, his attitude towards her would be different.

Instead, he appears to be annoyed by her...

Hell, he didn't even seem to want to go on a rescue mission to find her when she disappeared and was picked up by the Archangel.

And even if the marriage wasn’t arranged by their parents (I don’t remember honestly) and Athrun and Lacus are childhood friends and he proposed to her...

He’s kind of a cranky and mean fiancé to her if I’m honest...

I love Athrun but that was a dick thing to say, Lacus was worried about him and he turns his back on her and gives her a nasty answer.

It doesn’t surprise me that Lacus ended with Kira because, unlike Athrun, Kira was able to meet her emotionally where she was at.

So I think that’s why later on in the story Athrun says that Lacus is his ex-fiancé because he was an idiot. He simply had not realized what he wanted because he was doing what was expected of him.

Living to fulfill other’s expectations without looking into one’s heart is always a recipe for disaster and unhappiness.

I think this is my third time watching GS (I swear just how I only read Soul Eater for Soul and Maka, I only watch GS for Athrun and for asucaga) and it’s really cool to be able to discern Athrun’s character arc at its early stages because part of his growth revolves around overcoming his daddy issues so that he can open up emotionally.

Ah, of course, I have to say that this ramble is inspired and influenced by this fantastic analysis that I found on the topic by someone else who agrees that Athrun cared for Lacus but didn’t love her in the romantic sense.

I have to admit that seeing how Athrun behaves with Lacus and comparing that to how he behaves with Cagalli is a dead giveaway of the state of his relationship with Lacus.

Anyways.

Is there anyone out there in this fandom that still nerds out about this stuff?!!!!!!!!!

#athrun zala #gundam seed #that's it #I'm a mega nerd #writing essays to justify my otp by nitpicking at tiny little details

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formulinos · 1 year

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hello. i actually have something serious to talk this time.

as some of you might know, i’ve been working on a piece i call “the elusive hyperfixation corner” as a sort of working title - i don’t really want to discuss what it is about until i post it. i started researching and developing the concept back in may 2021, which means that in 2 months time i’ll complete two years working on it.

logically, i didn’t devote myself full time to it: i’ve moved to france in the meantime and studying/working here demands way more time than back at home. i’ve also had several health struggles i’ve talked about before (special shout out to covid last year, didn’t kill me but surely made me wish i was dead!) and family issues that i had to navigate while being in a whole different hemisphere. all of that means i didn’t have a lot of time available for starters, and occasionally i had other ideas that were more viable to work on because they didn’t demand as much time. take the last HC for example, i read capitalist realism in roughly a week while taking notes and then completed the whole thing in three days. anyway.

this doesn’t mean, however, that i’ve set it completely aside. on the contrary, i frequently went back on the notes and time actually gave me perspective on what was missing, and this is the point i wanted to get at: i felt my amount of source material was pretty scarce. mind you, when i first started writing it properly, i had already done a chunk of work i’d say is similar to the 1982 championship series (if any of the guys who i did talk about it in detail want to correct me on this, feel free to!). but i constantly remembered other places i could go and books i needed to fetch to find maybe a bit or a piece that could fit into the text.

it got to the point where i needed to stop myself because it’s akin to self-harm, truly. it doesn’t feel good, i got paranoid thinking there is stuff missing and i lose out on days that i could be working on writing because i’m reading or watching stuff that will translate in barely a line of the final product. the result is that i got over 18k words just in notes plus two parts out of five theoretically written, but i’m not satisfied at all with them, so i’ve decided i’ll rewrite what feels wrong. i haven’t stopped checking content entirely since there are some videos i need to go through so that i can gif stuff, etc. but this is legit where i’m halting this part of the process. i hope you can forgive me if it still feels like i wasn’t in depth enough.

i wanted to have posted this so, so much before. there was a specific date that really crushed me not having anything to deliver to you - you’ll understand when i post it. ideally, i’ll be able to turn it in before the summer break, but this might as well go all the way to december since i’ll have to wrap up my interniship and move back home in july/august and my whole month of may is pretty full too (i’m taking a girls trip for monaco e-prix, then my family will come to france and i’m thinking about surprising them w a short stay in london, and i’ll go to berlin at the end of the month. oh! and arctic monkeys concert somewhere in between).

i feel like george r r martin talking about the winds of winter here, but i do think it’s important to give the three of you that care a small update on how things are going. please wish me luck! i promise i’m working hard and hopefully the result will please you. cheers and forza ferrari.

#long post #hyperfixation corner

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cflight · 11 months

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hemlock's not very smart, now is he? i mean, all of this talk about changing the world, about experiments and prototypes... sure sounds like he's obsessing over them because he knows he'll never get any finished product out of it. fussing over a bunch of dead ends and stupid ideas because he can't accept that things aren't the way he wants them to be because its just not functional. people who can actually change the world don't need to preen about it, they let their own actions speak for themselves, but oh, no, he can't just do that, he has to go on and on and on about how he's totally right and he's done it right because if he doesn't no one would even entertain the idea. one of the stupidest people i've seen in a long time, really. shame he's not even very entertainingly stupid either.

Hemlock’s eyes narrow at that, the corners of his mouth ever slightly turning downwards into a fierce scowl. “You’d be surprised at what I’ve managed to complete during all those years of work.” he says thinly, a flash of anger in his icy blue eyes. “While it’s true things have been progressing slower than expected, I can’t say I’m not satisfied with the results as they are now.”

He fidgets with the metal syringe on his desk, wrinkled hands trailing over the gold-laced tube. “After all, can’t expect perfection on the first try, no? Those previous experiments were all but testaments of my limitations at the time. I’ve grown stronger. Powerful.” His gaze trails over towards the stranger, his free hand clenching into a fist. “I don’t need some cloaked fool telling me how it’s all for naught.“

He snarls, the hand previously tracing the syringe lifting and digging into his skin, the sound of thick, bubbling liquid entering his body as he gave the stranger a sickening smile. “Go ahead, embrace your tainted mind with your utterly foolish assumptions. But just know you won’t be laughing once I rid this plague that is but a stain on what soon will be rightfully mine.”

#🌻 | ic.#idk dude I think you made him kinda mad #⚡️ | hemlock.#read him for filth pack it up boys Hemlock has been fucking obliterated #🌻 | grey strangers.#you killed him

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3nigm4art · 2 years

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MI6 Cafe Creators Tag Game

(Thank you for tagging me, @spiritofcamelot!)

We’d love for people to keep getting to know each other after this year’s 007 Fest, so we’re starting this tag game!

Rules: Answer the questions, then tag 3 new people to complete this. Also, tag the person who tagged you and @mi6-cafe so we can reblog your response.

Note that when we say ‘fanwork’ in the questions below, that could mean a fanfic, gif, fanart, headcanon, cosplay, crocheted work---any kind of fancreation counts!

1. What work of yours challenged you when you were creating it?

To some degree, everything I did has presented itself as challenging, one way or another. Mostly because a) I refuse to turn in sub-par work, and b) everything I knew was going to be easy had to be made more difficult by adding some challenge to it.

For example, I challenged myself to write “The Q With The Dragon Tattwo” within 24 hours. No one told me to do it, but I churned out the 2,710 words anyway.

And everything becomes challenging when you are stupid and ambitious. “No one has done that before? WELL, I’M GONNA DO IT.”

Which often results in dumb ideas being turned into even dumber things. Like “The Bidding” fanvid.

“Don’t do anything I would do, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” -Tony Stark

2. What is a fanwork you’ve seen which gave you a new headcanon about a character?

Honestly, I don’t really headcanon things. Even if I do, I don’t follow them.

My headcanons are not necessarily inspired by fanworks, but more often than not they are just random crap that floats in my mind. (I mean, have you seen my headcanons?)

3. Is there a fanwork that you really want to make, but you haven’t started yet?

There are so many.

There’s a long fic, currently titled “Everywhere at The End of Time”, and the reason why it’s not completed is that it’s the fic that’s not supposed to fuck up. I’d rather take my sweet time about it than rush it and produce a product I am not satisfied with.

I wanted to make this paper theatre thing with Q in Q-branch during Skyfall. That project is currently in limbo. Not that it’s not started, but rather I have come to the conclusion that I can’t do it with my current abilities.

As well as other smaller things, let’s see... Pathologist AU, mage! Q and knight! Bond and other secret projects.

4. What fanwork of yours surprised you, and how?

“If You Have The Time, Would You Come by And See me?” was one that got increasingly complicated as time went on.

It was inspired by a song called 漠河舞廳 by 柳爽. And the story behind that song was that was an old man who stood in front of what used to be a nightclub. It caught on fire one night in 1980 and his wife died in the fire.

“如果有時間你會來看一看我吧” was the first line of the song, meaning “if you have the time, would you come by and see me”. And the song expresses survivor’s guilt of the man, and how time has been unforgiving to him, living alone all these years.

Yeah...It’s a hell of a song.

It was surprising because the giffing process was FUCKING HARD. I had to compress it again and again and IT WAS STILL OVER 9MB LIKE WTF.

But ultimately I am pleased with the results.

5. What themes/styles/subjects are common across many of your fanworks?

Q, blue and sad shit

6. What other fandoms do you create for, if any?

I used to do stuff for Evangelion and Trigun before Bond completely took over.

I did some stuff for The Batman when it came out.

Just did some stuff for The Sandman too.

But believe me, my interests are much, much broader than this.

7. Is there an artist that you like to listen to while you create? Or one whose work always inspires you?

Again, there are so many.

Legit, if I have a mood and tone I’m aiming for a piece, I have a playlist of 5-8 songs on it. So I’m not gonna rec them all because it would be impossible. And I listen to anything and everything.

FINE FINE I’LL REC STUFF

King Gnu and Radwimps are two of my favourite Japanese bands. King Gnu’s “Chameleon” and “Prayer X” are great. Radwimps’s “Picnic” is one I often find myself mindlessly singing to.

Recently got into Saint Motel, Muse, Mother Mother, The Strokes, Mitski and others.

If we are talking about art... It’s also a long ass list of Twitter handles .

Chinese artists: Amuiiart, RDJlock, Chain_HN, woyaoCharlie, fromchive, sayhanawork, RuiRiell

Japanese artists: akagawa_sagan, rui4444, fyfyfy1000, 2964_KO, shokuen, sotanami, asmk_gengaten, toboso_official

Others: Kilgaaaaaara, _haga_nom, sundayjorge, KimJungGiUS, zcb1346, _elibaum, viv_tanner, davaja, chipkidd, TotinoTedesco

And many, many more. You can check by looking at who I’m following.

8. Share a fanwork that you’ve found yourself thinking about weeks after reading/seeing it.

I’m gonna share the one that I have consistently been thinking about for years.

Andddd... I can’t find it. I think the post is gone.

Welp I’ll just have to share another one

This is a Victorian AU 00Q fan art, but the title was “Skyfall Revisited”, a clear reference to Brideshead Revisited.

It’s just really good.

9. Finally, share where you post your works!

Twitter: 3NIGM4_4RT

AO3: 3NIGM4

Youtube: 3NIGM4

So I’ll tag: @emiliasilverova @bluebellofbakerstreet @silverbrume

#tag games #mi6cafe #sorry for the long post

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f1 · 1 year

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We couldnt have done more today insists Russell after taking P4 in Miami

Mercedes weren’t at their best in qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix but race day saw George Russell come home fourth as the Silver Arrows closed the gap on Aston Martin. The Briton was satisfied with his result – but not pleased to be out of the fight for victory. Russell took sixth in an action-packed qualifying session on Saturday while his team mate Lewis Hamilton ended up starting 13th on the grid, but the pair finished a respective fourth and sixth on Sunday to score a combined 20 points to Aston Martin’s 15 – Fernando Alonso having completed the podium for the team in green, behind winner Max Verstappen, and Sergio Perez. READ MORE: Verstappen overhauls Perez for Miami GP victory as Red Bull intra-team battle steps up a gear “I mean P4 in those circumstances, we probably weren’t expecting it really, quite a satisfying race,” said Russell afterwards. “Good overtake on the Alpines, good overtake on Carlos [Sainz]. Pace relatively speaking was strong. We couldn’t have done more today. I’m proud of that but of course we want more, and we want races like this today to be for the win.” This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences Russell reveals his Miami finish exceeded his expectations after ‘really satisfying race’ Red Bull, however, dominated the race with Verstappen coming from P9 to win, five seconds ahead of team mate Perez – who in turn finished more than 20 seconds ahead of third-place Alonso. The reigning champions are therefore leading by 122 points in the constructors’ championship heading to Imola, while Aston Martin are second and Mercedes a close third. MUST-SEE: will.i.am gets race day at the Miami Grand Prix off to a stunning start with an orchestral version of ‘THE FORMULA’ “I wasn’t really surprised, no [about Red Bull's pace]. That’s where they are at the moment,” said Russell. "We said at the start of the season they are so far ahead. They’ve got it easy at the moment. I wonder if they are even running full power, they are just so far ahead. “It’s a bit of a shame for the sport, but kudos to them for the good work they’ve clearly done and shown what is possible when you get it right. That’s what we are going to be chasing and let’s see what we can achieve,” he concluded. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

#F1 #‘We couldn’t have done more today’ insists Russell after taking P4 in Miami #Formula 1

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birdmenmanga · 1 year

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wow is THIS what it takes for me to fix me sleep schedule, waking up at 7:30 and groggily making it through the rest of the day while gathering data and resources for my manga? The goal is to maybe hit the sack around 11ish and then wake up around 8 or 9 tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be fixed

adventures from today below cut

So this ballroom dancing competition out of town is definitely a bigger deal than the one in town (makes sense, it’s in the hub of the south). Both the folks from the university ballroom dancing club and the people from monday ballroom dancing had people competing, so it was fun!! I got to cheer for multiple people.

The thing is though, both of these places are Latin dancing studios. And as much as I’m warming up to Latin dances, it’s becoming all the more apparent to me that Standard is definitely the dance that sells the metaphor I want to talk about. A Latin solo dance looks like a solo dance; a Standard solo dance looks like an incomplete half of a pair dance. I always meant for the pair dance to reflect the societal expectation that you need another half to complete you, and Standard ballroom dancing just makes that so visually clear, with the way the arms are framed around the invisible, nonexistent partner. (It makes breaking down this expectation all the more satisfying and cathartic, the more constraining it is to begin with.)

But that’s getting ahead of myself in some ways. I think I’m getting a good picture of how the themes are shaping out, but I don’t have enough real experience to craft a fulfilling plot (yet). I think I might actually have to end up competing for real LMAOOOO like I feel myself getting swayed to commit to the bit...

Speaking of commitment to the bit!! The physical therapist I got in touch with about Duchenne muscular dystrophy got back to me!! I’ll have to read through it in more detail since it was a huge block of text that had a lot of technical terms I wasn’t familiar with. That’ll be exciting. I think it means I need to redraw a almost every panel I’ve already drawn of Saki though... it’s rotten work but christ alive I’ll fucking do it I’ll fucking do it. killing strangling you!! (My mother suggested looking up DMD videos on YouTube to find references of real people. That’s actually a pretty genius idea. I don’t know why I never thought of it.)

Anyways, back to the ballroom dancing. It turns out my instructor for Monday ballroom dancing used to compete professionally in Latin dancing, but lately has switched over to Modern ballroom dancing. She was actually supposed to compete in Standard today, but her partner got injured so they pulled out. But she does do one-on-one lessons... for 1k an hour... which isn’t cheap. For reference, the Monday ballroom dancing lesson goes for 2k for 10 sessions. so it’s like 5 times as expensive. HOWEVER. It’s the same to teach one person solo and to teach one pair. so if I can loop someone else into partnering with me I can cut the cost by like half.

This unfortunately is both easier and harder said than done. I know multiple people from the university ballroom dancing club who had actually been more interested in Standard than Latin for one reason or another (the charming motorcycle lad is one. the movie guy is another. thank you ballroom e youkoso). They are all guys however. I am also, technically, trying my very hardest to present as a guy. (Mixed results.) So I think I could probably find one person who might be interested in doing this as a one-time thing if I offered to follow. But that does put my gender identity under more scrutiny than I’d want. (Anything for a discount though LMAO. I’m about to blow so much money... earrings is like 3k, the electricity bill I’m paying tomorrow is 1.5k, and then fishing my old data out of my phone is another 3k... yikes...)

Anyways, I went to dinner with several of the people who were vaguely affiliated with the university ballroom dancing club and the monday dance place. In particular there were these two older dancers, who had competed for a short while, but hadn’t done so recently because work had gotten busy. They were both very kind and friendly to me, and in particular I asked the guy why only one of his ears were pierced, and he gave me this fascinating explanation. For reference, he’s 30, so I think maybe some traditions were lost to time, or became obsolete due to normalization of piercings.

He told me that traditionally, men would get their left ear pierced, while women would get their right ear pierced, because people were mostly right-handed, and a man would hold a sword with their right hand, while holding their woman with their left— if their ears were pierced this way, then they would be able to see each others’ piercings in this position. But gay men would have their right ear pierced, and lesbian women their left. I asked him which culture this tradition was from, since he had spent time in Australia, Japan, and Taiwan while growing up, and he couldn’t give me a straight answer. “It’s just sort of common sense, I think,” is what he said, and a simple online search seems to indicate that while the origins are disputed it seems like the gay earring is indeed a real thing... I’m too tired now to put any deeper thoughts than “Neat!”

He told me not to worry, and the women generally got both ears pierced, and I told him that I was actually transgender, which I think is the first time I told anyone I would probably meet again. Both of them were really supportive. “You should follow your heart,” said his dance partner. Hormones were definitely a thing in Taiwan, she added. I still don’t know about whether I want that, but it was nice to be treated kindly, I think. The guy said that he’d met trans women before but it was the first time he’d met a trans man. They were really nice... I hope I can run into them again, at some point.

I think I might just go to bed now... start brushing my teeth and everything... Today was not productive, but it was important, I think. Productive in a different way.

#just thinking thoughts...

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ghostlymilkshakearcade · 6 months

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Digital journal: Intro to Animation and application, Final Project Proposal Presentation, Final Project Process, Final product pt. 1

10/31

Animation Photoshop Notes:

Rename layers by double clicking

Fill and then bucket to add a greenscreen background

Click on the eye ball icon to switch between the two different backdrops and then you can highlight both backdrops, make new groups, folder to organize the background

How to make our own characters:

example: a ghost

Use the brush tool to make the overall shape of the ghost and fill it in with white. You can use the move tool to move the drawing you just made around. Ctrl click to duplicate the layer and then you can change specific elements of the ghost

Making a transition

opacity (how visible or invisible can object can be)

You can highlight all of the elements, transitions or layers and put them all into one folder

lasso tool that allows you to select parts of the layer of the background (allows you to manipulate what part of the background the character can go behind) -> like you want the ghost to go behind the tree, which is in the background. CRTL C to copy the highlighted element and CTRL V to paste it onto the green screen part of of the two backgrounds.

11/7 Animation Workshop Part 2 and Final Project discussion

Today was the day of our second animation workshop, and we were instructed to come in with our animation subjects with multiple layers to learn how to synthesize them together and officially animate. Prior to class, I encountered some issues. My computer is not equipped to run complex programs like Photoshop. This heavily hampered my ability to complete my layers before class, resulting in me not having the proper frames before class.

This being the case and the fact that I was not too satisfied with my original frames, I decided to start over. This time, it went smoother having my accumulated knowledge from last class and guidance. I ended with my final animation, which I unfortunately cannot attach because there was technical issues with uploading it to my hard drive. But here's a demo of my process of figuring out how to work the functions of Photoshop!

Prior to our animation workshop, as a class we had the chance to discuss our final project in which we have to recreate a scene that is at least 3 minutes and must include an animation element. I decided to partner with my friend Mya, because their ideas are thorough and I know that working with them, we will both produce a cohesive product. We got straight into brainstorming, as shown below:

SCENE IDEAS:

. Mean Girls: Regina writes herself in the burn book, and throws flyers around the school

. Spongebob: Sandy is looking for spongebob “I’m ready i’m ready” and Sandy responds “No you aint!” OR the krustkrab pizza scene

. Scary movie: cindy and her friend fight the grudge in their living room

MEAN GIRLS BRAINSTORM: (#1 IDEA)

Animation elements: steam coming out of regina’s ears, animating “AHHHHH” out of regina’s mouth and filling up the screen

Props: burnbook, printed photos of ourselves, car to stand by for beginning of scene, A LOT OF PAPER

With these ideas in mind, we can now move into our final project proposal, which we will be presenting in class next week.

11/13 (prior to class)

Tomorrow we present our final project proposals, and Mya and I synthesized facets of our idea into a slideshow, including our written script, our technical script with specific camera cuts, thanks to Mya, props, setting, actors, and more to give the class insight into our future creative process.

11/14 (final project proposal presentation)

Today we presented our proposal and got the chance to see what our classmates are planning to do. Looking at the proposals, it looks like all of us have a good amount of work cut out for us, and the due date is December 5th, which is pretty close, considering Thanksgiving Break. This made me extremely apprehensive given the technical responsibilities (operating a camera and new equipment such as rode mics and light kits) and the time constraint. Besides this, we put in a request for the needed equipment and to our dismay, the needed equipment was not available until after break, giving us limited time to film and get everything squared away before the 5th. I am hopeful that we can get this figured out before break.

11/27 (Back from break!)

Coming back from break, I got a lot of time to ponder about the stakes of our project, and so did Mya. We got together today and decided that the best course of action given that finals are coming up was to change our scene. By changing our scene to one that involves less people would make it easier for us to get as much done in our time frame and the new scene we have involves comedic relief, which shouldn't be too hard to emulate. We have devised our second final project proposal:

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keefwho · 1 year

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April 19 -2023

12:04 AM

I’m trying once again to report the positives in my life, or at least the neutral because today was kind of ass. Work went pretty well aside from REALLY hating the kind of edit I have to do. I prefer to do no edits ideally. I’m hoping I can finish the commission tomorrow like predicted but I might cut it close.

Once again I let myself get a little too pent up but I didn’t have any method available that would have truly satisfied me and I decided to do something anyways. That almost always results in a very unsatisfying performance and it did that this time too. It just sucks and wastes a lot of time.

After that I struggled to get back to work and I only did after round 2 of horny which helped a little bit. I did a grimdark request and was about to skip my personal project time but I figured I’d at least do a little bit which plunged me into doing the whole thing which is kind of good. Its just that the whole time was spent making almost no progress at all because I’m trying to learn how to do something a little bit advanced with almost no help but I think I know where to go from here.

When it was relax time, I played some very irritating Spyro and then hopped on Minecraft with a group I didn’t match the energy of at the time. And this one guy who tends to be an over-familiar asshole REALLY got on my nerves so I muted him the whole time which caused a rift in communication. I HATE that I can’t mute someone without that happening and usually I wouldn’t do that but today was shit enough that I did not want to put up with him. I wanted to end the day with something nice. Other than him Minecraft was okay. I made some progress with the house I’m building for me and my bestie but I worry I should start becoming more active with actually doing stuff together like adventuring.

The day was ended by setting up an emulation of Mother 3 which I am looking forward to beating before TOTK comes out.

Other than all that, I’ve been trying to figure out if some things I find inherently meaningful are actually dependencies. I think I’m starting to overthink this though. I have some belief that most of my meaning should be coming from solo hobbies or something and social values stack on top of that. I don’t know why I believe this, maybe because I think I’m supposed to be able to stand completely alone and be okay? But I don’t think that is realistic. Obviously it’s important to be able to stand alone for some periods of time but I don’t want to believe I’m meant to come to terms with crippling loneliness before fostering my relationships. If I listen to my heart’s deepest desiring while also keeping in mind the importance of my own independence, what I want is to foster a loving companionship. One I can do service for and rely on in turn. I’m tired of being stressed out because I’m worried I’m actually dependent on this idea. Are we not “dependent” on all values? Even if I only wanted to live alone with no friends and only wanted to progress my artistic ability in silence, would I not also be dependent on that idea for happiness?

I think I’ve done too much thinking and too much believing in what I “should” be. The point of listening to my heart is not to think about it too much. My heart knows what I want in the purest way. I want to love. That is a core value. Wanting something like that is normal. I guess in general from an outside perspective it can be hard to tell if someone is looking for companionship for the wrong reasons. For instance someone could want a partner for their status, or sex, or to fill an emotional void that they don’t want to face. But I don’t think I fit that description. I want to pledge loyalty to someone and have that in return. EVERYONE wants that in some form or another. We want a partner, or a group, or a team.

I know talking about this so much is starting to sound like I’m coping but I’m just trying to convince myself of what I believe to be the actual truth. That this value of mine is valid. I don’t want to fight it anymore.

#journal #diary

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semiotic-sandwich-hell · 1 year

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The history of how this blog got started

A few years ago at work, two friends and I started a sandwich club, called Club Sandwich. I work in tech, so our office came with certain perks. One of those perks was that we got supermarket deliveries to the office every week to stock the pantry and fridges with staples, so people could make snacks for themselves during work. The point of Club Sandwich was to hijack the delivery order, so that we could get good sandwich ingredients and make toasted sandwiches over lunch (and save on eating out).

Club Sandwich quickly grew. Within a month, my friends and I (operating as the Toastmasters of the Supreme Sandwich Council), decided to begin holding special make-your-own sandwich lunches for the whole office. People began posting pictures of their sandwiches from home in the work group. Club Sandwich was open to everyone, and it was a good time to be a sandwich lover. Unfortunately, being open to everyone means that you’re open to conflicting ideologies…

In July of 2019, a simple and reasonably innocuous question was asked by a regular attendee of our lunches - “Can we post burgers in this group?”

Now, I like a burger as much as the next guy. In fact, they’re probably my favourite food besides sandwiches. But, as sandwich enthusiasts, we three Toastmasters instinctively knew that burgers were out of the question for Club Sandwich, and made a rule that burgers were not allowed. However, that question caused people to begin questioning what it meant to be a sandwich, and a few particularly contrarian software developers began stirring up some shit and asking even more ridiculous questions, like “can we post hot dogs?” or “can we post tacos?”. The resulting chaos threw the society into turmoil. The worst part? They were right.

Every dictionary definition I could find defined a sandwich like this:

Filling in between two pieces of bread or a split roll; OR filling on top of a single piece of bread, as in an open-faced sandwich; OR something resembling a sandwich

Operating under that definition, almost any food that involves bread is a sandwich! Under this definition, burgers, hot dogs, avocado on toast, even DIP can be a sandwich. Not to mention the “anything resembling a sandwich” part! How can it be that all of these things are sandwiches, and yet no one thinks of them as sandwiches?

A few days later, I made the following post in the group:

Where does a burger end and a sandwich begin? The differentiation comes with the meal's conception. If the meal is intended as a burger, then it is a burger. If it was made as a sandwich, then it is a sandwich. Labels exist for us to conveniently associate with concepts; without them our world would grid to a halt. It's these labels which we use to create mental models of a meal and our expectations of that meal. Labels cause differences in perception and, by extension, reality. Naming something a burger comes with other conceptual baggage that a sandwich does not. Bread, patty, lettuce, cheese; these are all nought in the face of a name. A sandwich is a sandwich is a sandwich. Further discussion is encouraged, but variations on the argument "It's just fillings in bread, what's the difference?" will be met with swift and savage ridicule. Thank you.

This seemed to stabilise the discourse, for the time being. Of course, the discourse never completely stopped, but I was glad to have a resolution to the problem.

Yet… I didn’t feel satisfied with my argument. The intent of a meal alone isn’t enough to give it a concrete label - I can’t say “I’m going to make a burger” and then make chilli con carne and assert that it’s a burger just because I called it that from the beginning. It seemed like a good starting point, but it didn’t sit right with me.

I was given the opportunity to refine my argument some months later, when a friend from outside of work invited me to a “powerpoint party”. Everyone needed to come up with a presentation and deliver it in front of everyone else, while getting smashed on punch. I, of course, made my presentation about the difference between a burger and a sandwich. I evolved my argument into three points:

Technically a burger is a sandwich, but it’s not useful to use the word sandwich to refer to it.

It is not useful because ”sandwich” is a higher level category than “burger” and if you refer to something using a category that’s too high level, you don’t get your meaning across. For example, if a child showed you a picture of a firefighter and asked what it was, you wouldn’t say “this is a mammal”.

You don’t get your meaning across because a burger is “too strong of an idea” to be a sandwich.

To be honest, I didn’t word it as simply as this, because I still didn’t quite understand what my point was. I didn’t like how wishy-washy the phrase “too strong of an idea” sounded. I felt better about my argument, but I still wasn’t completely satisfied.

As the years went on, I never stopped thinking about this question:

“Why should burgers not be allowed in Club Sandwich?”

Which turned into a more difficult question over time:

“Why are burgers not considered sandwiches in day to day life, even though they technically are sandwiches?”

I realised at a certain point that no amount of Wikipedia trawling and pondering was going to get me any further. I’d hit the limit of where my brain alone would take me. To get a real answer to the questions that plagued me for so long, I realised I would need to do some real learning. I would need to study semiotics.

#semiotics #language #burgerquest

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tongowheel · 1 year

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relevant to a reply i’m writing —

nog only spent a year at starfleet academy. his second year was fieldwork on ds9 which was interrupted by the dominion war, resulting in him being granted a field commission. at the end of the war, he was promoted to lieutenant. but all that time, he was an engineer. we know, from beta canon, that he ultimately switches to command track, && we’ve seen that happen with a few other characters in tng, namely deanna && beverly. all that’s required of an officer who wants to be able to take command is to take the bridge officer’s test, && whether that results in a full track switch or just a command addition is case-by-case (beverly becomes a captain eventually, deanna does not.)

we also know, from beta canon, that nog took the kobayashi maru, which is specifically an academy test. as far as we’re told in canon, only command-track cadets do the kobayashi maru, which means nog would not have, even if beta canon seems to suggest otherwise. there are accounts of him taking it two different times, with two different solutions, as well, && i love both too much to only choose one.

so i’m making up a situation that satisfies all of these requirements: the kobayashi maru is required for command-track cadets, but anyone can take it, && i’d even venture to say it’s a prerequisite for anyone planning to serve on the bridge of a ship, as bridge are are close to the action && command decisions. whether nog had that intent or not, i’m not sure, but regardless — he decided to sit for the test. in fact, it may have been an ego thing, part of him being desperate to prove himself. the first time he did the kobayashi maru, he cheated. he didn’t see it as cheating, but starfleet did. in order to beat the simulation, nog bribed the romulans, && since the program wasn’t built with that option in mind, it simply broke down. it wasn’t exactly considered passing, && it certainly wasn’t a WIN — but nog maintains that it was a good, solid strategy that could’ve worked in real combat. because of nog’s shortened time as a student, once the war ends && he’s had time to settle, he actually returns to the academy for an additional two semesters. this is proof of how much he’s grown since then ; to return to the classroom while holding a lieutenant rank requires a complete ego shed. but he does it, && during this time, nog completes the kobayashi maru scenario again. this time, he devises a new strategy. it’s still a no-win, but he passes with flying colors. in this round, nog lures the enemy onto his ship, && sets the self-destruct announcement so low that only his ferengi ears can hear it.

anyway, tl;dr nog completed the kobayashi maru twice like a total badass.

#&. first ferengi in starfleet ( hc | nog )#ugly little alien dealer ( ooc )

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spygong28 · 1 year

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The Single Strategy To Use For How To Become A Model In South Africa

Model agency: Designs in Africa Africa – Our version firm embodies models all over the world, likewise in Africa we are represented for instance in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Resource: Designs in Africa – Our version agency embodies models all over the world, likewise in Africa we are exemplified for example in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Publisher – Models in Africa – Our design firm represents designs worldwide in our personal private publication, on styles within Africa for instance in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Cape Town. The country is renowned for its incredible weather and impressive views complete of amazing animals that can easilyn’t be discovered anywhere else. The only part of our treasured island untouched and beautiful is the exceptional coast collection that functions along this isle. In the summer months of 2013 I took up angling, a popular holiday season in the Philippines. I had been following The Philippine Sea since I was fifteen years outdated and after finding such a magnificent image of this world I was fastened. The fashion trend world is also constantly inspired by Africa. A growing number of African designers collaborate throughout our selections to provide the ideal appearance at an exotic or amazing lifestyle. Our collection includes distinct types, from natural clothing for day-to-day wear to modern-day, modern variations of traditional fashion. "I'm amazed at how properly our women are doing at it. There has actually to be a notification concerning affection and permission, but that's not the case listed here at the minute. With us models have the ideal stepping rock right into the world of fashion and customers possess the promise that they can always entirely trust us and our models. We're committed to giving the finest in type and in company to our consumers. We look onward to working along with you when you purchase your following luxury thing. You're liable for all tasks, taxes, and taxes related to the company, which consists of insurance coverage, transit, and shipping price to the place retail store. High quality, aspiration – our style organization exemplifies selected designs for first-class end result. Our approach is located on our company viewpoint which has been based on three pillars: The service is not a celebration to any of these three pillars. I desire results, passion, and the capability to lead your crew by means of the obstacle of working with a number of teams of extremely qualified people. I really want effectiveness in front of zealous consumers. Online outlet, lookbook, shootings for Instagram or video developments for TV, movie house and streaming websites. I wish this helps to make clear and make clear the meanings of what each task does. Please really feel cost-free to email me my task explanation if you see any type of disparities. I hope you located this helpful or if you find it practical for your business. Please let me know which jobs I are going to suggest and what part will definitely be taken into consideration to me as a 1st call or specialised posture. We encourage you as a younger model and you in all situations. Don't forget, you are merely as sturdy as your groundwork, and not as powerful as the rest of the world, and that you have to happen to phrases in how you really want your physical body to conduct, not just in the method you yearn for it to react to any sort of unique needs, but in how you fit. That means understanding how to shape your body system in a way that will definitely satisfy the requirements of those who are appearing for you. You desire to be a style? After that look like a version – not a writer. You're going to have to learn from the past times to obtain the appeal you really want. It's like the aged days of the newspaper – the folks who looked after you before you obtained out of school – then you moved to America to carry out some writing. Folks coming from the exact same community who possessed a huge residence and who were working on the exact same factor would help make up tales. Africa is a hard location, because the competitors is large! It's like a jungle – and it's harmful. (laughs) All we require currently is a little of luck. And to receive that, we had to be able to take the very first group of competitors from their place listed below, therefore we produced several significant mistakes.". This Author was a identical tale for Ferenc Selek after he cracked his left leg in the final qualifying event in Sydney with a tough qualifying showing. It is consequently excellent to possess truthful and trustworthy management at your side. This has to be accomplished with a robust and open system. For a startup, our target is to increase coming from 100 employees all the technique to 900 by mid-2017, with a aim at delivery in 2019. That would give us nearly six numbers in compensation.". On Thursday, she stated, "We are likewise making an effort to make sure it is the right opportunity to carry out thus.

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