#i've suffered greatly editing this

[yeonjune]

YEONJUN ✙ 精彩OK! Magazine Fashion Film

#yeonjun #tomorrow x together #wonderful ok! #gifs #creations #moacentral #wabisarah #tusercelia #userzaynab #useryeonbins #skyehi #rosieblr #megtag #userbbie #ultkpopnetwork #kpopccc #i've suffered greatly editing this #he looks great tho 🥰💕

[blackswaneuroparedux]

We might know how it ends, but like all good stories it bears repetition. So here it is again, the story of a battle.

Bernard Cornwell, Waterloo: The True Story of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles

So I've been getting lots of questions about the significance of the Battle of Waterloo for Britain, France, and indeed Europe.

Great claims have been made as to the legacy of the Battle of Waterloo; but it is not as clear cut as many may claim; for it certainly did not crush all French opposition in a single blow; it did not augur in a century of enduring peace and prosperity across Europe; nor can it claim to have permanently re-established the monarchical system in Europe. Therefore after all the glory, the death and suffering caused on that battlefield, what were its real long term legacies?

For the people living in the vicinity of Waterloo, the utter destruction of the land and of their homes was devastating to their lives, but time soon healed the wounds on the landscape and the abandoned equipment scattered across the battlefields became a virtual treasure trove for the locals as the field of Waterloo was soon at the top of every travellers ‘must see’ list during a sojourn in Belgium. Numbers lived for years selling relics of the battle or became guides to the battlefield as the bloody fields instantly became a top tourist attraction. Every poet and writer in Europe had to visit to witness the scenes of devastation before penning their impressions and publishing to an eager audience, hungry for every new edition.

When they are examined with the benefit of hindsight, battles are rarely accorded the significance given to them. Few become venerated among a nation’s lieux de mémoire, or contribute to the foundation myths of modern nations. Of the battles of the Napoleonic Wars, it is arguable that Leipzig [the 1813 battle lost to the Allies by French troops under Napoleon] has its place in the rise of German nationalism, even if its real importance was greatly exaggerated and mythologized by 19th-century cultural nationalists. In Pierre Nora’s magisterial study of France, only Bouvines, in 1214 [which ended the 1202–14 Anglo-French War], makes the cut. Waterloo, unsurprisingly, does not figure.

Yet at the time Waterloo was hailed in Britain as a battle different in scale and import from any other of the modern era. It had, it was claimed, ushered in a century of peace in continental Europe. It had brought to a close, in Britain’s favour, the centuries-old military rivalry with France. And it had ended France’s dream of building a great continental empire in Europe, while leaving Britain’s global ambitions intact. If the Victorian age could be claimed as ‘Britain’s century’, it was her victory over Napoleon that had ushered it in. Britain, it seemed, had every reason to celebrate, every reason to claim Waterloo as its own.

To some extent Britain’s response was justified; it was a victory that positioned the country favourably, bolstering its global ambitions and helping to create the conditions for the economic success that lay ahead in the Victorian era. Having laid the final, decisive blow on Napoleon, Britain could command a leading role in the peace negotiations that followed and thus shape a settlement that suited its interests. While other coalition states claimed back sections of Europe, the Vienna Treaty gave Britain control over a number of global territories, including South Africa, Tobago, Sri Lanka, Martinique and the Dutch East Indies, something that would become instrumental in the development of the British Empire’s vast colonial command. It is not surprising then that in other parts of Europe, Waterloo - though still widely acknowledged as decisive - is generally accorded less significance than the Battle of Leipzig.

If Waterloo was Britain’s greatest military triumph, as it is often feted, it surely does not owe that status to the battle itself. Military historians generally agree that the battle was not a great showcase of either Napoleon’s or Wellington’s strategic prowess. Indeed, Napoleon is commonly believed to have made several important blunders at Waterloo, ensuring that Wellington’s task of holding firm was less challenging than it might have been. The battle was a bloodbath on an epic scale but, as an example of two great military leaders locking horns, it leaves a lot to be desired.

The short term significance in the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo marked the end of Napoleon’s storied military career. He reportedly rode away from the battle in tears. Though he emerged victorious, the Duke of Wellington later reflected on the the horrific costs of that victory: “My heart is broken by the terrible loss I have sustained in my old friends and companions and my poor soldiers. Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.” Wellington went on to serve as British prime minister, while Blucher, in his 70s at the time of the Waterloo battle, died a few years later.

Waterloo’s long term significance must surely be the role it played in achieving lasting peace in Europe. Wellington, who did not share Napoleon’s relish for battle, is said to have told his men, “If you survive, if you just stand there and repel the French, I’ll guarantee you a generation of peace”. Perhaps the lesson of this historic battle the nations of Europe which fought as foes that day need to forget these old sores and celebrate together; recognising that it did force Europe to acknowledge that it must find a new path of reconciliation and accord. This road has been far from smooth, but each time it has failed, a greater understanding of the need for the European states to work more closely together has emerged from the ashes.

Ultimately this is the truly significant importance of Waterloo.

#cornwell #bernard cornwell #quote #waterloo #battle of waterloo #wellington #napoleon #britain #france #prussia #europe #germany #battle #war #napoleonic war #politics #peace #military history #history

[wonda-cat]

The End of Las Nevadas; A Beautifully Made Stream with Nothing to Say

(All names are in reference to the characters unless stated otherwise.)

While glossy, well-shot, and technically impressive, the Las Nevadas Finale leaves a lot to be desired in ways I haven't seen anyone mention—sporting flaws in its foundations that stretch farther than just its story development.

In no particular order, I'll be breaking down each part one-by-one to hopefully shed some light on things I've felt alone so far in noticing.

Pacing

This stream was undoubtedly beautiful; making great use of snappy transitions, a fantastic set of shots, and several well-edited montage sequences. cc!Quackity's lore has always been lovingly and painstakingly crafted. However, while it is stellar in the visual and editing department, it still stands to grow with regards to its pacing. Previous episodes have suffered from slow pacing in some areas, but this episode seems its polar opposite.

Each scene and line races past, only to be bogged down with extremely elongated establishing shots that could've been trimmed in half. Every plot moment doesn't give itself time to breathe and exist as it cuts to something else that speeds by just as nauseatingly. The ending especially reflects this as, once Quackity has lost another life and the country is damaged, there's a few speedy lines of closing exposition and... that's it.

That's how it all wraps up. It doesn't let the audience take in what happened or question if it's something repairable or even wonder how Q would react to the fallout. We're just told the result, flat and plainly, and then it's closing credits.

On the flip side, the scene where Ranboo and MD talk takes up an absurd Ten Minutes of the runtime (time which could've been used to develop other plot beats, which I'll mention later) where they don't mention much of anything important. It drives the story momentum to a grinding halt.

Scenes which did take their time to breathe were Calamity Duo's intro scene, the moment where Punz and Purpled negotiate, and Charlie's speech to Q in the hotel, followed by Q's death.

Music

Even with these moments of pacing brevity, there's still the prevailing issue on top which is this stream's use of music. Previous Las Nevadas episodes have executed their music cues well when they were necessary (all of cc!Quackity's montages excel at this), and it was because they understood the necessary balance between when to add music and when to leave the scene silent.

Music, when used effectively, can aid the tone of a scene. However, when used clumsily, it can fight against the tone set by the dialogue and actions of the characters. Oftentimes, silence can be more effective than any music ever could be because it leaves the dialogue and story to speak for itself and allows the audience to exist in the moment with the characters.

Throughout the entire stream, there was not a single moment of silence. Every moment was accompanied by music and about half were in active odds with its tone.

The most prevalent of these were the pieces accompanying Quackity's visit to Charlie's grave, Quackity's death, and Charlie's speech, all of which would've greatly benefited from silence, as the music ends up distracting from the moment, drawing more attention to itself than it should.

Story

While other Las Nevadas episodes have followed the standard Three Act structure, this one... does not. A conflict is introduced on Quackity's end and is never followed up on. There is no second-act low point; the period where the protagonist should be at their most hopeless.

And because there is no main-staying conflict (even harking over from previous episodes), the climax of the stream feels especially weak. Although it does call back to previous hanging plot threads, like Charlie's disappearance, Dream's quest for revenge, and Quackity's plans to open the casino, it still leaves the stream feeling meandering and pointless.

It says an awful lot that I've seen more discussion over a single speech and two lines of dialogue ("How to BE human. How to THINK like humans.") than any other aspect of its story.

By breaking its content down step by step, the sheer bare-bones development becomes apparent—The episode opens with a flashback, which delivers information the audience already knows. Then we're introduced to the grave scene, which hints at an off-screen moment between Charlie and Quackity that is never called back to (something which centers around the key to the city, an item which has no significance other than to be inserted into the episode for merch purposes.)

Again, it re-establishes information the audience already knows—Quackity cares a lot for Charlie. Then we introduce the main conflict; Quackity opens the country and no one visits. Thus, he makes a plan to genetically engineer citizens.

However we never see them used practically to solve this problem, so the conflict initially sparking this development turns the solution pointless. Then we get a scene of Punz convincing Purpled to aid Dream to torture Quackity by using Charlie to get to him. This sets the stakes.

(It also implies that Dream's offer to Foolish didn't go through? I suppose this is yet again another moment relegated to off-screen development, which would've only benefited the audience to actually see, unless this plot development is later touched on in Volume Two. I won't hold my breath.)

Then we get an... unrelated scene of Ranboo and MD that doesn't develop the plot—something which was most definitely added last minute (probably at cc!Ranboo's request.) Suddenly, we jump to post-Charlie's shift in character, where Dream appears with Punz and Purpled with absolutely no buildup.

During this scene, Quackity calls on Foolish for help and all the genetically engineered citizens are released and instantly solve the conflict at hand, quashing the tension flat. Then Charlie has his speech, throwing both Purpled and Quackity from the hotel. All of this, concluding on Las Nevadas' destruction (which turns out to not matter because... we were told so through exposition), and Quackity decides to forgive all of his enemies.

If picked apart, it becomes obvious just how thinly stretched the plot is and how many vital scenes of buildup are simply missing entirely. We never get a scene of Charlie coming back to himself and having his intentions twisted by Dream—even if the reveal implies Charlie was aware of everyone's motivations to use him from the get-go. We never see a moment of Dream and Purpled's trek to Las Nevadas, signalling to the audience of their arrival and amplifying tension.

We never get time to settle on Quackity and Charlie's reunion, which was rushed through (another unfortunate thing, since it's been highly anticipated for almost a full year now.) We never see how the genetically engineered citizens actually solve Q's population problem.

All of this is Necessary buildup to bring cohesion to the narrative, and would've even alleviated a lot of the pacing issues. It is especially egregious how script-driven and transplanted the slime army was to the story because it was introduced solely to dig Quackity out of a narrative hole. The conflict of Las Nevadas' population seems contrived specifically to put a roadblock in the way of Dream succeeding in his plans, because the audience is more than aware of how perfectly capable he is of this.

Therefore the conflict and Quackity's decision to create genetically cloned citizens feel as if they were puppeteered cartoonishly to be an easy solution to a later narrative conflict. All of which, unfortunately, decimated the tension of the scene because there was no time for Quackity to realistically feel in danger.

Dream

It goes without saying that Dream used to be one of the most intimidating and formidable villains in the story's history. Just the simple act of him logging on used to fill thousands of audience member's hearts with fear. However, with the unending bout of lore hiatuses and the dragging on of the Prison Arc, followed by another period of nothing, it has left a damper on the formidability of him as an antagonist.

This was dug even deeper with his rather lackluster attempt at revenge on Quackity, which goes wrong in a very... flat way. Since we're never shown what Charlie was told to do, believe, or say, the audience is left in utter confusion as to what Dream planned to use Charlie for to begin with. Even if he was only meant to emotionally toy with Q, Dream doesn't say a thing to Charlie, who stands behind Quackity and does nothing for a good few minutes.

Then when the slime army comes to attack, Dream just... gets instantly overwhelmed? And instead of going after Quackity again once the hoard is dead, he just resigns to blowing up Las Nevadas a teeny tiny bit.

Certainly not a Doomsday attempt, which is what the audience has come to expect at this point—overkill. That is Dream's specialty. However, he doesn't.

Once the destruction is over, Dream doesn't pursue Quackity further, despite going to LNVs with the sole intent of capturing him, dragging him off, and torturing him to death; along with destroying everything and everyone he loves. In the end, this is yet again the script pupeteering the actions of the characters.

The writers need Dream to not succeed, or else they can't carry this conflict over into Volume Two. And if that's not what they're planning to do then the question of why this happened will only multiply.

Charlie and Quackity

The dramatic shift and decay of this pair's respective characters and relationship is this stream's second greatest detriment, just shy of its empty story content. Quackity's decision to create a genetically engineered body of citizens because he misses Charlie and wants people who are "just like him" is startlingly out of character, shatters the perception of Dap Duo's friendship foundation, and presides on a logically flawed premise.

Quackity is a character who is naturally protective of those who are weak, innocent, or who remind him of himself. He goes out of his way to self-sacrifice for them, and this is especially true with Tommy and Charlie. Quackity knows that true friends are rare for him and are something special and meant to be cherished, even if he closes himself off, pushes them away, and pretends not to care.

It is possible to buy Quackity missing Charlie enough to create copies of him, however this has no real buildup. There's no turn to the more extreme and dramatic to overcome his loss. And worst of all, it is specifically the loss that is de-emphasized in favor of a short-term solution to a problem wholly manufactured by the script to later solve the central conflict.

It comes out of nowhere and is gone just as fast. On top of it, its implications are troubling as Quackity has shown an urge to control things, but never to this degree and not this heartlessly. This change for the worse can work, certainly.

A gradual change for the worse or the better is what character development is all about. However, this change is instant, jarring, and again, has no buildup. The cruelty of this action is also never addressed and Quackity's inclination to it is never foreshadowed (most likely because it was never meant to be dwelt on, as it's only added to the story to thwart Dream's plans.)

There's also the deeper implications of Quackity genetically cloning beings that are meant to be "like Charlie." It implies that Quackity has always seen Charlie as someone mindlessly obedient and disposable—someone who is more like a pet, than an actual friend, when we were consistently shown otherwise.

Quackity started off initially planning to use Charlie's naivety to his advantage to get him to spy for him. However, as time went on, he formed a genuine connection to him, and thus dropped this initial plan. Instead, because he came to trust him and care for him as a friend, he chose him as the inheritor of all his work. In a backwards way, he tries to teach Charlie everything he knows.

Not manipulate him, not lie to him—tell him exactly how Quackity himself sees the world and how he wishes Charlie to see it too; because he wants Charlie to be safe and because he wants Charlie to keep his nation safe. He comes to see Charlie as someone human, and when Charlie is hurt, Quackity dives in after to save him at the potential expense of his own life. When Charlie dies, it destroys Quackity.

How could it not? That was his first true friend he'd made in a long, long time. However, with this new development, it shatters what was previously established, showing that Quackity only ever saw Charlie as someone who could be made again, who was nothing but a follower (despite teaching him to be a future leader); someone who he never saw as human.

There's also the majorly overlooked issue of him searching for the perfect follower in "someone just like Charlie." Sure, Charlie was naive and went along with many orders, but he consistently questioned Quackity. He consistently took apart the logic of his arguments, his lessons, his ideals.

He laid them down, piece by piece, in a way that left Quackity to question himself. Charlie was never a perfect follower, and Quackity knew that. He made mistakes, he disobeyed, he never once stopped asking "Why?"

If Quackity knew him well enough by then to be destroyed by his death and disappearance, then why did he expect that making another version of Charlie would create someone perfectly obedient and mindless? Why did he see Charlie in this way when both him and the audience knew otherwise?

Then we have the issue of Charlie's dramatic shift in characterization. Because we were never shown what went on between Charlie and Dream, we have no reference for how or why this shifted Charlie's demeanor. We have no reference for his epiphany or how he "woke up."

Even if it's imperative for Charlie's realization about Q to remain a secret for a plot twist, it begs the question of why Charlie ever greeted Q at the restaurant or decided to stay with him when he knew that Quackity was "a bad person" from the get-go (something which he knew Quackity was aware of already feeling. In Charlie's only POV stream, he asks Q if he thinks of himself as a good person and Quackity replies "I don't know." It's not something Quackity needs to be told, because he knows and he struggles with those thoughts already.)

As pointed out before, Charlie has always been capable of questioning Quackity's rules and reasoning, so why not tell Quackity about how terrible he thought he was all those months ago? Why not be upfront with him, as he was about everything else? If Charlie never actually liked Quackity or anything that was happening, why would he proclaim to trust him upon first instinct?

Why would he live in denial of Quackity's mortality, as if hoping he'd stick around forever? It also seems especially out of character for him to go out of his way to physically hurt Quackity—someone who once risked his life to save his; someone who only ever wanted to protect him and trust him and give him everything he'd ever worked to earn (regardless of the means.)

There's simply not enough buildup to warrant that sort of payoff because we never got to see that change occur in Charlie.

The (hollow) Theme of Revenge

In the previous Las Nevadas episode, we were shown Quackity's gradual change for the better under Charlie's influence. Despite being his leader and mentor, it was Quackity who had the most to learn from Charlie, who questioned Q's morals and lessons in a way that Quackity had to confront. Quackity, like Tommy and Wilbur and Tubbo and many others, was taught "lessons" stemming from violence.

They were physically hurt by people who were stronger than them, who did this as a way to force them to grow. However, the things learned from this practice were traumatic and unhealthy and actively stumped their growth on their journey to being better, kinder people. It was only because Charlie opposed Quackity in a non-violent, non-confrontational manner that Quackity was more susceptible to learning and growing and doing so without closing himself off and being afraid.

He effectively learns that revenge is never worth the price in one of the most powerful scenes in Quackity's entire arc; where the two friends talk as they stand on the Needle's balcony and overlook the country. The question is asked if revenge is ever worth it and Quackity finally, after so long, answers truthfully—"No. It's not."

To finally hammer this home, Quackity loses Charlie because Purpled decides to seek revenge for a previous misdeed. He sought revenge and he succeeded. It finally rings clear, that because Quackity had acted in the same way Purpled had in the past, he is forced to see himself from another perspective—from the eyes of someone who reaps what they've sown.

He can ask himself, again, was this worth it? Quackity again says no, and doesn't seek out Purpled to repay the favor because he finally sees what Charlie had tried to tell him. This is a perfect demonstration of this theme, and I'd argue, it is the only well-executed moment regarding revenge in the entire Dream SMP storyline.

Unfortunately, this is all horribly undermined by the later development of Charlie returning and violently killing Quackity (someone who'd never wronged him further than his dishonesty and opportunism, both of which he regrets.) Quackity's selfless act of diving into danger to save Charlie is purposely ignored; repaid by a callous, out-of-character act of revenge, which serves nothing. That's not even getting into the issue of Charlie's act of revenge belonging solely to Purpled, because despite Purpled's actions being tied to Quackity, they are not Quackity's fault.

If this logic were applied appropriately in every aspect of the story, then Quackity would not be considered at fault for the Butcher Army—it would be Techno, because he "started it." Shifting the blame of the cycle of vengeance onto the person who caused the initial injustice also completely undercuts the actions and responsibilities of every person involved in sustaining a conflict. It also de-emphasizes the strength and kindness it takes for someone to forgive and be the one to end the cycle.

While Quackity's death is poetic and well-shot, it says nothing. Charlie follows the lessons he himself had questioned to be flawed, despite having free will. And if this was because of Dream's influence, we will never know because it was never shown.

To add insult to injury, this act of violence is what forces Quackity to change for the better, and give everyone who wronged him a letter of reconciliation. This destroys every other moment the Dream SMP has laid out thus far regarding its collective theme of violence; that it will never teach anyone anything good, useful, or healthy. It will only cause trauma and hurt and leave people to unlearn the good and moral code they carry with them.

Instead, the message here is that violence was actually Quackity's wake-up-call, instead of the perfectly fitting scene between Q and Charlie of the two simply... talking, as friends. Violence being Quackity's "teacher" is much less powerful and it's intensely at odds with the rest of everything established in his arc.

For the sake of spectacle and shock, we've received a message of revenge so hollow and meaningless that it manages to say Nothing At All.

Minor Issues

These have no bearing on my opinion of the stream, but I haven't seen anyone point these out yet.

During the Calamity Duo flashback, the ending of it is a smash-cut to the destruction of Las Nevadas. The destruction shown in the clip doesn't match what actually happens nearly an hour later, with the former taking place at night and containing more fire than explosion. Quackity was also never physically present at the destruction, so it's a mystery as to why that little tonal shock was included to begin with as it spoils the ending of the episode (even if it may have been obvious going in.)

Purpled's motivations for kidnapping Charlie were because he... wanted to kill him. Okay. Why not just kill him when you first found him? Why not kill him at any point on the way back to your hideout? Why did you have to kill him in a very specific location where Quackity would never see it? Wouldn't it hurt Quackity worse if you killed him around Las Nevadas where Q could find him quickly? Even if Purpled was afraid of Q being notified via chat message, he didn't have to bring Charlie all the way back to the main area to do that.

During the montage where Quackity gives letters of reconciliation to everyone, he leaves one where Wilbur had sailed away. This implies that Tommy told Quackity that Wilbur was gone. Again, yet another scene that happened off-screen that would've only benefited the audience to actually see.

Conclusion

While beautiful and well-made—as cc!Quackity's streams always are—the issues with story, pacing, music, and characterization leave this stream a disappointing sendoff for the end of Quackity's character in Volume One.

It is painful to see it end like this, as Quackity is my favorite character, second only to Tommy. That isn't to say there isn't something to like in this episode, but it is a far cry from the height of its predecessors.

I hope to see better from him in the future, if there ever is better to come.

#dream smp #dsmp #quackity #slimecicle #las nevadas #dapduo #charlie slimecicle #dreamwastaken #purpled #punz #foolish #ranboo #dsmp analysis #dsmp critical #negative #long post

[rainsandrains]

John Keats and Atheopagan Sainthood

So, I recently changed my PhD topic somewhat - from my perspective it is a drastic narrowing down of my original topic, but from the faculty's perspective it's a change of topic that required rewriting my proposal, submitting it for review, etc. It got accepted, so after a year of limbo and depression I have a new supervisor (which should make a big difference to my ability to jump through the arbitrary academic hoops while my keeping both my academic integrity and my mental health intact) and renewed motivation for my work.

My new project is on John Keats and parasocial interaction. I'd love to chat about it if anyone is curious, but that's not really the point right now. The point is: I am SO happy to be reading and writing about Keats again. I feel like my interests in Keats and in paganism have been complementary in a way, whereas previously I felt like my spiritual life and my academic life were vastly different, often competing, spaces. I have a couple of thoughts I wanted to share, and would love to hear what people think.

1) the idea of "saints" from an Atheopagan perspective. I toyed with Keats as an "ancestor" of sorts, specifically with his idea of Negative Capability (see below) as a sacred concept, but it never felt quite right. I know I COULD see him as an ancestor, especially as I enjoy writing poetry and think I'm reasonably good at it, at least some of the time. But still, it never stuck. Today, the word "saint" came to mind, and I really like that. First, a saint is someone you look up to, not just for their accomplishments but for their suffering and faith (or, for our purposes, dedication to their values etc) throughout it. Keats suffered plenty - not just his own infamous early death to TB but by losing multiple family members to it as well. He also suffered the slings and arrows of the classist reviewers and such, and that caused him to doubt himself a great deal. And yet, despite all this, before he died at just 25 he had written poetry that has been beloved for two centuries, inspiring to many, and that is extremely beautiful. He trained to be a doctor originally, and in Aileen Ward's essay on Keats and the idea of fame (in 'Critical Essays on John Keats, edited by Hermione De Almeida, available to read on archive.org for free) she discusses his internal battle regarding what his ambition should be: he wanted to be of service to others, and felt guilty that he was pursuing poetry rather than medicine, yet felt a calling to poetry he couldn't ignore. Ultimately, he seems to have mixed the two: on good days, he saw poetry as a way to be of service, and honestly I think he succeeded. So, Keats was dedicated to his values (service to others, and the value of beauty (one of the Atheopagan pillars), as well as others) throughout a great deal of suffering, and I find that greatly inspiring.

The other thing about saints is that, from a Catholic perspective at least, they're meant to be able to intercede on our behalf. Of course we don't believe in that sort of thing - but perhaps, in a ritual context, there could be some use for a metaphorical or imaginary intercession. I'm not sure precisely how this would look; I've never found ritual easy, it doesn't come naturally to me. But there could be some value in "invoking" the "spirit" of Keats to aid in a task, to making a talisman related to him that you keep around when struggling with a task you feel he could help with. I don't know.

2) Negative Capability as a sacred concept. There are several sections of his letters that are taken together in the many interpretations of the idea of Negative Capability, but the main one is this: "I had not a dispute, but a disquisition, with Dilke upon various subjects; several things dove-tailed in my mind, and at once it struck me what quality went to form a man of achievement, especially in literature, and which Shakespeare possessed so enormously—I mean Negative Capability; that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason. Coleridge, for instance, would let go by a fine isolated verisimilitude caught from the Penetralium of mystery, from being incapable of remaining content with half-knowledge. This pursued through volumes would perhaps take us no further than this, that with a great poet the sense of Beauty overcomes every other consideration, or rather obliterates all consideration." I actually want to quote my college chaplain on this, from an email exchange in June 2021. I hope he wouldn't mind! After relating it to some aspects of Christianity, he wrote: "Our own struggles do not become easier when we accept the mysteriousness of them, but we do perhaps save ourselves an extra level of pain in denying ourselves the possibility of being “content with half knowledge”. It also might help us support those who are suffering more if – unlike Job’s companions in that extraordinary book about suffering – we resist the temptation to try to wholly explain or fix something through a delimited vision of our own rational capabilities. In simple terms I guess we’re talking about a posture of humility!" Negative Capability has been interpreted in various ways by different critics over the years. I personally like Walter Jackson Bate's interpretation, which is based in part in ideas about empathy and the imagination (the latter of which being a vital concept to Keats and to most, if not all, Romantic poets): “into the Imagination’s apprehension of an object are woven the very subtlest threads of association” which “escape the scrutiny of the intellect” but are picked up by the intuition. (Bate, Negative Capability: On the Intuitive Approach to Keats, 1939 - I think also available on archive.org) Moreover, he defines Negative Capability as “an acceptance […] of the particular, a love of it and a trust in it; and an acceptance, moreover, with all its ‘half-knowledge’, of the ‘sense of Beauty,’ of force, of intensity, that lies within that particular and is indeed its identity and its truth, and which ‘overcomes every other consideration, or rather obliterates all consideration.’” I love this - Negative Capability not as a commitment to agnosticism in all things, nor as a fanciful belief in whatever feels beautiful (as it can easily sound like he's saying) - Keats studied chemistry and botany in his medical training, and was certainly not anti-science - but, from a moral and artistic perspective (which were greatly intertwined in the cultural view of the "artist" or "poet" at the time), accepting mystery, humbly accepting what we don't know, and letting our sense of beauty (which I read as encompassing gentleness, softness, solidarity, vulnerability, kindness, radical acceptance of self and other...) "obliterate" the capitalistic and religious concerns we've been raised to see as reasonable.

I hope that some of what I've said made SOME sense. Much, much ink has been spilled trying to parse what Keats means on this topic and others, so please don't take my interpretation as any kind of authority. I just find the concept fascinating, and inspiring, and beautiful, and... maybe sacred.

3) FInally, the thing that actually prompted me to write this in the beginning: Keats and paganism. Specifically, quoting from John Barnard in his essay in De Almeida's book cited earlier,

"Keats owned a copy of William Godwin's The Pantheon: or Ancient History of the Gods of Greece and Rome… (1806), a book aimed at the young reader and published under the name of "Edward Baldwin." Godwin writes: '[...] it is a delightful thing to take a walk in fields, and look at the skies and trees and the corn-fields and the waving grass, to observe the mountains and the lakes and the rivers and the seas, to smell the new-mown hay, to inhale the fresh and balmy breeze, and to hear the wild warblings of the birds: but a man does not enjoy these in their most perfect degree, till his imagination becomes a little visionary; the human mind does not have a landscape without life and without a soul: we are delighted to talk to the objects around us, and to feel as if they understood and sympathised with us: we create, by the power of fancy, a human form and a human voice in those scenes, which to a man of literal understanding may appear dead and lifeless.' Hence, according to Godwin, Greek religion 'gave animation and life to all existence: it had its Naiads, Gods of the rivers, its Tritons and Nereids, Gods of the seas, its Satyrs, Fauns and Dryads, Gods of the woods and trees, and its Boreas, Euros, Auster and Zephyr, Gods of the winds.'"

Keats was evidently inspired by this idea - we do see it also in other Romantic writers as well, for example Percy Shelley (who married Godwin's daughter and was a big fan of Godwin as a young man), but Keats's approach to paganism has inspired me in my Atheopaganism a great deal, and this passage in Barnard helped me to understand why. Keats writes about Apollo a great deal, which makes sense as Apollo was god of both poetry and healing - and often he figures himself as an Apollonian devotee, both in lighthearted and more serious ways. I don't get any sense from his writing that Keats believed in Apollo, but the way he writes about him is so evocative that it makes me wish the god was real sometimes... that passage in Barnard made it make sense to me: Keats felt (intuitively, in a negatively capable way) the interconnectedness of life on Earth, the vitality of the natural world, and paganism was the way he was drawn to express it. Ancient Greek and Roman religion (and art, and everything) was fashionable at the time, which likely influenced his choice of gods (because those would have been the books available to him at the time), but in general Keats uses pagan imagery to reflect the "visionary" quality of his imagination, an imagination that enables him to feel the vitality, the beautifully interconnected life, all around him. Isn't that what we're doing as Atheopagans, whether we use metaphorical deities in our practice or not? Godwin wrote that we imagine the natural world to be sentient and alive - well, we know it's alive, even if it's not all sentient in the same way we are. I see what Keats is doing as an 18th/19th century version of what I see in Merlin Sheldrake's Entangled Life, or Robert Macfarlane's writing on landscape, or the music of Spell Songs, or Robin Wall Kimmerer's approach to the natural world. It's beautiful.

#op #atheopaganism #hmm do i tag this with keats #what the hell #john keats #keats #uh #naturalistic paganism

[aita-blorbos]

[OC for an existing franchise]

AITA for my debilitating fear of death?

I (M, 42) am in a prestigious position of power within my planet (It's rather small, thus able to be ruled by one governing body), as one of my Emperor (J - M, 42)'s chief advisors. Things are usually peaceful, and I am capable of handling the difficulties that the position provides, however, combat is often unavoidable. For instance, five years prior to now, our kingdom was subject to an invasion from dangerous aliens who were searching for their runaway heir (29, NB) who rather hated them.

Battle was exhausting, but not outside of any of our capabilities. We won, in the end, but at a rather distressing cost. J was scarred and permanently blinded during the incident, and another friend of mine (38, F) has lost some control of her physical form, which is slowly degrading. However, most grievous was the wound that was delivered unto me. In the midst of battle, I was taken off guard and pierced through my abdomen. The injury has left me incapable of eating substantial amounts, thus my body withers away each and every day. Furthermore, I am in great pain. These injuries are certainly the worst suffered, short of His Majesty's blinding. As a result, my existing fear of death has only worsened. Before, I was paranoid at the idea of dying, despite the existence of resurrection being quite readily available for me. There were many variables I was greatly paranoid about with regards to resurrection, and now I fear my mortality even more now, having been so close to passing across to the Other Land. As a result, my capabilities as an advisor have been hindered, due to my constant fear of death. It could come at any point, and I know of nothing scarier.

So, I am currently trying to create a way in which I will never die. I'm currently using my magic to steal souls of people so that they can power my own soul. This will greatly increase my magical power, and my body will run on their souls instead of my own, making me functionally immortal.

And the people whom are aiding in my immortal existence are no one who shall be missed; prisoners, and other undesirables. They should be glad that they can serve a greater purpose: me. The project is going spectacularly so far, however something has planted a seed of doubt in my mind.

J's husband, H (M, 45), approached me after I left a party early. He was very drunk, and was suspicious of me, and saw me about to add another individual to my collection of souls. He tried to fight me, but I easily subdued him, knocking him unconscious and then taking his memories of the encounter as a precaution. He just believes he was too drunk to recall what occured that night. I couldn't kill him, obviously, that would be suspicious, hence my mercy towards him. I could have done much worse.

However, H's anger at me has me doubting my work slightly. He was very unhappy with me that night, which is what is inspiring this unease. However, this is a common thing with him - we have seldom seen eye to eye, as he believes me obnoxious, and I believe him an arrogant, preachy, shrill bitch. Anyone else would agree with me on my methods, I believe, as I am well-liked and a famously reasonable man, and most would hate to see me dead. But I am still unsure of my actions, somewhere in the back of my mind. AITA?

Edit: NVM! God reincarnated on our planet! I had to destroy it with a group of heroes using my soul construct as extra firepower! I used this power to kill god! I've usurped the monarchy! I've removed all opposition!!! I rule the world now!!! Nothing can go wro-

[The post ends abruptly.]

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality

[citylighten]

Hello! I've been reading Sink or Swim, and I am absolutely enthralled in the depth of your writing. Which brings me to my first of several questions... How long have you been writing? I find Pietro's backstory personality very complex. How he presents himself... Handles obstacles... It's intriguing. How long did it take to create Pietro's... well... life? Did you have to do a considerable amount of research? And for my last question, how long does it take you to caption a scene? Are you editing the dialogue right until you post?

HELLO~!

First off thank you for this message! I'm very happy you're enjoying the story!

In regard to your first question: I began writing at a young age. So young, that my earliest memory of writing is sitting on my grandmother's lap and telling her exactly what to write down in Microsoft Word. (I figure these were probably stories about Simba the Lion) Eventually, I told her I wanted to figure out how to use Word on my own and the rest is history. But yeah, I've always been big on writing and reading, there was always a story of some kind in my head. By the time I was ten, I was on FF.Net posting very shitty fanfics. But that's the thing about writing, you know? The more you do it, the more you read, the more you even do something like observe films and shows for the narrative value rather than strictly looking at it as entertainment the better of a writer you become. I also made the decision back in high school to become a journalist (something I don't think I want to be anymore, but I digress) still, having the responsibility of writing about real events, or about real people, definitely influenced my writing, as well. Especially when it comes to the way people speak or may explain something.

Admittedly, writing a story in the mafia genre isn't easy. A lot of research is involved (ranging from reading biographies to just watching films, but I also love the video game Mafia because their worldbuilding is pretty good😂) and I often take mental notes of things so I can understand/apply similar topics with my characters.

In regard to your second question: We've hardly scratched the surface of who Pietro is as a person! I planned to do a few edits of him as a kid as well as a "mini-story" of how he ran away from home at sixteen but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Pietro is a very new oc - he was made this year, so understanding him/developing him has been a push-and-pull process. Before Sink or Swim started, he was originally meant to be way more antagonistic, but then I found myself liking him. I thought of Pietro and Rosie hooking up and the drama that could entail of, but then I thought, "what if this guy cared about her?" And boom, I found myself jotting out a bunch of outlines and concepts.

However, because Pietro isn't born in America...er, Simerica, I've found myself reading about Sicily a lot. Since I view that as the real-world counterpart to Tartosa. The norms, the lives of farmers, the way organized crime functions there because Pietro's family suffered greatly due to the local mob. But that's all I'm saying about that!

In regard to your third question: Captioning a scene can take forever. I'm not sure why because all I do is copy-paste pre-written text. But the time it takes to write out a scene can vary depending on its length, relevancy, and tone. Small talk is horrible to write, just plain horrible. Banter is usually quick. But when you have scenes like Rosie reading Pietro's email - that took forever because not only am I writing out Sheila and Pietro having a serious conversation, I had to write out the details of the email. Similarly, in my last post, when Pietro more or less confesses that he's an affiliate of the mob: that conversation took three rewrites before I felt it was good enough to put on caps. The first conversation draft was rough, I kept zoning out. The second was a little easier, but I found myself rearranging the conversation to better flow. And the third edit was the easiest because it was like I was 'smoothing' things over and ensuring the flow was decent. Sometimes though, once I paste dialogue onto a cap I do slightly tweak it to correspond with the expression the sim has. But again, thank you for all these questions! I enjoyed answering them!

[skaald-of-the-hearth-fires]

big emergency, y'all - I've been utterly SMOTHERING and DESTROYING Logan's character, and therefore causing big huge problems for the integrity of the story structure going forward. big rewrite/edit coming, it'll probably hit at about chapter 4 (previous chapters may also suffer changes and the following chapters probably will as well - stay tuned)

good news is I have chapter 9 all written and the big changes won't impact it much, so once I've edited it you can have it!

other good news is that the big huge rewrite MUST be done by the 16th, this is a NONNEGOTIABLE IRL-TYPE DEADLINE, it will be DONE and POSTED by the 16th in whatever level of quality it ends up being.

...

some hype and motivation would be greatly appreciated, though.

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

GALA 10

Here is Gala 9 !!!

This gala was so good!!!! Not only the musical numbers were great (not a bad one was performed imo) but also this was the gala where the first three finalists were selected and although the points the judges assigned each contestant were very... polemic, the final three finalists were greatly chosen and !!!!!

Let's go with the honourable mentions first as always <3

You Oughta Know - Chiara: Chiara was one of my finalists so I'm sad she was expelled this gala, but she went with a bang! I loved seeing rocker Kiki, she was great, and I'm proud of what she's done and what it's to come with her :)

I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing - Lucas: The two nominees were excellent this gala, like extremely good. Imo Lucas was perfect here, like no notes, 10/10. I'm so proud of him and his evolution, remember he was the first nominated and look at him now!

El Mundo - Ruslana: This song is hypnotic, and Ruslana made it captivating and addicting, it's the song I've streamed the most of this gala, and in terms of acting she was also perfect as always. It was also very chilling how after the performance she talked about how she chose this song partly cause it talks about suffering in the world, specifically noting how she wishes wars to end. She's Ukranian, so it was especially moving coming from her.

And now let's go onto the top 3!!!!

3. DESPECHÁ - NAIARA

Here is the original song, by our lord and saviour miss Rosalía <3

I am so in love with every aspect of this performance it's literally perfect. I imagine the team approaching Naiara for this song and asking her 'how much choni do you want it?' and her answering 'yes' cause this is PEAK choni, and I mean it in the best way possible. Absolutely incredible. ALSO. I have to mention the incident in the first mic pass cause it was so very iconic. So basically, when she started her dance break during the makina part, suddenly the cameras showed us the door of the academy and other parts with no people in them with no context??? and after a while they returned to the mic pass and it was revealed that one of naiara's boobs had decided to free herself from her top and yeah. in front of the teachers and the other contestants. she was so embarrassed poor thing. but also it's incredibly funny that it happened with despechá cause yes it means something similar to 'heartbroken' but it can also literally be translated to 'without a breast' which is SO HILARIOUS. Mother Naiara Moreno, first finalist of OT 2023 and likely winner 💋.

2. PAENAMORAR - PAUL THIN

Here is the original song, by Paula Cendejas !!!!!

LADIES GENTLEMAN AND NON BINARY FOLKS, I PRESENT YOU THIRD FINALIST OF OT 2023 PAUL THIN. I AM SO HAPPY GUYS. I came to this gala fully preparing myself to vote him a finalist this next week so when the teachers made him a finalist over Bea or Ruslana I gasped so much IT'S ONLY WHAT HE DESERVES. Also THAT PERFORMANCE. THE VISUALS. THE VOICE. THE RANGE. THE LYRICS. EVERYTHING. Congratulations Pablo Delgado you are perfect. I will not comment on him choosing a song about not being able to fully fall in love with someone but wanting to the week after a particular contestant left the academy. I also won't comment about him singing Exile by Taylor Swift at least once a day on the piano this week as well as Champagne Problems and Memories by Conan Gray, all about missing someone and feeling you were too late to be with someone. Very interesting that he chose Fiebre for this week, a song that has the lyric 'I didn't want to settle, but I would marry you'. Interesting choice that doesn't have any hidden intentions !!! None at all !!!

1. SE ACABÓ - BEA

Here is the original song, by María Jiménez :)

I will just quote Manu Guix for this one: 'Just as people still remember and associate OT 2018 with La Llorona by Alba Reche, I feel this edition will be remembered as the one with Se Acabó by Bea'. It really felt like that. She made quite possibly the best performance of the edition, and i'm SO HAPPY she's finally getting the praise she deserves, she's been so mentally drained this edition I'm so proud of her now. She was third in the judge's ranking and even then she confessed earlier this week that she felt she was overrated like I will fight whoever says she doesn't deserve to be a finalist EVERYONE GO VOTE BEA FINALIST NOW IT'S FREE OF CHARGE. Also the song!!!! For those who don't know, Se Acabó is a very important song in Spanish music because it was the first (or one of the first) song that talked about domestic violence. reminder that this came out while a fascists catholic dictatorship was going on with very rigid gender roles. And María Jiménez was a folclórica, a famous flamenco singer and personality who popularized this song as an anthem for women all around the country who are fed up of consenting abuse by their husbands. María Jiménez passed away at the end of 2023, so this was also the perfect homage to her. May her memory live on forever.

And that was it! As you can see, it was a very intense gala. We now have the three first finalists of OT 2023 (Naiara, Juanjo, and Paul), and next gala is the semi final already (i have no idea what i'll do with my life once OT ends help). As you imagine I'll be saving Bea, as I feel she's the most deserving of being a finalist. I'm also really excited to see Paul performing Fiebre, I am obsessed with this song and it's very different at least acting wise to what Paul has done in the program so I will be seated.

#vivitalksot #ot #operacion triunfo #ot 2023 #sorry for the long post lol. as you can see this past week has been very intense #you can tell we're almost at the end now #anyways. bea finalist and paul i see you i observe you okay

[regencyofhell-if]

I don't know who is doing it, but someone keeps messaging my inbox just saying "kys" over and over for the last day or so. I don't know what I did to deserve this but, seriously, please stop. As someone who has contemplated suicide in the past, this is not funny.

EDIT: I'm a very transparent person and I like to think I'm kind to those who reach out to me and enjoy my content, so why would you say that to someone, especially someone you don't know?

I've been bullied my entire life by so many people, including my own family. I suffer from PTSD because of it as well as a severe anxiety disorder and depression. Sending messages like this to someone, no matter who they are, is beyond reprehensible; it's sickening. I'm going to ask nicely that these messages stop coming to my inbox before I take it step further and close my inbox to anonymous messages, which is completely unfair to my 600 followers who I greatly enjoy interacting with and look forward to talking to every day. I've already done that for my main account, which seems to be the one they are spamming at present, and would hate to do it for all my accounts.

Think before you send things like this to someone. They might be someone like me, who has been on the edge before and actually came close to killing themselves in the past. You don't know. It isn't a joke. And I'm very disappointed.

#hate anons

[risingsunresistance]

ddoing the spook quests gettin lots of extras for ditto head/memento purposes but i will Not be getting an extra rouge flesh that was a Terrible time got my rev killed too many times</333 fun tho !! more fishing than ive ever done before lol keep unlocking bestiaries and such hehe

dreading ephemeral gratitude or hwatever but am enjoying myself greatly nonetheless<333

-crenshaw

oh god i've been suffering with the spooky stuff jkghdfj. it's fun but HOW THE HELL ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO THIS WITHOUT THE WIKI LMAO

i got so lucky with the gratitudes i happened to have like 4k cactus on me and got two cactus requests in a row. rogue flesh was miserable. i did the head of betrayal when it was still bugged and wouldnt give it to you ;-; spent an hour doing bednom's quest bc i never finished it apparently

sewer fish was by far my favorite to do bc it was really funny tbh

got a surprisingly early eerie treat edition too :D

#asks #anons #crenshaw121 #i forgot to do today's so i did it just a few minutes ago and i did not have any of the armor sets so there went 2m coins kjghfd

[pb-dot]

Hiya this is Athena for @ask-a-thon, Thursday edition: How are you, how's the wips going and is there anything you want to ramble about?

Thanks for the ask!

Today has been a good day for writing but not a great day for my wip unfortunately. I've mostly been concentrating my efforts on getting my Film Friday entry for this week done as well as chipping away that the monstrous, ever-growing review of the Barbie Movie that I'm working on. I'm mostly just trying to get all the thoughts about that film out of my system so I can spend some much-needed processing power on actually working on my damn book.

It turns out that my thoughts on the Barbie movie are a bit of a mess because there's so much good craft in that movie, and the main Barbie plot is nothing short of groundbreaking stuff, but I feel like the movie stumbles on a couple of its B-plots and kludges around with them enough that it feels like the fresh exciting barbie film I greatly enjoy is being weighted down by the albatross of corporate-mandated #girlboss stuff. Probably won't be able to hold back on the spoilers much longer, so I'll put in a cut here.

Like it is just about driving me to drink that Will Ferrel's Mattel CEO character at one point states that he values the True Values of Barbie more than the profits from the Kendom Takeover, and we're apparently supposed to take that seriously? This is nothing short of axiomatically impossible. The job of a CEO is by definition to drive and collect profit, and perhaps if they're decent keeping their doings within the realms of the legal. If a CEO does anything outside of the above, they do that as private persons and not as CEOs.

Not Ferrel's character though, he chooses values over profit as a CEO to his board of directors, and he doesn't even receive a glance as pushback. I was mostly reading it as a joke, as it read similarly to his clumsy "wokewashing" of his all-male C-suite for the company about women for girls earlier in the film. But no, that was apparently a line that we were meant to take seriously, at least as a character development moment for the character to show up as Mr. Reasonable Status Quo for the finale. Oh, Mattel will absolutely not stop their consumerism-driving practices and corpo bullshit, and if they're considering letting a woman on the board they're not saying, but they'll market #relatable Barbies. Diversity Win, the doll you bought for your daughters for entirely too much money has depression now.

And that's not getting into the kind of nothing the Ken subplot ends by. To be fair, yes this is a movie primarily about Barbie, and I'm not going to sit on the same side as the chuds of the world who decry how terrible this movie is to men. No, my main concern is that the movie seems almost terminally incurious about what new status quo the story has brought about. Ok, the January 6th insurrection-type takeover of Barbieland by Kens was thwarted, good, great, in favor of that, but the ending essentially goes "and nothing will fundamentally change in Barbieland because of this," which is a bit of a reach to me. Sure, as a more ideal eternal idea realm, it's not like I expected lengthy legal procedures and court hearings or anything, but surely it is pretty bleak to go "Oh, this problem that clearly existed before the current crisis isn't a problem anymore because the crisis is over."

This is veering into Ken apologia, but frankly, I blame Gosling, who adds a surprising amount of pathos to the lost little boy Ken who tries to find himself in a relationship with a woman who just isn't into him like that. Granted, he ends up temporarily finding himself in the role of douchebag manosphere influencer whose sheer masculinity cargo cult influence just about brings about the end of his world, so perhaps some sort of consequence is in order. It could also very well be that some of my frustration is that Ken arguably doesn't suffer any consequences, as I don't count "even after all of that she's not into you dude" as a consequence, it's just a thing that continues to be true.

I could continue. I'm probably going to continue in the review. Check it out if I ever finish that cursed thing.

#writing #peebs thinks #ask-a-thon #thursday ask a thon #barbie 2023

[ahleezeruinavt]

The Vtuber Community Greatly Suffers From The Worst Aspects Of Its Inspirations.

You may be going "Ahleeze- what do you mean by that? The Vtuber community markets itself as this amazing place where you can portray yourself as whoever and whatever you want!" Yeah- that's more or less a lie. It's an accepting community so long as you don't criticize it. And that's primarily because of the fact that the audience and culture that vtubers as a community have adopted are all the absolutely worst aspects of it. It's a weird amalgamation of anime, idol, gaming, and content creation culture, but all the worst aspects of it. I'll try and break it down as I go so it's a bit less of a scrambled post of thoughts.

Also, just a disclaimer, of course this doesn't apply to everyone, it's just some observations I've seen in my time as a vtuber and the issues that are prevalent in the community.

Anime Community - Obviously since most vtubers have an "anime" style to them, it was bound to attract people who were interested in anime. More importantly, people who now had "2d Waifus" they could actually interact with and give money. However, there's a reason why some people won't touch anime fandoms with a ten foot pole. There is a LOT of bigoted anime fans. Transphobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, you name it. All of them are especially prevelant in those communities. You can see it when people make black edits of characters. You can see it in One Piece and Guilty Gear discourse (you know the ones). You ESPECIALLY see it when a woman happens to know literally anything on a subject and corrects someone. A good example I've seen is the JJBA fandom shitting on Jolyne for shit literally every other Joestar has done. Like- they're quiet when everyone else did it, but Jolyne does it and now all of the sudden its a problem.

Same thing happens to Vtubers. If your model / you:

Doesn't pass the paper bag test

Isn't super thin

Don't have breast that breast breastily

Isn't a literal child in appearance

Don't have a deep enough or high enough voice

Doesn't match your voice

Openly LGBTQ+

Openly fight for the rights of marginalized and oppressed groups

Talk on literally any social issue

You're basically in for a world of annoyance and trolls almost 24/7. And that's from both Vtubers AND Vtuber fans. Look at literally any corporate Vtuber's fans when they get crticized for something. Watch how fast they are to attack LGBTQ+ people and POC over daring to think a negative thought about their 2D anime waifu. There are plenty of POC who are vtubers and get NOTHING but hate comments and deal with absolutely unfair treatment because of the anime fans that also happen to overlap in Vtuber communities.

Oh, and don't get me started on if a vtuber dare says "lolishos DNI". Because people will get in a fucking TIZZY over how their waifu is actually 90000 years old and its a-okay to like them! That's also just an unfortuntate byproduct of anime culture that seeped into Vtubing. Especially when there are vtubers who call themselves "lolis" and openly make lewd content.

There's also the weird pressure people feel to have Japanese names and that's sparked a lot of discourse in the community. Also that some people end up being offensive by using westernized depictions of Japanese culture to seem more "anime".

Idol Culture - A lot of the words Vtubers use ("oshi" for example), are taken from idol culture. However, it's been time to ditch the "idol culture" since the whole thing started. It's cool to want to be a vtuber who does stuff like sing, or do concerts, but so many have twisted it into this weird competitive space where parasocial relationships thrive. God forbid you set up a boundary, talk about a social issue, or post a selfie.

For those that down know, vtubing used to (and still kinda is to some people) about "immersion". They want to watch the dommy mommy demon queen be seductive and everything else on stream. Once you ruin that immersion, some people get annoyed, others get pissed. And for no reason other than it's breaking the "immersion" that so many vtubers use as a sort of marketing. It's a lot of online personas. And getting people to fall in love with those online personas. Some people feel pressured to "play nice" and allow people who make them uncomfortable in their communities because of the fact that if they say something about it, then they're "cutting off their community".

Then there's the absolute obsession with being entirely "unique". Look at how many orca-themed vtubers get called Shylily wannabes. To the point they've had to unfortunately ban the other streamer's name in their chat! Or dog boys that get called Shxtou wannabes. Hell, I've seen guys called wannabes for just having the same COLOR SCHEMES. And it doesn't help that other vtubers will start pointing fingers at each other. Whether it's for clout or because they geniuenly think their concept can be the only one in the space. I saw discourse over someone's friend deciding on the same NAME as them.

Content Creation Culture - This is more about the constant push that vtubers say you need to do in order to be succesful. Constantly saying you need to spread yourself thin across every platform that you possibly can. Upload content everywhere. Constantly make content even if you're tired. It's exhausting, and leaves disabled peopel out of the conversation most of the time. Even then- it still pushes non-disabled people into burnout.

On top of that, it promotes being mean to each other because people are rewarded for that in engagement. Creating drama allows people to get attention, and constantly promotes "any publicity is good publicity". On top of that, it constantly switches the roles of what's a serious issue and whats drama. Things like sexual assault and harassment is considered drama when it's called out, but when someone traces emotes it's the most serious issue in the world and needs to be talked about for the next month. The same drama and discourse is passed around every week like it's a new thing, meanwhile actual issues are pushed to the side. They also conveniently coincide with each other. Women talk about men abusing their power and status in content creation? Suddenly the new big talk is about how men are treated horribly and they need more love and support since they are the few against the many in vtubing. It's the same cycle over and over.

Someone posts a really shitty take, everyone responds. That person gets a shit ton of engagement. They get discovered from it. They find more shitty people to join their audience. It happens over and over again and people fall for it every time. People pit entire communities against each other because they know it will get traction. All the "vtuber news" channels you see are just reskinned drama channels that barely add any substance to what they're "reporting" on, but they build their entire fanbase upon it. They don't even have the decency to censor names and then shrug when people come to them saying they're being harassed. There's entire channels based on harassing others and vtubers and people see it as normal. But engagement and "exposure" is supposed to be a good thing.

It also pushes others to be nasty towards each other and fight each other for the spotlight. It just sucks and people constantly try and treat it like a good thing.

In conclusion, the vtubing space isn't all people market it to be, and they will hound you down if you criticize it because "that's what the space has always been". That or you're brushed down to wanting attention and it's just so annoying that people tend to ignore all this to "keep the peace". Women can't speak out or else we're called clout seekers. POC can't speak out or else they're called attention seekers and drama-causers. LGBTQ+ people can't speak out or else we're making everything about ourselves. And you certainly can't criticize the corporate Vtubers or else their entire fanbase will come and likely get your account suspended.

#ahleezerants #vtuber #vtuber stuff #vtuber talks #vtuber community #rant #ranting

[olivieraa]

Since I want to make like a list of common tropes and all that, here's one I want to break down.

I've been in many many MANY an internet argument, and one thing male anime fans always bring up (and its kind of the only one they can bring up), is when a male character is hit by a female character "for no reason".

It all depends on specifics, but nobody wants to look at it that way, and instead is just labelled as "inequality and that the reverse should be allowed" (I can give an endless list where the reverse happens but these dickwads out here acting like its rare. Its not. It happens.)

So this is a trope MALE. AUTHORS. put into their works. They created this. They made the choice to make this a common trope.

When a female character hits a male character, its usually a response. A response to something. For the most part. When a female character does it randomly, its generally comedic, meaning... it didn't actually happen. Its like when a Looney Toons character falls off a cliff and doesn't die. The male character does not have a bloody nose or a bruise 5 seconds later. He's absolutely fine. It basically didn't happen.

Now, I couldn't give a fuck about this trope, but there are times when I am fine with this trope. The main one being when the female characters are continuously and repeatedly sexualised in whatever the specific anime is. From the camera zooming up their bodies, to character traits and quirkiness making them fall down but their skirt is hitched up so we get an underwear shot, to close-up scenes of sweat trickling down their necks into their cleavage, to a mans hand or face always landing on their chest, to a towel dropping, its a really long list.

If a female character experiences these constantly in an anime, and its an anime that features a violent female character, well then, imo... it sort of evens out. But its highly dependent on the anime itself. Very situational.

To go back to this anime, what she did wasn't necessary, but I get why she did it. Sort of.

They're enemies, and she's trying not to see him as a nice person. She was raised to hate him, and knows exactly what kind of bad shit he has done (since he's literally Satan).

So when he does do something nice, she doesn't want to humanise him and say thank you, so she's like "ah nO FUCK YOU" and hits him despite him catching her from falling.

It wasn't justified, no. But she ends up hurting herself anyway

You could say he didn't deserve that, or you could say "uh that's mild compared to the fact that he's caused the death of millions and she's had to suffer greatly because of that so maybe he deserves even more than that??"

So yeah. I have this trope all over my anime liveblogs. And maybe I'll edit this post one day with a LIST, so I'll have them all in one spot.

#niece watches maou sama #niece watches anime

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

( let's see ) 26 , 36 , 37 , 48 , 50 , 82 , 90 , and 98 .

How long has this been here?! I didn't see it until now, wow. Apologies on the delay.

Tumblr doesn't show the date an ask was sent, so I have to guess which post this corresponds to. I think it was for this question list? It's the only recent one I can find that has 98+ questions on it, anyways.

26. Have you ever been famous?

Not to my knowledge! I had a speaking part in a school choir performance once. And in middle school when I wanted to try drama club, they cast me as the lead role, but I was like "Wait, wait, no, I don't want the LEAD role." But they wouldn't give me another one, so I wound up quitting the club that same week. :P I knew the lead would require a lot more work, memorization, and time than I wanted to put into it. Not to mention, I had MASSIVE stage fright and didn't want to be performing solo in front of the audience for long.

(Choir was different because the attention wasn't on me, specifically. The speaking part was different because it was like 30 seconds and then it was over, I could practice and perfect it and then get it over with and melt back into the blur of choir-singing faces.)

Anyways, I did get a poem published in a poetry collection once (I'm still bitter that it was, of all my poems, The Raven and The Dove), and I had a picture of a pointillism raven published in a pagan magazine when I was about 16, but I've never drawn much attention to me, specifically.

36. Favorite clean word?

Maybe "ephemeral"? Could also be "susurrus" or "murmuration", maybe diaphanous. I just love the sound of all those. But for sound as well as meaning, I think my favorite word is halcyon.

37. Favorite swear word?

Are we only talking about in English, or can I grab one from Finnish? Because there's something very cathartic about screaming "PERKELE" at something that pisses you off. (It translates to something like "devil", but it's pretty multi-purpose.)

If only English counts though, probably an F-bomb. A well-placed "fuck" adds so much color to our language. I love its adaptability, too! It can be delighted or furious, sincerely emotional or just really emphatic. When someone brings out the F word, usually you know they Really Mean It.

48. Can you curl your tongue?

Yep! I can twist it upside down, fold it backwards on itself, and partially do that "flower" pattern if I use my teeth as leverage, but I can't do it with 3-5 "petals" the way other people do. Also roll my Rrrr's and touch the tip of my nose with my tongue.

50. Left or right handed?

I'm like 75% ambidextrous! SLIGHTLY more right-handed than left, but not by much. Which hand I use varies greatly on the task and how I'm posed at the moment. If it's more convenient to use my left, or if my right shoulder is aching, I'll use my left no problem. When I was learning to write in elementary school, I kept switching my hands until my teacher eventually told me to use my right hand. I never practiced with my left, so I can only write with my right hand, but when I'm using other tools there's an equal chance of me using my left hand, especially for finer details.

82. How fast can you type?

The fastest I've ever clocked my typing was 120 words per minute! (Granted, I was typing the words of an Evanescence song I know by heart. But my brother timed me. My youngest sibling witnessed it. I typed for a minute and a half, and typed 180 words. Only a handful of typos, too!)

Even with editing and proofing, the temporary staffing test thing clocked me at 85wpm.

In short: HELLA fast.

90. What makes you angry?

A few broad-stroke, general things. Cruelty, bigotry, mistreatment, nationalism, cults, capitalism, generally things that hurt or manipulate people or leverage their suffering for someone else's gain.

Also people being willfully ignorant in a way that hurts other people. Subset of that, internet trolls. Other subset, intentionally ignoring peoples' needs.

And those who don't respect your boundaries when you lay them out clearly. It's okay if you accidentally cross a line without knowing I Don't Like That, but when I TELL someone "Hey, that's not cool, don't do that", and they keep doing it, then I get irritated. Forgetting the first few times is one thing. It'll Irk^tm me but it's understandable, I won't get Angry. But if you intentionally keep doing it because you think my reaction is funny, or because you don't think it's a problem and I ~shouldn't~ be bothered, then I'll get Annoyed and that quickly coalesces into Actual Anger.

98. Do you have any scars?

I have a few, actually! All but one of them are super tiny, though. A lot of them have faded since I started taking vitamins and medication that lets me actually absorb nutrition, but here's a selection off the top of my head:

~ The big one on my left arm from falling on a broken fan grate at about 4 years old.

~ The one at the base of my left pointer finger from my uncle's rabbit biting me.

~ The one on my shoulder from the time we had a breaking decorative fence gazebo thing and I ran into a nail sticking out.

~ The tiny patch of ancient rug burn from the time I was at my then-bestfriend now-girlfriend's house and watched a Teen Titans episode and got so emotional I somehow tripped over myself and scraped the back of my right hand on the carpet.

~ Very near that one, I have a scar from the time one of our family cats fell off the back of the couch and I caught her midair, but not without her claws digging into my hand. (She was just trying to catch herself, not hurt me, don't worry! It was Belle, who I strongly suspect had some kind of neurological thing going on because she was pretty clumsy and moved differently from other cats...)

~ I have very faded but still noticably Different-Textured scars on my heels from my very FIRST cosplay, the 80's Raven one. She had heels in the comics. I had never worn heeled shoes for longer than an hour before. I think I was at that convention for four hours. I didn't know my heels were actually bleeding until I took them off, and nobody had told me to put something cushiony over them...

~ The scar on my hip from, ironically, cosplaying my character who has a scar on her hip. My father, who did special effects as a hobby, told me to use rubber cement to stick the fake scar on, and I listened to him. Please, dear gods, DO NOT USE RUBBER CEMENT on your skin! That shit BURNED going on, it stung all day, and by the time the convention was over and I had to take a shower, it had eaten through four small patches of my skin. I later learned that stuff is super caustic and it was not, in fact, just because I have sensitive skin. I'm still bewildered that he told me to do that??? Spirit gum is the obvious answer, I know that now, but I very much did Not know that back then.`

#cyberninja #rhs answered an ask

[thecanadianowl]

Justice league Snydercut review

Wow talk about a long movie. Remember Mass Effect's 3 shit endings that were later improved (sorta) with DLCs. Well that is kinda how this movie is.

Before we start this, I just wanna say that I was very impartial throughout the whole snydercut movement. I wasn't part of it but I do see the good that they did in regards to some of their charities and with how the fandom itself has been painted in a negative light. So its good that they got what they have been demanding for quite some time. Snyder as director for me, I really am not the biggest fan of. His movies have some great cinematic moments that look amazing but the context around it is what muddles it for me.

Is it better than Whedon's JL? YES. To start I'll look at some of the things that I do like.

I do like how it was split into parts.  Gives it that miniseries/Comic book feel

Thank god they removed that stupid cringy flash landing on top of Diana's chest scene.

Darkseid looks good. I know some people have issues with it but I liked it. I mean looking at it first glance has me convinced its Darkseid. His voice isn't too bad either. Reminds me a bit of Injustice 2.

As much as I have issues with Darkseid being introduced so early I do like that he had a brief confrontation/glaredown with the League, foreshadowing a possible in person encounter and that the League needs to expand if they are going to fight against Darkseid.  

Steppenwolf's design has greatly improved and looks better than before.

Loved the scenes between Alfred and Diana.  Wish there was more of that.

I loved how the movie added Cyborg, Aquaman and Flash attempting to stop Superman from getting to Batman. I also liked how in this version,  Batman pleading to Clark's humanity telling him that world needs him and he needs to snap out of it.  Also bonus for taking out that scene of Batman on the ground groaning about how old he is getting.

Okay seeing Clark get the black suit and having the voiceovers of both his father's merge together works in terms of Clark's arc into becoming the person he was meant to be. Also like the use of Zimmerman's Ideal of Hope score wished they let it play out a little longer.  Probably my favourite moment in the film is where Superman just takes Steppenwolf's Axe like its nothing and freezes it.

Now to go into some of the more critical stuff that bugged me when watching.

For a movie that is 4 hours long, pacing issues were bound to happen. I think the first example of this can be found in the opening with the Superman scream wave (which started to get a bit hilarious when his screams could be heard every now and then) hitting all three mother boxes. they are shown individually reacting to it and it takes time, where it could have just showed them together or an compilation of each of the motherboxes waking up. I know it Snyder's thing but tone down on the slow mo. Like some instances its fine (like with bullet time or Flash's scenes) but other instances I'm just like alright I get it.

The scene involving Cyborg transferring money into that single mother's bank account. Is he gonna do this for all the people suffering just like her? or just for that one person? I mean if you can hack into the world monetary system, you can solve a lot of financial issues affecting  the majoirty and not just one person. Did I miss the scene but why did Cyborg go from helping one poor person, suggesting the potential good he can do to change the world for the better  to "Fuck the world". Seems a bit inconsistent in character. Especially since he knows who Diana is (from what he says)  and that Parademons are after the motherbox. Maybe her offering help, you should take it? idk Vic. Also the whole Auto defense system malfunction, would it not be better if this was established beforehand where we see Vic struggling to maintain his body's autonomy leading up to the Superman confrontation? Prior to that it seemed he had it under control and his biggest conflict throughout the movie seemed more to be with him coming to terms with his new body. With that being said, Cyborg's character here is much more interesting and better than it was originally. I can see why Ray Fisher is so pissed (well that and the abuse he faced).  I am glad this was improved and gave the character a lot more to do.

The movie still has the same issue as before in regards to the whole motherbox plot and how convenient it was that all three are located on earth. You would think that with the involvement of Darkseid/Steppenwolf that separating them to distinct locations across space would make it more difficult to collect them. I mean we know that the Green Lanterns exist (we saw one get chomped), you'd think that they or the guardians would take one and secure it on Oa. The pushback to this would be "well there was only one green lantern and he died, so how could they retrieve the box?" which begs my question, why send only one? I mean it has been established that Darkseid is a known conqueror of worlds, you'd think the Guardians would be smart enough to send more than one Lantern to aid Earth in their fight.  Did they not think it would be a good idea to have the corps be more involved/keep an eye on earth since it is the only planet that was able to repel Darkseid's forces?

Why is it that the best idea of security when it comes to humans is to bury it? Would it not be better in optics to look over it and know its location instead of dropping it somewhere on the off chance that someone might find it due to being  curious or the land changing/altering  making the box more easy to attain? A situation as dire/serious as this, you would think that the Amazons/Atlanteans would have been better prepped with armor/weapons for such an event. I mean you have the arrow of Artemis that shoots quite a distance to give Diana a message but not some kind of weapon that hurts/cripples Steppenwolf? Or better yet, how about the moment that the boxes started acting up after Superman's death, that Atlantis/Themiscarya would put aside any differences they had with one another and to the outside world to come together to secure the boxes?  How could Darkseid forget the name of the only planet that was able to force him to retreat? nor does he know that it harbors the anti life?

Did this movie break Aquaman's continuity? because from the dialogue between Mera and Arthur, its implied that Atlanna abandoned/left Arthur at Tom's doorsteps whereas in the movie,  we see Atlanna spend a couple of years with Tom and raising baby Arthur before she was forced to come back. You'd think Zack being a producer for the Aquaman  movie would have edited that line or made it more clear. Well that or James Wan F'ed up when making the movie.

"I've never seen a being as strong as Steppenwolf" Did Diana just forget Ares aka the god of war who killed the Greek Pantheon/Old gods and orchestrated the first World War? Hell from the looks of the flashback it seemed Ares (I'm assuming its Ares, if its Hades, my bad) was getting some good hits in on Darkseid, who is superior to Steppenwolf.  While we are on the topic of Diana, it's a bit odd that Snyder who  was a producer on WW84 where one of the biggest focuses on the movie that Patty Jenkins talked about was how Diana doesn't solve her problems with violence (even though her primary weapons in this movie are a sword and shield but okay. Then again New 52 hasn't done a good job in disproving that), yet in this movie we see her using her gauntlet smash to fucking kill the one remaining terorrist. Like sure you can argue that they were terrorists and deserve to die, but given how easy and quick it was for her to take out the previous guys, why do something that runs the risks of destroying the very building that you are in (with hostages). I mean from the look of the blast and how much debris fell from the building outside, and it was a miracle no one (but the terrorist) got hurt/killed.

Why did Steppenwolf  kidnap  them in the first place? Just use that mind extracting device you used on the Atlantean soldier to see if they know. Seems like a waste of time to collect them in one location only to interrogate them later.

Okay, I'm sorry but even in this cut I still don't like Miller's Barry Allen. He isn't as bad as he was in the theatrical cut but man does it stick out. When he is helping to escort the kidnapped civilians out, why doesn't he just grab them and transfer them to a safe distance? He even makes a comment about how slow they are going. Can I also just say how weird it is for Barry to take time saving Iris to caress her hair and look at her more creepily in slow mo? Like yeah its in slow mo but still I think your priority should be to get everyone to safety as quick as possible and check if anyone else could get hurt.  I will admit that Barry's speech as he is running so fast to reverse time at the end was really good. Tho the more I think about all the slow mo Flash scenes are good.

They still kept the "Let's use the mother box to bring back Superman plot". Why? This is a piece of tech that you don't fully understand how it works and you are going on the whims of someone you just met. Especially if they come back as a different person/mindset all together.  If Superman 's death was the reason that allowed for the Mother box to call to Steppenwolf/Darkseid, what the hell were they doing prior to Superman's arrival on earth? I mean we've seen how easy it was for Steppenwolf to attain the two boxes even if they were guarded, so why the wait ?. I get that Batman is going through an arc and trying to change from the person he was but how does go from "1% chance of absolute certainty" to "let's go on a whim and have faith" when it comes to resurrecting Superman? 

Its gonna be awkward as to how Clark will explain his sudden return from the grave around the same time Superman came back.

I was wondering when the Knightmare scene will play out. Jared leto's Joker isn't over with me, it seems way too try-hard to be edgy. Other than that yeah, not much I can say about it. Tho do we seriously need another iteration where Superman (or someone with Superman like powers) is evil?

I also love how nonchalant Bruce is about J'onn appearing in front him. However the revelation that J'onn was that army general all the time breaks so much of continuity (and just why now did you decide to show up and help and not idk the time Zod invaded and nearly  terraformed earth, HELL WHY TF DIDN'T SHOW UP TO HELP THE LEAGUE IF YOU KNEW ABOUT DARKSEID, I'M SORRY TO RAG ON BUT REALLY THIS CAMEO JUST OPENS UP SO MANY QUESTIONS, IT JUST SEEMS LIKE AN "PALPATINE WAS BEHIND THIS ALL ALONG" KIND OF THING ).

In terms of getting a sequel, I am not sure if WB is going to go through with it given that their current vision seems to be a different route than the one Snyder intended so who knows. Despite my criticisms I do believe this is Snyder's best DCEU film to date and probably one of his better films. You could tell that he put in a lot to make this. The movie itself does have issues mostly due to the plot surrounding the motherbox as well as pacing. I would say it's worth the watch at least once, though I think its best to watch it in doses rather than one sitting. Ultimately this is the version that we should have gotten and I can see why so many people who were supportive of Zack wanted or vouched for him to finish it. Regardless, I think the very least I am happy for Snyder. If you like Snyder's previous stuff, you will like this one, if you don't, your perception of the film won't change significantly other than some cool bits here and there.  

#dceu #justice league #snydercut #snydercut spoilers #dc comics

[askjaybird-hyssop]

OOC: Hi! I just found your blog because of a friend in the MH group chat, and could I please get a sorta more detailed recap than the one you've pinned? You don't have to, but I'd like to get caught up on everything, and it seems really well crafted from what I've seen! -Blue

//ooc: Sure! Just for reference though, I’ll link the [first post] which has links under the section called “The Story/AU” for a link to some other posts with lots of information too! I linked those all because there’s so much stuff that’s been fleshed out that it’d take forever to compile it all onto one document (I’m talking over 5,000+ words total).

(EDIT: I’m not sure how long this is but I think it’s probably gotten close to this  number lol)

This is also going to be pretty long, but I’ll try keeping it as short as possible (and it’s only going to be talking about what’s happened on the blog so far.) This will include information from the first 2 chapters, so if you haven’t read those be aware that there are spoilers here!

If you want even more info about the entire series/AU and are willing to hear spoilers just DM me and I’ll try getting back to you asap!

Warning: This is extremely long. Like, extremely long

--- --- ---

So, first and foremost, let’s talk about supernatural lore and the time loop. If you want to skip down to the next part just talking about the blog, it’s after the next black line (but you’ll probably be confused if you don’t read this).

In this world there is no “one true God” that rules everything. In reality, there’s a multitude of different supernatural creatures from all religions and mythology. This means there are Angels (ex: Seraph and Cherub), Demons (ex: Succubus and Kitsune), Dragons (ex: Hydra and Bakunawa), etc.

Or, in other words, everyone’s right in their religion because they all exist.

There’s a lot of lore here that I can’t go into without risking spoilers, but the last thing I can say is that The Operator is considered a type of  wraþþe demon (aka a demon of wrath). 

So, as Jay is shot and bleeding out the story mentions how he basically begged to any god or creature listening to help protect the others affected by their situation and how he wishes he could go back and save them all. Remember when I said that there are a bunch of supernatural creatures here? Well, they were there watching as he was dying and said his wish.

And what do they do? They panic. 

Why? Because they know that he is dying and they can’t let him die. People like Jay are extremely rare to come by because of his soul.

“His mother, who was away with the other leaders, was one of the most powerful Seraphim. His father, a mere mortal. But they loved each other greatly and their son had been blessed with a bright soul and a passion to support others. Yet here he was dying, after trying to help a childhood friend who had been possessed and tormented, the light within him desperately fighting to stay alive. No, this wasn't supposed to be happening.”

This explains why they are all freaking out. Because, while there are tons of different supernatural creatures, Angels and Demons still don’t get along and are in a constant fight. Some creatures, like the Phoenix, side with the Angels. They are sometimes also referred to as the “Celestial”. Others, like the Vampires, would side with the Demons. Sometimes they are referred to as the “Terrestrial”. Some creatures didn’t take any sides and were considered “Peacekeepers” or neutral parties.

The reasoning for the different names is because most fights between the Demons and Angels occur on the mortal realm. These fights aren’t the typical bloodbaths some people like to imagine, no, they are usually dealing with the interference of human life and the mortal plane.

The Angels, and usually the ones who side with them, are called Celestials because they typically are the creatures who have a harder time interacting with humans or going to the mortal plane while being visible. Demons and the neutral parties, on the other hand, are able to interact with the mortal plane a lot easier. This is why The Operator is able to be seen and have such strong effect on everyone.

This is also the reason why Jay was, and still is, being targeted by The Operator. When he was dying, The Operator was waiting to attempt to steal his soul and destroy it, because people with these souls are typically people who can interact with or be influenced by both the mortal plane and the supernatural plane. More often then not, these people don’t know about this and are targeted by both Celestials and Terrestrials. Because the Celestials have a harder time being able to influence the mortal plane, their goal is to try and use these people to help other humans, the world around them, and humans being hunted or possessed by Terrestrials. Demons, on the other hand, want to chaos destruction and chaos. They typically target humans and use them to create these things for them. In a sense, they use these humans that are possessed or corrupted by them as a food source. Also, it pisses off the Celestials, so there’s that bonus.

Only the most powerful Celestials and moderately powerful Terrestrials can actually view and interact with the mortal plane. All Terrestrials can view the mortal plane, however only the moderately powerful Celestials and most powerful Celestials can start the viewing of the mortal plane. For Celestials, if one creature starts a viewing of the mortal plane then any others who pass by can look over and see. Only the moderately powerful and the most powerful Celestials can actually go down and be there (even though they’re not visible to others). The most powerful Celestials are the only ones who can make themselves visible to humans and are able to interact with them.

Because Demons and other Terrestrials have such easy access to the mortal plane, this usually causes moderately powerful Celestials to be sent down to the mortal world, where they are unable to actually be seen or felt, and they usually fight to protect over the person/people that the demon use.

Now, Jay’s dad was one of the few exceptions to the rule of influence. This was because when he was in his late-teens him and some friends decided to mess with some witchcraft and supernatural stuff, but he was the only one actually affected ( because he was distantly related to another person with a partial-celestial soul, so there were very small traces of it in his blood. Even then, it was an incredibly small chance that this would actually happen). He had no idea this actually happened until he met Jay’s mom in the back of an alley one night. The rest is history.

So how does The Operator play into this?

The Operator saw Jay’s soul while he was attached to Tim and wanted to destroy or corrupt it. Because Jay was really close to Alex at the time, and The Operator couldn’t directly attach himself to Jay due to his soul being partially Celestial, The Operator decided to attach himself to Alex.

His goal was to cause destruction, chaos, and to cause as much pain/suffering to Jay as possible. (Note: he is classified as a moderately powerful demon. Still extremely hard to beat, especially for humans. To put this into context, if Jay currently fought a demon considered lowly powerful, he would most likely be left completely beat up and hurt, even though he has a chance of winning. These low level demons are still extremely powerful compared to humans)

While Jay’s dad had no problem being contacted by other Celestials or Peacekeepers, both his parents agreed they didn’t want him involved in the disputes of the supernatural world. They forbade any creatures from interacting with him and told them to keep him out of anything even remotely supernatural. Sadly, because Jay’s mom is a Seraph and is considered to have a lot of power, the other Celestials were not allowed to help him in the past. Their only rule was to make sure he didn’t get involved and that he didn’t get killed by a Terrestrial. That is why they panic so much.

Another note, People with partially Celestial souls like Jay are extremely rare, and some have stronger souls than others letting them see the different planes. Those with strong enough souls can interact with the two planes, which the Celestials find to be very helpful for when they want to help protect a person but are unable to manifest in the human world. These people sometimes act as messengers and communicators between worlds, but are usually not ones to advertise their abilities. Again, those who actually can interact with both planes are even more rare than Celestial-Human souls. Those with stronger souls are also targeted a lot more, which is why Jay made it all the way till meeting Tim and the others without ever being attacked by a Terrestrial.

So, what happens now? How did he get saved? What caused the time looping?

A phoenix decided to help him and give him what’s called a “blessing”. 

Whoa, whoa, whoa, another large and important piece of lore? Yep.

Different creatures can give what is called a blessing to a person, normally it barely affects them (ex: a little bit more good luck, passion for helping others, stealth and ability to hide crimes easier, more strategic mind, etc.), but because Jay already had a special soul used to reach out through the planes to help people, this is what caused him to gain his wings with the blessing from the Phoenix.

Blessings are typically small things that just boost another trait or part of a person. Some Terrestrials use their blessings to help make more chaos and increase damage, others don’t really care. The same thing applied to most creatures. Some care about giving their blessings out to peoples, others don’t. (Another note: a person can only have one blessing at a time, and the creature that blesses them can only bless 5 people total)

Jay’s soul cannot take blessings like a normal person’s soul, because it is a mix of human and celestial. When growing up, he always had a passion for helping others more than himself, and this was the minor influence of his soul. His powers were relatively weak though, and the only thing that actually occurred around others was that he had a stronger sense and ability of empathy and helping people through different event or what they were dealing with. He could’ve strengthened his powers to get them stronger and to possibly protect himself more, but because his parents refused to tell him he had no idea his soul was any different.

When the Phoenix gave Jay his blessing, it strengthened his soul, which let him gain more of an immunity to The Operator and other demon’s abilities/effects on humans (but only after he built an immunity to it himself. Before he wasn’t able to have any immunity at all. Think of it like someone who never had an immune system finally getting one). 

Because his soul was different, it could also warp the blessing to get certain things out of it. As a result, he gained his Green Jay wings (due to both the Phoenix and his mother being winged Celestials, also a small pun on his nickname), a stronger empathetic ability (now he can pick up on other’s emotions easier, but unknown to everyone for a while, they can pick up and feel his emotions. This can be dangerous in the fact that his negative emotions can end up hurting those around him by making them feel this way too. It’s small enough to where people can tell it’s not theirs if they focus but strong enough to be able to be felt), and is now able to touch (and if he used enough strength, harm) other demons (The energy drawback is extreme, especially if not trained or strengthened and if he attempted to kill a demon it would also result in him dying too as of right now). The other aspects that he got were a result of the warping of the blessing (claws, eye changes, markings, etc.) as a means to protect himself now that more Terrestrials will be targeting him. 

When Jay finally starts strengthening his powers, he’ll be able to start helping fend off The Operator (along with other Terrestrials) and he will be trying to help protect the other members of the Marble Hornets crew from the Terrestrials too (most won’t target his friends, though, they’ll only go after him. His friends would be considered collateral damage).

So, where does the time loop come into play?

A lot of lore suggests that Phoenixes are able to rebirth themselves in a fire, and because Jay was blessed by a Phoenix he is now stuck in a time loop until he can save all his friends and himself. (Remember, this is also a result of the blessing warping because of his soul. It was to benefit him in the largest way it could, and his last wish before he died was to help save his friends)

--- --- ---

Now that we’ve gotten most the lore out of the way, let’s get onto the recap of what’s happened so far in this blog.

Jay was shot, got his powers/blessing, and woke up on March 23rd, 2006 with the Green Jay wings and an open bullet hole.

The bullet hole won’t bleed out or kill him, it’s more of an irritant than anything. It still hurts him, and will bleed non-stop (increases if his heart rate elevates). He ends up trying to clean it up and bandages it. (If his heart rate increases and he bleeds more, he has to change the bandages sooner than normal to prevent staining. He hasn’t mentioned much about the bandages on purpose, because he’s nervous and honestly terrified of the entire situation surrounding the bullet hole.)

He started this blog as a way to log any information he finds, along with having reference in case his memory was removed again. He refused to go over and create a new Twitter or YouTube account because he knew Alex had watched the previous videos, and he really didn’t want to risk Alex or any of the others seeing that.

He has both his old phone and the phone that lets him access the Tumblr. The other phone is the same as his phone he had when he was shot, but due to some timeline difficulties it has the date as May 27th, 2020 (aka the start date of the blog!). He finds out that he is unable to connect the phone to his camera/camcorder that he bought and is hesitant to risk it with anything else (they glitch and crash, any footage or pictures on the old devices will become corrupted and useless).

Because he’s back in time, that also means he had to start adjusting himself back into the routine he had before the Marble Hornets fiasco. No one remembers what happened and the only people he currently has contact to is Alex, Seth, Tim, and Brian. Alex knew him as a friend since middle school, Seth is more of an acquaintance of his known through Alex. Tim and Brian he now has contact to because of the Marble Hornets castings. He has not tried getting contact with Jessica or Amy yet.

Within the first couple days, someone sent in some code to mess with him. He then started being on guard for any sign of TTA or The Operator, even though he doesn’t think it was them.

He then goes to class after a while and another classmate sees his wings. They asked him if he was cosplaying for an even or something, and even though he had no idea what it meant he just said yea. They complimented the realistic style of them and went about their day. Jay had no idea previously that he had his wings or other physical changes.

He had felt something weird on his back, but due to being recently thrown back in time he was so focused on trying to seem ‘normal’ he didn’t realize he had the few things that literally scream “somethings not right”. That is how he finds out about his wings and other features. He has managed to hide them, but he hasn’t revealed how. He stops posting for a while even though he said he was going to send out an update post with a breakdown of what he knows (and wants the public to know)

After around 3 or 4 days, Jay finally posts again and says he woke up in Rosswood with no memory of getting there or any memory past posting that text-post. He later says he’s starting to regain the memories but they’re blurry and he can’t understand them. He also couldn’t remember clearly what happened leading up to him being shot at first, but even though he doesn’t say it that’s something that is included in the returning memories. 

He notes that when he woke up there seemed to have been a struggle, but he is still unsure what caused that. He doesn’t think it was Masky or Hoodie, but he’s still keeping a look out for them now too.

After that, he posted the pictures of his camcorder that he had tried hooking up to his phone to transfer the pictures, but it was completely black due to the resulting glitch. He then posted a couple hours later the picture of the screen working and say that he finally got it working again but was hesitant to try connecting his phone to it again.

He currently doesn’t know if he has a masked state or not (hint: he doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean Skully isn’t going to make an appearance later on!) and that resulted in him being on the look out for any suspicious masks too.

His next post is him saying he’s nervous about the auditions that are the next day, and he that he knows he can’t try asking Alex to cancel the film because it would seem even more suspicious. (Alex is already very concerned because of the days of silence and the sudden “cosplay” that someone saw him in, but hasn’t said it outright)

After someone suggested it, he decided to try convincing Alex at the end to go with Tim and Brian to Applebee’s (and he ended up getting dragged along as well). He also complains because the auditions were set to go from 11 am to 7 pm, and he really didn’t want to leave the blog alone for so long when he had also just recently lost his memory. He goes, tries posting a little bit, but then Alex got curious and he had to stop.

The same person who suggested that, though, put emphasis on Jay’Bird’, making him concerned and suspicious because he hadn’t said anything about the changes (and he still hasn’t! He’s really nervous to say it in case the others see).

Marble Hornets auditions were March 30th, 2006. That was when he finally got contact with Tim and Brian, but his behavior was noticed by Alex and he’s been asked multiple times if he’s okay. They both know he’s not, but Jay hasn’t told anything to Alex. (Can you guess what tipped Alex off? Hint: it’s something that some trauma victims experience)

Later, the person who suggested taking Alex to Applebee’s explained they thought it was some nickname irony or something, which he said he understood. He also noted he forgot how fast some of you guys were at figuring things out or making theories/cracking codes. He also goes on to explain a little more about the changes his body has but stay away from anything bird related.

Someone asked why he was being so secretive with the other changes and notes that if it can be passed off as cosplay it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. His response is basically “have you even seen some of the cosplays out there???”. He goes on to say that even though cosplay wasn’t as big back then there were still some extremely large and complex ones out there, and basically gives away that the changes are large enough to be extremely noticeable and that the smaller ones probably weren’t actually noticed by the student who asked him.

Someone also asked if he was planning on telling the others, and he said that he wasn’t going to yet. He really doesn’t want to show anyone the phone and is hoping no one sees or notices the changes in appearance/behavior.

He also explains a little bit later about the changes and there are some that can come on command but none of them can be affected by him wanting them to go away (meaning, if they showed up around the others then he can’t force them to go away. He can make them appear at his will, though!)

When someone asks if he has something like bird wings, as a joke, he just says “No comment”. 

His next text-post just says “It’s so hot out here I feel like I’m dying oh my god

This is a really bad idea

I’m making a mistake”

After that, all the code is released and that’s pretty much everything that’s happened and been revealed so far.

Also, a note: remember that you guys all can affect how the story goes! There are some plot points that will happen no matter what, but it’s determine by when, how soon, and if it’s bad or not by you guys. If you’re confused, you’ll understand what I mean later on, don’t worry ;)

#//ooc #I'll keep this up just because it's important and I feel like other people would appreciate this more later on too #recap #lore