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cloudaxolotl07 · 2 months

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Here are the official looks for the Bishops in my Beyond au!

They all have the golden skull necklaces but they are just hidden under layers of fabric COUGH I DIDNT JUST FORGET THEM ON ACCIDENT-

Info on each character below!

Shamura

Shamura is the eldest of the 5 siblings and is the Historian and Teacher for the Cult. Shamura is a calm and kind spirit, though if you annoythem enough, they’ll start to disent a little, causing ichor to pour from their wounded head. They can get slight brain fog pretty often during the day but they somehow appear on time to events or remember things when the memory returns after a while. Although Shamura was the ex bishop of War, they are quite the tactical thinker and fighter; quick on their feet and always knows how to take their enemies down when necessary. They assist with educating the younger members of the cult and is quite intelligent in many subjects even if they have brain damage from long ago. They mainly on their free time or when not with any of the kids, they tend to hide in the library, reading in silence.

Kallamar

Kallamar is the second oldest out of the 5 siblings and is the Chief Medical officer in the Cult. Kallamar likes to act prideful and has a bit of an ego, though truly he is a coward at heart. He has sensitive hearing due to the damage inflicted from Narinder, so loud noises can cause pain to him. Being the ex bishop of pestilence, he has the vast knowledge in medicine and medical practice, with that knowledge were they given the job to look after the health of the followers in the Cult. He loves to collect anything he deems beautiful and is sparkling; always wearing some form of jewelry on him wherever he goes on the cult grounds.

Heket

Heket is the second youngest out of the 5 siblings and is the Cult’s Chief Guard. Heket is quiet and stoic, but caring when it comes to her siblings and the followers of the cult. People, especially children tend to get intimidated when first meeting her, but they easily warm up when eating her delicious food she prepares during breakfast, lunch and dinner. She isn’t able to speak all that well and speaking up never goes well for her as she easily gets ichor filling her mouth to the point of dirtying her lungs, causing coughing fits from time to time. Her siblings however can easily understand what she tries to say when reading her body language, facial expressions or listening for her quiet mumbling; except Leshy for most of the time.

Leshy

Leshy is the youngest of the 5 siblings and is the Chief Farmer for the Cult. Leshy is hot-tempered and chaotic in nature and easily can get embarrassed or offended by small things either when people make fun of him or question his looks and/or intellect. Leshy is completely blind when using his eyes, but he soon made a friend who helps him get around far distances in the Cult. Growing up mainly in the Darkwood, he knows plenty about taking care and nurturing plant life, always knowing what each plant in the cult farms needs to grow to their fullest potential. He relies on his siblings to also help him with either hiding or getting from one place to another when Collie can’t. A small thing he appreciates though is on warm and sunny days, he likes to bathe in the sun, feeling the warmth on his body. A small detail about Leshy is when he expresses heavy emotions or feelings, flowers of different kinds tend to sprout from his body depending on how he’s feeling at the time, mainly they blossom on his head.

#cotl #cotl au #cotl fanart #cult of the lamb #cult of the lamb fanart #cotl leshy #cotl heket #cotl kallamar #cotl shamura #cotl bishops #cult of the lamb au #cotl bts au #cotl beyond the shores #beyond the shores au #~doodles

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hatredmadeofgold · 11 months

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Revenge with a vengeance — The tragedy of Sam and Raiden’s canon relationship dynamic

Alternate title: SamuRaiden is THAT deep, actually.

Although MGR does not have as complex or well researched character lore as the main series, Samuraiden as a relationship is a lot more complex than common fandom tropes and interpretations of their relationship suggest. I don’t mind it when people make funny/meme content about these two, since MGS/R does come with its own flair of humour, it’s very exhausting for me as well as a few others I know who enjoy this ship for it to be reduced to just that — a joke. MGR being perceived as ‘goofy’ is mainly due to how poorly some of the character lines translate from Japanese to English, as well as it being more or less evident that either budget, time or both ran out over the course of development, hence the second half of the game feels rushed and underdeveloped. In fact, the great majority of MGR fans do not understand how serious, dark, hopeless and dystopian its message really is and that is saddening.

The world isn’t black and white, neither is it in MGS/R. Sam isn’t the just the villain (never has been, by the way), Raiden isn’t the just the hero (never has been either, by the way), I’d say it’s rather “depends on who you ask”. They are on opposite sides due to the circumstances of how they meet and not because they wouldn’t get along. Quite the opposite is true, in fact, if they would have met before 2016, they might have become friends based on the fact of how much they can actually relate to each other in many different aspects of their personalities, interests and experiences.

Before we get to fight Armstrong as well as during the Sam DLC (also through very subtle hints during their first fight on the train) we learn that Sam is just like Raiden and that Desperado forced him to become a shadow of who he once was, going against his own morals and values and only Raiden reminding him of who he truly was before Armstrong defeated him 2 years prior, ultimately crushing his spirit — he had no other choice, either die there as a failure or continue to live and become Desperado’s/Armstrong’s puppet [until someone would eventually defeat Armstrong and free Sam from his never ending nightmare — Did I already mention that Sam is a really fucking tragic character?]. Sam joining Armstrong’s laughter at the end of DLC is a reaction of fear, not agreement with him or enjoyment. And if there’s one thing that both MGS and MGR are really good at, it’s the accurate and very realistic portrayal of the human psyche under stressful and traumatic situations.

On the other side we can tell from Raiden’s reaction when holding Murasama after killing Sam that he, for once in the entire damn series, questions if that was the right choice he made. We know that Raiden enjoys inflicting pain and suffering onto others, he enjoys murder — but he did not feel that way when he killed Sam. It’s quite the opposite. It’s very subtle and if you’re not very observant like me, easy to miss. But the way his voice turns a bit softer, how his eyes look listless, almost sad; he regrets it. When Blade Wolf asks Raiden if that outcome was really necessary, he does not answer him, because he knows that Wolf is right, it wasn’t. And Raiden pretty much hates himself for it. To his team he confidently says that Sam isn’t a problem anymore since he killed him, but that’s not the same Raiden that he’s that moment in the badlands (which is another implication to me that Raiden doesn’t fully trust his teammates, although they are friends; he has major trust issues and the only emotions he shares with them is either anger or amusement but nothing outside of that). The way he sheathes Murasama is a way to honour him, and as far as I remember this is a ritual to honour a samurai’s defeat or death.

I believe that there has been a silent understanding between the two swordsmen that they respect each other from the very beginning, but they do not say it out loud. This is a case of “show, don’t tell” but also something I suspect has something to do with the game being written by Japanese authors, and Japanese is a high context language, meaning, very little words are needed to get the meaning across, and I think this may also translate into the words these two exchange with each other compared to how they truly feel about the other. Besides, they probably couldn’t truly speak honestly with each other in the first place because of the unfortunate conditions of how they met and were (more or less) forced to fight each other until one of them would eventually succumb to the other’s blade. Codecs and conversations were most likely recorded by their respective employers, and I highly suspect that in Sam’s case, he was even monitored 24/7 by Desperado since he never was an official member of the Winds of Destruction in the first place, and they didn’t fully trust him either.

At the very end of the game during the fight with Armstrong, Sam’s message plays, and we can hear how Sam also speaks with a different voice to Blade Wolf compared to everyone else (and technically, indirectly to Raiden but I cannot confirm or deny that Sam was aware that Raiden would ever hear this playback), it’s a note softer; Raiden learns the truth, which confirms to him that he was right about Sam after all, that they are alike, that they respect each other, and that there was more to Sam’s story than him being a part of Desperado, he doesn’t know what exactly, but he knows now for sure that Sam was not the person he originally believed he was (and lets his team still believe he thinks that way).

Would Raiden truly say Sam’s catchphrase “Let’s dance” before fighting and ultimately killing Armstrong, if he wouldn’t have been going through a gradual process between originally hating Sam to respecting and liking him but unable to ever express that to him or anyone else?

Would he ever admit to anyone what kind of emotional impact Sam had on him, besides the anger and hatred he openly expressed towards him?

Doubt so. Highly fucking doubt so.

Because sharing his true feelings is a liability to him, and Raiden learnt as a very young child that vulnerable feelings such as sadness or guilt would be used against him, so his psyche is conditioned to discard them immediately. But Sam made him feel those things in their full extent and Raiden is fully aware of that, but he would never share with anybody that he ever felt that way about Sam.

He may or may not take those feelings to his grave.

From Sam’s side, we can only guess how he truly felt about Raiden, but we can only guess by the way he hesitated to finish him off on the train during the prologue, the way he smiled at Blade Wolf before his death (which might be likely another case of a silent understanding between Sam and Wolf that the latter would share with Raiden what he knows about Sam or the playback of their conversation itself, if not both) as well as everything he says with giving Murasama to Raiden. Of course, Sam couldn’t even say out loud to Blade Wolf or Raiden that he planned to give Raiden his sword to take down Armstrong, and he had to be as vague as possible with the information that he shared with the robot dog. Not by choice, no. Most likely because he was being watched 24/7, he knew that Desperado nor Armstrong didn’t fully trust him and if they knew about his plans, they’d make sure to finish him off before Raiden had the chance to do so. Sam knew he would die, and that it would be the only way he would ever be free from Armstrong’s grasp. So he chose suicide through Raiden’s blade, and gave him his sword to finish what he could not back then.

The game’s title is REVENGEANCE — Revenge with a vengeance.

They both translate to the same thing in my native language German, but there’s a subtle yet important difference between these two nouns.

“Revenge means when you get back at your enemy who is responsible for hurting you and vengeance is the punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong.”

But it was never Armstrong who hurt or wronged Raiden in the first place, and we know he’s an essentially selfish person who does not really care all that much about politics, religion or anything like that and he only fights for himself (I wrote in my essay about Raiden’s ASPD that his motivation to save these children from becoming cyborg child soldiers is a trauma response first and his rather lose and grey morality second) and the few people he cares about, so Armstrong being the one one who ordered to get N’mani killed is not the reason Raiden went after him or was that passionate about getting revenge or retribution on him either.

It was Sam who hurt him — wounded both his body and soul during the prologue — but when Raiden got his revenge, he realised that revenge is empty, that he didn’t feel better, and that he regrets killing him, then we get to the vengeance part. From the moment Raiden held Sam’s Murasama in the badlands, he felt no more hatred towards him and the emotional impact his death had on him made Sam transition from a person he hated to one of the few people Raiden truly cares about.

Armstrong may be the villain of the story, but the person who wanted revenge on him never had been Raiden. It was Sam. Always had been Sam, because it was Sam who got hurt by Armstrong, it was Sam who wanted to get revenge on Armstrong for defeating him and crushing his spirit, it was Sam who wanted to punish Armstrong for making him into a shadow of who he once was, making Sam speak about ideals he didn’t truly believe in (like, who the FUCK even thinks that Sam truly believed a single fucking word of that, because I for sure as hell can tell he never did, he either gaslit himself into believing that for 2 years until he met Raiden or only parroted whatever the fuck Armstrong wanted him to say so he would not get killed on the spot).

Revenge and vengeance are very deep feelings and actions of hatred, feelings that are too deep and complex to be associated with morality, hence why I highly doubt that the title of the game is directed at Armstrong from Raiden’s side at all. That between Raiden and Armstrong is not nearly as personal as it has been between Sam and Armstrong. Raiden eradicating Desperado and Armstrong had been about justice [for the kids being killed and their organs sold], not revenge.

"I said my sword was a tool of justice. Not used in anger. Not used for vengeance. But now… Now I'm not so sure. And besides, this isn't my sword."

But when he says this, followed by “Let’s dance”, it became deeply personal for Raiden as well. Because he could confirm that his feelings about Sam had been right, and that Sam wanted to get revenge on Armstrong.

Raiden decides to avenge him, because Sam couldn’t get revenge himself.

Although Sam never told him directly, Raiden understood him from his actions alone, those subtle hints, reading between the lines what the other truly felt and wanted the whole time, eventually passing the “torch” — his sword — to Raiden, to finish what he could not. So while Raiden’s own reasons to finish off Armstrong were (mostly) justice for the innocent lives he destroyed and planned to continue to destroy, they also became feelings of hatred and anger — Sam’s feelings towards Armstrong.

In the end — revenge with a vengeance — is what Sam could get on Armstrong only through Raiden, after Raiden enacted his onto Sam.

Now the question is — if Raiden would’ve never killed Sam, by the chance of him recognising earlier than in canon that revenge is empty and that he won’t feel better after killing him, would Sam go by his example and abandon his revenge plans on Armstrong as well? Or would they fight Armstrong together and get justice?

We unfortunately can only speculate (or write stories about it).

What we can tell from canon though, is that Raiden’s (= Sam’s) passionate feelings of hatred towards Armstrong quickly vanish the moment he finished him off, and he looks into the camera with an empty expression, covered in blood and a crushed cybernetic heart in his hand.

And I think that is exactly what he feels — empty.

Because again, he got revenge and avenged Sam, led by what Sam felt, Sam’s feelings became Raiden’s feelings during that fight with Armstrong. But once that was gone, there’s nothing left. In the case of killing Armstrong, he doesn’t feel remorse or guilt. There’s nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Because revenge is empty.

Raiden defeated his enemies — but at what cost?

By killing Sam, he realised what he had actually lost — a potential friend (or more), someone who understood him in a way that no one else did. Perhaps he thought or felt that, if he avenges Sam, making Sam’s feelings towards Armstrong into his own, he might be able to deal with that loss better, but to no avail.

Because, and I can speak from experience as a person with the same mental health issues as Raiden, that emptiness is worse than regret.

MGR’s ending also implies that Raiden abandons his family and friends to fight his own war; essentially taking the same path that Sam once took in his past, ending up in a personal war and revenge act that knows no end, making one bad choice after the next. If Raiden hasn’t already become the villain of his own story by the end of MGR, then it’s just a matter of time until he becomes that.

And the cycle of violence continues, until the story repeats itself, over and over and over and over and over.

Did I mention already that there is a myth around Murasama being a cursed sword, that will drive its user either slowly insane or make them commit suicide if it doesn’t get a regular ‘blood sacrifice’?

—

“I really enjoy murder, but that one, that I will regret for the rest of my life.”

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kozachenko · 2 months

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Do you feel Gensokyo would indeed be better off if Reimu WAS more thorough in youkai extermination (i.e. actually successfully punishing Mamizou at all)? It's part of her real job, sure, but it's also a point against Gensokyo. Basically, do you think Mizuchi is right that humans and youkai should be as far away from each other as possible and constant enemies?

I think it all depends on the severity of a Youkai's actions, like, if a Youkai were to just walk around disguised in the human village and they're just kind of chilling and not causing problems then that probably isn't worth an extermination, on the contrary if a Youkai were to try and kill a bunch of humans in the village and/or threaten Gensokyo, then yeah, that's probably worth at least a beatdown from Reimu. In regards to the most recent Lotus Eaters chapter, I think that Reimu should probably punish Mamizou with more than just a slap on the wrist and expose what she did to the human village, but at the same time, the tanuki have to eat too. They can't normally just go and buy food from the human village because that would be too obvious. But still, if Reimu were to expose Mamizou's plotting, then that would probably help them in the long run if humans were more scared of them, and it's not like Reimu just exposing them would stop them from doing what they want anyway. Besides, worst case scenario, if Reimu does exterminate Mamizou, then there will just be a new tanuki who takes her place as leader. Again, it all depends on how necessary it will be for Reimu to exterminate them, and what doing so will actually accomplish.

I also don't agree with Mizuchi's statement that humans and Youkai should be as far away as possible, mainly because we've seen examples of humans and Youkai getting along peacefully together throughout the series. Some examples I can think of right now are. Alice and Marisa, Miyoi in Geidontei, Nitori just coming to the human village mainly to sell things, Aya schilling for her own newspaper to the human villagers, heck, all of Myouren temple seems to be in pretty good relations with the human village and a lot of the people who live there are Youkai, and Byrakuren's whole thing is wanting for humans and Youkai to live in peace. However, since Youkai run on fear to fuel their existence, I think there is some validity to what Mizuchi is saying. I'm not saying that the Youkai should be all buddy buddy with the human villagers, but I'm not saying that they should be enemies either. To use Miyoi as an example again, since she's a Zashiki Warashiki, she's only bringing good luck to the buisness she watches over. Her existence isn't as reliant on fear, like a lot of other Youkai.

Again, it's not a simple black and white thing, it's more so a spectrum of how badly a Youkai being near humans will fuck things up. Even if you take a look at the "balance of Gensokyo," constantly punishing Youkai for just chilling in the human village and not actually doing anything bad is only going to lead to more problems in the long run. Resentment will build overtime towards humans, and more drastic problems will start presenting themselves, which only leads to a constant cycle of Reimu having to fight even more dangerous and powerful Youkai that try to attack the human village, eventually leaving Gensokyo in a constant state of unrest, and while yes the spellcard system exists for that whole reason, there are going to be Youkai who don't give two shits about it and just do whatever they want anyway. For the safety of the human villagers in Gensokyo, not holding as big a fear of Youkai would probably help keep relations peaceful for a longer period of time, as well as keeping Youkai from becoming so powerful that it's basically impossible to keep them in check without having to exterminate them.

#touhou project #also I have only recently caught up on both of the ongoing mangas so if there's anything I'm missing please let me know

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autumnwhistles · 7 months

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Last Life: The Unofficial Musical – help required?

As some people know, I'm working on making a musical version of Last Life! Throughout making the first song, some people have asked if there was any way to help, and after some thinking I've finally organised my thoughts. The roles I'd love some help with are below:

(The first song is here in case you want to know what style I'm going for, and there's more information about it in the pinned post on my profile.)

Subtitling – some people have already offered to help with this (thank you!). Self-explanatory, just adding the lyrics I've posted to Closed Captions at the right timestamps.

Promotion (ie on Twitter because I don't have an account and don't really want to get one tbh) – also self-explanatory, this would basically be reposting with permission to let it reach a wider audience.

Creative help – mainly helping to streamline the plot, as I feel right now there's a lot of it but not all of it is necessary, and also want to set more things up early on and give more people attention. This might work better as a group thing so ideas can bounce off multiple people – I was thinking of making a Discord server to discuss this?

Vocals and voice acting – if needed I can sing everything, but it would sound weird if everyone was me, and with dialogue (which there will be some of) it'd be even weirder. Especially for bigger voice/dialogue parts, acting and singing experience would be preferable (and for singing, specifically styles where you have to act through your singing eg musical theatre), and you should have a decent microphone to record it through. It doesn't have to be super fancy, just no device mic etc. If people are interested, they could tell me what type of singing they like to do/what range they have etc, and I'd probably ask to hear a recorded video clip (around 1 min, maybe more) of singing something as well*. With voice acting parts, it depends on how big it is – if it's bigger, it would be nice to hear some sort of clip (maybe I can send the dialogue when written) as well. The character doesn't have to have the same person singing and speaking for them (though they shouldn't sound completely different). Depending on how many people are interested, I might hold auditions via google forms (submitting something)?

Instrumentals – the sound engine I use is pretty good, so that would mainly be used for accompaniment, but for solos/parts where the instrument is in focus, actual playing would really enhance it. Instruments I can see being subject to this are the violin, viola, flute and oboe, but others may come up. This would generally be on a song-by-song basis though.

Possibly someone to help manage this, since I'm not used to organising bigger projects and I'm not too great on keeping everything organised.

I'll take care of composing, lyrics, production, and the singing for some characters (the number again depending on how many people are interested). I'll try to release more content/snippets as well so people (especially those involved in vocals) know more of what's going on.

(everyone involved will be credited obviously!)

*If you want to help with this but just by eg adding some vocals to the chorus part, this probably isn't necessary though!

#trafficblr #last life smp #life series

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qroier · 5 months

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edited my post from yesterday on spiderbit eurydice and orpheus to be clearer. it is now. way longer klsdjfk. but the idea is the same. anyway enjoy reading if you do and uh. pues f if you don't, no? lskdfjsdk. kinda already mentioned it in the post but should clarify here that i'm 100% talking about the greek myth.

Thinking about spiderbit as eurydice and orpheus is so interesting to me, cause I think depending on how you look at it and how you think of the story, there's an argument for both. And then you remember everything that was purgatory and how clear of a parallel it is to the myth hdksjdks. Honestly though, I feel like the purgatory parallels are the biggest reason roier cubito as orpheus is winning out on that one poll, and I kinda have to disagree with that. The evidence for orpheus roier is there from the start. Roier cubito is always and forever a perfect, permanent orpheus figure even before considering purgatory, and it's down to the devotion roier and orpheus cling to and the grief they both drown in. (The rest under the read more)

Backtracking first for a bit to set the stage. There are many different versions of the eurydice and orpheus myth out there, and its nature as a myth means that interpretations (and translations of any original latin or greek versions) are always changing. Disclaimer of course that my understanding and general knowledge of the myth has been mainly influenced by the wider english-speaking cultural approach to it. I'm focusing on the orpheus archtype from my understanding of what it means (which I'll explain along the way) because otherwise if I didn't I'd end up getting too boggled down in "virgil said this according to this translation" and "ovid went more in this direction following this translator" details. and there is no way in hell i'm struggling through translating on my own with my measle little two years of latin classes under my belt lskdjfkldfj.

But regardless, here's a very basic and brief summary that most versions tend to follow: Eurydice and orpheus are married. Eurydice dies. Orpheus treks out to the underworld through the power of music to save her and get her back. He's told the only way he can have her is if he makes the treacherous trip back to the mortal realm without turning to look at her once. He looks back right before he makes it, and fails in saving her. Sounds familiar, right? slkdjfsk

Don't get me wrong, orpheus cellbit still makes sense in a way. That's part of why the poll and idea in general is so interesting. Heed the disclaimer again but to me, the biggest, most obvious, and most immediately linked connotation the myth has always had is one of devotion. Like the type of devotion that would take you all the way into the afterlife and all the way back in the hopes that that might save the person you love. Cellbit cubito is nothing if not devoted, and normally in the loudest ways possible. He loves shouting out his devotion at all times to anyone in close proximity. It just makes sense that if anyone could hold the level of devotion necessary to be orpheus it'd be him, cause we all know he'd do anything for roier.

Plus being honest, it also makes sense just going by the dynamics in their relationship that they most often present to others. Roier cubito kinda likes playing into the dynamic of asking other people to "save" him, whether that's from mobs or hunger or anything, so long as it's not something actually serious. So much so that the idiot (said lovingly) has conditioned everyone, and I do mean everyone, both islanders and audience alike, into thinking he's defenseless and needs saving. Maxo put it best that one time when he said he felt like roier after cellbit saved him from some mobs, only for cellbit to have to correct him and say that it's usually the other way around. As far as most are concerned, cellbit does the rescuing while roier gleefully asks for the help. It is very easy to make the jump from the idea that eurydice is being saved and the image of roier cubito calling out for help with a scorpion that he could (normally at least, I know he didn't have any weapons or gear that one time during purgatory) bring down on his own. It definitely doesn't help that cellbit is, of course and as always, already running to roier with a weapon in hand to kill the scorpion. At the first chance, he's already trying to help. Anything for his husband.

So it makes sense that orpheus cellbit, who clearly loves doing the saving, would drag himself through hell in his devotion to save eurydice roier, who loves being the one saved! But then you start remembering how the story came about. You start wondering, well, why does the devotion need to be so strong? Why does eurydice even need to be saved? What has brought the both of them to the gates of the afterlife? Oh. Right. It's because she died. She's dead. Eurydice, the love of orpheus’ life, is dead.

Saving her takes and is devotion, yes, but it's also an attempt to escape grief. If she’s saved, there’s no need to mourn. If she’s saved, then she’s not dead and there’s no grief. And, always, there is no one more grief-riddled than roier (except maybe maxo, whose grief has permanently killed him). No one knows more intimately than roier how tough of a fight it is to escape constant grief because he is constantly grieving, and it just keeps getting worse. His number one recurring theme since arriving on the island has been that he will lose loved ones. To the point that sometimes, even if the person is still technically around, the grief around them and the relationship that once was finds ways to persist (just look at the mess that revolved around spreen cubito before he was confirmed to be dead).

The devotion still applies to him too, of course. Even though it's in quieter ways, there's no denying that roier is as equally devoted to cellbit as cellbit is to him. Cellbit once promised roier he'd rescue him if the feds ever arrested him. Roier once told cellbit he'd go after him and wouldn't stop until he got him back if the feds tried taking cellbit again. And that's not even the only time roier has promised that, he's said similar things multiple times before. He even had to fulfill that same promise once already, back during the regret arc when cellbit went missing trying to save felps. If there is one thing that is true, it's that roier is not lacking in orpheusian devotion.

Actually, extending that devotion from being based in romantic love to also including familial love just makes it all the clearer how much of an orpheus roier has already been. Orpheus fights through the journey, holding on to hope and powering himself through devotion, because the alternative of having permanently lost eurydice, of having to succumb to grief, is too much for him to take. Roier fought through the entire island and later a dungeon, holding on to hope and powering himself through devotion, because the alternative of having permanently lost bobby, of having to succumb to the grief of loosing his son to something outside of his control, was too much for him to take.

And then they both fail. Orpheus looks back too early. Sometimes he forgets, in his excitement to be so close to the end, sometimes doubt gets the best of him and he has to check, and sometimes the need to see his love again overwhelms all his senses. Sometimes maybe it's somehow all three. Roier also looked back too early, in a way, but cucurucho only knows what way that actually was. It could have been that he technically did die right at the very end before he could make it through the dungeon, or it could have been that the gods were feeling particularly cruel that day. Either way, bobby wasn't returned to him. Either way, eurydice vanishes in the morning light after orpheus gets one last glimpse of her. Either way, Bobby vanishes behind the door after roier and jaiden are given only 10 minutes to say goodbye.

This is all without even touching on some of the details about how roier's singing charms everyone he meets and how music is such an important part of his character (for those of you unfamiliar with the myth, orpheus' connection to music is so deep that the greeks named a constellation after his lyre). Or, as notes in the last version of this post pointed out, how his previous journeys to the underworld have shaken his faith and trust (which would probably need to be a whole entire other post on its own).

Roier is just permanent orpheus. He can't help it. If you believe that characters in myths are left behind, endlessly retelling their journeys even once the book is closed, then orpheus is still there, making that trip to the afterlife and back. His story is being retold through roier, who is here now. Roier, who has already gone on two trips to the afterlife and back, already told this story twice before, and is now preparing himself for a third (even a fourth, if you want to extend this whole thing and include purgatory and the eggs). It’s retold in how Roier has to do the saving, again, because he keeps getting left behind. In how he’s always drowning in grief, in some way or another. How he’ll drag himself through the journey every single time if it means a chance at saving someone he loves. If it means saving himself from more grief.

So the stage is set. Purgatory happened. Orpheus has loved, again, and he's lost, again. Roier may like it when he's the one being saved but he's been forced yet again into a position where he has a chance to do the saving. He's facing an increasingly insurmountable mountain of grief on one side and a plunging chance at salvation on the other. The book has been turned back to its first page. The story is rewinding to tell itself again. We know what path he'll pick. Now all that’s left is to see if this third trip succeeds. To see if this retelling is one where orpheus does not look back. And if he does? Well.

"Dying again, [Eurydice] did not blame her husband — What could she complain of except she was loved?" - ovid, translator: stanley lombardo

#qsmp #if you don't feel like reading the whole thing then just read the fifth paragraph (starts with “plus being honest”)#and the second to last one (starts with “roier is just permanent orpheus”)#dunno how much sense they'd make out of context but they're the ones that focus on my original thoughts the most #speaking #spiderbit #roier #cellbit #👍#i don't even want to think about how many words this is lksdjfslkf much less how much time this took #posts from me for me

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snapscube · 1 year

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As someone who is extremely new to using twitch but wants to support you, are bits better or is subbing better? Also I hope you're having a wonderful holiday!! ❤️🌻❤️🌻

It depends, they’re functionally very different!

Just as a quick answer before getting too in the weeds, GENERALLY I do prefer subs as long as it is something people are able and willing to do! Obviously no amount of financial support is ever necessary to be an appreciated member of the community, and bits are still generous simply by virtue of being opted into to help me out, but if subbing is an option for anyone it REALLY does go that little extra mile.

I say I prefer subs mainly due to the consistency of it. Subs are a majority of the time going to be a $5 monthly thing (though there are less-used higher tiers), and my cut of that is about 2.50. Assuming, say, 5 people begin a consistent monthly sub, that’s a guaranteed 12 bucks or so of income that I can reliable measure per month. If 3 of those 5 people mainly support with bits instead, I’m still getting support and it still contributes to the monthly payout, but there’s basically no way to predict how much it’ll show up in the total and plan accordingly. Could be like 50 extra bucks one time if people are feeling particularly generous, or it could amount to cents. One is consistent, the other is supplementary.

But again, both are appreciated! So really don’t fret too much either way. I always above all want to stress that continued support for my channels in ANY way you can afford, even if it’s just watching the YouTube highlights and sharing clips, makes a difference.

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pokemoncaretips · 8 months

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Any care advice for the Flabebe line? I recently caught a Floette of each color and have been letting them roam freely in my flower garden.

The floette line. The pride of Kalos.

General notes: A beautiful fairy type with a lovely nature, it is so beloved in its native home of Kalos that once only the rich and well connected nobles were permitted to keep it. While its certainly not the inciting cause of the subsequent revolution, it certainly didn't help...

General care: This line has a pretty delicate start. Flabebe are small and easily injured, and highly vulnerable without their flower.

Said flower is a vital part of their care. Though in a pinch, any flower will do, the entire line tends to prefer the Fairy flower (chromaanthens fatum). This flower is native to Kalos and has pretty demanding care requirements, as its adapted for very specific forest and glade conditions. The fairy flower has broad, lightweight flowers that catch the wind well and are fairly sturdy and long lasting. These flowers come in around five or so different colours, though they can all cross pollinate well. Flabebe have favourite colours just like people, and will seek out flowers they like.

The fairy flower requires a fair amount of shade, with low to moderate light levels. The soil should be moist, but not damp, and very slightly acidic. You're effectively trying to mimic a small clearing in a forest.

Fun fact: the fairy flower depends on this line to spread its pollen and seeds! Flabebe like to play with pollen and will gather more from other flowers if its one runs low.

Letting them roam freely is very good. This pokemon struggles with being cooped up, and really should be an outdoors pokemon unless its sick and needs its condition monitored. They have a strong connection with living plants, and fade if that is severed.

This line are nectar eaters at the start. Though they'll generally take care of their own feeding if allowed to roam free, during the winter setting up a feeder is a good idea. They tend to go to ground in winter, however. Though they don't truly hibernate, cold makes them drowsy, and they'll often nest in old logs and hollow trees during the worst of the cold, waking up only to grab a sip of nectar. If you have a dead tree or fallen log in your garden and you live in floette territory, you REALLY shouldn't get rid of it unless absolutely necessary.

Fill your garden with flowers. Not just the fairy flower but anything that can grow. In particular, leave as many dandelions growing as you can. When it comes to floette, these are NOT weeds, often being the first flower blooming in spring, and a vital food source. As well, the more flowers, the better the hiding spaces, particularly for newly hatched flabebe who are still learning to control their flower and defend themselves. If you like making things by hand, little wooden boxes can act as shelters for young flabebe.

Florges are larger, and need larger sources of food, being mainly fruit eaters, though they will tap certain trees for sap. Though they look meek and delicate, in their mouth is a rather nasty pair of teeth used mostly for scraping holes in tree bark.

The flowers growing around a florges neck are symbiotic, and allow this pokemon more freedom of exploration, with flowers always close at hand to draw strength from. While the floette in your garden will likely wander inside to explore your house, florges can stay much longer and even cope fairly well with cities. Having said that, if you do live in a city, taking her to the park often is good for her mental health.

This line is VERY smart, easily passing the mirror test. They're estimated to be as intelligent as a four year old child. As such, they'll need enrichment. Hanging toys from tree branches outside will keep them entertained for hours. You can also leave small items outside for them to investigate. And of course, as I mentioned, they'll often wander into your house for a nosy. They aren't strong enough to lift much, so they're not very destructive.

If you want to form a close relationship with one, be prepared to spend a lot of time in the garden. Once they get used to your presence, they'll come over to see what you're up to, and you can start befriending them from there.

Though they can tolerate pokeballs fairly well, as pokeballs simulate a good environment, they should only really be pokeballed if you're travelling somewhere.

Overall, this line tends towards being self sufficient. Though maintaining the garden they need to thrive is where you're going to be putting the bulk of your labours. And it likely won't be cheap. Care rating: Orange

Training: Being incredibly bright and quite friendly and curious, this pokemon takes well to battling. Flabebe are quite delicate, and should ideally start with training dummies, floette can be pretty sturdy when they have their flower.

These pokemon work fantastically alongside grass type pokemon, able to sync their energy up with their flower and share it with others. If you specialize in grass types, it may be worth looking into encouraging floette to visit your garden, in order to bring your battling to the next level.

(If you ever want to cause a fist fight among scientists, ask if this line is part grass type or not.)

Floette don't make good service pokemon. Though smart and sweet natured, they can't be taken away from their gardens for too long before becoming weak and easily distracted. Training rating: Green

Safety: Though the early stages offer little risk other than mild hayfever, florges can be LETHAL. Wild ones in particular are very territorial, and though they'll tolerate hikers walking through their territory, they have been known to severely injure and even kill people who have damaged their plants, even accidently. If you want to evolve one, make SURE you've formed a good bond with your floette and have trained her in commands such as "calm" and "leave it!". Even so, though you might be able to train her out of firing dangerous petal blizzards, remember those teeth she uses to tap trees for sap? Be mindful of those as well. Safety rating: Variable

Overall ranking: A sweet and beautiful fairy type. Though the later evolution can be a Lot, when given a beautiful garden to live in, you'll find them happy to stay. When their need for fresh air and warm sun is respected, the floette line blooms.

#pokemon irl #pokemon #pokemon care #flabebe #floette #florges

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cloudymistedskies · 2 months

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Understand Mari's character

..Or at least this is what I intend for the post to be... But uh... It gets a little off track

Starting with her backstory:

Mari was a child who was neglected/ignored by her parents (mother especially) and raised by her older sister who was 10 at the time. She has always been considered as a weird child because of her personality at the time and given her odd abilities to jump unusually high. Due to that, she was ostracized by the people in the small village she grew up in and that caused her to create a facade of being harsh/rude to anyone who isn't her sister.

When her sister left to become a demon slayer (and she wasn't aware at the reasoning before, nor the existence of demons), she began exploring around the mountains, and at some point when she was 8-9, got injured and lost. Tokito dad found her, and with after some time struggling (since Mari thought he was trying to hurt her), he took her in their home and that's where she met the twins and befriended Muichiro, with the reasoning that he was kind to her, even though she was intentionally trying to be harsh (silently). She began opening up and showing her true side and they became close together!

Around 11 years old, she encountered a demon while going out late at night, but she was saved by a demon slayer who happened to pass by and told her about demons and demon slayer. She found out her sister is one due to the slayer's uniform being the same as hers. Mari plans to run away and find her sister to train and become a demon slayer, however was hesitant as she had to leave the Tokito twins, who lost their parents recently. After deep thought, she ran away and followed the crow who sends her sister's letters to her.

She was trained by the former wind hashira and (reluctantly) her sister for only months (or nearly a year), and without her sister's permission took the final selection quiz along with Muichiro and Aoi (and she's unaware of Mui being there). She passed mainly due to pure luck...

She has a handful of ups and downs (mainly downs), but she somehow managed and even became a hashira at only 13.

About her character/personality:

Mari is someone who grew up thinking she had no purpose. She never was good at anything like cleaning or cooking, and wasn't able to help the Tokito twins while they grieve over their dead parents. When she began training as a demon slayer, she finds herself being good at it and slowly adapt into a mindset that she's useful as a demon slayer and becomes fixated on her job. Whenever asked about what she wishes to do when all demons are gone, she never has a clear answer about herself and mainly involves about helping her sister out with what she wishes to do. She didn't know what other use she has, anyway.

Ever heard of the quote: "The moon needs the sun in order to shine." It fits Mari with her being the moon and her sister being the sun she has to depend on.

The only reason why she even chose to live in the first place is cause of her sister. One of her motives of being a demon slayer is also to be with her sister. And as long as her sister is by her side, her smile never wavers. She basically can't live without her. And the only reason why her personality softened is cause of her sister raising her.

Mari, without even realizing it herself is insecure about how impulsive, airheaded and emotional she is. Her emotions tends to get in the way of her job, and it bothers her and sometimes envies Muichiro because he's able to get his priorities straight unlike her. She is aware of her insecurity of ‘not having a purpose’.

It takes a while to gain Mari’s trust, but once her trust is gained, she is basically vulnerable and unfortunately might be easier to manipulate, depending on their closure.

Mari can be mischievous and a little chaotic. Not afraid to use violence if necessary. She canonically broke a guy's bone since he was too stubborn to tell information that was important to her mission.

Her patience depends on the person. She is highly patient to her sister, and to Mui (not as much as her sister).

Mari's low-attention span is always something she had ever since she was young. It improved, of course. But she still gets distracted and still depends on her crow to help her stay focused on the task.

...Honestly, I don't know what ELSE to add. So I would really wish for some suggestions in the comments. Pretty please-

#cloudy writes #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny #kny oc #demon slayer oc #kimetsu no yaiba oc

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copperbadge · 1 year

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Apologies if you’ve answered this before, but since you’re such a prolific writer, I am curious: how do you find/make time to write?

Sometimes, between work; cleaning/shopping/cooking/self-care to continue functioning; and time for other hobbies, I feel like it doesn’t get the attention I want to give to it. Thank you!

Oh, I've probably answered it before but if so I don't remember when or what I said :D I think it's a combination of things, some of which are within my control, some of which are not.

For a start, it really depends on how you write. I write in chunks, and I tend to write pretty continuously when I'm at it, there's not a lot of "blankly staring at the page" that some writers have to deal with. I am either Writing or Doing Other Things. I also have a fairly fast typing speed -- last time I tested I was in the 120 wpm range, and given I spent two years doing audio transcription I'm probably faster now. So I can get the words on the page basically as fast as I think, unless I'm on a phone, but even then I'm pretty fast. A significant chunk of Infinite Jes was written on my phone, mainly because while writing it I sometimes didn't have convenient access to a computer.

I'm fortunate in that I have a job that doesn't really take up eight hours of my day, so if I want to stop what I'm doing and spend an hour writing, I generally can. I specifically have tried to take jobs that allow this and avoid jobs that don't, but I grant that's a privilege of being a college-educated white dude. I've worked retail, but I've also often been able to avoid it in favor of jobs where I'm not constantly public-facing and can huddle behind a computer doing god knows what (it's a joy to have a job where nobody really understand what it is you do).

You say I'm pretty prolific, and this year that has been true -- I wrote around 300K words. However, in 2021 I did very little writing at all, and in 2020 I think the only real work I did was on Six Harvests, which is less than 100K words. I didn't post a single fanfic in 2021, which shocked me when I realized it. I'd have to do some data vis to confirm this, but I suspect there was a curve to my output across my 20s and 30s -- I know that I wrote less, even if it was perhaps better quality, as my career began to take off. Work, depending on the kind, does take brain power, or physical energy, or both, from what we'd rather be doing. It can also stimulate it, but realistically that's not super common. So I wouldn't beat yourself up about giving time to work and self-care; those are necessary, and I take more time from writing to give to those as I get older.

I think also as you get older you figure out your rhythms. I am capable of much more physical activity in the morning, and I'm capable of writing pretty much anytime, so I tend to do physical things -- working out, cooking, cleaning -- earlier in the day, then "go to" work, then write in the evenings whether or not I got any writing in during the day. I cook in bulk, so I'm rarely "cooking" more than one meal a day, just reheating stuff I cooked earlier.

Working remotely has absolutely been what allowed me to write so much this year -- and not even the time gained back from commuting, because my commute was short, not quite an hour round trip. But I'm not trapped "at" work -- I can do chores during the day, fuck off and write, even take a nap if I desire, in a way that I couldn't when I was in slightly uncomfortable business-casual and stuck in a cubicle from eight to four-thirty. I could do pretty much what I wanted in the cubicle in terms of reading tumblr, writing, researching, et cetera, but when you're confined to a physical space where you're not super comfortable and sharing it with thirty other people, it's not as conductive to writing.

And like. Also I'm a hermit who lives alone and very rarely goes out.

I don't have a partner or children, I don't have family nearby, I have very few responsibilities and don't belong to social clubs or nonprofit boards or religious groups the way many of my colleagues and friends do. I have a circle of brickspace friends who are fairly tightly knit at this point, but we don't do a lot of like, weekly-brunch or friday-night-drinks or anything like that. I am finding it much, much, so much easier to go to parties and social events now that I'm properly medicated, because I don't feel like I'll be punished by my own brain afterward, but we're also still in the grip of a pandemic, and while we are socializing, it's still pretty constricted. Over Thanksgiving I had two events in two days and loved going to both but by Saturday I was exhausted and happy to stay home.

When the quarantine began, a lot of people found themselves "trapped" at home and very bored, and while I empathized I was also quite confused because my outside-of-work life didn't materially change. How often were these people going out? What were they doing? In a regular year I was home at least six nights a week if not all seven. I go to bed at eight o'clock most nights, by choice. I love my friends and I'm generally happy to hang with them but I don't have a driving need to go out and be with friends and certainly not with strangers more than about twice a month.

So yeah, I wish I could say it's a matter of Making Time To Write or some secret time management trick but the truth is, my prolific output (such as it is; it varies wildly) is a result of a really good job for Fucking Off To Write, not many other obligations, and an obsessive personality. :D There are ways you can adjust your life to give you time for creativity in whatever form that comes, but that's got to be personal to you -- learning your rhythms, learning how to manage your other responsibilities, maybe letting go of some things to give yourself more time for what's important. But it's got to be you looking at your life and making adjustments, there's no single solution to the problem.

#writing #creativity #sam has adhd

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tattooeddeadtreelover · 10 months

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How I Annotate Books:

Here's a little tutorial that nobody asked for 🤭🤭 on how I annotate my books because it's fun and I'm obsessed!!

Firstly:

Get rid of that "books are sacred" mentality - or just learn to be okay with only the books you've annotated being a bit messy. (There are also other ways around this: like buying two copies of a book, but im too broke for that 😓.)

Annotating Materials:

You don't need an excessive amount of expensive materials to annotate: a pen or pencil would be perfectly fine!!

However, I usually use:

Black Pen - I would recommend a nice one but like I just use any shitty little pen I can find.

Highlighters - You could use any colours I would either match it to the cover art or to the different tabs I use. (ALSO USE A RULER PLEASE 🙏 🙏 IM BEGGING IT LOOKS SO MUCH BETTER)

Sticky Tab Things - Yk what I'm on about I match mine to the cover cos the neon ones make me violently ill 🤮🤮❌️❌️❌️. But anyways...I usually just use nice coloured ones to match my highlighters or the cover design.

Post It Notes - Again, I always colour match but I found this nice brown ones on amazon which like match the bookish vibe 🤭🤭 so I use them if I don't have any other option.

That's mainly what I use but you could also experiment with colourful pens and gel pens or pencils!! Do whatever you want, but I do advise that it looks best if there is some kind of colour coordination.

Annotating:

Tabbing System: I'll usually have tabs for characters and analysis (dependent on how rich the book's language is) and fave quotes🥰🥰. I know that some people like to tab emotional or romantic parts but I'm not really big on that.

What I Write: Usually dependent on the book, but most of the time its just my stupid little commentary on everything. Sometimes I may actually form an eloquent analysis but that's like once in a blue moon type shit. If I'm feeling smart ig...Anyways some more examples (from my beloved..)

Some of my more stupid notes: featuring me simping over Henry Marchbanks Winter (this is a judgement-free zone!!).

In contrast, more in-depth analysis, or waffle idk?? Depends on your perspective.

^^This is the paragraph for context. 🥰🥰

What I Highlight: Any pretty quotes or prose (Donna Tartt's writing>>>), key plot points or information about characters, or just anything I want to make a note about.

I circle, underline, and draw throughout my books, again, it all really depends on the book and it's genre (A romance is more likely to have doodles and less than intelligent remarks, whereas, literary fiction may have analysis and more detailed annotations).

In summary, you can write, draw and scribble whatever you want in your book: it doesn't have to be an amazing analysis on similes and metaphors (unless you want it to be). Just do what you feel is necessary or what you think suits the book!!! And make sure you're having fun!!🥰🥰 Annotating should be an enjoyable experience not ruining the reading in itself.

Annotating on the first read VS Rereads:

Most people don't like the idea of annotating the first time you read a book because it "ruins the flow of reading" or something along those lines. I personally don't believe that to be the case, but I understand why people feel that way 😁😁 . Like most things related to annotating: it's all based on your personal preference. I like to think that annotating on the first read almost captures and records your live reaction to the book, whereas annotating on a reread gives a chance for more in-depth analysis. They both have their benefits, and it usually depends on how I feel. Just do what you think is best 🥰🥰.

This is a really long post damn....and I think that's everything??? If you have any other questions, then please feel free to ask!!

And yeah,

Have fun annotating!!!

#books #reading #annotation #annotating books #annotations #dark academia aesthetic #the secret history #tsh #bookish #bookworm #art of annotating #booklr

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juniperhillpatient · 1 year

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Jet, Yue, & Azula are (in my opinion) three of the most tragic characters in Avatar. They’re child soldiers who could’ve grown as characters & had a life & a future but were never given the opportunity. I’ve written countless metas about Azula. But Yue & Jet are two of the only important characters who actually die. So, let’s talk about them. Why am I willing to accept that Yue’s death is tragic but necessary to the story yet I dislike Jet’s death? Aside from the unrealistic & vague nature of his death? (Yeah yeah Nickelodeon censors I know I know.) There are a lot of reasons.

I think what it comes down to is that I think that character deaths can be good writing (& often are despite fandom outcry because people conflate ‘this makes me feel sad’ with ‘this should not have been part of the story’) & also that not every character death has to be incredibly meaningful especially depending on the genre (sometimes side character’s deaths are just about creating stakes or showing a situation’s reality for the main characters & that’s ok) are ideas that can & should coexist.

BUT I think that if you ARE going to kill a character with any level of meaningful development or impact on the story & main cast, it should matter. In tv especially because it’s long form storytelling, if you’re going to kill a character who matters at all in the story, then it should be for good reason & it should impact the other characters & the story moving forward in ways that matter.

I think that’s why while both Yue & Jet’s deaths make me sad I can accept that one was necessary for the story & the other was not. It has nothing to do with me liking one character more or less than the other either because I’ve thought about it a lot & I think I like them about equally. But, even if I didn’t, I would be willing to consider being onboard with Jet’s death as a writing decision (even though it makes me sad) IF just a few things were changed.

Let’s examine briefly both deaths & what they mean for the characters & how they impact the narrative & the other characters. Yue is a tragic figure from the very start. She places duty above all else. We see her break down at the mere mention of arranged marriage, but she’s unwilling to rebel against it because she believes it is what her people need from her. Yue was blessed by the moon spirit as a child & given the gift of life, though it was never hers to keep. When Zhao attempts to kill the moon spirit, which would cause chaos for everyone, she sacrifices herself & becomes the new moon spirit in a choice that is one of the most selfless & honorable of the entire series. Furthermore, while I wish it had been brought up a little more, Yue’s loss is felt throughout the rest of the series. Sokka sees a vision of Yue in the swamp, he brings her up while hallucinating in the desert, & her loss makes him afraid to get close to Suki. Yue’s sacrifice is a beautiful & tragic story & it’s important to the other characters (mainly Sokka, & I do wish Katara & Aang were allowed to grieve a little more but also there’s a balance because it is a kid’s cartoon & it aired weekly rather than streaming like we’re used to so it’s amazing the level of impact things were allowed to have as it is.)

Jet was introduced as an antagonist. He & Zuko meet when they’re both considering letting go of their past & moving forward but not quite there. Jet becomes obsessed first with befriending Zuko & then with outing him as a fire-bender. This obsessive hate is a remnant of his past. It’s the same person who was willing o flood a village. He can’t move forward even though his closest friends (Smellerbee & Longshot) are begging him to let this go so they can all have a fresh start. And it’s tragic not just because he can’t move forward but because he’s right. Everyone around Jet acts like he’s crazy even though not only is he right that Zuko & Iroh are fire-benders, they’re Fire Nation royalty & both personally responsible for a lot of harm caused by the Fire Nation. By the end of the season Zuko will help the Fire Nation conquer Ba Sing Se & Jet will be dead.

This in itself isn’t a writing problem for me. It hurts, but shit, that’s a freaking impactful story. Jet getting arrested & brain washed for being right is disturbing. Jet dying is tragic. Zuko learning about Jet’s death could have been an impactful moment for his character. Jet’s death right before he could discover his new beginning & grow as a person could have been a meaningful moment about the horror of war & child soldiers. But…….it wasn’t?

The problem with this potentially meaningful story is that it’s not utilized at all. Zuko doesn’t learn about Jet’s death until almost the end & it’s played for laughs. Jet is only ever brought up once by the Gaang & it’s done to remind Katara not to prioritize vengeance the way that Jet once did. This would’ve actually been a more meaningful way to make Katara question her decisions if Jet had never come back into her life & died. So what purpose did Jet’s death serve within the story? None.

That’s the problem I have. I need the deaths of characters I care about to feel like they mattered within the story. I’m not against characters that I like dying. I’m only against characters with development & impact on the story dying in a way that absolutely did not impact the story or other characters at all.

#Jet #Yue #atla meta #my atla post

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calliethetrekkie · 7 months

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Star Trek TOS S01E13: The Galileo Seven

Original Thoughts

"Okay, this is an interesting setup. Stranding Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and some extras on a planet with Kirk back on the Enterprise, which means we can let some other characters shine. It’s very much a contrast with Kirk being a serious, respected leader who can adjust his demeanor depending on the situation, which Spock is more logical but comes off as more cold and uncaring which clearly puts off the ones he’s in charge of. IDK how much of that is also Vulcan bigotry, but Spock’s logical approach that may dictate say… leaving people behind to a potential demise and not reacting when people die isn’t going to win him any points from the human cast. McCoy also pointing out how Spock failed to take into account the creatures reacting emotionally due to his focus on a logical approach also shows flaws in his leadership and general mindset that make him a great second to Kirk, but not always quite fit for command. He’s doing his job and I get where he’s coming from, especially due to what I know about Vulcans, but I can get the others as well. It’s a nice exploration of the two mindsets, which that and the general episode really kept my attention."

(Original Post)

Rewatch Thoughts

Not gonna lie, I've been a little anxious reviewing this one. Not because I dislike it, this was a really enjoyable one the first time around. But this is one of those episodes where I go completely against the consensus of the fandom, so I'm a little worried about what the reception may be (if I get any at all, of course). But this is my review and thus my opinion, and I'm going to be honest with it. So, my thoughts?

This is such an excellent episode. We take a bit of a different approach from the last few. Kirk serves more of a supporting role. He's still given things to do, but he's confined to the ship. The focus is mainly on the party on the Galileo shuttlecraft which includes Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and four one-shots. Apparently Rand was going to be one of them, but sadly her actress had been let go by then. This also means that we get to see Spock fully in charge this time. Not just taking over from the Enterprise cause Kirk isn't there. Not just running the Science Department. He's given his very first command on a major mission outside the ship... one that goes horribly wrong.

There's been a lot of opinions about the two sides (Spock vs. the crew), as I already alluded to. A lot of opinions I've seen portray Spock as completely innocent, doing his job as the commanding officer and doing what is necessary to save everyone. The crew, mainly McCoy and one-shot character Boma, are utter assholes to him, and it is unwarranted, and I've even seen it exaggerated into being racist cause of Spock being Vulcan. They should have shut up and just followed Spock's command because he's in charge, and they're being so mean to him.

In case my sarcasm wasn't clear enough, I don't agree with that portrayal. Now let me make it clear, I do understand where those opinions come from. It's true that the crew (again, mainly Boma and McCoy) were jerks at points, and it wasn't always warranted. That should be called out. However, that does not mean that Spock isn't culpable for his own actions nor does it make the crew unjustified in... you know, having their own feelings and thoughts of their own. They're also all in a situation where for all they know, they're going to die at any moment, so tempers are naturally going to fly. There's a lot to be said and a lot to consider, so let's get on with it.

Let's go into Spock's POV first. He has been put in command of what looks to be a simple scientific exploration mission that causes the shuttle to crash onto an unknown planet Now Spock has to get the ship working, keep as many of the officers alive as possible, and get back to the Enterprise. That's certainly a lot, but Spock doesn't show concern. Yeah, yeah, Vulcan, I know. But even when McCoy brings up how this is his big chance, Spock is convinced that his logical approach will pull them through at the end of the day. To quote:

SPOCK: I realize command does have its fascinations, even under circumstances such as these. But I neither enjoy the idea of command, nor am I frightened of it. It simply exists. And I will do whatever logically needs to be done.

He doesn't necessarily want his own command, but he's more than willing to take it on. He'll do whatever he logically must do.

Indeed, that's what happens. Every choice that Spock makes is a logical one. He considers abandoning crewmen to lighten the shuttle to increase the chance of escape. He shows little to no regard for the two officers who get killed. He is downright insistent on his methods and priorities, even if it goes against his own logical approach. We see him unwilling to listen to the other officers opinions about dealing with the creatures because he wants to avoid killing the unknown lifeforms for his own moral reasons (unless Jim's about to be killed, but eh) despite agreeing that their plan is the logical option.

Now, all of these decisions make sense, and I even agree with him at points. For example, I'm on his side both times when Boma insists on burials for the men who died. I get where Boma is coming from, especially since they don't know if they'll themselves make it. But Spock is doing what he can to ensure that they can at least have a chance of escape. Yes, he is pretty cold about it, but sadly those men have been lost. If they survive, they can be mourned later, but they to focus on survival. It sucks, but I am fully on Spock's side on that one. Even McCoy and Scotty get after Boma when he started getting particularly nasty. I also agree with him that they shouldn't kill the creatures, though more because if they had, it could have caused an even more violent response, though there's nothing saying that they had to kill either. I think only the one guy insisted on killing, but maybe I'm remembering wrong. Ah well.

So yes, Spock is doing his job and I don't think he's trying to be intentionally cruel. It's how he is, and he's legit acting as he believes is best. That being said, he's still at fault for plenty of things. He stubbornly sticks to his logical mindset, which to his crew makes him come off as incredibly cold. Yes, Spock is Vulcan, but unfortunately for him the other six are human and humans can't just set aside feelings like he himself can. When you hear your commanding officer talking about abandoning crewmen and them getting to be the one who decides who gets to stay and go, disregarding the dead, and unwilling to listen to you, how would you feel? Especially in a situation where you're likely going to die? Some may say they wouldn't act like that... but you probably would. Oh, and let's not forget said guy being perfectly willing to go against that logic when he sees fit such as when dealing with the unknowns despite insisting on it over and over, making him also look like a hypocrite. I'm just saying, Spock didn't make himself look all that great as a leader.

Let's compare with Kirk, for example. Kirk is a captain who has his men's faith and respect. He's not perfect, he can get temperamental and can push the crew too hard. But he's still someone who always pulls through, always corrects things when he messes up, and puts the safety of his men first and foremost. Even in this episode where he's confined to the ship and being pressured in abandoning the search, he continues down to the very last nanosecond in hopes of finding the shuttle. He reluctantly begins to withdrawal when his time is up, showing that yes, he will still put his duty above all else. But he also wasn't going to just abandon his men without giving it a fighting chance, even arguing against the Commissioner demanding that he give it up. We've seen Kirk struggle to maintain an image as a strong captain for his people to look towards and keep their spirits up, not bring them down. He will always do what he can for his crew and correct his mistakes, as we've seen in various episodes (The Corbomite Maneuver, The Enemy Within, The Man Trap, Balance of Terror, etc.). It's why Kirk is such a good leader. He is perfectly capable of being logical and tactical, but also shows care and consideration for those who follow him, and thus they trust him in turn.

Spock doesn't have that ability yet. He is focused on his logic, which is all well and good in certain situations. It works great when he's acting as Kirk's Second and reminding him of what, as a Captain, he must focus on. But he also had to be able to consider the people around him and their feelings and thoughts as well. He has to be able to have his men's trust and trust them in return. Sure, maybe that approach would work on a Vulcan ship, but that's not what this is. Spock is perfectly capable of understanding emotions if he wanted to, but he won't. He's a perfectly good Science and First Officer, there's no doubt about that. But this shows us why he isn't fit for command yet. He's unable to have that understanding or be willing to step away from his own mindset. He thought that his logic of scaring away the creatures would work, but he didn't at all consider that they would react with fear/emotionally, as McCoy bluntly points out. He'll get there one day, as we saw at the end where he took the risk with the fuel to signal the Enterprise. A risk that worked. But until he is able to learn that he can't rely on logic all the time, or at least adjust his demeanor to not be so cold-hearted, he won't be fit for a command like this again.

Alright now the rest of the cast. The one that gets the most blowback for the episode is McCoy. Boma does as well, but he's a one-shot that we never see again, and he's properly framed as in the wrong. Scotty was more focused on the shuttle than having any arguments and aside from one of the yellow shirts, the other crewmen don't give Spock much issue. They may get a little testy but again under the circumstances I think that we can forgive that. But McCoy is the one most willing to talk back and speak his mind, and with how they argue later on, I can see why some use this as a basis for 'McCoy hates Spock/McCoy is an asshole' opinions.

I don't want to talk about this too much because I am planning a whole Spock/McCoy analysis for later, and this episode is very much one I want to use in detail for that. But I think that for the most part... McCoy wasn't that bad? Yes, he does get heated a few times, and yes, he gets on Spock's case about being wrong about the creatures. But to be fair, it was after Spock's insistence got a second man killed. And regardless, McCoy actually does follow Spock's command the whole time. He's speaking his mind, which he also does with Jim (The Corbomite Manuever's a good example), but at the end of the day he still stands by Spock.

Really, McCoy came across more as disappointed in Spock than anything to me. He knew that Spock is a logical being. He himself pointed it out to him. But I think he expected better from Spock, especially now that he had his chance. He even tried to tell Spock that it's going to take more than logic to get out of the mess they're in, but to no avail. Right after that is when Spock discusses potentially abandoning people and just seems... sad. Not mad like you'd expect. Not disgusted as Boma is. He comes off as sad if the comment about his heart is anything to go off on. He gets annoyed when Spock tries to push memorializing one of the dead men onto him, despite that being a job for the commanding officer. Even when McCoy points out that attacking first is a logical option, he's ignored. McCoy was at least trying to be cooperative and maybe even help Spock like he would Jim, but it clearly wasn't wanted nor accepted. Given all that, I don't think it's hard to see why McCoy eventually snaps at him. I'm not saying it's right, the 'attack them directly' approach may have done no better. But I can see where he's coming from.

But even after all that, when Spock gets pinned by a boulder, what does McCoy do? Rush right on over to help him. Yeah, Boma ran over too, which he was even more pissed at Spock than McCoy was and still helped save him. But he was following McCoy's lead, and of course McCoy wasn't going to abandon Spock. IDK if I can say that they're friends yet, but they're still crewmates, and they have something going on between them at least. McCoy wasn't going to leave him to die, or anyone if he could help it. And when Spock made the more emotional decision? McCoy was actually proud of him. He saw that Spock could do it. Sure Spock tried denying it when McCoy blabbed about it to Jim, but the look of pure joy on his face... he truly is fond of him, whether he wants to admit it or not. There's so much with these two and their relationship, and this just adds more to it. So yes this provokes a rough patch, but it doesn't cause McCoy to hate Spock either. That's never going to happen.

If you want a better version of what I'm getting at, there's a really good meta here that I highly recommend. It says everything about Spock and McCoy in this episode and how it affects them going forward really well. But let's go ahead and wrap this up.

I guess my ultimate point here is yes, Spock was doing what he thought was right, and yes, certain crewmen were jerks. But Spock also gave little to no reason for them to want to listen to him with how pragmatic, cold, and even kind of bossy he was with them. To them, he lacked any kind of respect for them and came off more as demeaning with a superiority attitude to boot. To Spock, they were being overemotional, and he was acting as a proper commander in the most logical way that he knew how. I don't know how well I'm explaining this, I'm sure that others have done a much better job than me. But to me, there is a lack of understanding and arguably a culture clash. Everyone has a lot to learn from this. Everyone made bad choices and need to focus on improvement. The crew with understanding Spock's logic and why he acts in such a manner, and Spock to realize how he is perceived and why that's detrimental for everyone, including himself.

So with all of that said, this episode was great! It gave me so much to talk and think about. There's so many great character moments, and it's such a nice change of pace from what we've had so far. This was one I'd already liked the first time round, and I think that I enjoyed it even more this time, especially since I know and understand these characters so much more. Very much one that I will gladly watch again... and in fact I might right now XD

Original Rating: 4/5 Rewatch Rating: 9/10

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#star trek #star trek tos #tos s1 #st reviews #tos s1 reviews #the galileo seven #tos reviews

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tired-fandom-ndn · 1 year

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“…fundamentalist Christian bullshit about how pleasure is addictive in general”

Do you have any resources on this? Asking because the limited information I had on addiction (mainly from 12-Step/XA groups) lead me to believe that intense euphoria was a sign of addiction (which I know now isn’t true but I’m wondering if there’s information on why that belief exists).

I'm not the best person to be giving links to papers or going deep into the history of this sort of thing, I'd really recommend looking into addiction advocacy and sex education organizations for that sort of thing, but I can ramble a bit about the generals.

So the thing about pleasure being addictive in itself is in fact very much fundamentalist Christian bullshit. Specifically, it's from the idea that pleasure is sinful and that suffering is holy; pleasure is a trick from the devil to make you turn from the holiness of Christ and God and lose your devotion in favor of false and temporary earthly pleasures.

So much of what we "know" about addiction is based in Christian fundamentalism because it was the churches and Christian politicians who funded so much of Western science. It's only been fairly recently that we've realized how much damage that's done to our understanding of ourselves, each other, and our world. Addiction and prisons are some of the biggest examples of this, especially in terms of how we view the concepts of pleasure and suffering.

If pleasure itself was addictive, then we'd be able to get addicted to anything even slightly enjoyable. We'd get addicted to good food (fun fact, sugar addiction is also a myth!), petting cats, listening to music, making art, reading books, pressing flowers, whatever your hobby is. Everyone in the world would be constantly suffering from withdrawal over something that they currently aren't able to partake in.

With our increased understanding of how addiction actually forms, we're now aware that it's not about pleasure. Addiction doesn't exist in a vacuum of brain chemicals, it's the result of social and environmental factors. People form addictions because it's a way to cope with things going on in their lives, internally but mainly externally. Poverty, abuse, neglect, intergenerational trauma, bigotry, etc are all things that addiction is directly linked to.

And addiction itself isn't just about the immediate pleasure, it's also a physical thing. Addiction comes with consequences when it's not "indulged"; that's what withdrawal is, the body being denied something that it's formed a severe and often unhealthy dependence on. That isn't always a bad thing, people can and do become addicted to vital medications that they need to survive. But withdrawal involves physical and mental ramifications, the body trying to compensate for the loss of something it's started to see as necessary.

Addictions that don't have a direct chemical impact on your body, like gambling which just causes a dopamine spike and drop, are almost always directly linked to mental illnesses like personality disorders and OCD and people with chemical addictions, to things like drugs and alcohol, are far more likely to also develop addictions to things like gambling. It's a coping mechanism.

Porn and sex addiction are things that were seen as just facts of life even when there was no evidence that they actually existed, solely because our puritan and Christian society considers sex to be something inherently dirty, unhealthy, and dangerous. Porn addiction is now mostly seen as something that people only self-identify with because they think their porn habits are unhealthy with no real evidence of that, while sex addiction is redefined as hypersexuality.

This ramble was all over the place and I apologize for that. I hope it's still coherent enough to understand lmao

#Anonymous

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theblasianwitch · 8 months

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Classes are starting soon, could you give us some witch tips for success? ❤️

Sorry for the late reply

I wasn't a witch in school but I can certainly share what I feel would've been helpful for me that I now do with my research personal studies.

Enchant/personalize your notebooks: Most people seem to color code but you can take it a step further and draw or paint design on your notebooks with meaning. I mainly do this with my sketchbooks where my most recent I put symbolism of the ocean due to wanting to dive deeper into my subconscious through my art. You can draw something abstract and linear and hide runes or symbols if you don't want it to be obvious. Or you can be more direct. Draw an elephant for memory. A butterfly for change. An owl for wisdom. Whenever you add them, enchant your books for that purpose. Then whenever you look at them and open them it can be a reminder of the intention and you can silently restrengthen the enchantment with each use.

Locket spells: If you have a locket necklace or charm for bracelets, you can do small daily targetted spells that you wear on yourself to aid in whichever challenges you may have for the day. I find rubbing the locket tends to refill me with the energy I need for the targetted task as well, so quite helpful for any forms of tests, quizzes or essays and just fidget with it during for assistance.

Hair spells: If you have medium to long hair, different hair braids can be used to do a quick spell to yourself in times of need.

3 strands can be used for anything except curses, more commonly associated with knot spells if you have any.

4 and 5 strand braids can be used for combo spells, if you have a tie or ribbon handy to place on the end it holds the spells together

To quickly relieve any mid day stress and clear away anxiety loosen your hair and shake it then tie back into a messy bun if you can, if not leave it loose to make sure everything gets released. Tie or braid up what you can when you feel relief to hold on to your focus

Those are pretty much what came to mind that I would use myself, others would be ring magic which involves wearing rings on corresponding fingers for your aim, spinner rings I feel would work well for charge/release when necessary but simply rubbing a ring works too. There's also just discreet sigil magic, morning coffee/tea magic, or pocket crystals/spells that can be carried either in your pocket or any crevice you have access to (I and a few femme witches carry them in our bra, I've also braided small ones into a bun braid).

Cleanse and ground whenever you can.

I find that most stress and anxiety in school was due to a surplus of energies. Depending on the grade level the back to back classes can easily carry and mix energies over. A quick deep breath and release before the next class will be very helpful. Going back to the notebook enchantments, you may be able to close off the energies of a class by connecting it to the books being open and closed that way if you need the energies and memories from a class when doing homework you can simply open the book to call them back to you.

That's all I got for now. All the best to you all in school. Inbox is always open and just a reminder I did use to be a teacher so I know somewhat of the workings of the education system if you need help with that. My passions or focus was on art education and student counseling so making sure students were getting their proper accommodations and being treated fairly by their teachers was my full passion. My art class served as a way of keeping an eye out when things may pop up in the daily art journals, but also my doors were just always open for students struggling in any way.... I miss teaching (my problem was the system not the school)

#witch tips #witch tip #back to school #asks #answered asks #inbox open #asks open #witchblr #witches of tumblr #witch community #baby witch

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fuegodecera · 8 months

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Kamen Rider Isaac - A Gotchard Hypothetical

After the Kamen Rider Gotchard's press broadcast, a few people from tumblr's toku fanbase (myself included) felt intrigued by a specific minor character: Tsuruhara Sabimaru, a smart yet reserved individual who uses a specific artificial spokesman named "Isaac" to communicate on his behalf.

Considering the traits surrounding this character prior to Gotchard's TV debut (and anticipating Bandai & TOEI's unhealthy obsession with shoving as many Kamen Riders in one show as possible), I would like to theorize the case of this character becoming a Kamen Rider, as well as predict the way of fight and conflicts he might face alongside and/or against his companion. A Rider that, for the intent and purposes of this hypothesis, will be nicknamed: Kamen Rider Isaac.

First of all, let us understand the traits of Tsuruhara (both from his bio and the trailer). Bold points are his strengths while italic points are not necessarily his weaknesses, but the reasoning behind his dependency on Isaac:

He is described to be one of the smartest students from his Alchemy Academy class.

He is defined to possess extreme social phobia, visible in his timid personality around the Alchemy Academy classmates, the sole exception to this being Renge.

Despite said phobia, he is described to appreciate and care for RideChemys (the alchemic lifeforms) such as Hopper1. One can assume he also shares this caring sentiment towards common flora and fauna.

He shows a closed body language and posture, which is most visible in the way he holds his tablet.

He's more used to whisper rather than speak loudly or typically.

Considering these traits, Tsuruhara' possible reasons to join Gotchard's fight would be mainly in order to protect the RideChemys, but also his only friend Renge. Even so, joining forces with an upbeat soul in Houtarou won't be comfortable for Tsuruhara as he deals with the social phobia. That is when his dependency in Isaac comes into play.

Isaac, considering its nature as a human-made intelligence, would prioritize self-preservation over anything. Isaac can persuade Tsuruhara, either through analytics or hubris, that his source of intelligence is "vital" (for the future of the Academy, for the discipline of Alchemy, whatever works). Convinced of their purpose in this war, both Tsuruhara and Isaac unite to become Kamen Rider Isaac.

So, how would Tsuruhara fight as a Rider? Well, he wouldn't fight alone to begin with, that is why I named him Kamen Rider Isaac. Tsuruhara would transform by using one RideChemy Card while Isaac artificially becomes the other half of the alchemy, as an artificial RideChemy. In form, a simple possibility would be Tsuruhara embodies the Rider while Isaac the AI puppeteers it. Now, I know what you'll say: "hey! it's a Den-O all over again! the Den-O is forever!" and it's a safe option, I get it... But I have many more options than that:

In a similar way to Ark-Zero (Zero-One), Isaac could analytically visualize the most effective actions of combat as quickly as possible only for Tsuruhara to try and emulate them (despite a few human miscalculations in execution). This process might be the most instantaneous, but also the one which makes Tsuruhara more dependant of Isaac the AI as a decision-maker.

Alternatively, if Isaac's processing is not as fast as Ark-Zero's, KR.Isaac could fight by a basis of trial-and-error; Tsuruhara taking the most amount of risks as Isaac adapts to the enemy and the environment until it finds a weakspot or an effective process to take. This process is not only slow and gradual, but one which puts both at a higher danger.

Now, what would be the most prominent challenges for Kamen Rider Isaac to face?

First of all, as the prior points have hinted, a conflict would be the case of Tsuruhara facing lack of autonomy in saving the world, specially if Isaac can prioritize the most necessary lives, objectives and resources over others who Tsuruhara feels more inclined to save.

There's also the possibility Tsuruhara's dependancy on Isaac's decision-making can push him away from the ones he cares about, either through the choices and sacrifices made or through frustration towards the mistakes in the AI's analysis far from their control.

Lastly, there is the process of Tsuruhara facing his social phobia thorough the show, the story in which he's afraid and mistrusting of the people he protects, but choosing to protect them anyways. I'm not trying to give a reasoning behind his phobia nor wanting to make him an extrovert one Rider Kick at a time; I believe that Tsuruhara's goal would be to overcome or, at the very least, live in peace with his social phobia; whether with or without Isaac, it's up to you. But most importantly, I would love to see the people around Tsuruhara to accept him in their lives wholeheartedly.

Phew... that was a lot. I apologize if I come across as too formal in my explanations. I'm truly hopeful for Gotchard to be a wholesome show, but specially to see Tsuruhara resonate with many people. Whether they be neurodivergent, reserved or simply introverts, I wish they can feel validated or at least happy to see and root for the character until the end of the season.

#kamen rider #kamen rider gotchard #kr gotchard #sabimaru tsuruhara #tsuruhara sabimaru #gotchard isaac

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