#and i also think that's 200% okay and even necessary | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thefrogman · 5 days

Note

Recently I took a panorama of the Pittsburgh skyline at night that got a positive response. That was done on the spur of the moment with an iPhone. I want to do that again and more, but this time with a dedicated camera setup. It's been years since I've had one, so I'm basically starting over again. I'm mostly interested in getting day and night cityscapes, and maybe the carryings-on at this year's Anthrocon. Would you have any particular knowledge to pass on as I set off on this journey?

Since you didn't specify a budget I'm going to assume it is in the $10K range.

And you're probably thinking I'm going to suggest a Leica. Every dentist and his brother (who is also a dentist) gets a Leica. But I just can't take a camera brand seriously when they charge you an extra $2200 for the privilege of not being able to shoot in color.

Sure, you can hit a single button in Lightroom to get B&W and save some money, but then you won't be able to brag about how limiting yourself to only shades of gray has opened up new artistic pathways in your brain while a clueless person responds in mumbles during their root canal.

What you really want for your landscapes is a Hassie.

They were the first camera on the moon! How could you *not* want a Hasselblad? That is some camera gorgeousness right there. And it's so reasonably priced*!

*compared to their previous $40,000 camera systems.

And if you are doing landscapes with the Hassie you'll need a nice wide angle lens to go with it. This one is actually quite affordable*!

*compared to their previous $8000 lenses.

Can we all agree that is a work of art? They even use their H logo as the knurling.

That is just so... extra. And I love it.

Out of the entire alphabet I've heard Hs give you the best grip.

Man, I almost wish I was a dentist just so I could buy a fancy camera.

Sorry... I was just having a little fun.

I never get to recommend the super cool expensive cameras. Because, ya know, the economy and the fact that only dentists have Hasselblad money.

You probably think I'm being silly but there actually is an entire community of dentist photographers keeping the high end camera market alive.

Okay, let's get started...

Landscape Buying Guide

Opening Thoughts

For landscapes I would highly suggest a full frame camera and a high quality wide angle lens.

Full frame has several advantages but it is not necessary. You can go with a smaller sensor like APS-C and get great images. Personally I would not go any smaller, but there have been some great landscapes taken on micro 4/3 and even smartphones. Technique, knowledge, experience, and composition will usually win the day over a camera, but having a nice camera makes things a lot easier.

At this point, with full frame options being very affordable now, the main reason to get a smaller sensor is if you want a smaller system that is easier to carry for extended periods and easier to pack when traveling. Or if you aren't sure you want to take on photography as a hobby, you can get an old APS-C DSLR for under $200 to learn with and test out.

So if you need a very cheap OR very compact system, APS-C and Micro 4/3 might be worth considering, but a bigger sensor will cause less frustration most of the time.

Froggie Note: The expensive Micro 4/3 and APS-C systems are the compact ones. The cheap systems are about as bulky as full frame.

The biggest advantages to full frame are low light shooting, lens selection, and field of view. Full frame cameras have many, many more lenses to choose from. And since the sensor is bigger, it is much easier to get a wider field of view that is often needed for landscapes. And the high ISO noise performance tends to be better on full frame.

However, you can use full frame lenses on APS-C camera bodies within the same ecosystem. They just get a little... zoomier. Roughly 1.5x zoomier. A 35mm acts like a 50mm, for example. So if you want to spend a little less now you can get an APS-C camera with a full frame lens and then upgrade to full frame later on without having to buy a new lens. Full frame lenses work on APS-C bodies but not the other way around.

Most landscapists have a really solid 16-35mm lens and that covers almost all of their needs. So I would suggest something comparable. Please don't get suckered into some crazy 18-300mm superzoom. Just get the focal range you need for the photos you want to achieve.

A purpose-built lens always outperforms one that was made to do everything.

As far as where to get used gear, I highly recommend using KEH or MPB when buying used camera bodies. They check every device and offer between 3 and 6 months warranty to make sure the device won't crap out on you. Lenses are typically a lot more robust and a safer thing to buy on eBay or Facebook Marketplace if you can find a better deal. But the security of having a warranty and a return apparatus if something goes wrong might be worth the extra price when using these two sites.

I am going to recommend Canon, Nikon, and Sony systems. I feel they have the most complete ecosystems with gear that spans all budget ranges. I'm not saying there aren't good cameras from other brands, but you have to remember every camera has an ecosystem surrounding it. There are accessories and upgrade paths and niche lenses that may not be available with other brands. I think Fuji has some tempting options and if you like the look of vintage film photography, their emulation options are quite stunning. Their cameras are also quite attractive and have very satisfying knobs. But I still can't recommend them unless you have a specific reason for wanting their gear.

Just remember that for every Canon DSLR I recommend there is a comparable Nikon option available as well. There are more lenses for a Canon full frame DSLR body than any other brand with Nikon coming in a close second.

So if you choose not to go mirrorless yet, the Canon and Nikon DSLR camera ecosystems are immense and have tons of gear and accessories available to go with them. And since used gear holds up really well, those ecosystems will survive for decades.

Should you buy a mirrorless camera or a DSLR?

Mirrorless cameras are the latest camera technology for interchangeable lens camera systems. At this point they are superior in every aspect and they continue to improve year by year. Because of that, used DSLRs have plummeted in price. This allows people greater access to a starter ILC (interchangeable lens camera) without a significant investment. You can get professional quality images on either format, but mirrorless has a shallower learning curve and much better automatic modes.

The in-body image stabilization (IBIS) stabilizes *every* lens and the eye tracking autofocus make "focus and re-compose" extinct. These are huge selling points for a lot of people. With IBIS you can take photos with up to 2-4 second shutter speeds without a tripod. And never missing focus on a human or animal or bird is pretty cool too.

DSLR camera bodies are no longer being designed by most of the major manufacturers. Thankfully Canon and Nikon developed plenty of bodies and lenses, so you will always have options and upgrade paths. But you will not be able to upgrade to systems with the latest advanced features.

The best DSLRs available are probably the Nikon D850 and the Canon 5D Mark IV. That is as good as it will ever get. The technology ends there. So if you want to enter an active camera ecosystem then you will have to get a mirrorless camera.

DSLR Camera Systems

Full Frame DSLR Camera Bodies

Canon

If you buy a used DSLR, there are some very affordable full frame options. In fact, the classic much-praised budget full frame Canon 6D can be had for under $300 right now.

This is an old camera. It has no fancy features. It only has 20 megapixels. It just does what it says on the tin. But it has a big sensor and a *ton* of really cool lenses available for it.

If you are specifically looking to create really high resolution panos, you could also look at the 50 megapixel 5DS R for around $1000.

There is a community of landscape pano-maniacs that love to create "gigapans" that have endless amounts of detail where you can zoom in and find new details in every photo. I was only able to create a 120 megapixel photo, but you can still find things like people starting a campfire and a dude fishing and a truck on a far off bridge. So even though this seems expensive for a DSLR, you are looking at another thousand bucks to find anything with more megapixels than this bad boy, so it is quite a good deal relatively speaking.

Nikon

Probably the best DSLRs ever made were the Nikon D800 series and you can get the Nikon D800 for $464.

This is a newer camera than the 6D with more megapixels (36) and a better sensor. It also has a more modern autofocus system and about 3 more stops of dynamic range which can come in handy for landscapes. This is an incredible camera for this price.

APS-C DSLR Camera Bodies

If you aren't sure you want to commit to this hobby, you can look into a Canon APS-C sensor body like the Canon Rebels and Canon 60D through 90D models and get good results.

And there are many Nikon DX APS-C bodies that would be great starter cameras as well. If you get a Nikon, you'd have an upgrade path to the D800 if you get hooked by the photography bug. I would miss a few very special Canon lenses like the 100mm f/2.8L macro and the 400mm f/5.6 telephoto but I'm sure I could figure out some reasonable Nikon alternatives that would do roughly the same thing.

Canon APS-C

There is a Canon 60D for $139 right now that would be perfectly adequate for landscape work on a tripod.

That was my first camera and I took some very nice photos with it. Only 18 megapixels but it has a very convenient flippy screen which was really helpful for a disabled photographer trying to get low angles.

This was in 2014 and I didn't know what I was doing but that is a pretty stellar-looking sunset for a (now) $140 camera.

Nikon APS-C

And the Nikon D3400 would be a great option as well at around $184.

You get some extra megapixels (24) and it is a bit newer than the Canon. I get the sense that used Nikon DSLRs give you more value for your money right now but I don't have a large enough sample size to confirm that.

Full Frame DSLR Lenses

Froggie Note: I am recommending full frame lenses even if you choose an APS-C DSLR body so you have an upgrade path. But also very few purpose-built APS-C lenses had superior glass. Just remember, crop sensor APS-C cameras add ~1.5x to your focal length. So a 16-35mm will have the equivalent field of view of a 24-50mm lens. Still quite acceptable for landscapes, but you may benefit from doing panoramas more often. And if you upgrade to full frame down the road, you'll already have the ideal lens.

Canon DSLR Lenses

If you get the 6D or another Canon you could pair it with the beloved-by-landscapists Canon 16-35mm f/4L.

Honestly, it is blowing my mind you can get that combo for under $600. Me from 12 years ago is super jealous right now.

If you are worried you might need something to work in lower light and still want a zoom, the f/2.8L starts at around $434.

This might be the most famous landscape lens of all time. Kinda boggles the mind how many gorgeous vistas this thing has captured the light of.

If you can live without the zoom, you could get a much sharper prime lens that can also be used in even lower light. A used Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens is $439 would be a fantastic option.

24mm is still a very good focal length for landscapes and the sharpness of this lens lends well to panoramic stitches. Seriously, these art lens are so freaking sharp. Although 35mm is typically preferred for most street photography, I think this would do great for that purpose as well. It couldn't do close up portraits, but 3/4 and full body portraits would look great. I also love this focal length for doggos. It enlarges their heads a bit which enhances adorable-ness.

Though I probably wouldn't recommend the 24mm on APS-C for landscapes as it would put you near a 40mm full frame equivalent field of view.

Nikon DSLR Lenses

And on the Nikon side of things you could get the Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 for $399.

This is a great lens too. Very comparable to the Canon L glass. And paired with that D800 you would have a better shooting experience than with the 6D if it fits within your budget.

It's a little harder to find, but you can also get that same Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens for Nikon at around $528 used on Amazon and in the $400 range on KEH and MPB when it is available.

The older and softer Nikkor 28mm f/1.8 is a little more affordable and easier to find.

What if you are not a dentist but are willing to save up for something a little nicer?

Enter the world of...

Mirrorless Camera Systems

Sony currently has my favorite ecosystem of mirrorless cameras and lenses and they are consistently ahead of the other brands as far as technology and features. In fact, many other manufacturers use Sony sensors. They literally supply their competition with their own tech. They are also pretty good about updating firmware—even with older models. So I feel like Sony has a lot of future-proofing advantages over other brands. Sony has a great selection of 3rd party lenses like Sigma, Tamron, Viltrox, Laowa, Samyang, etc. These lenses often have nearly the same optical quality as Sony's G Master lenses at a fraction of the price.

Full Frame Mirrorless

Currently, I think the best value full frame mirrorless camera for landscapes would be the Sony a7R III.

This is very nearly a top-of-the-line landscape camera for a little over $1200.

That might sound like a lot, but I want to be clear...

This isn't just decent. This isn't "good enough." This is a spectacular professional grade full frame camera.

10 years ago you could spend $6500 for a *worse* camera. 5 years ago you could spend $3000 for a *worse* camera.

It can do every genre of photography except for maybe fast paced sports/action. It has an amazing 42 megapixels—which are not necessary but they do make editing and printing a lot less of a headache. The file sizes can get a little big, but storage is a lot cheaper than it used to be.

Oh, and it can be used for professional quality 4K video work too.

The a7R III comes with all of the modern bells and whistles including in-body stabilization (IBIS) so you can handhold at very slow shutter speeds. It has one of the best autofocus systems—complete with eye tracking. But not just human eyes! Dog eyes. Cat eyes. Bird eyes. If it has an eye, the Sony can probably lock focus on it. And it has an admirable 10 fps burst shooting mode.

APS-C Mirrorless

If you want to enter the Sony ecosystem but can't afford full frame quite yet, you could do the a6400 for about $600.

You still get the eye-tracking and the in-body stabilization, but you will lose some image quality at higher ISOs due to the smaller sensor size. However, you can get the same full frame E-mount lenses for it and upgrade to a bigger sensor later on and not have to buy new lenses.

Mirrorless Landscape Lenses

I think a good value landscape lens would be the very impressive Tamron 20-40mm f/2.8.

This is a newer lens so there aren't many deals on used options yet. But this is still a great price for the quality and versatility you get. You will never regret spending a little more on glass.

The 20mm range can fit an entire cityscape in the frame without needing to do a panorama. But if you zoom to 40mm and mount the camera vertically, you could stitch together several photos to get well over the 100 megapixel range.

Also, the 40mm focal range is long enough to do street photography and even head & shoulder portraits. The wide f/2.8 aperture combined with the high-ISO friendly full frame sensor and in-body stabilization means you can shoot in very low light without a tripod. You can also get some great pictures of stars if you travel to someplace with minimal light pollution.

The cheapest landscape zoom lens I could find was the Sony 16-35mm f/4 at $384.

It's one of Sony's older lenses and may not take advantage of all of the a7R III's pixels, but it would be a good option to get you started in this system and upgrade the lens later on.

Mirrorless Prime Lenses

Zoom lenses are great but you have to spend more to get tolerable quality. Kit zooms can be softer than even the tiny plastic lenses on your phone. So a great way to stretch your budget is to get multiple fixed focal length "prime" lenses. Primes can be built inexpensively while still having good low light performance and decent sharpness.

For instance, you could start with something like the Tamron 20mm f/2.8 for $175. And if you want to do more than landscapes you could add the Sony 50mm f/1.8 for $170 later on. Cheap primes will outperform any of those mediocre kit zoom lenses in that same price range. You lose some versatility and have to deal with the pain of changing lenses or zooming with your feet, but sometimes a tight budget demands a little pain.

There is also a higher quality 3rd party wide angle prime lens that is very popular right now. The Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 is only $549 and the reviews say it has similar quality to lenses 3 times its price.

If you have to choose between a better camera body or a better lens, a good lens will help your photos more than a fancy camera body.

Froggie Note: These are examples. You should always do your own research before making a major technological purchase. This post could be a year old by the time you see it and there could be new stuff that is better. But all of the principles I tried to convey should hopefully guide you to a good decision. Also, feel free to message me if you want to ask about specific gear you are considering purchasing.

More Resources

This is my Encyclopedia of Lens Terms which is a helpful primer in understanding all of the wonderful and different lens options available on ILCs.

This is my buying guide for low budget used DSLRs. Similar to this post but less geared toward landscapes.

And this guide for getting decent landscape photos with any camera.

This is a free tutorial that teaches you everything you need to get started with an ILC system.

youtube

And this free tutorial by Karl Taylor is quite good as well.

#photography #long post

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cherr-22 · 7 months

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TNGDH 26

The study was filled with people even before the sun rose.

The Kyle who once kissed me ten times a day only kissed me thrice. He worked busily as if he had forgotten about my existence.

On one side, it’s a good thing. I don’t have to deal with his otaku-ness.

“Move that item to this side. The clothes too.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Good. And the report?”

“It has been sorted out, Your Highness.”

“Well done. Then call that person over here.”

“Are you talking about the demonic beast specialist? I am not sure if he is in his room right now…… as Your Highness has mentioned before, it seems the time he is out is longer than the time he stays in the room.”

Kyle drew a faint smile.

“Still, we promised to go together. He must be waiting.”

“I understand, Your Highness. I will call him over quickly. Then Your Highness…….”

“I will be going over the reports on the demonic beasts for a moment.”

With that, he came over briefly to give a pat on my head and began to read over the reports.

Since it was a crucial matter, Kyle’s expression became serious. Even the smallest detail could determine life or death.

I contemplated to whether I should use the replica hamster, but decided that a ‘Summon’ would be enough after seeing Kyle focusing hard on his duties.

‘Current Miracle Points are roughly 26 percent…….’

No matter how fast we return, it could take up to half a day.

Who knows how many acorn cookies I would have to eat. Do you not do bulk sales? Well, okay then…… I’ll think about it when the time comes. Worst comes worst, I’ll pretend to return early.

I used ‘Summon’.

[I wish you good luck! (ෆ`꒳´ෆ)]

I wore my now familiar clothes and pretended as if I have been waiting in the room for a while. The soldiers then came and guided me back to the study.

Until the moment I entered the study, Kyle was busy reading. Seeing him like this made him look very diligent and tenacious.

“The Northern winds are harsh.”

He gestured at a box on the table.

“Wear this now. We will depart immediately.”

I looked inside the box.

There were sturdy leather boots, a hooded long coat, and light-weighted bow and arrows.

“The bow and arrows will not be necessary for this reconnaissance, but it is good to get used to having them equipped.”

For him to say that, it must be extremely uncomfortable to carry around.

I suppressed my urge to talk back. What could I do anyway? If I wanted to find one that was comfortable, I would’ve just stayed quietly in the castle.

“I’ve also prepared something.”

I was trying to figure out when to give it to him for a while, so this would be a good time.

I pretended to carefully take out my coat pocket and called the store.

[Love Love Corner~❤]

I will never get used to that name ‘Whatever Corner’.

‘Anyways, let’s see. The hamster items…….’

[Fluffy hamster yarn! ｜ ❤×10]

[Small and precious knitting needle set ｜ ❤×10]

[Try making one yourself! 79 styles of hamster clothes ｜ ❤×20]

Hey, hey! Hey!

What’s with the prices! They all have an extra ‘0’ than before! Isn’t this a scam?

[o(TヘTo)]

If someone were to see us, they would think I’m the one scamming you with your expression like that. This is absurd.

‘Still, I can buy it since I have plenty of Hearts compared to Miracle Points…….’

From now on, I should buy items beforehand while they are cheap. To betray a person like this. I don’t have a choice so I should accept it at the moment.

[Currently Possessing Hearts ｜ ❤×185]

New items arrived in the Love Love Corner.

[Demonic Beast Encyclopedia ｜ ❤×200]

This is exactly what I want!

I cried of joy inside.

‘I wonder if the system requires the Hearts and Miracle Points to constantly update the store.’

If that’s the case, I could look over the increase in price from earlier. That is, if they release useful items like this.

However, there’s a problem…….

[Currently Possessing Hearts ｜ ❤×185]

……Not enough Hearts.

I probably could’ve bought it if I hadn’t been ripped off.

I resisted the urge to curse out loud.

“What’s wrong?”

The image of Kyle reading <Try making one yourself! 79 styles of hamster clothes> as seriously as the report from before appeared before me.

“Well…… umm, so. Do you like my present?”

“I don’t know if it’ll like wearing these clothes, but they are definitely cute.”

He flipped to a page and showed it to me. It was a picture of a pink cape with a strawberry-shaped embroidery.

“Oh…….”

Bastard. You think it’d like that? The hamster would punch you if it could. And how do I know that? I know that because I’m that hamster.

Of all 79 clothes, you just had to pick that one? How about the others? Don’t tell me all the other 78 clothes are also like that.

That stupid strawberry. In all twenty-seven years of my life, I never worn such a ridiculous print. I wouldn’t even wear it by accident.

“……I-I’m sure it’ll like it. Is that pattern to your taste?”

“Well. Just imagining Cashew wearing it makes me happy.”

Kyle’s expression grew a little brighter..

I quickly checked the amount of Hearts I have.

[Currently Possessing Hearts ｜ ❤×186]

I already knew it vaguely, but it was now clear.

A Heart was given when Kyle Jane Meinhardt became happy. And with that, I could buy something that might be helpful or that would help avoid a crisis.

For example, the <Demonic Beast Encyclopedia>.

That book will clearly contain the characteristics, hunting habits, weaknesses, and other information on the demonic beasts in the North. That must’ve been why it was added to the store just recently, right before the reconnaissance.

As if to confirm my thoughts, the system window quietly floated up.

[Please replace bad moments with happy moments, and overcome dangerous situations!]

[Happiness is said to be another name for miracles. (๑˘ꇴ˘๑)]

Alright, I understand. I’ll do my best.

I showcased to Kyle how to use the small crochet hook.

During a volunteer work in the past, I learned to crochet wash scrubs. At the time, I thought it was one of the most useless thing to learn but now I’m using it here. As expected, who knows how life would turn up in the future.

“I’ll teach you more in detail next time…… this is basically how you do it. Your Highness is new to this, so I prepared everything carefully just for you.”

“Hm.”

“Since we have to go now, take a quick look and come back to it later. Rather than that strawberry thing, let’s start with simple clothes and try various other designs. Like sweaters and pants.”

“I worry it might not feel comfortable wearing clothes.”

I can put up with it once or twice.

“It should be fine if you don’t try to force it to wear them.”

He went silent momentarily. It seemed to be that he was imagining something in his head.

[Currently Possessing Hearts ｜ ❤×195]

……Crazy.

Aren’t you imagining things a little too hard? Just what exactly is going on in your mind right now?……No, never mind. Let’s not be curious about that. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

“Though I suppose it will be quiet for a while?”

I walked down the stairs, matching his pace. Kyle nodded, realizing I was talking about Belial.

“That’s right. There hasn’t been any big news so it should be quiet for at most a year, at least three months.

“You talk about it as if it’s some kind of annual event.”

“Well, it’s not any different.”

Kyle wrapped his arms around my shoulders to prevent me from being pushed around by the other knights.

It was comfortable to be honest. It felt like I was had some kind of special privilege. That being said, it didn’t make me feel happy in particular since I would have to return this favor eventually. Whether it would be a miracle, or happiness, by any means.

“He does not like me. His hate is similar to how I resent his bloodline. However, it didn’t feel as if he would try to get rid of me.”

He would be happy to put Kyle under his feet, but he wouldn’t try to kill him.

The reason was obvious. I bit my lower lips out of annoyance.

“He doesn’t want to manage the North. Well, not that he would be doing it directly with his own hands anyway.”

“That’s right.”

So, he would be keeping Kyle alive as a guard? I can’t deny it does look like that right now.

“Come this way.”

Kyle picked me up and put me on top of a black horse. It felt a little uncomfortable seeing that the current horse was taller than the one I rode yesterday.

I held the reigns awkwardly and looked down at Kyle. Seeing his face from above made him look slightly different than usual.

He mounted the horse in a familiar manner and also held the reigns from behind me. When his chest touched my back, I felt strangely stable.

“Lean on me.”

Kyle spoke bluntly. I naturally leaned on him as he placed both arms around from my back.

To be honest, it felt a little cozy. Our body size wasn’t too different and his solid chest was quite comfortable to lean on.

“You don’t seem to be nervous at all.”

“If we stay here talking, we’d only waste time and energy.”

“You’re right.”

Kyle took the lead and moved forward with the knights lined up behind him. Clip-clop. As the dust rose and the horses started to walk in unison, I felt the ground underneath shaking.

“About Cashew.”

I hesitantly opened my mouth.

To be honest, I’m not confident that I could make someone happy. Even trying to be happy myself was a struggle, how hard would it be to take care of others?

“Why do you like it so much? It’s just a small demonic beast. Nobody thought you’d even take it in as a pet. You brought in magicians, veterinarians, and me too… it’s as if you cherish it a lot and I find that curious. I thought demonic beasts were to be slain or conquered at all costs in the North.”

I don’t know how to make you happy, but I want to listen to you and understand you.

“The people of Blake took over to reside in the North, but at the same time they coexist with the North. Humans are beings who conquer nature, but at the same time they are beings who belong to nature. Destruction is not the only thing they do.”

“Demonic beasts are a dangerous existence. One careless mistake and it could instantly snuff out a person’s life and trample on the foundation you built over the years. Cashew is no exception. If I deem that it will become dangerous to keep as a pet, it will be disposed of.”

Please don’t do that. There’s a person inside.

“However, I cannot kill it for a reason that has not yet happened yet.”

So I…… no, Cashew could’ve died?

“It was separated from its group, shaking helplessly and unable to even open its eyes. If I hadn’t picked it up then and there, it wouldn’t even have lasted an hour.”

“Did you pity it?”

“Yes. Is that strange?”

“No, well…….”

Is there anything to think strange about it? That was his choice and in the end, it was a good choice. Who would’ve thought that the ruler of the North would have such a humane side to him.

“I just want to say thank you.”

Kyle looked at me for a short moment in silence. It was a strange look, but also a look of happiness.

“Would Cashew think that way too?”

“Of course.”

“How could you be so sure?”

“Since…… I’m a demonic beast specialist?”

And your one and only pet hamster.

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#tngdh

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ladyjanesta · 8 months

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A lot of the horror that's missed in 'modern' fiction is that the 'good guy' think's they can't do evil because they're the 'good guys' and I wish there was more of a focus on it.

With Good Omens, Aziraphale has been there in that spot for 200/250 years, and Maggie inherited that shop from her grandmother, could you imagine the dawning horror as Maggie finds pictures from 100/150 years ago with Mr Fell in them (as he is now). You'd write them off at first, he looks just like his grandfather! genetics are amazing aren't they.

Then seeing other pictures from Victorian times, not even posing shots outside the shop, Soho was always a bohemian hub so there's lots of area shots, just because...and Mr Fell is in a lot of them, because you can't lie to yourself now, that is Mr Fell, he still wears that waistcoat, that jacket...his mate Crowley is also in some of the shots, always wearing those dark, dark glasses.

Come to think of it, you've seen him in the coffee shop, around the bookshop, just in the area, for years and years, you've spoken to him, but you can't remember if you've ever seen his eyes...and isn't that weird...and at the next shopkeepers meeting, you sort of, bring it up, as a funny little thing...and the other shopkeepers go quiet and one by one they share their stories of...encounters with Mr Fell and his friend.

Lucky coincidences, sudden spates of extreme bad luck, conversations where they wanted to say one thing but suddenly find themselves saying something completely different and at first, they write it off, asking themselves why they said that, why they did that and there's a little mote of worry about their mental health...but it keeps happening, not all the time, but only when dealing with Mr Fell and his friend.

Then Aziraphale is himself, talking about past events like he was there, talks about truly miserable historic times like everyone was having a little row with one another and being bad sports, like the people in those times weren't real, like they were being difficult.

He asks for confirmation from Mr Crowley, who also talks like he was there, (and you can't see his eyes, you've never been able to see his eyes) and you decide to google the details and it all lines up every time and you see a Mr Fell in old, old books...or a Mr A Felle, or a Mr Afelle and that sinking feeling grows and grows...but, what can you do, who'd believe you, is it you? are you going mad? but that moment with the other shopkeepers, the little horrid club you suddenly realise you belong to fills you with a heady relief and a stomach dropping dread because what are they? what are they?

There's a few fics out there that touches on it and I've read a few of them and really enjoyed them! but they're always positive, or at least neutral about the whole situation and now with season 2 introducing the 'miracle blocker' it adds a whole other element of horror to it.

The 'miracle blocker' wasn't made specially for A&C, that's a establishment procedure, possibly to stop any demon or angel from messing in a specific area when there's a small plan in place (and we know there's small plans happening with A&C's little jobs around the world). We know that sometimes, other angels/demons go to do small/medium jobs on Earth which would make the blocker necessary...but what if A or C was casting a small emotional/mental changing miracle and they didn't notice it didn't quite work, or the blocker kicked in mid-miracle.

The person/s they did it too probably wouldn't be, at all okay for a long time, possibly forever...they start watching A&C, they start noticing things but what can they do? Who can they tell? A occasionally makes gangsters disappear (book cannon), what will they do to you!

#creature #good omens #horror #eldritch #cosmic horror #crowley #aziraphale

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chubs-deuce · 15 days

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Will there be a training scene with Dawn, Vaggie and Angel Dust?

Both Vaggie and Angel Dust are capable experienced fighters.

okay answering this one now before you send me another one-

I promise these asks don't get lost in the void or get flooded out or something :'D

I just sometimes don't have the energy to respond to them right away or don't know how to respond, and receiving the same thing multiple times is honestly actually just adding pressure that I really don't need...

and because I am fairly certain that this particular concept has been asked by the same person with different wording three times I need to very kindly and politely ask you to please stop doing that going forward ^^"

I know it can happen that sometimes different people independently ask the same thing by coincidence, but I dare say I am fairly good at reading my anons and these three just all gave me the same vibe (I'm also suspecting it's the same anon that asked me about what type of weapon Dawn would use and also asked about armor for the cast, though I'm slightly less certain about that assessment - feel free to correct me! I'm curious about how far off I am with that lmao).

---------------------

Now... to actually answer your question:

I don't think any extensive fighting will be all that direly necessary in a story that is - in essence - more about chaotic family fluff than anything...

I can, however, see the hotel residents all putting their two cents in when it comes to raising Dawn in wanting to teach her useful things for life!

Angel might teach her some great evasive maneuvers and good clapbacks to creeps, teach her to stand her ground about boundaries and maybe even give some relationship and fashion advice, Vaggie I can 100% see trying to teach Dawn self defense fighting strats from way too early an age and being told off for handing an angelic spear to a six year old and trying to do military drills when the kid in question can barely even hold it.

She means well of course, but that's still both excessive and too early :'D

Generally I think between Dawn's shadow and her hellfire combined with the people she's surrounded by who are more than happy to tear asunder anyone who dares harm her... there's not much need for her to be a good fighter, she only needs to be a good enough one to handle basic self defense.

Charlie certainly isn't a fighter at all and she's managed to comfortably live through over 200 years and going strong, so I don't see why Dawn would need to be one now :o

So like... I don't think you'll ever get like, a full-blown training montage or see this as a thoroughly explored concept, sorry ^^"

#chubs answers #charlastor fankid #charlastor fanchild #hazbin hotel oc #chubs ocs #dawn morningstar

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literary-illuminati · 1 year

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Book Review 5 - The Bright Ages by Matthew Gabrielle and David M. Perry

Okay, the Harper Collins strike is over, so I can finally post this! As you might notice, the wait has meant I have ended up writing far too much of it. Turns out people really are telling the truth when they say writing negative reviews is funner and easier.

Anyway, I did not like this book! It’s an ungainly thing, torn halfway between wanting to be pop history and wanting to be an intervention in the discourse, and entirely too short to do either well. Insofar as is it history, it’s far less revolutionary than it seems to think it is, and the subjects it actually focuses on either already fit entirely into the pop understanding the book is positioning itself against, or else entirely about symbolism and architecture and generally abstracted from (being partial and small-minded) the stuff I’m actually interested in.

All that said the first and fundamental is pretty simple – it’s just altogether too short to do what it wants to. The book tries to be a history of the European Middle Ages – a thousand years of history for an entire continent (more than, given the repeated digressions about the Middle East and also the Mongols one time) – in 200 pages. Which is just, like, I mean I don’t want to say impossible, but I can’t really see any way you’d do it. Which means what we actually get is a series of snapshots, scattered across space and time – just specific, particular dynamics or situations that rarely have much to do with each other. I’m pretty sure the only specific place we ever return to after focusing on it is Ravenna, and that’s for a big, dramatic bookend starting the age with Galla Placidia and ending with Dante. Also the return is really more about Italian city states as a whole. Which is to say only Florence gets any detail at all.

A necessary causality of the snapshot approach is that there’s wide swathes of the period that just, aren’t mentioned in the slightest. Which again, fair, but also it’s a bit much for one of the lacuna to be the entire Holy Roman Empire, right? (Okay, not the entire, there’s repeated off hand mentions of Emperors, and also talk of how the Italian city-states fought the Empire. Just never any description whatsoever of what it, like, was. Except for the specific disavowal of saying it started with Charlemagne, which was never followed up on.) Which is still better than what Poland or Hungary or Lithuania or Kievan Rus got – if any of them were even mentioned, it was only off hand. Which does end up giving the impression that Medieval Europe included Jerusalem but not Krakow – to be fair, something a lot of actual Medieval people might have totally agree with. But given the amount of time spent on the Crusades to the Levant and the Albigensian Crusade, not even mentioning the bloody Christianize of the Baltic in passing feels negligent to the point of being actively misleading.

Also it’s weird, given the books whole focus on connections and commerce between Europe and the rider world – the steppe is right there! You don’t need to wait for the Mongols!

Speaking of – they give a bunch of apologia for the Mongol Empire that’s – well, basically the same stuff all empires get, brought safety to the roads and allowed free movement and trade, brought people together, spread culture and technology, enlightened and cosmopolitan, etc. Which I mostly just find funny because of how obvious it is the authors would, uh, probably not endorse the same sentiment for any more recent imperial projects.

But okay – it’s not that you can’t tell a useful history in what might seem to be way too little space – John Darwin tries to tell a literal history of the world from the 16th century in ~500 pages and I’d still say After Tamerlane is absolutely worthwhile reading. You just need, you know, discipline. Focus. A firm idea of your thesis and an obsession of what’s relevant to it (or just be entertaining and full of fun memorable trivia). So, what are Perry and Gabrielle actually trying to do here?

Honestly, it’s a little bit unclear? The thesis they present is that the Dark Ages didn’t exist – they insist on referring the whole Medieval period as ‘the Bright Ages’ through the entire book, it’s incredibly annoying – and that the Medieval period get a horribly unjustified bad wrap as uniquely cruel and provincial and barbaric and full of disease, illiteracy, superstition, etc. They explicitly position themselves as being a reaction to the vision of the past you see in Game of Thrones or Vikings (I’d say ‘or the Witcher’ but again, for the purposes of this book Eastern Europe doesn’t exist). Instead, they fill the book with hand picked examples of medieval beauty, sophistication, and connection to the wider world with the quite explicit contention that everything good about the Renaissance (and later) was really just outgrowths of the Medieval, and it was only the bad stuff that was new.

(At the same time, they also do not like white nationalists, and go out of their way at length on numerous occasions to remind you that Nazis are bad. Those digressions do always leave me wondering who they’re for – no actual Deus Vult type is going to get more than five pages into it, and they rarely get much deeper that surface level refutation of things no one else is likely to actually believe.)

Anyway – look, the central, overriding problem of the book is that it’s not nearly as revolutionary as it seems to think it is. Very problematic, when it has such a high opinion of itself for being so. The assorted trivia the book uses as shocking examples of how cosmopolitan and tolerant the period was mostly just, well, fit perfectly fine into the popular imagining of the Medieval era? Like ‘royals and elites imported foreign luxury goods and status symbols at great expense; missionaries, adventurers and religious emissaries travelled across Eurasia to preach, trade and try to find someone to help them invade Muslims ; women often wielded significant political influence by virtue of royal birth of marriage, and were active political players’ – are these statements shocking to literally anyone? Basically all of that literally happens in Game of Thrones!

Part of that is that the book keeps almost committing to a really radical thesis – not to say pure unreconstructed romanticism, but close to it – and then always has an attack of professional ethics and cringes away from it, and just awkwardly brings up how, to be sue, there were serfs and slaves and atrocities, but nonetheless when you think about it the later Crusader States really were fascinating sites of cultural exchange, or whatever.

Psychoanalyzing the authors is bad form, of course, but like – reading this book the overriding sense you get is that they’re proud progressives, and have dedicated their lives to studying the Medieval era. But in the contemporary discourse people on their side use ‘Medieval’ as an insult to mean patriarchal, or brutal, or cruel, and the people who like the Medieval era are all in the Sack of Jerusalem Fandom. The sheer angst and righteous indignation they have about this state of affairs just about oozes through every page – honestly if I’m being maximally pithy and uncharitable, you rather get the sense that the real aim of the book is to make ‘being really into Medieval history’ a less reactionary-coded interest to bring up at professional-class dinner parties.

But honestly I could have forgiven almost all of this if the anecdotes and snapshots the book did focus on were informative and interesting. And this is almost entirely pure personal preference, I fully acknowledge but – the things that the book chose to focus on just really weren’t, to me?

Which is to say that The Bright Ages is incredibly interested in architectural and monumental symbolism, especially of the religious variety – there are whole chapters overwhelmingly dedicated to exploring the layout of churches and how their architecture and lighting was meant to convey meaning, or detailing at great length a specific monumental cross in northern England. These are used as synecdoches for broader topics, of course but, like, an awful lot of word count really is dedicated to describing how Gala Placedia’s chapel in Ravenna must have wowed people. And even as far as using them as synecdoches – the way that monasteries, bishops and the royal household in Paris competed to have the most impressive church/chapel as a way to convey religious authority is genuinely interesting, but I’d honestly have rather heard a lot more of the actual politics and sociology or how sacred authority and legitimacy was gathered around the Capetians in the later middle ages and a lot less about how specifically impressive the royal chapel on the palace grounds was. There’s a massive amount of symbolic and artistic detail, a fair amount of time spent charting great thinkers and proving that there was too such a thing as a Medieval intellectual, and almost none at all on, like, political and social and (god forbid) economic history. Which are, unfortunately, the bits of it I’m actually interested in.

The book isn’t just architecture of course, but much of the rest is either very basic – yes, the vikings were traders as well as raiders and travelled shockingly long distances, yes there was intellectual interchange between Muslim, Jewish and Christian thinkers across the Mediterranean, yes the Church acted as a vital sponsor of learning and scholarship. I’m sure these are new information to like, someone? - or so caught up in historiographical arguments and qualifications that it loses sight of the actual subject – I swear the book spent more time saying that it’s wrong to call it a Carolingian Renaissance because that implies there were actual dark ages before and after than it does explaining why anyone actually would.

Beyond that – okay, so as mentioned this book is really consciously progressive. Which, beyond a certain antiquarian distaste for how desperately they’re trying to get across ‘see, our field of study is Relevant! And Important! Please please please give us tenure/prestige/funding’ I wholly support. (I mean, like, I do think Medieval Studies deserves tenure/prestige/funding. Just slightly unbecoming to so transparently be grasping for it, and also more than a bit self-defeating) - but, like, the book’s politics are weird? Or weirdly surface level and slightly confused, given how much of the book is focused around them.

Like – the book spends a massive amount of time and attention combating the myth that women in the middle ages were all cloistered and politically mute and totally powerless. But the sum total of what it actually says is ‘did you know: elite women in the aristocracy and church exercised political influence? And a lot of the Christianization of western Europe happened through highborn christian women marrying pagan kings and raising their children Christian?” And while I suppose ‘elite women have influence even in patriarchal societies’ is a useful fact for someone to learn, I’m not sure examples that more or less cash out to ‘queens could have power by manipulating their husbands and sons’ is a particularly novel or progressive take, you know? More broadly – it’s a weakness of the book’s framework of jumping across countries and centuries between anecdotes that we never get any sense of gender roles and how power and influence were gendered systemically, so much as single (or if you’re very lucky, two or three) particular women with a vague gesture that they’re kind of typical. Not to complain about a lack of theory, but there’s really basically zero theory.

The book’s choices of examples for women to focus on are also – okay, not to be all ‘why didn’t you talk about my faves’, but insofar as you’re talking how women were able to exercise power, it’s really very odd that you never talk about any women who, like, ruled in their own right? C’mon, you mention the Anarchy offhand to introduce Eleanor of Aquitaine but don’t even say what it was about, let alone talk about the Empress Matilda? (I’d say the same thing about Matilda of Tuscany and the investiture Controversy, but it’s not like the book actually talks about the Investiture Controversy beyond the absolute basics, so). The final result is a book that talks a lot about how elite women had influence, and then the influence they actually bring up is almost always of the most stereotypically feminine-gender variety imaginable.

All that really pales to how confused the book seems when it talks about Christianity. Which it has to, of course, fairly constantly – it’s a book about Medieval Europe. But it’s kind of horribly torn between two imperatives here – on the one hand, it desperately wants to fight back against the whole black legend of the tyrannical, book-burning, Galileo-murdering, science-suppressing hopelessly venal and corrupt, all-powering Magesterium. But on the other, they really don’t want to come off as supporting, well, the heretic murdering and antisemitism or being the sort of guy online who posts memes of the Knights Templar. So you see this somewhat exhausting two-step where they go on at length about all the beautiful architecture and scholarship preservation the church did interrupted every so often by this concession about how of course it wasn’t all good and obviously pogroms and burning heretics wasn’t great, but- (The chapter on the vikings is much the same, except with a much clearer ‘it’s important not to romanticize these people because the people who do that are white nationalists, but also see how tolerant and far-ranging and cool they are?’)

Discussing the Church is also a place where the book’s whole allergy to social structure and institutions really serves it poorly. I at a certain point stopped keeping count of the number of times where the book called out that the centralized, papal-centric Church was a creation of the high middle ages, and not at all how things worked for most of the period. But then they just never actually explain how they worked instead, or really even how things changed to so enshrine the Pope’s power. They talk about how convents could be wealthy and powerful landholders and their abbesses’ wield significant power, but never even gesture at explaining how they interfaced with the institutional church. It’s really very frustrating.

Of course Christianity still gets far better treatment than Judaism or Islam – there’s a chapter which goes into some detail on the life of Maimonides in the process of extolling Medieval scholarship and talking about how classical learning was never really lost and the Renaissance is fake news. But despite the gestures to the presence of Jewish communities throughout Europe there’s essentially zero, like, description of how they actually functioned, or were organized, or (aside from the occasionally mentioned pogroms) how they interacted with their christian neighbours. The treatment of Islam is much the same – there are some mentions of the Islamic wold and its intellectual traditions, but essentially just to rehash the same points about the Islamic Golden age and Ibn Sina and all the other bits of trivia everyone probably picked up keeping up with the culture war during the Bush Administration. But again, only the most passing mentions of, like, politics or organization or even theology. It felt gratingly cursory, given the emphasis placed on the fact that eg Al Andulas was clearly part of Medieval Europe

Underneath all this is just the fact that The Bright Ages is almost an entirely a history of the elite. Peasants, serfs and slaves only exist in the for the sake of concessions about how of course things weren’t all good. The book has almost no interest in the lives of the lower classes, and barely seems to realize this. It starts to really, really grate, especially when you’re making all these implicit judgments about how the Medieval era was compared to what came after – in which case, the lives of, like, 90% of the population are rather important! Like unironically peasant life is fascinating! What did life actually look like of the overwhelmingly majority of people? If you want to give a sketch of the entire era, it’s kind of important.

I’m almost certainly being unfair here – basically everything about the book’s sensibilities grated on me, so I can’t say I was trying to be especially charitable. But really – the book’s perfectly fine light reading, but as intentional propaganda is hamfisted and it’s unclear who it’s for, and as an actual history it’s just...bad. It’s useful as a way to get a sense of the discourse, I guess, but otherwise I couldn’t really recommend it.

#Book Review #The Bright Ages #Matthew Gabrielle #David M. Perry #history #sorry this is so long

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70x1cnature · 1 year

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Okay so I’ve been watching Keyan Carlile’s retrospective on Wizards of Waverly Place on youtube and I’ve been looking for an excuse to make their magic system/world make sense so watching that has helped me, so here’s my ideas for that.

The biggest thing I wanted an explanation for was why a wizard can’t be with a non wizard, or even why a “family wizard” is so important in the first place. They act like entire thing with Stevie and taking down the distributer of magic is the most evil thing she could possible want to do, with no explanation as to why. Also, in and earlier season the whole “distributor” thing is contradicted by Professor Crumbs being able to just causally take Alex’s magic but whatever, one mans continuity error is another man’s method to expand the lore. Without any explanation, she just makes a good point. Why can’t they all just keep their magic? Why do they need the magic distributor?

It made me start to think about why this system would have started in the first place. What motivated them to make this device, because it obviously had to have been invented or I guess the ability to magically take someone’s magic could’ve been the start but I’ll get to that. So, who invented this and why?

The who isn’t really as important as the why. Going back in time, it’s not hard to point to the witch hunts as a good enough reason to start hiding from the non magical world. Wizards being hunted down left and right, it makes sense that they’d start trying to find methods to protect themselves. It would also be the origin of why they are so against wizards with their powers marrying a “mortal”. The fact that they call them mortals has an interesting implication that wizards are immortal. Then again, all magical creatures seem to kind of be immortal, Mason was even said to be like 200 years old. If a wizard married a mortal, that would only put the wizard and the entire wizarding world in danger, hence the separation.

There are several things that could be easily pointed to as being created with the intention of protecting themselves. One such thing they’d need is a device to prevent accidental magic from children too young to control or understand hiding from outsiders. Do you remember those stupid tubes that are plugged in the wall of their magic lair? In this little head canon explanation I’m weaving, I feel like that could have started from needing to regulate the powers of children. It would have originally been a magic regulator, so they could learn to control and regulate magic themselves, before outgrowing the need.

If that’s the case, then the next question would be, why does it now appear be the source of their individual powers? Well, I think that the effort of hiding from prosecution and execution started going further. These tubes could have been older than the slaughter of wizards, as a essential household tool, but it was twisted as was needed in the times. When being hunted, having less magic users is safer, so what if they instead took the magic out of the children, and instead had it given back at less intensity via those tubes. The logic would also follow, that for those who do have magic, having more power to protect themselves against those trying to kill them would make sense. The wizarding competition would have been created from that need. The children in a family learn everything they can about magic, and then they compete to find the one who is most worthy of retaining their magic, the one who’s most capable and wanting.

Now, pardon me as I get a bit “fuck the establishment”, it’s necessary since WOWP seems to have missed that from pop culture at the time. No matter what the original intentions were, it has gone too far, and honestly I feel like Stevie was more right then she even realized about how bullshit the whole system is. If it was originally meant as a regulation and congregation of powers, then how does a non magical wizard and a non wizard have kids that can do magic? How is a wizard still a wizard without their magic, and how are they able to pass magic onto their kids, when they themselves lack it?

Clearly, magic seems to be a blood inherence of wizards which could be another reason for their racism against nonwizards in modern day, which is very Harry Potter of them. It is something that they are born with and is put into these tubes as a safety mechanism, probably by it’s own capabilities or even having it moved by someone magic themselves. If magic has been established to be easily transferred by other mean, then why does the distributor exist? What if the “distributor” actually had a different purpose?

Back when wizards were being killed on mass, they needed a place to hide, to keep them out of the harm of angry mobs, and that’s when the “distributer” was formed. It wasn’t called that at the time though, and that wasn’t it’s function. Originally, it was something that could take the magical ability of a wizard and use it to create and maintain a safe haven for wizards. The wizarding world. Wizards are inherently magical, and grow into their magic. When they no longer have this thing regulating them, they’re considered a full wizard, with all the power that entails. Over thousands of years, however, in their efforts to keep magical population down, and to maintain this ever growing wizarding world, the competition started, to determine who out of a generation of siblings would be allowed to grow to a full wizard, and who would instead power this safe haven, and be able to live a normal life free from the constraints placed by wizard authorities for their protections.

Now, why would this be something that wizards don’t know about? I mean, this is all head canon at this point so for all we know it is available and easily found in wizarding textbooks, but I can’t stop myself from at least trying to fit my head canons into canon so: secrets. Why would the wizards in charge wanna hide the truth? Well, probably because the victors write history!

In the retrospective I’ve been watching, Keyan points out how wizards are very racist to literally every other magical creature, and even seems to enslave some of them.

I can picture this: Magical creatures of all kinds are being hunted for sport. Some creatures (like Fae) have figured out how to create hidden realms that they can retreat to, so wizards decide to create something gather “access” power and do the same. As they continue to grow their realm, other creatures are still being hunted, like the mighty dragon! Well, what are the good wizards to do besides help them? So wizards help, and help, and help. Dragging more and more magical creatures, gaining more and more power, creating alliances, maybe even linking their magical realms with others. Eventually, they become greedy. Wizards think themselves so highly, that only THEY can help their fellow magical kin. They have to help them all for their own good! So if some magical creatures are too stupid to join them, they don’t know any better, and need to be “helped” under any circumstances. Get what I’m saying here? Very America “manifest destiny” coded. Like, “we will literally fight you so that you’ll join and obey us”. Haha, so no matter what good intentions they had in the beginning, they’ve become bigoted colonizers who paint themselves above everyone else.

Best part, is that along the way they started lying to their own people about the magic competition. The best explanation I can think of is that in erasing all of that horrible things they did to their fellow magical creatures, they also had to erase what they’re doing to their own people. In the end, everyone is being lied to and subjugated and the wizard authorities are too deep in their power hungry ways to want to do anything but maintain it. I’d also imagine that to keep something as big as the truth of the magical competition and “the distributor” secret they’d probably have to be under some magical obligation to be unable to speak of it to anyone without the authority to know.

That’s my main part of my “wizard government is actually the problem” head canon, and it can kind of be expanded on but idk, I just really hated the competition and wanted a better ending. With this whole idea, I feel like if Stevie and the revolution actually succeeded in knocking out the magic distributor it could have had a domino effect that none of them would have predicted. Depending on how deep that device ran through the infrastructure, it could have given wizards who lost their competitions their magic back. It could have also made some of the wizarding world crumble but what are high stakes without some casualties? It wouldn’t all crumble too, there’d still be some magic feeding it, and honestly they’ve probably absorbed most other magical realms too, so those would be fine.

All of this was just to make a children’s program make sense so I can make fan fiction. If anyone else is obsessed with Wizards of Waverly Place and are inspired by this then fucking run with it. Or even expand on it, I’d love to hear any ideas people have. Idk if I’ll ever actually write anything with this myself, as I just kinda have fic ideas that take place before any of this would be revealed, but fucking hit me up if you do write something with this idea, I’ll read the hell out of it! (unless it involves incest ships, then you can miss me with that shit, DNI I will block)

TLDR: the wizarding government is basically just magical America subjugating magical creatures and their own people by controlling and stealing their magic.

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shiroselia · 10 months

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Okay since we're now talking about clothing prices and shit, here's my general tips on making money in this game as someone who hit 4 max JS during the western festival due to basically just dailies alone

First: If you don't have time to play, this isn't gonna work, and make peace with that, nobody expects you to get everything you want without spending star coins if you can't play, that might be frustrating but you Will have to live with it, and it's okay to miss out, don't let FOMO ruin your life, if it's an event item it'll come again anyways, it's okay, make peace with missing out

Second: If you don't want to spend star coins, you're gonna have to pick and choose, this is also frustrating but as I said, you're gonna have to, welcome to real life, if you don't wanna spend star coins, you're gonna have to not buy some items, and that's Okay, decide what is most important for you to get and get items in order of how much you want them, Not in order of cheapest to most expensive, cause you wanna save cheaper items for later because those are easier to get, but most importantly, while you have time, make sure you get what you actually want (I say prioritise tack and shirts, because stuff like gloves and shoes just. are not as important, and while it's Nice to have full event sets, it's not at All necessary) I'd also say a good question to ask yourself is what will you actually use, JS grinding for things you're only gonna have in your wardrobe is just. not worth it. So plan and pick and choose and once again don't let FOMO rule your life, it's Okay not to get everything

Okay so here's my general tips for money grinding:

a) You're gonna have to do a champ, 200 JS + 75 JS for the daily champ daily? That's 275 free JS for just doing a champ. And you don't have to win. Just participate. That's a lot of JS and it builds. Actually my generally best money grinding tips is to DO CHAMPS. You don't have to win, but those things Stack Up. You just have to participate, 200 JS is a Lot when you're going for max JS.

b) Silverglade dailies!!! AND ESPECIALLY FRIDAYS. These guys give 70 JS each, and that Builds. It's all about building a stack of JS really. But please do the Silverglade dailies that rotate based on days, and if you're gonna do Any day, Fridays (Vineyard + also a little bit of Goldenhills) are the best.

c) Collect trash for Bonny's daily 80 JS. 15 trash daily isn't that hard, and it's worth it because 80 JS for basically just running around? Good shit.

d) MARY'S LOST ANIMALS. 90 JS per animal? GOOD. You don't even have to do all of them but like. if you wana grind JS, this is where to go.

e) STABLE CHORES. 90 JS per full stable, and we have a lot of stables. Like please do not forget stable chores they're so easy and take no time and they give you a lot of JS. Do stable chores.

f) You have any horses to level? LEVEL THAT HORSE. Leveling is one of the best ways to make money, because 20 JS per race Builds, considering we have like three trillion races. And you'll thank yourself because now you have a horse at lvl 15! And it takes like 2,5 days if you minmaxx and barely over that if you're just like. Hanging about. Like it's fast, if you commit it builds money. Level your horses.

g) Actually if you don't wanna level your horse atleast do the new hillcrest race. That's 75 JS for just finishing it. And you're close to the new hillcrest stable whose stable chores give 150 JS if you remember tip e).

h) Archaeology! Specifically only Epona and specifically only Epona's rare finds. And I think there's a guaranteed rare spawn per area a day so and just getting it gives you 50 JS I think and exchanging those rare finds for items that are Basically made to be sold because it's filler items and ugly clothing Gives you money. Do archaeology.

TLDR: Play the fucking game. If you have the time to play the event, you have time to use the Massive amounts of good JS sources we have. It's gonna be annoying, yes, you're fucked if real life dictates you can't play, but that's just the nature of playing games. And it's not gonna give you Every item, but that's why you don't let FOMO rule your life. Make peace with missing out.

#Hi I heard we're talking economy #sso #ssoblr #Maintagging Ig cause y'know it's useful #Not saying this is the end all be all this is just what I did #Heck I didn't even Do archaeology and it's one of the best quick money grind we Have #And it gave results I didn't use ANY star coins and got like 5 JS items #And it didn't even take me the whole event

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apoptoses · 1 year

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☕️ + what method of hunting do you think Armand and Daniel used when they first reunited in PL? It was obviously meant to be a very meaningful and intimate moment for them given that not long after they officially got back together so I’m curious to know what you think! Did Daniel follow Armand’s lead and they feasted upon wrongdoers together? Shared a couple of certified sons of bitches in some backstreet alley? Or did Armand allow Daniel to take him to a club and where they took little sips from innocent mortals as they danced? Or the secret third option where the method didn’t matter at all and it was just about finally spending time together? They have such different approaches that it makes me think that from now on, they’ll have to compromise more often than not when they go out together. Though one could also argue that Daniel was simply copying what Marius had been doing and taught him to do and now he’ll just effortlessly switch to Armand’s method.

Okay so deal with this I have to get some head canons/meta of my own out of the way first:

We know a couple canon things about Daniel hunting.

He got upset at the first girl he ever killed, but what was done with the body is unknown

He enjoyed killing the squatters with Armand but then cried when dealing with the bodies afterward

'Delirious' Daniel had to be reminded to bury the bodies at the end of QotD

Marius teaches him to survive off the little drink and only kill evil doers

Now Lestat also has to be reminded to hide his bodies, but he was just woken up from spending ~200 years in a world where bodies in the streets was normal and finding a victim wouldn't have been a big deal.

Daniel on the other hand, grew up in a world where death was largely sanitized. Seeing a dead body in the US would have been an extremely rare event for the average person born in the 1950s- the most Daniel might have ever seen was an open casket funeral. So due to this little handful of facts I've always had the thought that he had some persistent issues with dealing with corpses.

Which- fair. To someone with newly heightened senses that would be a lot to take in. Bodies evacuate all of their inner solids and liquids once they die, decomposition begins immediately. Rigor mortis sets in within two hours. The dead cannot hold their eyelids closed naturally and the mouth opens. If you pick up a dead body that has sat for a little while it's likely to expel gas. By the time even an immortal dug a hole deep enough and long enough to bury a victim, the smells would be overwhelming and the feel of the body would have entirely changed.

For Daniel, who likely had never dealt with the dead, this would be overwhelming and potentially something he never really gets numb to. Hence Marius teaching him the little drink and how to identify evil doers for when he needs something more.

So to your question:

I always imagined their first hunt back together in Prince Lestat to have a little tension. Armand knows this about Daniel, and while he knows for a fact that Daniel can pull off the little drink and, when necessary, kill the evil doer, I think he'd be somewhat apprehensive deep down about how all of this will go down. It is, in a lot of ways, a test- one to see how Daniel is doing as a vampire now, and one to see what they can and cannot do together from this point forward.

But at the same time, Armand remembers the first kill, and Daniel's reaction to having a sedated girl thrust upon him to take. He's not going to repeat that experience and push him into the deep end again.

So it starts with a walk, some quiet catching up until Daniel suggests they slip into a club together. For once Armand lets him completely take the wheel and guide the night. Picks up on Daniel's wordless nod when he spies two handsome young men for them to dance with and drink upon. As they sink their teeth into their willing victims and take their little drink they lock eyes, and oh yeah- this is something Armand can do. This is a powerful and confident version of Daniel he likes to see.

They find a pretty woman, take another sip. Head out of the club hand in hand until they're walking past an alley and Armand picks up on the thoughts of a man planning a violent mugging. He can tell Daniel has picked them up too when he stops, drops Armand's hand, and gestures for him to follow.

Killing him together is the biggest thrill Armand has experienced in years and afterward he forgets himself, if only briefly, and takes Daniel in his arms.

But there's still the matter of the body.

It's only a short argument but they have a little fight about it anyways. Armand insists Daniel go home and let him deal with it, he will meet him there. Daniel rolls his eyes and tells him he refuses to be coddled, treated like some nutjob who can't take care of himself. Armand tries to blow him off and tell him to go, just as Daniel heaves the guy over his shoulder and takes off.

In the end it's a shared job. Daniel digs the grave. Armand places the man in. Together they cover him with the dirt, dust themselves off and head for Trinity Gate.

Armand doesn't often apologize but this feels important, so he says that he's sorry if he made Daniel feel patronized. Daniel just puts his arm around him and tells him it's alright, he gets it. It's nice to know that even after all these years Armand cares enough to worry over him.

(And when they get into Armand's bedroom at Trinity Gate? Total carnage. Now that all the feelings are out of the way they both realize fuck, that was actually really hot, and they're both pumped full of blood and ready to make up for lost time. Daniel has never seen sheets so filthy with blood in his life after that.)

Once Daniel moves in they don't feed together all the time. Armand still prefers calling out to those who wish to die, Daniel would rather find some sadistic sack of shit to take out. But it's a special pleasure on the nights they do go out into a thick crowd, find someone lovely, and relive their old threesome days by sharing a drink together off them.

#wow this got long rip anon #but these are All of my Thoughts and you seemed to want them lol #apoptoses answers #armand/daniel #vc headcanons

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feisaru · 10 months

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Cant stop thinking about your older feisaru art. I was wondering if you have a hc of what they're upto at that age. Like hobbies, career, or the people they (still) hang out with?

ALRIGHT LET ME JUST SAY- talking about them on main like this is a little hard 4 me. The whole "if it mattered less, maybe I could talk more about it" bit. I'm still gonna try to not make it super vague? While also not being as overly elaborate as I sometimes get in private chats

Fei still loves soccer a lot. Overall he enjoys powering himself out physically when he gets the chance to. Wheter that can be considered a hobby, I dunno, but he enjoys painting nails a lot, especially if he gets to use a lot of colors and to draw silly little animals on them. He also likes cooking. He taught himself how to very early after CS-finish.

Whereas Saru really enjoys reading. He's been doing that even back when he was Feida's emperor, to escape reality a bit. Every so often, Fei comes up to him and asks what he's reading. If Saru wants to infodump about it, Fei gladly lets him. Honestly, it's not a seldom occurence that they just read together. It often starts with Fei asking Saru to read out loud for him because he really enjoys his voice, while he cuddles into Saru a bit. Then after a while Saru passes him the book. Sometimes they also read their own individual novels while just sitting together. Saru also still does soccer sometimes, but for him it's more like a bonding activity with Fei? He does it mainly because Fei likes it so much and he likes when Fei is happy. He'd still enjoy leading a soccer team but other than that, the physical aftermath of the vaccine was pretty hard on him, leading to him not being able to exhaust himself too much physically (he'd still throw hands if necessary tho). Well, he was never too much into sports anyway. Despite that he still loves climbing on trees. And once again I don't know if that counts as a full on hobby but at some point, because he has so much time on hand, he started attempting to scribble Fei in notebooks. I don't think he'd tell Fei though, he finds it embarrassing.

So now to the more complicated bits! Most of these are still Thoughts In Progress™️

I try not to think too hard about the whole job thing because- I'm still not that experienced with jobs and because I can't see either of them working traditionally. Saru still hasn't forgotten about what El Dorado and the system has done to them. He wouldn't want to work in it. He doesn't want to work in a system created and controlled by people who have damaged him beyond repair. He doesn't want to pretend all's well, he doesn't just want to act like nothing ever happened. And Fei? In theory, he's the one more likely to do it, just because his morality doesn't get in the way, but I can't really imagine him feeling good about working at all. It would really drain him. So the possibility I'm tending to most right now is that they're getting the 200 years into the future equivalent of Hartz IV (as much as Saru hates existing in the state they unfortunately can't just cease doing that and so taking the state's money is still the better option) (I barely know anything about what this whole thing is like so take this with a grain of salt) and that Asurei sometimes helps them out financially because he has more than enough money for himself. They don't have a lot but it suffices to live pretty okay as long as they keep in mind they have a limited amount of money at their disposal. But like I said, my thoughts might change in the future, when I know more myself. I once have entertained the thought of making Fei a mental health professional but that's in the scraps right now because. I know someone pretty similar to him who worked as that and I sure as hell do know it would exhaust him in the long run. He wouldn't be able to handle so many people professionally at once without starting to feel worse himself. He likes psychology but the reason he likes it is that he likes helping Saru. Using psychology on people whom he meets in an office on a professional basis just ain't it

Concerning hanging out, I and a friend have an AU (Trio AU) where Fei reaches out to Zanark so the 3 of them can play soccer together when they're 17-18-ish and he third-wheels for them. Later on he gets a gf, my friend's OC. The AU is more for giggles and laughs than anything and Zanark and Saru go on each other's nerves impossibly. A lot of the time it's "calm down, breathe in, breathe out, you're better than this, there's no reason to get seriously mad at this motherfucker, and most importantly you're doing this for Fei" for Saru. They still see Meia and Giris sometimes, albeit they live a little farther away. And they probably encounter Protocol Omega members sometimes, because they live in the same city as them (thinking about them encountering Alpha and Gamma on a date someday is fun... @amalg4me)

Either way I have some drawings where they're supposed to be young adults (Trio AU, including the banana sweater, all the CS x SPOP drawings... maybe even more. Most of the fluffier drawings are set at least 2 years after Chrono Stone) but I've only recently started figuring out how to get better at varying ages and I'm still working on it

Uh btw... if you wanna see some old man cuddles... I can gladly send you some in the dms. I've been drawing them as adults a lot lately, but I don't feel like posting those drawings on main

#if youre not lore or any of my closer friends id prefer if u quit reading before the cut #unless you really want to...#lore/fritz #thank you for the ask🦔#it means a lot 2 me #feisaru receives asks

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ofmermaidstories · 1 year

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Hey, Merms! 👋

You always do such a good job avoiding physical descriptions when writing the Y/N's, but lately I've been wondering: what kinds of clothes do you personally imagine them wearing? You once mentioned your "headcanons" for the kinds of perfume they might wear, and I thought that was super fun. Also, you always describe clothes so beautifully! The parts in something where Kenzo, Kihara, and Scribbles are going over the Hero Gala outfits are some of my favorites.

On that note, I'm especially curious about Scribbles' wardrobe, since Deku's poor fashion choices are always a point of major contention lol.

I love getting to play with clothing, in writing, because beyond just liking clothes, personally, narratively they serve such an important function in world/character-building. Clothes are so telling of a person! Which is why I find it so necessary to avoid it as much as humanly possible with a Y/N, unless there’s a narrative/meta reasoning for it (getting a new coat, scarf; being kitted out for a formal event. Indulging in high-end lingerie to showcase you do think about what you’re wearing, at least intimately, and thus giving you a reason to be judgemental of someone else’s poor tastes in fucking cargo pants). But okay, I’ll play. 👀 Putting everything under a cut, so those of our friends who don’t want the fun/fantasy of the Y/N they imagine ruined don’t have to see my subjective taste in fashion, LOL.

Let’s start off with my baby, Weedsy-woo.

Weeds would wear a lot of natural fibres, like 100% linen pants or dresses, woollen tops for the cooler months. Weeds was raised by Granddad, so Weed’s style would be unconsciously conservative, (high necklines, for example) especially on days when Weeds is working in the shop (which is most days lmao). Granddad was a practical man, though! So even though there’d be a unintentional romanticism in Weed’s choices (a lot of flowy cuts in the dresses and skirts), they’re made knowing that Weeds has to stand or work in them, and that they need to be comfortable and be able to handle, idk, getting wet from dripping flower ends, be about to get dirty and easily washable. There’d be a lot of soft colours (beiges and pale rosy pinks, sage greens) with the occasional vibrant pop of colour (a fun print of fluro pink and yellow and orange, for example, on a top maybe; or the red coat Akane gifts Weeds for Christmas, the yellow scarf from Katsuki). Once Katsuki comes into the picture and has carved out his own permanent space, some of his jackets would start appearing slung over a shop chair, or wrapped around Weeds in the early morning hours of the freezing warehouses of the flower markets.

Okay though, let’s talk my troublemarker Scribbles.

Scribbles is sloppy. Wide-leg men’s pants, fished out from a 200-yen bin at an op-shop. Old, well-worn band t-shirts that have given so much in slack they slip over the shoulder. A sarong from a little Bali-import store that Scribbles finds in Mum’s stuff, when Mum moves to New Zealand. Oversized mens shirts, fished out from that same op-shop, layered over crop tops and silky singlets. Scribbles would like cuts that show cleavage, because why spend good money on lingerie if you’re not going to show it off somehow?

But mostly, I don’t think Scribbles would really overthink things. Because Scribbles spends like, idk, 17 hours or something bent over a tablet/lightboard, trying to draw, the pieces Scribs wears have to be comfortable (cue the wide pants, the oversized shirts). Scribbles crawls out of bed at 8 am (after coming home at 4am), crawls into the first pair of pants that smell clean and then idk, a random top pulled from a basket, before throwing on on old painter’s overcoat, because the aircon can get kind of chilly. But because Scribbles is an artist (an artist raised by a model mother who adored fashion), Scribs has an unwitting eye for it—every piece in Scribble’s wardrobe can be mixed and matched. I’ve always, always, from day one imagined Scribbles to be the kind of Cool Girl that can make anything work, from sheer attitude alone, but I think the deck was stacked from the beginning for Scribs, too. I think it makes it doubly unfair that Scribbles is so mean about Deku’s choices LOL, because Scribbles just takes it for granted that of course people can dress well, so wtf is he doing with all those cheesy t-shirts? That kindergarten colour-blocking he has going on with the hero merch? Disgusting, pull yourself together, Deku.

#ofmermaidstories-asks #i enjoyed answering this one anon but now im worried scribbles isn’t cool enough to be as mean to deku as scribs is LOL #surrender-fic verse #passion for fashion: the dress-up tag

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crymeariveronceagain · 2 years

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Thoughts on Nightfall after reading it again

Back on my bs.

Okay literally I read this book in 3 sittings, over 200 pages in each sitting. It's insanely fast paced, and well written. Once you start reading, it becomes really. Really. Really hard to set the book down.

Cognates! Are so emotionally unhealthy! It's horrifying! How is this something we're okay with! Especially for children! Quinlin kept an OPINION, not a secret, an OPINION from Alden, and they wrecked their cognate thing! This is not healthy! Anyone who thinks this is healthy! Get the Therapy you so desperately need! This is not good! Even married couples do not share every single thing with each other! Boundaries are necessary to being a functioning person in society!

Personally, I think Livvy and Quinlin could work it out.

Dang the Lost Cities' prejudice against humans really rubbed off on Sophie quickly. I don't blame her, but also. Yikes. That cannot be good for her.

Sophie's family is getting tortured and the Black Swan is like "we're doing all we can!!!" Despite how they do next to nothing and the kids(age 14-15) have to deal with it all.

Edaline calling Sophie perfect as a baby is going to be written on my heart as one of the most beautiful exchanges in this book. I'll post the quote later. It makes me want to break down in tears. Because stars above. Sophie deserves to be called a perfect baby by her mom.

Tam and Keefe are literally best friends and just too stubborn to stop taking cracks at each other. They started beat friendship and now they can't get off the ride. They're friends.

Keefe Sencen is WAY. TOO USED. TO BLOOD. He's just out there stabbing himself and getting hurt and being like eh blood. I feel like he's very not okay, or has seen so much blood that his own doesn't faze him anymore.

Forkle is the President Coin to Fintan's President Snow. No, I will not elaborate.

Dex and Biana are best friends. Don't ask how it just happened. It's good for both of them, I think.

Sophie. Does not want her and Fitz's relationship to change. It's so obvious. It hurts me. She does not want to tell him she likes him. She does not want to date him. She wants their relationship to stay the way it is. For as long as she can, she desperately wants to keep what sbe has with Fitz. And she is perfectly happy that he doesn't know she likes him. She wants for it to stay the way it is. And even when Fitz gives her every opportunity to change it. She actively avoids it. No thoughts. Just and observation.

Poor Marella.

Wraith's backstory would "Sidetrack everyone". Huh. I bet it would.

Linh loves Wylie's music. And I love Linh. So there we go. That's the whole point.

I forgot so much of what actually happened in canon lmao. I'm so sorry all my fics are so factually inaccurate in the little ways.

KEEFE IS SO STUPID I'D DIE AND KILL FOR HIM.

Keefe not registering for the match is peak Keefe and also heck yeah remove yourself from the Eugenics society dearest boy! Kick their butts! Metaphorically!

Sophie's so in love with Keefe it actually deeply pains me to watch her not notice it. Like uh. Honey. You love him. You love him you love him you love him you love him. Sophie, you love Keefe.

Keefe is so in love with Sophie. He's literally out there almost dying for her. Actively putting himself in harms way so that no one can hurt her. I just. Ow.

He's also so smart and so stupid all at once. Idiot. But a smart idiot.

I forgot how annoying Ro is in canon. Literally every moment after she's been introduced I've literally just wanted her to shut up. I love the Ro I've created in my head, but this Ro in canon makes me want to hit her in the face.

FITZ BAKES IMMA CRY GN GUYS

Marella really got targeted for her talent. It's kinda gross to see Sandor demanding that Marella not use a single spark without a go ahead even though he's never said anything like that to Linh, or even Sophie.

The Vacker Legacy. What is the Vacker Legacy. It can't be Alvar. It can't be. So what is it. Who is it.

Sophie does not get a break. She does not get a week to rest. Absolutely no breaks for the kid. This is the book where she starts getting exhausted. This is the book where it starts exhausting the reader, too. Because scenes stop getting time to breathe. Life only speeds up. Sophie does not get a single moment to rest. And neither does the reader.

Ah. A panic attack. Sophie has a full blown panic attack. Great. Love that.

This book is screwed up. This story is screwed up. Everything about this is screwed up.

Tam and Biana interact like a married couple. They have each other's backs and occasionally make comments that imply that they're fond of each other. I love that for them.

Ah. Sophie straight up disassociates for like 2 weeks. And then nothing changes. No one tries to fix it except her frienda who are, y'know, children. This is totally fine. Not at all a horrible sign of the state of the Lost Cities and adult elves as a whole. No. Definitely not.

IM GETTING WHIPLASH FROM HOW QUICKLY FORKLE GOES FROM TREATING SOPHIE LIKE A PERSON TO TREATING HSR LIKE A TOOL AND BACK AGAIN. NO WONDER SOPHIE'S SCREWED UP. I WOULD BE, TOO.

*various gagging noises*

Vespera. Ew. She sucks.

Gisela. Ew. She sucks.

Everything is awful, actually.

Sophie Foster having to say goodbye to her human parents for good hurts me.

I just.... This book was a fast paced mess. I feel like nothing and everything happened, and I wish it didn't. I'm so tired, and I know Sophie is too.

We're so tired. And yet we keep reading. Because we've grown attached. And we've got to fix the hole that this series has hollowed in our chests.

#kotlc #kotlc keefe #keefe sencen #kotlc sophie #sophie foster #kotlc fitz #kotlc thoughts #kotlc nightfall #fitz vacker #river re-reads kotlc #kotlc fandom #this is actually a pretty awful book to read #its just generally exhausting

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caelum-in-the-avatarverse · 2 years

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Okay, I think I’ve finally found my groove for fic archival. Of course I only figured out what settings and storage style I wanted after I’d already downloaded a few hundred fics, but downloading a few hundred fics was part of my brain’s figuring-it-out process, so it can’t be helped. Currently I’m re-downloading everything I’d already downloaded, this time using the parameters I’ve decided upon. Once that’s done...I’ll just keep downloading more.

I’m really liking FicLab - all the settings options left me paralyzed with indecision at first, but after some pondering and reading the advice in the notes of this post, I’ve settled on settings that prioritize preservation.

Save Reviews: Check. Obviously, the reviews are half the fic experience and I’m so glad to have finally found a tool that lets me download them.

Enable Cover: No. It’s a cool feature, but not necessary, and lots of fics on FFdotnet don’t have covers anyway. I’d rather save the filespace.

Paragraph Style: Space Only. Neither FFdotnet nor AO3 use indents as default, and frankly I get a little weirded out when I see indents used in a fic’s format cuz it’s just so unusual.

Font Style: Sans-Serif. There’s some back-and-forth on whether serif or sans-serif fonts are more readable, but sans-serif seems to be better for people with dyslexia, and both FFdotnet and AO3 use sans-serif by default.

Punctuation: Original. FicLab is geared more towards creating a pleasant reading experience than it is to archival, so to that end it’ll clean up basic punctuation issues. I don’t care about that; I’d rather have these fics saved as they were posted, punctuation mistakes and all.

Scene Breaks: Unchecked. FicLab will try to detect where authors left things like ~oOo~ and insert a proper plain-line scene break there instead; I’m more interested in archiving the fics as-is and saving these whimsical scene breaks authors came up with for posterity.

I then save at least two copies of each fic I download - one as PDF, one as EPUB. In some cases I also save additional copies without reviews if 1) The fic has more than 200 reviews, 2) The fic has more reviews than words, or 3) I just feel like it.

FicLab names files as “Author Name - Fic Name” and I’m sticking with that, with the addition of “ - with reviews” for any fic I’ve downloaded the reviews of, which is most of them. Figure it’s good to have that info right in the title. Sorting fics by author first seems to be a good approach as well - I went on a fic-downloading spree back in 2017 and was saving things title-first and that was just...a mess.

So my current setup is Fandom Folder > Author Folder > Fics. Not perfect, but it’ll do. Organizing fics by author gives me the added bonus of being able to index things better, too - once I’ve downloaded all an author’s fics, I create a rich text document in their folder and copy/paste all their fic titles and summaries in alphabetical order. So at least I have some idea at a glance of what kind of stories that folder contains. For good measure I’m taking a screenshot of the author’s profile too. Y’know, for posterity.

Can you believe before FicLab I was manually going in and saving every page of reviews as a webpage? Ugh that was so labor-intensive and inefficient space-wise, it made the folders look all cluttered...I’m so glad I found FicLab. I’ve been procrastinating on downloading fics because I didn’t want to download them without also saving their reviews; I’m so glad I no longer have that excuse. It’s so much easier this way!

I’m still glad I went on that fic-saving spree back in 2017 though, because...several of the fics I saved back then are gone now. Looks like the authors just deleted their FFN accounts or something. These were old fics too - I would’ve thought they’d be safe, but it just goes to show that you never know when someone will just delete everything and disappear. I’m glad I’ve got copies of those fics in some form, even if not with my new efficient system.

As an aside, lo-fi on youtube apparently does wonders for my concentration on this project. This is tedious work but I feel nice and calm. Funny; normally I can’t stand music while I’m working, or doing anything in general.

Looks like I’ve re-downloaded everything to my liking now, so I’m gonna start spelunking through the depths of FFdotnet to find other fics to save. Idk what I’m gonna do with them, exactly. No grand plans. But FFdotnet will go down someday, and when it does, I want to be able to say that I saved everything I loved from it. An archive of my own, lol. It’ll be a drop in the ocean compared to what we’ll inevitably lose, but every little bit of fandom history counts.

#caelum rambles #fandom archival #fanfiction

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fridayyy-13th · 8 months

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for the honesty hour, what got u into tma?

okay okay SO. sort of a long story, buckle up. this tale actually technically starts a couple years before i even listened to the podcast; it's not really a necessary part of the story but i think it gives some neat extra context.

so back in 2018, i was getting into horror for the first time, particularly psychological horror (i still can't really deal with slashers or gore or anything, so psychological horror is my spooks of choice lol). and in the art class i was taking, one of my desk neighbors would give me recommendations. they had recommended Doki Doki Literature Club to me, and i'd loved it! so when they recommended me a podcast called The Magnus Archives, i went home and checked it out...by poking around on the wiki for a little bit to suss out the kinds of spooks it entailed. poking it with a long stick to see if it would bite me, as it were. i read through the wiki synopsis for a random episode (which was MAG 034 - Anatomy Class), decided it was too scary for me, didn't listen to it, and subsequently completely forgot about the entire thing.

jump forward to 2021, i once again had a vague awareness of Magnus due to following some artists for fandoms like Hermitcraft and YTTD who also made art for TMA. at this point it was kinda just in my periphery? i hadn't really given listening a second thought yet.

...and then in December i got covid for the first time, totally smacking down all plans of going out to do stuff or visiting friends.

so like, i had absolutely nothing to do for the holidays. i mean, i'd started playing Deltarune chapter 2, so i had that going for me, but that was it. i was bored outta my mind. and then one evening, i was scrolling aimlessly through tumblr at like 12 in the morning when a piece of jmart fanart caught my eye. i wound up searching the TMA tag, and after watching @/faerie--kei's fantastic Home PMV, i was Deeply Intrigued and Very Curious. the next morning i decided to start listening, and the subsequent two weeks absolutely rewired my brain.

and yknow how i mentioned that back in 2018 i had been told about this podcast, but didn't pick it up til three years later? the entire first thirty-three episodes felt strangely familiar, and then i listened to MAG 034 and went "OH HEY WAIT I READ ABOUT THIS ONCE DIDN'T I." and then it became my favorite episode!! so it came full-circle; the episode that initially scared me off became one of the ones i love the most.

i actually think i finished MAG 200 on the evening of Christmas Day? so that was a nice little gift to end my holiday, lol. i remember sitting on my bed after 199 like "wow. this is it. and i know how it ends." (due to aforementioned PMV.) "but maybe it won't actually end that way??? One Can Only Hope :)" and then i listened to 200 and yeah. ouch. i have been insane about this podcast ever since.

so uh the short answer is "the throes of boredom caused by sickness." i'm actually re-listening to it currently, much more slowly, since it's been a couple years. it's just as good as the first time, maybe even moreso because now i don't just have a vague idea of where everything goes, i know exactly when and how things go downhill. fun times :D

#tysm for the ask!!!#i actually haven't been able to find that jmart fanart since and it's been driving me up the wall for two years #it was a Christmas-themed piece; it had a simple background that i think was plain green with darker green gridlines across it?#Martin was holding Jon up in the air and they were kissing while wrapped up in Christmas lights #they were in the right side of the frame #and i think it was a more realistic art style #if anyone knows where to find it plsplsPLS link it to me i wanna see it again #anyway i rewatched the Home PMV and i am Feeling Things again lmao #friday chats #ask game #the magnus archives

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ninjago-happens-here · 2 years

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_IN_A_O_ (chapter 1)

Ninbingo: Games

Zane would say that technically, their first time in Ninjago city was when they jumped off the Destiny's Bounty at night in order to stop Pythor's plans.

But Kai (respectfully) disagrees. They had spent more time in the sewers than on the streets. And it was at night!

Well, with the bounty...destroyed, the ninja had to look for a roof over their heads, and they could only trouble Cole's father for so long.

"I JUST WANNA KNOW, WHO ATE MY PUDDING CUP?" Jay shrieked at the motley crew. "Jay, come on, just give it a rest!"

"NO. I AM NOT LETTING IT GO THIS TIME." Jay huffed and aggresively pointed a spoon at everyone in the room, even Sensei Wu. "We are getting to the bottom of this, ninja, as one or more of you needs a reminder on HONESTY."

"Jay-"

"IT'S THE FOURTH TIME THIS WEEK-"

"Save your breath, me and lil Garmadon are gonna go get some groceries, we'll get you your pudding cups," Kai said, almost yawning as he slid off the couch having been accosted whilst procrastinating and playing games with Lloyd. It has been one of the rare times everyone was together too.

"Remember, it better be mango with those white jellies-"

"Nata De Coco."

"-the ones from Naspac, got it?"

Maybe it is supposed to be rare for everyone to be in the Brookstone's house. Either ways, Kai was high tailing it out of here with a little demon spawn before someone gets shut in the fridge again (Most likely Jay).

"C'mon Lloyd, let's leave these knuckleheads to their own devices," Kai feels Lloyd sliding a small hand into his larger, waiting one. Kai feels himself frown before shaking his head.

Lloyd had been... uncharacteristically quiet. Well, compared to his earlier days on the ship, and even before he got on board, Lloyd was loud, in your face, a 'Mwahahaha' demanding your attention. But since Garmadon left, Lloyd hasn't really initiated any talking, but has been initiating a lot of physical contact. Kai tousles with Lloyd's hair and smirks as Lloyd scowls, free hand batting away his hand before trying to smooth his hair down. Just wait til Lloyd's outgrown his bowl cut, Kai can't wait to have another sibling to bully into his little hair dressing simulator. Still, Kai feels the smile on his face lose its shine as he realises that Lloyd still wouldn't talk.

Looking through the Ninja's (read: Wu's) safe (which was fortunately found by the ninja), Kai pulled out the whole sum, doing some math in his head. Okay, maybe Nya worked the register back at the Smithy, but that doesn't mean Kai can't count money. However, due to the fact that Kai can count this whole sum means that they are running low on cash. You'd think that 5000 dollars should be enough as a rainy day check, but that's not factoring the fact that they have 7 people who are using these funds everyday. At the rate that they are buying groceries and later having to rent an apartment somewhere in the city, they would need to get jobs, fast.

A feminine shout startles Kai out of his thoughts as Lloyd keeps still.

Right.

To get groceries.

Standing ahead of the door, Kai checks that they had the necessary items before leaving. Keys (it's much easier to let themselves in then to call for one of the other occupants), Ez-link card (Jay convinced them all to get it for public transport since they would be remaining in Ninjago city for a while), Cash ($200 for a week should be fair, Kai's also bring more than what they need just in case), Stove and Windows (Kai hopes the others are smart enough to turn off the stove when the soup finishes, or at least won't distract Zane from doing so). All from a little strip of paper on the door, edited with Jay's handwriting.

"Well, looks like we're good to go, buddy," Kai says, putting Lloyd's ez link around his neck. He was just barely to tall to get to ride for free, a shame, really. (Kai ignores the bubbly sensation in his guts.) Meanwhile, the kid in question just scuffs his shoes against the door mat, tracing out imaginary patterns. Kai knows that pattern from anywhere. Lloyd was sulking.

"How about this: since we're too late for the Wet Market, we'll be going to the Pasar Malam close by. I'll get you Jamanakai sausages!" Lloyds eyes instantly light up. With grins on their faces, Kai lets the door shut behind him as they enter the main street from the detached house.

. . .

Really, they didn't need more food so soon. Cole's father already had ingredients in his kitchen, and the last time Zane and Kai tagged team the wet market (read: every morning at 5) had scored the household with several fish, vegetables, meat and starches for less than $50. Really, they could have added another $50 to last for a week, but any excuse to get out of the house is an excuse that Kai will gladly take. (Also, if they were sticking around the area, then the ninja need to befriend these hawkers and sellers. Regular discount, anyone?)

What they have run out though, are snacks. And really, well... Kai wants to spend time with his baby brother, okay? And he wants Lloyd to have a somewhat normal childhood before the green ninja training starts. (Kai ignores the voice in his head that tells him he didn't have a normal childhood either).

If the night markets were anything like the ones back home at Ignacia (and they should be, they travel around the continent as a seasonal kind of thing. Kai hopes to see one or two aunties who originates form ignacia and makes those wonderful Kweh Tutus-) then Lloyd should really enjoy himself with this night of fun.

. . .

Lloyd does not enjoy the Pasar Malam. It's too hot, too bright, too crowded, too loud, too-it smells too much. Feeling his lips tremble, Lloyd pulls then pinches Kai's forearm. It gets Kai's attention from haggling with a man over towels and thank FSM Kai gets it. He takes a stack of towels and pays the man $5 before bringing Lloyd to the end of the bazaar, being quieter and having less smells, less noise, less people (parents and their kids walking around, why couldn't Lloyd-) where Kai stops near a claw machine. Handing Lloyd a few coins (that adds up to 10 dollars!) Kai looked around shiftily before sighing.

"Okay kid, I know this is such a bad idea to leave you by yourself, especially what happened after I left you at the arcade- but I can't stay with you at the claw machine here, I need to get more snacks like potato wheels and bak kwa and what not." Kai then gestures to a young woman who's at the very end of the stalls. "That is Mimi, she'll keep an eye on you whilst I'm gone. Speaking of which, can you also look over our stuff?"

Lloyd nods, and Kai places his purchases on the candy machine. "Thanks kid. I'll be back with a Jamanakai sausage in no time."

All alone, Lloyd turns back to the candy machine. Observing the build, it was one of those mall machines where you press a button and the letters slowly stopped spinning from 1-4. The prize? Mentos. It really was only mentos, but mentos was candy, and well, you can never really have too much candy, can you?

15 minutes later, Kai returns with 2 sausages on a stick before dropping the food as he's gobsmacked at the amount of candy Lloyd managed to win. Sure, sometimes he messed up the timing and din't get the max 4, but other times he consistently hits the jack pot. Seeing opened but not finished candy wrappers, Kai deduces that Lloyd had already gotten into the sugar and- gods they are going to kill me.

"Kai Kai Kai Kai! Look at all the candy I won!" Lloyd bounced on his toes, quickly pulling Kai from his stupor. "That's... great kid. How about you, uh, lay off the sugar for a while? I got you-"

"Jamanakai sausages!!" Lloyd squealed excitedly. Whenever Darkley's had field trips (or Lloyd snuck away from the boarding school) he'd always take his chance to sneak food away, be it the candy shop or the meat stall. Raising a hand to Kai expectantly then giving a quick glance, Lloyd quickly bounded to another claw machine, this one with stuffed animals that he wasn't quite sure how to have a gurantee win yet, but he's willing to try. Kai dropped off a few more change besides Lloyd, then turns to look at an astonished Mimi. "Your kid is really something else, huh?"

"Yeah, you can say that again. Anyways, want some candy?" Kai asks, also looking at the little crowd of children that gathered around the candy machine, eyes transfixed. They jumped a little, having been asked so directly, before looking at each other. "...can we have some?"

"Mom said I can't," a young boy, 7 or 8, huffed. "Well, Lloyd can't have this much either." Kai reasoned. "When she comes around, you should ask her if you can have some because Lloyd really doesn't need this much.

A noise of protest was mufled by the sound of chewing. "C'mon Lloyd, it's all mentos anyways, you really don't need to have this much." Kai patronises.

Little by little, Lloyd's hard won candy disappears until maybe a quarter of the stash remains. It doesn't help that Lloyd had been trying and failing to get a snowy tiger from the claw machine, needing to get a refill from Mimi.

"I think the tiger's a lost cause," A boy around Lloyd's age said. He whips around, frustration curling around his lips. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, see how the tiger's pressed up against the glass? The claw can't reach that far. If I were you, I'd go for the whale."

"Then do it!" Passing the controls and a coin to the other boy, Lloyd sits back and watches shocked as the boy manages to get the 3 hooks around the whale, before dropping it into the chute. "Wh-how?"

"You want to get one that's easy to grab," The boy explained, hands opening the hatch and taking out the whale plush. "Here, he's yours."

"Wha- no, he's yours! You won him, right?"

"Yeah, but I used your money to do so. It should be yours. Besides, I have a lot of plushes already." The boy said, rubbing the back of his neck. Lloyd gracefully accepts the plush. "Are you like, some kind of arcade expert?"

"You can say so, yeah. Name's Nathan."

"My name is Lloyd G... do you want some candy?"

. . .

Kai returns with the final purchases of the night, before seeing Lloyd and another kid discuss enthusiastically about the latest issue of starfarer.

"You should really have paid me for babysitting those kids, Kai," Mimi started but was shut down quickly with a "those candies were payment".

"Cheapskate," she snorts, but Kai's already out of earshot.

"Lloyd! Hey buddy," Kai calls, and both of the kids turned around. "Great to see you made a friend! What's your name?"

"Nathan!" Both Lloyd and Nathan said. "Well, hi Nathan, sorry but Lloyd and I have to go now."

"Awww really? Kaiiiiiiiii."

"Sorry kiddo, but it's getting late and we need to buy a few more things," Kai started to gather up all of his purchases. "Do you have someone to pick you up Nathan?"

A small nod. Kai quickly scribbles down his number from a new pen onto a new notepad that he had bought. "Give this to your guardian and we can arrange for you guys to go play sometime."

"Okay," he said softly, before whispering something in Lloyd's ears. Kai narrows his eyes but ignores it in favour of packing up all of the items he'd picked up today.

And by packing, he meant fitting smaller plastic bags into the larger plastic bags. "Come on Lloyd."

Lloyd sighs and waves goodbye to Nathan until both him and Mimi were out of sight.

. . .

It was now around 6pm. (Had they really spent 2 hours at the Pasar Malam?) and Kai was praying that they avoid the evening rush at cold storage.

"Fruit, Drinks, Dairy...Pudding!" Kai muttered out loud before dragging Lloyd from the fruits section. "Hey kid, I need your help to find Jay's branded pudding. It's a very important job, okay?"

Lloyd was now back to quiet, but he began to diligently loo through the lower shelves.

Tugging on Kai's hand, he points to Jay's pudding at the second row from the bottom and Kai picks it up and places it into his trolley. Well, usually he'd have gone with a hand basket but the items from the bazaar were taking a toll on him, so shopping cart it was. Kai watches as Lloyd fiddles with the coin in the handles of the cart before signing and carrying him up, putting him in the cart. "Since you've been so good today, let's have some fun, shall we?"

Kai couldn't see Lloyd's face, but he bets his hair gel that Lloyd was smiling.

"Also, since you've been so helpful, you can pick out something from the refrigerated section."

Lloyd visibly brightens at this and looks overthe selection from his vantage point in the cart. He ponders for a few moments before pointing at...

"The juice box?" Peel fresh, berry mix. Not 'top 10 things Lloyd would select' for sure. Lloyd nods, saying a gentle 'yes', and Kai's heart does something weird. Zane probably would be affronted with the sugar in that thing, but it was a lot healthier than the other things Lloyd could have chosen.

On their (victory march) to check out, Lloyd keeps looking at the shelves, curiosity in his eyes. And maybe longing when they pass by the candy section, but Lloyd doesn't make any motions to indicate that he wants the candy.

"Hey, green bean, it's okay to want something, you know?" Kai said, breaking the silence between him and his little brother.

"...I already have a lot of candy," Lloyd states. Well. It is true, and Kai even said it to Lloyd himself.

"Still, it's a different kind of candy. Some variety wouldn't hurt." Lloyd bites his lip.

The cashier calls them over to indicate it's their turn when Lloyd asked Kai if he could grab some Kinder Eggs. Kai happily obliges, leaving Lloyd alone as the cashier scans the items.

As time went on, Lloyd got more and more nervous, hands tapping the top of the trolley than wringing themselves before going back to tapping again. The cashier was almost done and Lloyd didn't have the money to pay her, and oh now he was going to cause everyone else in line to wait- why couldn't he have just said nothing? Then Kai didn't have to leave him here-.

"Hey kid, loosen your grip, you might get hurt," the cashier lady said, which startled Lloyd as he did not notice his knuckles were starting to go white. "Trust me, these shopping carts are unsuspectingly sharp. I work here."

"W-what's it like working here?" Lloyd asks in a moment of confidence. Or desperation. Lloyd was anxious and he didn't know why (he knew why, it was the line- the people) and talking was helping to ground him, so he listened. "Well, retail is... a harsh job. Your... brother? Guardian?"

"Brother! He's name is Kai," Lloyd stated. "Well, he looks to be around my age and that's when many people start working, however, usually we start with 'lower' jobs, you know? Ones that don't pay too well or doesn't fit our diploma or those 'inbetween' jobs, you understand?"

Lloyd nods. His family were in a bit of an inbetween living situation, actually.

"Retail, being a cashier? It's nobody's dream job. I'm lucky that most of my customers are nice, but once or twice you get those kind of... mean people. And sometimes they make me want to quit. But it's honestly just a few bad eggs. Oh look, your brother's back."

Kai arrived, breathing a lot heavier. "Wow, I can't believe finding those chocolate eggs were so hard!"

The cashier picked them up and scanned them. "Your total is $14.75. And next time, maybe ask the cashier if they could help you find those snacks. They're usually around the check out area."

She gestured to a display of kinder eggs that Kai did not saw. Feeling his face heat up and Lloyd giggle, Kai tries to cover up his embarrassment by flirting with the cashier lady. She laughed, before gesturing him to get out so she could get to the next customer in line, before giving him a receipt with her number written on it. (Ignacians need to stick together!)

Kai and Lloyd left for home, arms burdened by objects but hearts considerably lighter.

. . .

Ninjago city was beautiful at night.

What was more beautiful however, was the people.

#ninbingo #ninjago #ninjago fanfiction #ninjago lloyd #ninjago kai #finished writing at 2:07AM #I will likely cringe in the morning #sdhbdovbhd #idk #sudden inspo I guess #I dislike the ending but idk how to end it so #f idbfye

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christmasintheloonybin · 1 year

Text

so funny seeing right wingers discover what capitalism is and being opposed to it. I mean to say in the same way communists are, many American right wingers leaning towards libertarianism will say "hey, how come I'm making $16/hr on this job and my boss is making $200/hr for my labor?" the solution being, we all work for ourselves, we're all tradesmen and we all enjoy the fruits of our own labor. okay sure, on paper this sounds amazing, HOWEVER, you cannot be in favor of progress if you are opposed to capitalism. technological and social progress. the generally speaking great wealth and power of the United States only ever happened because of exploitation and capitalism. you need guys who do very little actual work investing money in other projects, expanding business, providing jobs etc. I'm not defending capitalism because I am also completely against progress. but the only way we could have a society of skilled workers who enjoy the fruits of their labor etc etc is in extremely small scale communities, which would be an extremely inefficient system if we are thinking in terms of social and technological progress.

also, let's be honest, most people do not have any kind of skill and have no desire to achieve a skill. most people are like animals in that they are content when there is a lack of physical suffering. they have no drive or will at all. what is to happen to them? should they starve? if we follow the principle of from each to each we would have probably at least a third of the population who have no desire to work and would only sit at home collecting rations (or whatever in a communist society). it could be argued in the soviet union or China "okay it's not great that we have to force all these people to work in factories but we are extremely underdeveloped and need to catch up with the west so for just a little while and then we can have real communism..." still this is not THE GOAL. but back to my point - then what do we have? exactly the same fucking thing in reverse! someone leeching off of you and making money off of your labor but without providing anything to the larger community. I think coercion to work is obviously a negative and unpleasant thing, but do you seriously think there is great fulfillment for the average dishwasher or sewage worker? these are unpleasant tasks that are only done because of CAPITALIST incentivization, and they NEED to be done in modern society. sure maybe a plumber or a cook or a blacksmith or whatever, a skilled laborer, is prevented today from reaching his full potential and when he can truly express himself and recieve the fruits of his labor properly then society will be fixed FOR HIM. but most people are not like this. even today in America welfare will guarantee you a quality of life that is MINIMAL, horrible for the western world especially in urban areas, but people will jump on it, why? because the labor they are coerced into doing is so unfulfilling, but this work is not only necessary for the functioning of a society but especially necessary for the PROSPERITY of a society like the United States. and in organized society the work now is much more unpleasant than ever before. in a natural setting it was maybe quite fun if tiring to gather firewood or plant seeds or whatever, and this was directly tied in with your life, but why should someone say "I'm going to go work sorting trash in a landfill just for fun." it's completely different, and maybe some people in theory really do care about society as a whole (I do not) but in reality only very small scale communities could compel the average person to give a fuck enough to do this unpleasant work. you see it. I don't want to clean up trash in the streets but I love my family and my neighbors and I want my community to look nice and be healthy. you see the results directly. but there is no real reason anyone with any sense would really be compelled to play some minute role in the production of something that would maybe better society but have no real impact on his life personally. ie capitalism AND communism, capitalism works because the capitalist will say "I don't care how you feel about it, you need to or you won't eat." the problem is not necessarily these two systems but MATERIALISM, LARGE SCALE SOCIETY, TECHNOLGY, AND PROGRESS.

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