#space weed also doomed the universe | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bookgeekgrrl · 1 year

Text

My media this week (13-19 Nov 2022)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😍 👂‍Ocean's Echo (Everina Maxwell, author; Raphael Corkhill, narrator) - same universe as Winter's Orbit but completely unrelated so you absolutely can read this standalone. where WO was a sci-fi romance, this is more a romantic sci-fi. Lots of space military and politicking and being used as pawns in everyone else's games. I absolutely adore Tennal, who shows up to everything with an "I think I will cause problems on purpose!" mindset and Surit, whose steadfast moral compass makes him a great soldier right up until orders conflict with that bone-deep conviction. I also really dug the expanded world building; genuinely hope there'll be more books where we get more of it.

😍 Itsy Bitsy Yoga (wearing_tearing) - reread, 59K - Stucky no powers AU with single dad Steve and toddler yoga teacher Bucky - soft & fluffy as a fleece blanket straight out the dryer

😍 Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots (The Cabots #3) (Cat Sebastian) - every book in this series is solid gold and this is no exception - great execution of the 'didn't realize we were already dating' trope. also Cat had this to say about it in her last newsletter and I think it's so dead on accurate: Earlier this year I read a slew of Kirk-McCoy fanfic in which those two fools didn't realize they were dating. I was enthralled. Delighted. Mesmerized. I took to social media to complain about the lack of this trope in commercial fiction and, predictably, within 48 hours was drafting this book. And thus was born Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots, in which two people love one another very much and then later on realize they've been in a relationship all along. I think (and I'm spitballing here) that there may be something inherently queer about this trope, maybe because in order for it to work, the characters pretty much have to be in some kind of queerplatonic relationship to begin with. Also, there may be something queer or queer-friendly about how even discussing this kind of relationship involves getting into the weeds about what constitutes a relationship in the first place, which kind of goes against the grain of a heteronormative prix fixe one size fits all relationships?

💖💖 +107K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

love you like rlb (orphan_account) - MCU: Stucky, 3.4K - reread of this fave - forever grateful the original creator chose to orphan it and leave it available rather than remove it entirely

Ninety-Nine Problems (lordeofstucky) - MCU: no powers omegaverse, 27K - reread; semi-traditional omegaverse with some absolutely premier dirty talk from steve

Stevie Doesn't Know (aaliona) - Stranger Things: Steddie, 34K - a fun little rock star/barista AU

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

The Big Brunch - s1, e1-3 - this has the same peaceful vibes as the original flavor GBBO and I love it

Death In Paradise - Christmas Special 2021; s11, e1

Leverage: Redemption - s2, e1-3 - delighted to have my beloved thief family back again

Abbott Elementary - s2, e8

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Ologies with Alie Ward - Bryology (MOSS) Encore with Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer

Switched on Pop - Willow Smith rocks harder

Decoder Ring Plus - The Truth About #TheDress

Vibe Check - All Skinfolk Ain’t Kinfolk - this podcast is THE BEST WAY to start your Wednesday!

It's Been a Minute - 'Abbott Elementary' gets teachers

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Trailing of the Sheep

Shedunnit Book Club - Clerical Crimes

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - African Heritage House

99% Invisible #405 - Freedom House Ambulance Service: American Sirens

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Larry Spring Museum of Common Sense Physics

One Year Plus - 1942: When Internment Came to Alaska

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Tanks of Flamenco Beach

Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - Synth War II: Digital Doom

Song Exploder - Omah Lay "Never Forget"

Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster - Ep 151: Rob Brydon

Into It - 'Wakanda' Over It or: How I Learned to Come to Terms with 'Black Panther' Ambivalence

Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster - Ep 21: Dara O Briain

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

my "Invisible Miracle Sledgehammer" playlist - basically just all of Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins & Mike and the Mechanics discography 😆

CREDITS: Joe Strummer

Meet Me @ the Altar

The Donnas

Swinging Sixties Hits

Bruno Mars Radio • Upbeat

#sunday reading recap #bookgeekgrrl's reading habits #bookgeekgrrl's soundtracks #the volume of reading was fairly low but the quality was exceptionally high this week #the cabots series #ocean's echo #fanfic ftw #i think i might have to abandon death in paradise until they get a new dci bc i cannot handle how the writing is treating neville!#allergies and chronic illnesses are not jokes! spiking someone's drink is not 'cute' or 'funny'!#at least i had the joy of the big brunch & leverage: redemption to make up for it #vibe check podcast #99% invisible podcast #20k hz podcast #decoder ring podcast #into it podcast #off menu podcast #one year podcast #shedunnit podcast #ologies podcast #song exploder #switched on pop podcast #atlas obscura podcast #it's been a minute podcast #the donnas #meet me @ the altar #joe strummer #genesis #peter gabriel #phil collins

7 notes · View notes

nasa · 4 years

Text

May the Four Forces Be With You!

May the force be with you? Much to learn you still have, padawan. In our universe it would be more appropriate to say, “May the four forces be with you.”

There are four fundamental forces that bind our universe and its building blocks together. Two of them are easy to spot — gravity keeps your feet on the ground while electromagnetism keeps your devices running. The other two are a little harder to see directly in everyday life, but without them, our universe would look a lot different!

Let’s explore these forces in a little more detail.

Gravity: Bringing the universe together

If you jump up, gravity brings you back down to Earth. It also keeps the solar system together … and our galaxy, and our local group of galaxies and our supercluster of galaxies.

Gravity pulls everything together. Everything, from the bright centers of the universe to the planets farthest from them. In fact, you (yes, you!) even exert a gravitational force on a galaxy far, far away. A tiny gravitational force, but a force nonetheless.

Credit: NASA and the Advanced Visualization Laboratory at the National Center for Supercomputing and B. O'Shea, M. Norman

Despite its well-known reputation, gravity is actually the weakest of the four forces. Its strength increases with the mass of the two objects involved. And its range is infinite, but the strength drops off as the square of the distance. If you and a friend measured your gravitational tug on each other and then doubled the distance between you, your new gravitational attraction would just be a quarter of what it was. So, you have to be really close together, or really big, or both, to exert a lot of gravity.

Even so, because its range is infinite, gravity is responsible for the formation of the largest structures in our universe! Planetary systems, galaxies and clusters of galaxies all formed because gravity brought them together.

Gravity truly surrounds us and binds us together.

Electromagnetism: Lighting the way

You know that shock you get on a dry day after shuffling across the carpet? The electricity that powers your television? The light that illuminates your room on a dark night? Those are all the work of electromagnetism. As the name implies, electromagnetism is the force that includes both electricity and magnetism.

Electromagnetism keeps electrons orbiting the nucleus at the center of atoms and allows chemical compounds to form (you know, the stuff that makes up us and everything around us). Electromagnetic waves are also known as light. Once started, an electromagnetic wave will travel at the speed of light until it interacts with something (like your eye) — so it will be there to light up the dark places.

Like gravity, electromagnetism works at infinite distances. And, also like gravity, the electromagnetic force between two objects falls as the square of their distance. However, unlike gravity, electromagnetism doesn't just attract. Whether it attracts or repels depends on the electric charge of the objects involved. Two negative charges or two positive charges repel each other; one of each, and they attract each other. Plus. Minus. A balance.

This is what happens with common household magnets. If you hold them with the same “poles” together, they resist each other. On the other hand, if you hold a magnet with opposite poles together — snap! — they’ll attract each other.

Electromagnetism might just explain the relationship between a certain scruffy-looking nerf-herder and a princess.

Strong Force: Building the building blocks

Credit: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The strong force is where things get really small. So small, that you can’t see it at work directly. But don’t let your eyes deceive you. Despite acting only on short distances, the strong force holds together the building blocks of the atoms, which are, in turn, the building blocks of everything we see around us.

Like gravity, the strong force always attracts, but that’s really where their similarities end. As the name implies, the force is strong with the strong force. It is the strongest of the four forces. It brings together protons and neutrons to form the nucleus of atoms — it has to be stronger than electromagnetism to do it, since all those protons are positively charged. But not only that, the strong force holds together the quarks — even tinier particles — to form those very protons and neutrons.

However, the strong force only works on very, very, very small distances. How small? About the scale of a medium-sized atom’s nucleus. For those of you who like the numbers, that’s about 10-15 meters, or 0.000000000000001 meters. That’s about a hundred billion times smaller than the width of a human hair! Whew.

Its tiny scale is why you don’t directly see the strong force in your day-to-day life. Judge a force by its physical size, do you?

Weak Force: Keeping us in sunshine

If you thought it was hard to see the strong force, the weak force works on even smaller scales — 1,000 times smaller. But it, too, is extremely important for life as we know it. In fact, the weak force plays a key role in keeping our Sun shining.

But what does the weak force do? Well … that requires getting a little into the weeds of particle physics. Here goes nothing! We mentioned quarks earlier — these are tiny particles that, among other things, make up protons and neutrons. There are six types of quarks, but the two that make up protons and neutrons are called up and down quarks. The weak force changes one quark type into another. This causes neutrons to decay into protons (or the other way around) while releasing electrons and ghostly particles called neutrinos.

So for example, the weak force can turn a down quark in a neutron into an up quark, which will turn that neutron into a proton. If that neutron is in an atom’s nucleus, the electric charge of the nucleus changes. That tiny change turns the atom into a different element! Such reactions are happening all the time in our Sun, giving it the energy to shine.

The weak force might just help to keep you in the (sun)light.

All four of these forces run strong in the universe. They flow between all things and keep our universe in balance. Without them, we’d be doomed. But these forces will be with you. Always.

You can learn more about gravity from NASA’s Space Place and follow NASAUniverse on Twitter or Facebook to learn about some of the cool cosmic objects we study with light.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

#nasa #star wars #universe #May the fourth be with you #space #science #atoms #life #particle physics #Sun #gravity #force #science facts #space science

6K notes · View notes

asleepinawell · 3 years

Text

Book Recs

I was gonna do one of these at the end of the year, but I’ve somehow managed to read 26 books this year already (12 novellas, 14 novels), almost all featuring queer authors and/or characters so this is already a long list.

Note: There’s a few on here I was kind of meh about, but in most of those cases it was a ‘book might be good but it’s not for me so i’ll mention it to put it on people’s radar anyway’ type of thing. Insert the usual necessary tumblr disclaimer about all of this being only my opinion and your opinions are valid too etc etc.

In order of when I read them:

Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir - Fantasy novella from the author of gideon the ninth that’s a twist on the classic princess trapped in a tower waiting for a prince story. Quite fun. (novella)

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht - Dark fantasy about revenge and magic. m/m couple but like I said it’s pretty dark and twisted all around so definitely not a happy queer romantic story. My opinion was interesting premise that could have been executed better and probably should have been a full novel to embellish on the world building potential. (novella)

A Memory Called Empire & A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine - Probably tied with murderbot as the best things I read this year. Scifi, f/f couple, wonderfully done exploration of what it means to fall in love with a culture that is destroying your own. More of the many queer anti-imperialist books that have come out recently and certainly some of the best. The second one is a direct continuation of the first. (2 novels)

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson - This is the third in the Baru Cormorant series (The Masquerade) and was my favorite so far. The second and third book were originally one book that got split I believe and the second book didn’t stand alone as well (though was still great), but the third book really made up for that. Dark fantasy world starring a queer woc whose country and culture is destroyed by the imperial forces of that world colonizing and assimilating them. She vows revenge and decides to work her way up within her enemy’s ranks to enact it from within and bring an empire to ruins. Really really fascinating study of so many different aspects of our own world and the systems which enable and allow bigotry and how bigoted and violent narratives are used to control minorities. This is definitely a darker series and I was particularly impressed with some of the commentary on the racism prevalent in non-intersectional feminism as depicted through a fantasy world. Can’t wait for the last one to come out! (3 novels, 1 forthcoming)

The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells - There’s six of them--5 novella and a novel--and the first is All Systems Red. Told from the point of view of a self-aware droid/android that is rented out by a corporation to provide protection in a dystopian capitalist hellhole future that isn’t that unlike our current capitalist dystopia but is in space. Muderbot hacked the chip that controlled it and instead of going rogue just wants to be left alone to watch its favorite tv shows. Murderbot is painfully relatable and the books are both funny and poignant. Highly recommended. (5 novellas and a novel).

Winter’s Orbit - Everina Maxwell - This was a m/m romance novel with a scifi backdrop of royal intrigue. Generally I’m more into scifi with a queer relationship in the background than vice versa, so it wasn’t my favorite, BUT I think it was still well written and someone looking for more of the romance angle would enjoy it. Has all your favorite romance tropes in it, especially the yearning. (novel)

The Divine Cities - Robert Jackson Bennett - Three book series. I’m very conflicted about this one. Set in a fantasy world where an enslaved nation overthrew the country enslaving them and now rules over them. It’s a story of what happens after the triumphant victory and within that it’s also a murder mystery tied into the dying magic of the conquered nation. It also has a six foot something naked oily viking man fist fight a cthulhu in a frozen river. The second book was by far my favorite, mostly due to the main character being brilliant. My conflict comes from the fact I don’t feel like the story treated its women and queer characters well. Like it had really great characters but it didn’t do great by them overall. That and the third book didn’t live up to the first two. But still definitely worth a read, can’t stress enough how cool some of the world building was. (3 novels)

Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant - This might be the only one on here I disliked. It’s got a doomed boat voyage and creepy underwater terror and monsters and a super diverse cast of characters, but I just didn’t enjoy the writing style. While having a diverse cast is great, there were a lot of moments where it felt like characters were pausing to explain things about themselves that felt like a tumblr post rather than a normal conversation you might have while actively being hunted by monsters. I also bounced off all the characters. But a lot of people seem to have liked it so if you’re into horror and want a book with a f/f main couple then maybe you’ll enjoy it. (novel)

Dead Djinn Universe - P. Djèlí Clark - Around the early 1900′s, a man in Egypt discovers a way to access another world and bring Djinn and mysterious clockwork beings called Angels through. As a result, Egypt tells the British to get fucked and Cairo becomes one of the most powerful cities in the world. So Egypt, magic, djinn, a steampunk-ish vibe, oh and the main character is a butch queer woman who enjoys wearing dapper suits and looking fabulous while she investigates supernatural events. Her girlfriend is also mysterious and badass. And she has a cat. There’s three novella (one of which technically might be considered a short story) and then the first novel. You should absolutely read the novellas first (A Dead Djinn in Cairo, The Angel of Khan el-Khalili, The Haunting of Tram Car 015). Super fun and imaginative series. (3 novellas and a novel, more forthcoming)

River of Teeth & Taste of Marrow - Sarah Gailey - From the book description

“In the early 20th Century, the United States government concocted a plan to import hippopotamuses into the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This is true. Other true things about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two. This was a terrible plan.”

Queer hippo riders!!!! Very much a western but with hippos. Main couple included a non-binary character. Loved the first one. The second one I was more meh about due to one of the characters I was supposed to like having obnoxious man pain that a woman had to take the brunt of the whole time. Also there were less hippos. But queer hippo riders! Definitely read the first one, and they’re both novellas so no reason not to read the second as well. (2 novellas)

A Psalm for the Wild-Built - Becky Chambers - I may be the only person who hasn’t read the long way to a small angry planet at this point, but I did grab her new novella and I loved it. It made me want to go sit out in the woods and feel peaceful. The world it’s set in feels like a peaceful post-apocalypse...or diverted apocalypse maybe. Humans built robots and robots gained sentience, but instead of rebelling they just up and left and went into the wilderness with a promise that the humans wouldn’t follow them.The remaining human society reshaped itself into something new and peaceful. It’s the story of a monk who leaves their habitual monking duties to go be a tea monk and then later wanders into the wilderness and becomes the first human in ages to meet a robot. Very sad there’s no fan art yet. (novella, more forthcoming)

The March North - Graydon Saunders - This was such a weird book that I’m not sure how to explain it. The prose style is hard to get used to and I suspect a lot of people will bounce off it in the first chapter. There’s no third person pronouns used at all and important events get mentioned once in passing and if you blink you’ll miss them. Set on a world where magic is extremely common to the point that rivers sometimes run with blood or fire and the local weeds are something out of a horror movie and most of the world is run by powerful sorcerer dictators, one country banded together (with the help of a few powerful sorcerers who were tired of all the bullshit) to form a free country where powerful sorcerers wouldn’t rule and the small magics of every day folks could be combined to work together. The story revolves around a Captain of the military force on the border who one day has three very powerful sorcerers sent to them by the main government with the hint that just maybe there’s about to be a big invasion (there is) with the implication of take these guys and go deal with this. The world building is extremely complex and very cool...when you can actually understand what the fuck is going on. There is also a murder sheep named Eustace who breathes fire and eats just about everything and is a Very Good Boy and belongs to the most terrifying sorcerer in the world who appears as a little old grandma with knitting. It had one of the most epic badass and wonderfully grotesque battles I’ve ever read. But yeah, it is not what I would call easy reading. Opinions may vary wildly. I did also read the second one (A Succession of Bad Days) in the series which was easier to follow and had a lot more details about the world, but overall I was more meh about it despite some cool aspects. The chapters and chapters of the extreme details of building a house that made up half the novel just weren’t my thing. (novels).

The Space Between Worlds - Micaiah Johnson - In this world parallels universes exist and we’ve discovered how to travel between them, but the catch is you can only go to worlds where the ‘you’ there is already dead. This turns into an uncomfortable look at who would be the people most likely to have died on many worlds and how things like class and race would fit into that and what we would actually use this ability for (if you guessed stealing resources and the stock market you’d be correct). The main character is a queer woc who travels between worlds with the assistance of her handler (another queer woc) who she has the hots for. She accidentally stumbles on a whole lot of mess and conspiracy and gets swept up in that. Really enjoyed it. (novel)

Witchmark - C.L. Polk - Fantasy world reminiscent of Victorian England (I think?) where a young man with magical gifts runs away from his powerful family to avoid being exploited by them. He joins the army and fights in a war and comes home to try and live a quiet life as a doctor, but a murder pulls him into a larger mystery that upturns his life. Also he’s extremely gay and there’s a prevalent m/m romance. This one was a fun-but-not-mind-blowing one for me. (novel, 2 more in the series I haven’t read)

The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon - This was one of those that everyone loved but I couldn’t get into for some reason. I tried twice and only got about halfway through the second time. It’s got dragons and queer ladies and fantasy world and all the things I like, but I wasn’t that invested in the main story (which included the f/f couple) and was more interested in the smaller story about a woman trying to become a dragon rider. There are few things that beat out a lady and her dragon friend story for me and that was the storyline that felt neglected and took a different turn right when we got to the part I’d been waiting for. But, I know a lot of people whose reading opinions I respect who loved it, and if you like epic fantasy with dragons and queens and treachery and pirates and queer characters then I’d say you should definitely give it a try. (novel)

Bonus: I didn’t read these series this year, but if you haven’t read them yet, you should.

Imperial Radch (Ancillary Justice) - Ann Leckie - Spaceship AI stuck in a human body out for revenge for their former captain, but that summary does not come close to doing it justice. Another one examining imperialism and also gender and race.(3 novels)

Kushiel's Legacy Series - Jacqueline Carey - This is two series, six books total, and starts with Kushiel's Dart. Alternate universe Renaissance-y Europe in a fantastical world where sex isn't shameful and sex workers are respected and prized. Lots of political intrigue and mystery. A lot of BDSM and kinky stuff too (the main character is a sexual masochist, oh and also bi!). I first read this series when I was fifteen or sixteen and it definitely made a big impression on me. Same author also wrote the Santa Olivia series which I’d also recommend. (6 novels)

The Locked Tomb (Gideon the Ninth) - Tamsyn Muir - I mean, if you follow me, you know. If you don’t follow me you still probably know. I’d have felt remiss to have left them off though. Lesbian Necormancers in Space. Memes! Skeletons! Biceps! Go read them. (2 novels, 2 forthcoming, 1 short story)

Books On My To Read List:

Fireheart Tiger - Aliette de Bodard

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water - Zen Cho

Black Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse

This Is How You Lose the TIme War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Ninefox Gambit - Yoon Ha Lee

Also, if anyone has any recs for scifi/fantasy books starring queer men (not necessarily having to do with a queer relationship) and written by queer men I’d love them. There’s a lot written by women, and some of them are great, but I’d love to read a story about queer men from their own perspective.

#book recs #books #mp

43 notes · View notes

scarlet--wiccan · 3 years

Note

I'm making up Avengers formations on my mind and other than the realization that there are TOO MANY AMERICAN, NEW YORK BASED HEROES in Marvel Comics, I also realized that... I forgot what I was going to say, it took me ages to come back to this ask (I left the phone). Anyways, I started to think about the Adventures universe where Storm, instead of Thor, and Giant-Girl (Janet) are on the main team and I was left thinking: what kind of relationship / dynamic would Storm, who was briefly associated with the team on the main universe through her relationship with T'Challa, have with Janet and Wanda if they were ever to be on the same team? And then I started to think, which other non-Americans and characters of color would you want to hang out with Wanda. Like, now that Echo bonded with the Phoenix Force, I think: what kind of dynamic would they have? And then there's Moon Knight, Blade, T'Challa, Shang-Chi. So many other characters, so much potential for interesting dynamics.

You don't really have to rush to answer this ask or answer at all. Just wanted to share a bit of positivity on your askbox. :D

I thought I could come up with an interesting answer by making a list of every character of color that has ever been a member of the Avengers. Unfortunately, after weeding out mutants, dead people, and anyone that's depowered or otherwise occupied, the list ended up being pretty small-- and some of those characters were people that I just don't have any particular interest in playing off of Wanda. So that wasn't helpful! I think the shortlist was about thirteen characters, and most of them were American.

I'm not very familiar with Moon Knight, but I understand that he's pretty mystical and is tied to mythological settings, ancient gods, and all that. I love seeing Wanda operate in that space, and I think they'd click on certain things-- like having an overbearing, somewhat sinister god breathing down your neck, or bouts of offensively written mental health disorders.

I bet that Wanda and Maya would get along well. Wanda has some interesting experience with the Phoenix, and even though I found the order-vs.-chaos concept from AvX to be kind of forced, you could probably do something cool with the idea that Wanda's magic can counter the Phoenix Force. As an ally, she could help Maya safely practice and explore her new power. We've also seen in Star, and even Jean Grey, that Wanda sees her own struggles reflected in people who have had great and terrible power thrust upon them, and she's strongly motivated to help those people whenever possible. I think she would be one to support and advocate for Maya, all the way.

Wanda's got some cool magic friends, like Elizabeth Twoyoungmen and Alice Gulliver. There are also some interesting characters from Doctor Strange (2016) such as Xandra Xu and Médico Místico. Obviously, her boyfriend Jericho is top of the list. There's also, you know, Doom. They have a lot of baggage and animosity, but I also think they'd work really well as reluctant allies. Victor, Wanda, and Pietro actually have very similar backgrounds, even among Marvel's Roma characters, so I think that the correct writer could mine a lot of great character work out of putting those three in a room again.

I really love seeing Wanda and Monica as friends. They don't have a whole lot in common, in terms of life experiences, but I do think they would have gravitated towards each other during their earlier days in the Avengers. There have been times where they were the only the only women of color in the room, and they also have a common tongue-- they both speak French! I really, really like the image of Wanda, Pietro, Monica and Jericho holding a full conversation in French. Anyhow, I want more Mon/Wanda friendship always.

I would like to see Wanda team up with Mantis again. You could probably find cool ways to use Mantis's psychic abilities, particularly the astral projection, in conjunction with magic. They have some very interesting shared history -- they had a double wedding together, had children around the same time, suffered very similar losses and heartbreak, and now they both have kids who are space royalty. As far as I'm aware, they haven't spent any time together in decades, but if there's ever another Celestial Madonna-related story like Empyre, I want to see them reunite and be cool tough-mom duo.

Oh, and I'd also be very interested in seeing Wanda meet America. I know that America's whole backstory is in flux right now-- and I'm very frustrated by this, so I'm choosing to ignore it for now. I'd be curious to know what role Wanda plays in the mythology of the Utopian Parallel.

Those are just some ideas that popped into my head. If you're looking for a team roster, I would throw Wanda, Pietro, Mon, and Jer together with Maya, Miguel Santos, and Adam Brashear. These characters are mostly in the same age range and have some amount of established history, with varied, but overlapping abilities. Throw America in as a wild card and call it a day. Oh, and Blade. Witches and vampires, you know?

#i feel like I barely represented any Asian characters but that's bc most of my favorite Asian characters are either mutants or Kamala

17 notes · View notes

katreal-fic · 4 years

Note

It would make sense for Trolls to be on the peaceful planet of Beforus. A Session Glitch(no way to make the ectobabies) causes the trolls to scratch allows LE to corrupt society into Alternia but if all 24 trolls play then it will be successful session. Characters beyond the vale of paradox space are protected from restarts(doomed timelines, scratches, etc) Defrag has so much potential to be explored. 5 sessions and universes full of intrigue. The best is how you do character relationships.

Haha thank you! Honestly I try to keep a good focus on the relationships as well as the plot--the fic is largely character driven even if the setting has taken a lot of thought to iron out.

About the potential kf a troll session, it's really the same as the Alpha-crash au I was thinking about the other day. Where the game restarts depends on what you decide the restore state is. I set it at the human beta because a) It was the beginning of that universe's instance, and b) I wanted to, but really, it wouldn't be out of the question to push it back even more. If it crashes to the troll-session then yeah, the trolls would end up on Beforeus. I’m uncertain who, if anyone, would remember enough to make meaningful changes since I haven’t really poked at it much! Maybe Kankri given we know the signless remembered Beforus to an extent? Or Aranea or Meulin since in theory she would be very in tune with the fact that there was something wrong with herself. The problem comes in when you consider the huge time difference between the current crop of troll players and their ancestors (our Alternian friends), and how that would make it difficult to pull off I think. You’d have to figure out how to revive half the cast before or shortly after you begin the combined session. At least with my set up I only have to worry about Jane x3

But since the restore state is in the Human Beta session, the progression of paradox space requires the troll session to have been won in order for the human world to exist. I never really assumed there was another version of Alternia out there in the human universe since the Trolls never got the chance to play god--I took the condesce invading the Alpha timeline as direct interference from Scratch / LE through abusing the universal ... pathways? Of the void / furthest ring. Which are shading from hella hecked up to non-existant right now.

I’m not sure if the doomed ghosts / bubbles / anything outside the confines of the alpha session itself were protected this time, if I’m being honest. Generally when something crashes, especially due to a memory error, my woefully lacking understanding is the program tries to dump extrenuous information to free up space to restore normal functionality. It could be more of a quarentine type effect, in that this particular timeline was sectioned off from the rest due to data corruption (and as a result there could still be a canon or alpha version of the timeline still out there) in which case all that *could* in theory exist beyond the edges of the furthest ring, and could also in theory be reconnected to that greater tapestry perhaps through the Maid of Life’s or Rogue of Void’s quests-- but that’s getting too far out in the weeds for me to know what to do with at this point x3

Thank you for the opportunity to let me ramble! I hope the peek into my world building was interesting.

#kat answers #fic: defrag #I'm gonna count this as a #director's cut #thing x3 #Anonymous

5 notes · View notes

itsbenedict · 4 years

Text

Kingdoms and Koopas: Ep. 11

K&K is a Fate Accelerated campaign set in the Mario universe, which I’m running for three players:

Bee @thebeeskneesocks, playing Kandace Koopa

Jovian @jovian12, playing Cozmo Naut

Malky @sleepdepravity, playing Dr. Chevy Chain

Last time | Archive | Next time

Previously on Kingdoms and Koopas, the crew went and shot a movie with acclaimed actor/writer/director Zip Toad, and were wildly successful! However, they did this while ignoring the fact that there was a war going on between the two magic schools, which means that a war between the two magic schools happened without them.

This time, they deal with the aftermath of that event- and end up breaking someone dangerous out of jail for reasons.

(“Pull the lever, Cozmo!”)

So, fresh off the shoot, Kandace gets a phone call from Kammy Koopa, headmistress of Kammy Koopa’s Academy for Young Witches and Wizards. She’s heard of the party’s success in recovering the Music Key from the Orbital Doom Casa, and so she asks Kandace to hand it over. Kandace agrees to do so, but here is the thing: she’s lying. She is lying a lot and does not intend to give Kammy the last Music Key.

Instead, the party hatches a scheme. They want to make Kammy think they’ve handed over the last Music Key, when instead they’ve kept it for themselves. They also want to find out where she’s keeping the rest of them, and maybe figure out what her nefarious plan is- and who she might be working for.

So they need a fake music key, right? Where are they going to get a fake music key? It’ll need to be... round...

I cannot for the life of me believe that the following was Chevy’s idea that she volunteered for, but... a plan is hatched to disguise Chevy as the last macguffin and hand her over to Kammy. Hm! That’s. Going to be. Easy?

Surely it will be easy to do this, All they need to do is make her translucent and blue and the size of a cantaloupe and have a little music note floating inside her and give off a distinctive magical signature. That’s baby school stuff.

Smallening can be achieved via one of Kandace’s spells- she’s got one for the occasion, but the drawback is that while it decreases size, it conserves mass- so small Chevy is very dense and heavy. Thankfully, Kandace has another spell, one she’s used several times in the past- it’s the spell that makes things lighter but softer/rounder, used to allow Chevy to ride along on her broom. By combining the two, the size issue is solved. They now have an appropriately-sized Chevy.

Magic is also the answer to the problem of the magical signature. Since they’re in contact with the princess of the Magic Kingdom, they’re able to call up Opal and ask if she knows the appropriate spell- and she does. Kandace can now smell the magical signatures of items and swap those smells around. (The Music Key magic-smells like mint-flavored sugarless chewing gum, and Chevy smells like formaldehyde.)

The problem remaining is... making Chevy translucent and blue. Kandace doesn’t have a spell for this, so the party heads into town to find something that might do the trick. Legitimate Merchantson is selling some translucent blue paint which surely works the way they’re hoping it does. Chet Rippo has a magical spell he claims will do the job. But what ends up catching their eye is a badge being sold at a badge shop- the Ice Ice Badge, a cosmetic badge that makes the wearer look like an ice sculpture. They walk up and attempt to exchange currency for goods and services, like a bunch of fool idiots.

The badge shop is manned by what appears to be a cardboard cutout of a glamorous-looking Squeek.

youtube

“𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢?”

“We’d like that badge there, please.”

“𝚆𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙻, 𝙱𝚄𝚈, 𝚘𝚛 𝙿𝚄𝚁𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖?”

“What?”

“𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖!”

“Um- buy. We want to buy that Ice Ice Badge.”

“𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙱𝚄𝚈 𝚊𝚗 𝙸𝚌𝚎 𝙸𝚌𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚍𝚐𝚎? 𝚃𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗!”

“Please repeat the- what? Um, we want to buy that Ice Ice Badge?”

“𝚃𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗!”

After going on in this manner for an obnoxiously long time (getting into the weeds of the button order system and stupid phone-bot behavior), the party finally manages to purchase the dang thing, which gets them most of the way there. The last element- the music note floating inside- is accomplished by cutting one out of construction paper and having Chevy swallow it. Don’t... don’t ask how that works, digestively speaking.

Point is, they now have their decoy Music Key. Kandace’s shadow, Carbonado, objects to attempting to deceive the headmistress, but Kandace patiently explains that he can’t prove Kammy isn’t being mind-controlled by a space alien, which makes it okay. That’s just logic. That settled, they head to the school to drop off their mole.

On the way to Kammy’s office, the party is accosted by Jr. Troopa, the school valedictorian- who attempts to steal the key for himself. The party opts to deliver a beatdown, but Cozmo gets Worfed and hurts his hand trying to punch through Jr. Troopa’s implausibly sturdy eggshell. It’s up to Kandace and the currently-disguised Chevy to get this joker out of the way- and Kandace has a brainwave.

“Okay, you want it? Catch!”

Kandace throws Chevy at Jr. Troopa, and then mid-throw- after she’s picked up speed- dispels the magic that makes her light enough to carry. Chevy is restored to her full density, rolls an attack, and just absolutely beans the dude with a massive crit that fills up all his Stress boxes immediately. That was... kind of supposed to be a boss fight, holy crap. [pokemon stadium announcer voice] IT’S A ONE-HIT KO!

With the jerk dispatched, the party proceeds to Kammy’s office. Waluigi, looking bitter, shows the party inside.

Inside, the party sees Kamek- the headmaster of the rival school across the street- unconscious and imprisoned in an anti-magic cage. Apparently, while they were shooting a movie, Kammy won the underground school war and took Kamek prisoner. But that’s all perfectly legal and normal- Kammy’s the right hand of the king, she can do what she wants.

The party hands over Kandace, and with the bonuses from their elaborate deception... manage to beat Kammy’s roll to see through their scheme! She’s fooled, and accepts the Chevy-Key. As promised, Kandace is allowed to take three magic items from the Artifact Storage Chamber behind her office. For Cozmo, a combination broom-backpack that functions as a jetpack. For Kandace, a book called Lifehex that lets her nullify her spells’ drawbacks once per session. And for Chevy... well, Chevy can’t talk or indicate what she wants, so Kandace picks out a prize she assumes Chevy would want: a magical pair of stick-on springy boxing glove Arms. With Arms, Chevy can finally do surgery, fulfilling her lifelong dream! Which she couldn’t do before! Is what Kandace assumes.

So Kandace and Cozmo are sent away... and Chevy is carried through a secret door in Kammy’s office, hidden behind a statue. Inside, Kammy and her hench-Waluigi Yzma and Kronk their way down a rollercoaster and into a massive underground chamber, containing a vault labeled “NOT The Actual Artifact Storage Chamber, The One Upstairs Is The Real One.” This vault contains shelves lined with actually powerful magical artifacts- the sort of thing she wouldn’t risk giving out to students as prizes.

Inside is also a table, on which sit three real Music Keys. The pink key from Gourmet Guy, the orange key from Jojora’s temple, and a green key presumably won from Kam Ekademy by Kammy herself. Chevy, ostensibly the fourth key, is placed on the table alongside them.

Kammy then begins a magic ritual with the four keys- but it becomes quickly apparent that Chevy does not hover or glow, like the other Keys do during this ritual. It’s sort of a dead giveaway that she’s a fake.

That said, though, Chevy passes her Careful roll to hold very still and not give away that she is an alive fake, and so she is left on the table as a very angry Kammy Koopa leaves to go discipline a troublesome student of hers.

Chevy is now alone in NOT The Actual Artifact Storage Chamber, The One Upstairs Is The Real One. Unfortunately, her chain was scaled way down so Kammy wouldn’t notice it, and she’s still the size of a cantaloupe, so... she’s sort of stuck. She can’t fly or climb, which means the only way to get up and out is...

oh my god an actual platforming segment in a Mario game, i can’t believe we finally managed it

So Chevy is hopping her way up the spiraling shelves lining the walls of this chamber, knocking dangerous magic artifacts off and onto the floor. She eventually makes it out a hole in the roof of the vault, and begins the arduous climb up the rollercoaster tracks- hanging on by the skin of her teeth. Literally. Or, well, no, not literally; teeth don’t have skin. Whatever. You know what I mean.

Meanwhile, Kandace and Cozmo get a firm knock on the door of Kandace’s dorm room, and wisely opt to flee out the window. They decide to loop around and sneak into Kammy’s office to free Kamek- they use Kandace’s stunt, Cantricked (use her animate broom to distract someone once per session) to send Waluigi (who was guarding the door) on a wild goose chase, while they themselves crash through the window of her office to get in.

So there’s Kamek in a cage. The cage nullifies magic, which is necessary for containing a Magikoopa of Kamek’s abilities. This means Kandace isn’t going to be able to magic up a solution- so it’s up to Cozmo. Kandace orders him to pick the lock.

Cozmo has never picked a lock before and does not know how to do it. He tries anyway, and as you might predict from the fact we recently established about his lockpicking skills, fails.

But all hope is not lost! Kandace has one more ally- her shadow, Carbonado! He hems and haws about the legality of freeing the headmistress’s prisoner- but Kamek is also technically an authority figure in the Kingdom, so he acquiesces and attempts to use his shadowy form to pick the lock from the inside.

Carbonado has never picked a lock before and does not know how to do it. He tries anyway, and as you might predict from the fact we recently established about his lockpicking skills, fails.

Also he messes up the mechanism so bad that even if they had the key, it wouldn’t work.

Which... is a useful hint, actually. Apparently this lock, though impervious to magic, can still be damaged by mundane means. This is all the encouragement Cozmo needs to start using his head- specifically, his Crystal Skull (Thanks Kandace) aspect, the thing where Kandace transmuted his skull into sapphire as part of a magical experiment. He headbutts the thing so hard it explodes.

They free and revive Kamek, and then... tell him practically everything. Mostly everything. They don’t mention that they still have one Music Key- but they do tell him that they sent Chevy in to scout. And as luck would have it, that’s exactly when Chevy finally makes it up the rollercoaster and knocks on the secret entrance door. They let her out, and she heals up Kamek’s injuries after they return her to normal.

Kamek asks them to help steal the Music Key back from Kammy, which of course they agree to. Kammy’s been acting super shady! And probably mind-controlled! So Chevy leads the party plus Kamek back down the rollercoaster, and into NOT The Actual Artifact Storage Chamber, The One Upstairs Is The Real One.

As soon as they arrive, Kamek begins laughing maniacally. He prepares a big teleport spell, and using it teleports away all of the magical items in the vault including the Music Keys, bwa ha ha! And then he thanks them for their help, because yeah that was pretty much exactly what they said they were going to do, was help rob Kammy. And since they did that exactly as promised, their business is concluded and he teleports away.

So, um. It’s unclear whether it is a good or bad thing that a different arch-Magikoopa assistant to the king is now in control of three out of four Music Keys, but that is now the situation. And at least this one isn’t actively mad at them!

...Unlike the other one, who’s probably going to find out about all this pretty soon and be totally furious at them. Hm. Well.

This seems like an excellent time to go run and hide somewhere, yes? The party heads off to lay low in Duck Hospital, Chevy’s place of work, while they figure out what exactly they’re supposed to do about all this.

Next time: nothing goes horribly wrong at the hospital, probably!

Last time | Archive | Next time

#kingdoms and koopas

5 notes · View notes

tessatechaitea · 5 years

Text

Justice League #34

If Doom wins then how come this issue isn't subtitled "Doom Risen"?

Ugh. How long has this Doom event been fucking going on?! My advice to Snyder: next time, make Lex Luthor smarter so his plan comes to fruition quicker! Some of the Justice League are in the past hiding in Atlantis with the Justice Society as a captured Poseidon tries to destroy it. They need Vandal Savage's help to get the totality to the future so John Stewart convinces him by yelling, "Oorah!" Hourman and Alan Scott jizz their jeans over his masculinity and decide that maybe a negro member of the Justice Society wouldn't be such a bad thing. You might think I'm letting my cynical view of the world reinterpret the scene in a fairly unforgiving way but I assure you it doesn't come across much better than that. I wonder how they'd feel if John Stewart had convinced Vandal to help them using architecture metaphors?

Did I accidentally pick up the extra-gay version of this month's Justice League?

I think I accidentally stumbled into a new way for DC to make money. Forget variant covers and foil card insert. Why don't they put out extra-gay issues?! They could call one version the "Extra-Straight" version and the other version the "Extra-Gay" just so we don't get into the weeds arguing about why one is called the "Normal Issue." Although I think if two comic books existed that were slight variations of each other and one was the "Extra-Straight" version and one was the "Extra-Gay" version, it would totally be more gay to buy the "Extra-Straight" version. It sounds like that one is going to be full of shirtless men wrestling in totally non-boner inducing ways that are actually super boner inducing. If DC won't take my super great moneymaking idea that will wind up selling a billion issues of Harley and Poison Ivy #1 (Extra-Gay version) then maybe I can trademark the idea of "Extra-Straight" comic books and sue all the Comicsgaters producing comic books. Do Comicsgate comic books have copy on the covers in huge fonts that say things like "No Gay Characters!" and "If a Character is Black, It's Totally Plot Related!" and "This Won't Pass the Bechdel Test. AT ALL!"? I think I'm making Comicsgate comic books sound more interesting than they really are! I bet most of them are boring super hero punch ups where characters occasionally reference Pepe the Frog and fly through the air in a pose like they're heiling Hitler. Back to the plot, is Barry Allen really interested in wearing his hair long? Why am I suddenly finding him interesting? I almost wrote "more interesting" but, you know, it's Barry Allen. The most interesting thing he ever did was appearing out of nowhere during Crisis on Infinite Earths and disintegrating. Unless Barry was actually asking John if John thought he could rip Vandal's hair off of his head. Although that interpretation makes Barry more interesting as well. What I'm saying is this is the most interesting panel Barry Allen has ever been a part of. Meanwhile in the future (if that makes any sense at all), Kamandi has gathered up heroes from various futures to RRHAAAOOOR! I'm told by editorial that "RRHAAAOOOR" means "kick some ass" in panther. How come it's usually okay to swear in a foreign language in an all ages comic book?

One of the "heroes" he brings is Lobo. So Brainiac is fucked.

An easy way to tell if a comic book fan is a psychopath is to gauge how angry they get at two things I love to write (largely for that reaction): Deathstroke is a pedophile and Lobo is the most powerful and most fuckable and greatest character to ever come out of DC. Along with websites that track known pedophiles in your neighborhood, I think we should also have a database of people who get irate at the idea that Deathstroke is a pedophile. They go fucking crazy defending a fictional character's reputation over something not worth defending! I might agree they have a point that using the term "pedophile" is misleading at best. He's more of a statutory rapist! But even that gets their Quixotic gears turning. Yes, I'm comparing myself to a majestic windmill. The Lobo thing doesn't get people so incensed but it does bring out a lot of actually nerds who don't understand how much fun I'm having with my hyperbolic love of such a one trick character. My favorite thing about Lobo is that he looks cool in a way that doesn't look cool at all. How did they do that?! He's a hot clown! He's a MILF: mechanic I'd like to fuck! He's so over-the-top that I can't understand people who try to take him seriously. He's the greatest joke DC has ever played on their readers and I love him unironically. Also, you know Lobo leaves you satisfied after he fucks you. And I don't think it matters if you're female or male or space dolphin. He's gonna give it to you fucking good.

Twelve year old me would totally jerk off to this picture.

The pieces of the Totality are secured and all the Starmen throughout time are linked together psychically. It's their last chance! Perpetua is about to be defeated! I will ignore the cover and pretend that everything is going to work out and that Hawkgirl isn't going to fuck it all up with her desire to bash Luthor in the back of the head with her mace. Hopefully J'onn J'onzz will finally assert his will and get her back on track. Or else the multiverse is doomed! You know. Like Luthor has been trying to explain for forty-five issues. Welp. Kendra fucked it all up. Perpetua is risen. All hail Doom. Justice League #34 Final Thoughts: Okay, fine. The big plan failed and Doom won and Perpetua can now manipulate the multiverse however she wants. But there's one thing she forgot to do before declaring victory: she didn't kill Batman. What a fucking amateur move! The first villain to actually begin by killing Batman will be the first villain to completely take over everything. I guess that's why The Joker is the smartest villain in the DC Universe. He's doing the real work.

#Justice League #Bruno Redondo #Howard Porter #DC #DC Comics

2 notes · View notes

edenfalling · 5 years

Text

[Fic] “Frog Hunt” -- Homestuck

Summary: SBURB is not turning out anything like you'd hoped, and your game session may be broken. Which is a problem, because you can't go back to Earth -- last you checked, it's busy being an apocalyptic wasteland -- and judging by your most recent dreams, the rest of the Medium beyond your little Incipisphere is an equally apocalyptic wasteland of ghosts and horrorterrors. The only way out is through. You have to win the game.

Winning SBURB requires frogs.

Note: I started this fic way back in 2012, hit Jade's horrorterror dreams, and had no idea where to go from there. Last week it occurred to me that actually the horrorterror dreams made a perfectly reasonable ending, provided I filled in a missing middle scene, established an emotional/thematic through-line, and tweaked stuff until the new parts played nice with the old ones. So I did. :) [2,325 words]

--------------------------------------------- Frog Hunt ---------------------------------------------

SBURB is not turning out anything like you'd hoped. You wanted to see your friends in person, go on cool adventures, and save the world. You guess technically the cool adventure part is happening? But it turns out that being in the middle of an adventure is mostly very upsetting and dangerous.

Also your game session may be broken. Which is a problem, because you can't go back to Earth -- last you checked, it's busy being an apocalyptic wasteland -- and judging by your most recent dreams, the rest of the Medium beyond your little Incipisphere is an equally apocalyptic wasteland of ghosts and horrorterrors. The only way out is through. You have to win the game.

Winning SBURB requires frogs.

You have a lot of pointed questions to ask whoever designed the symbolism behind this process.

You also have no idea what you're doing. Zoology is not your thing! Botany and rocket science are your things!

But you've done crazier things in the name of friendship than breed magic universe-creating frogs. And this time you'll have Dave by your side, even if all he can help you can do is win the Olympic gold medal for synchronized flipping out, which might as well be a thing now since Earth is gone and if anyone ever reestablishes the Olympics it will be you and you can stick in any sports you feel like.

That analogy may have gotten away from you a little. You decide to preemptively consider it Dave's fault, and send him another message asking for an ETA.

"Kanaya says we won't have enough time to collect all the frogs, let alone raise them and do the breeding and mutation stuff. Not even if we yank Rose and John into the project, and especially not with just you and me," you tell him when he shows up in person, popping out of nowhere with two discs floating at his side. They look a little like Grandpa's old vinyl records, but with red gears turning underneath them. "Not that you aren't helpful! But there's only so many seconds until disaster."

Dave arches the backs of his hands, fingertips still ghosting over the ridges of his floating record thingies. "Harley, c'mon, work with me here. What's my aspect?"

You blink. Oh. Time travel, durr. Okay, possibly your flipping out was a little premature. "Whoops, forgot that! Potentially infinite seconds, yay recycling. So how are we doing this?"

Dave shrugs, letting the records vanish back into his sylladex. "We have limited absolute time, basically from when I got your house up to reasonable height to, let's say, an hour before whatever runs us off the rails goes critical. So we have to maximize our use of space -- duplicate this ectobiowhatthefuck setup and run an assload of slime zapper tadpole tanks at once. I'm thinking one on each of the top ten floors of your house. We'll do one floor on each master loop so we don't keep running into each other. Mark the space and time coordinates for each croaker we target, then head out to poke them or whatever literally the second after we zap them, take notes on any other frogs that look useful, and move down a floor and back in time to start again."

"What about breeding?" you ask.

You think Dave frowns. It's hard to read his expression behind his shades, but he doesn't guard his posture as much as his face. "Whoops, forgot that. Uh, let's say every third floor and third loop is for breeding and mutation games. Shouldn't be too hard, especially if we whip up a regular appearifier. They don't have these bullshit temporal lock restrictions."

"Sounds like a plan," you say. "Let's get everything set up and start breeding!"

Dave's discombobulated expression is so faint and brief that if you'd blinked, you would have missed it. Hmmm, you think to yourself. Maybe...? But no, you probably just reminded him of something one of the trolls said. They can be so bizarre sometimes.

"Time to rock and roll," Dave says, and you shake off your daydream and get to work.

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

It turns out that ectobiology is actually very simple! You don't need to know genetics or metaphysical zoology, which you were a little worried about. You just need to zap frogs and run their ghost slime through the game-provided machines until you hit a gene combination that pings a little automated reward mechanism. Scanning for useful frogs is a little trickier, since you get the reward ping for any potentially useful gene sequence even if it's one you already have on file -- you have to weed out the duplicates manually, which is time-consuming and a total pain.

Creating hundreds of potential paradoxes to make sure the appearifier grabs slime instead of actual frogs is also time-consuming and a total pain.

It would be simplest to just shoot the frogs, but first of all, that's mean, and second of all, it would probably screw up LOFAF's ecology to storm around wiping out its native fauna less than an hour after thawing them out in the first place. If you had a dart gun you could trust not to mangle the frogs on impact, maybe you could stun them for a few minutes. Unfortunately, all of Grandpa's guns (and by extension, all of your guns) are designed to shoot projectiles straight through solid objects and totally fuck up their day. Which means that instead of perching in a tree like a cool and sexy sniper, you are galumphing around on the ground, hot and sticky and covered in a gross combination of mud and panicked frog secretions. Ugh.

"I look like a swamp zombie, don't I?" you say before you can think better of the words.

"Yeah, but in a cute monster-girl way," Dave says. "I'm just a scarecrow that got left out in the rain and turned into a mold sculpture."

You look over at him just as a clump of mud and moss slides down the left lens of his shades. "Um. No comment." You are determinedly not noticing that he said you're cute. Nope. Completely thought-free zone over here, nothing but genetics and logistics, which everyone knows require no brain power at all.

Dave shakes his head in faux solemnity. "Tragic. Faced with the death and destruction of my awesome good looks and you can't even dredge up a "That's sad"? I am betrayed. I am devastated. I am--"

"--still cute underneath the glop, stop fishing for compliments," you interrupt, and are furiously grateful for the mud hiding your blush. Stupid Dave and his stupid... everything. Why do you even like him? He's such a butt.

Of course, all your friends are kind of jerks. Possibly there's something miscalibrated about your friend-finding radar. Or possibly you're also a jerk? Hmm. That's something to ask Rose about, whenever you finally get to see in her person.

You will get to see her in person. You refuse to acknowledge any other possibility.

"Ouch," Dave says, but the corner of his mouth quirks up just a degree. "Damned by faint praise. I guess I'd better step up my frog-napping skills, can't let my dashing good looks outweigh my knightly swag. Speaking of which, have we been standing still long enough for that little orange fucker to stick his head out?"

You glance around, then down, then up. There's a tiny flash of color just over-- you shift slightly-- yep, right there on the tree by Dave's shoulder. "Um. Yeah. Just... keep standing still. Really still."

"Making like a tree, yes ma'am Sergeant Harley ma'am," Dave says as you inch slowly toward him through the muck between the tree roots. "It's right behind me, isn't it? Getting all ready for a jump scare, gonna leap out and poison me to death with its slimy frog toes, alas, Horatio, here dies a fellow of infinite memes, taken from us too--"

You lunge.

You catch the frog.

You also knock yourself and Dave flat into the muck. His shades knock into your forehead. Your own glasses skew against his nose. Your left knee is jammed between his shins and his belt buckle is digging into your stomach.

Your mouth is right up against his chin. If you moved just an inch or two...

"Ooh, Miz Harley," Dave says, somewhat breathless.

"Oh, shut up," you say, and shove the frog into your sylladex as you scramble back to your feet. "Look who's talking, Mister Swamp Thing."

Then you bend down to yank Dave up, too, because fair is fair.

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

By the fourth loop you're ready to drop from exhaustion and the weird, indefinable tension of actually being around one of your friends in person instead of getting to mediate your interactions through computers. "I don't care how tight the schedule is. I'm starting to see double and I'm taking a goddamn nap," you tell Dave as you drop to the floor and lean back against the wall. You lay your rifle across your lap and keep your hands carefully away from the trigger. You know your temper sharpens when you're tired, and Grandpa taught you never to take chances with guns.

Dave frowns, and you know he's tired too because this time you can see his mouth curve downward to match the annoyed set of his shoulders and the fuck-you shove of his hands into his pockets. "The more loops we run, the harder it is to keep shit from falling apart," he says. "You that eager to trip into a doomed timeline? I can go back and hit reset anytime, easy as cake and pie and banana splits, but every screwup costs one dead Dave and one Jade abandoned in a dead-end universe. I don't even know if that you would get erased or keep on living until you go shithive maggots."

He's been talking to the trolls too, you remember, especially the teal one who uses l33tsp34k. He says her name is Terezi. She's been running time loops with him too. He likes her a lot.

You are not jealous. That would be stupid. You are not stupid; therefore you are not jealous. QED.

"The more tired we are, the harder it is to keep from screwing up," you say. "We're creating a whole new universe and we'll have to live there after we win the game. It's kind of important, Dave!"

Dave presses his back against the wall and slides down to join you on the hard tile floor. "We're not gonna win the game, you know. There is literally no way to do that. The game was borked from before the word go was a twinkle in its druggie teen mom's eye."

"Maybe this session's broken," you agree. "But that doesn't mean we can't find a way to cheat, and even if we lose, I'd rather lose trying my hardest instead of half-assing shit because I was so tired I fell asleep while operating complicated machines."

Dave sighs. "Yeah, okay. Naptime. But not here. This is a work floor; we've gotta keep it clear for work loops. We'll go crash further down." He taps your shoe with his own. "Up and at 'em, Harley, let's go hit that transportalizer."

You groan and haul yourself to your feet.

The obvious place for a nap would be your bedroom, but then where would you sleep on the next loop? Anyway, you only have one bed and it'd feel... presumptuous? pushy? maybe just go with awkward. Yeah. It would be awkward to share it with Dave, especially without John and Rose there as well to clarify that it's strictly a friend thing.

So you alchemize an armful of blankets and pillows and make a little nest in one of the hundreds of blank, identical stories Dave copied from the real-world part of your house. It's still a little weird sharing the space -- Dave is so close you can feel him breathe, every exhale stirring stray wisps of hair over your ears -- but you think you could get used to this.

You think maybe you want to get used to this.

"Sweet dreams, Jade," Dave mutters as he flops over onto his side, one hand curled loosely around the hilt of his sword.

"You too," you tell him, before you remember he's just going to wake up on Derse as his dreamself, still stuck in this stupid, lying, Möbius tangle of a game. And you're going back to those weird bubbles in the monster-filled void. Neither of you can get free until you finish Frankensteining your magic frog and beat an unwinnable game.

"Heroes always beat million to one odds in stories," you say to nobody in particular. "Why not us?"

Dave mumbles something unintelligible in response, already mostly asleep.

You wiggle sideways until your shoulder brushes up against his, so the warmth of his body radiates through the thin blanket onto you and your warmth feeds back into him. He's alive. You're both alive. Somewhere else in the Incipisphere, John and Rose are (you hope) also still alive.

You would do anything to make sure your friends make it out of SBURB, to a new world safe from meteors and monsters and predestination. Anything.

You dream of bloody, mangled ghosts, groping desperately toward you for salvation while you stand frozen under the horrorterrors' incomprehensible regard.

In the dream, you imagine yourself reaching for Dave's hand. You imagine him weaving his fingers between yours. You imagine Rose and John standing beside you. You imagine all four of you stepping through a door into a new universe.

If you imagine something with all your heart, that makes it a tiny bit less fake, and being less fake means it's at least a little bit real.

The pressure of the horrorterrors' attention attenuates, just that vital fraction.

You turn away from the ghosts and think of frogs.

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

End of Fic

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

If anyone has constructive commentary, I am all ears! Also I am going to bed soon, because being awake is overrated and also I took a Benadryl in order to eat a BLT for dinner, so, you know, probably better to lie down than to slowly drift off in front of my computer. *wry*

#liz writes stuff #homestuck #jade harley #dave strider #generalized content warning #to about the same level as canon anyway #does homestuck count as its own warning by now?

5 notes · View notes

vulpinesaint · 5 years

Text

Since the plants shake with fear when Crowley threatens them, it naturally follows that not only can plants in the Good Omens T.V. universe hear, that they can move, and they can also experience fear. In this essay I will—

(Essay below the cut. Page numbers are taken from the Kindle edition of Good Omens. The original document is in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, double spaced; unfortunately, I had to sacrifice format for easier reader access.)

Rai (Last Name Redacted)

No Teacher Would Ever Support This

As If I Could Get Away With Writing This For A Class

2 July 2019

The Implicit Horror of the Plants in Good Omens

The book Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, chronicles the actions of an angel and a demon, the antichrist and his friends, and a couple of others, as the world comes to an end. A recent television adaptation brought attention to the cult classic, which immediately became a fan favorite, starring beloved actors David Tennant and Michael Sheen, among others. The show managed to stay quite true to the original story, as might be expected, with one of the authors of the book as a showrunner. The purpose of this essay, however, is not to dwell on the nuances of the show, or the ingenuity of the book. The purpose of this essay is to examine a detail in the television show that is often glossed over—the shaking of Crowley’s plants.

Crowley, who keeps houseplants in his apartment, is shown to directly affect them by speaking to them. Crowley is said to “put the fear of God” (Gaiman, 254) into the plants by talking to them; or rather, by threatening them with implied murder. In the book, Crowley picks an unsatisfactory plant and leaves, before returning “an hour or so later with a large, empty flower pot, which he would leave somewhere conspicuously around the flat” (254). The show gives a similar narrative, except with a rather more explicit method of threatening from Crowley. Instead of simply leaving the flat, he leaves the room, and there is a whirring sound akin to a woodchipper or a paper shredder before he returns to the room with an empty pot. The fate of the chosen plant, or at the least, the percepted fate of the chosen plant, is obvious, and in the show, the leaves of the plants shake with fear. The real horror of this, however, lies not in the fact that Crowley talks to his plants, or threatens them with death. The real horror is that the plants are afraid of the fate that he threatens them with. The plants in Good Omens, canonically, experience fear.

There is a plethora of evidence for this claim, between the book and the show. The most obvious is the shaking, a typical expression of fear. As Neil Gaiman was involved with the production of the show, though the show and the book are two separate pieces, it means that one has no choice but to accept the show into Good Omens canon, and therefore, the shaking of the plants’ leaves is fair evidence. However, one cannot rely on visual evidence alone. The book states that the plants in Crowley’s apartment have “the fear of Crowley” (254) put into them, a fact stated by the narrator in the show, as well. Not only that, but the book later goes on to affirm that the plants are “the most terrified” (254) in London. This, of course, brings with it an assurance that the plants are actually afraid, and experiencing a state of fright. That, coupled with the shaking of the leaves, proves three things; one, that the plants in Crowley’s apartment have the capacity for emotion, two, that they are capable of movement, whether voluntary or involuntary, in response to this emotion, and three, that the plants are capable of either sight or hearing or both. Crowley’s methods of intimidation are either verbal or visual, and involve no physical contact with the plants who stay in the room. Since the plants respond to Crowley’s threats with fear, it is fair to say that they possess one or both of the aforementioned senses, since they are able to understand either his words or his actions. As for the moving; of course, typical plants are capable of movement, as with all living things (evidenced by a gradual movement to face sunlight), but these plants are specifically characterized with the ability to shake with fear. This attributes these houseplants with more physical and emotional autonomy than a typical plant. Sentience is defined by the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary as “feeling or sensation as distinguished from perception and thought,” and is simplified by Wikipedia as “the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively.” Emotions are universally subjective, and the experience of fear as an emotion means that these plants do indeed have the capacity to experience reality subjectively. They are cognizant enough to interpret Crowley’s threats, which never involve explicit explanation or visuals of the doom of the unlucky plants, as a threat of death, and to fear them. From this, one can infer that not only are these plants sentient, but they have a concept of death, or at the very least, great bodily harm. If they did not, what would they have to fear from the disappearance of the other plants?

This brings us around to a question; if the plants can fear, what else can they feel? Crowley tells the plants to “‘Say goodbye to [their] friend’” (254); just how right is he? Do these plants have the capacity for friendship? For love? Do they have families? Loved ones? Enemies? If they can hear and feel and move, are they capable of communication? Can they establish societies? They draw conclusions from Crowley’s inexplicit threats despite never actually seeing or hearing the outcome, which attributes them with an imagination of some sort. An imagination brings about the very likely possibility that the plants can think, can have thought processes, can feel the world and rationalize it in its constant state of fear.

The plants have been proven to be sentient, but it brings about yet another question; if they are sentient, how and when did they acquire said sentience? Crowley’s imagination has been proven to be quite a formidable force, and is tasked with holding a flaming vehicle together over miles of road. If Crowley’s imagination can have such an effect on what could loosely be referred to as reality itself, it is feasible that he could have imagined the plants into sentience, simply by wishing that the tip he’d heard on the radio about talking to plants would be effective. The plants that Crowley gave sentience to would forever be trapped with the object of their greatest fears. It’s also possible that all of the plants in the Good Omens universe are sentient. The book and the narrator of the show state that the plants in Crowley’s apartment are the “most terrified” (254) in London. Is this simply because they are the only plants that live in fear, or is it only because they live with a literal demon? Are the other plants in London, in the rest of the world, sentient? If so, can they hear the world as a seed, muffled through the earth or the paper of a seed packet, or do they develop their senses as they grow? Do the seeds awaken under the earth, unable to see until they are blinded by light? The plants are afraid of death, or afraid of not existing anymore. Are all plants so cruelly aware that there is an end to their existence? Do they watch weeds being crushed underfoot and realize their own mortality? Can the plants, in their sentience, in their ability to move their ‘bodies’, feel pain? When a young lover picks a flower, are they ending the life of a sentient being?

In essence, whatever the answers to these hypothetical questions, the truth beyond it all, the horrifying truth that none should forget, is that the plants in Good Omens experience fear. They have free will, and can move, but to what avail? They will never be able to move far enough to escape Crowley or the inevitable march of death, trapped in the soil by roots and unable to grow anywhere but up. They fear death. They can be killed. They have imaginations, vivid enough to draw conclusions from Crowley’s threats, conclusions that they are afraid of. The plants in Good Omens are not far from us, for all that we prize our humanity, our emotions, our imagination, because the plants in Good Omens feel fear.

WORKS CITED

Gaiman, Neil, and Terry Pratchett. Good Omens: the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. HarperCollins Publishers, 2019.

“Sentient.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentient.

(Link to original document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DROENzPUSDH0WVG6jFFuboOk6fzkxNTactsLFL6zeB8/edit?usp=sharing)

(i stayed up until 2 am and wrote this in one sitting and i would just like to say that i’m sorry)

#good omens #neil gaiman #terry pratchett #crowley's houseplants #full essay #the plants in good omens feel fear

5 notes · View notes

sadsinboy · 6 years

Text

i told a friend i’d try to explain the alternate timelines junk from Persona 2 so hERE WE GO. I’m making a post for it b/c it could be good ref and also i might get long ?? I’ll try not to get long but i babble when it’s abt stuff I’m passionate abt. (and i am v passionate about persona and rlly just the megami tensei franchise as a whole gdfhG)

Persona 2 spoilers ahead btw....

First of all I must briefly mention Persona 1 and SMT IF

As seen in this official timelines/alt universes diagram from the early 2000s, SMT IF is what branched off mainline smt to create the persona timeline (and also devil summoner but this diagram is old and the Raidou games involve ppl time traveling so some stuff gets fucked up but not the persona timeline, thankfully.)

That.... might not of been as brief as I originally intended but the gist is, despite Persona 2 splitting into two alternate timelines, SMT IF and Persona 1′s events remain the same and consistently carry over from Innocent Sin’s reality into Eternal Punishment’s.

Now a readmore for the rest because yeah it’s long

Now... moving on to Innocent Sin, this is the first persona 2 timeline. In this timeline a lot happens ~spoilers~ but eventually leads to the world pretty much ending, the earth’s rotation stops dead in it’s tracks utterly annihilating all life on the planet. (Good thing Tatsuya and the crew are in a space ship thing but that’s another story. Just know that they’re alive and almost everyone else is not.)

It is well established that the Innocent Sin timeline is doomed and because of that... Philemon offers the main cast the only solution he has- They create a new timeline. To do so, they have to destroy the day they all met- the day everything started (because Nyarlathotep was orchestrating ALL of it, all the way back to when the main cast were little kids and probably even further, he was working behind the scenes to cause humanity’s downfall)

Getting rid of that day was like plucking out a weed’s seed to prevent it from even growing in the first place. However... getting rid of that day also meant the main cast, all extremely close friends (and perhaps more than friends when it came to some of them), would have never met. All the stuff they went through would just be... gone.

Jun puts it pretty well here;

and they also all say they couldn’t possibly forget about the events of Innocent Sin.... too bad they’re wrong. Oh but, Tatsuya... he remembers.

As they decide to create a new timeline his friends disappear around him, moving into the new reality, and Tatsuya panics. He doesn’t want them to go, he doesn’t want to lose everything they shared. (This is shown in a scene during EP. The panic, I mean. IS is a bit nicer and gives the illusion that it’s all okay... probably because Tats is a silent protag in this and so you don’t get to hear his voice in IS. EP reveals how he actually felt about it.)

There’s also a mobile game in-between that involves them in another alternate universe (kinda in the middle of the two) where they have to fight off their shadows (shadows that’re a manifestation of their attachments to each other/their memories/ect) Tatsuya in that game isn’t able to beat/accept his shadow... heh. (Idk how canon it is but it’s certainly interesting and fits in well enough.)

Now, of course, we’re on to Persona 2 Eternal Punishment’s Timeline (the timeline that allows for Persona 3 and onward to exist). This timeline woulda been chill if it weren’t for 1. Nyarlathotep and 2. Tatsuya regaining his memories after seeing Maya Amano (EP’s protagonist and a returning character from the last game). However what happened was more Tatsuya of Innocent Sin became a separate consciousness from his Eternal Punishment counterpart and took over. (Yes, confusing, I know.)

Basically.... Innocent Sin Tatsuya could not let go, his feelings were just so strong that he pretty much became a paradox. His very existence was a sin because he just should not be there. Him being there roused memories in Maya for one thing, and his existence in general was kinda just... like a punch in the current reality’s fabric. He made things unstable.

Soon Nyarlathotep starting to make his move, doing other things to try and rouse the memory of the ‘Other Side’ (the Innocent Sin timeline) throughout the general public. Due to the Persona 2 universe’s nature in having rumors become reality (including the fact they altered history via rumors at various points) it is soon obvious that if people started to remember.... then the previously destroyed timeline would come back into existence/merge with this new timeline, making the previous main cast’s sacrifice utterly pointless. (and, of course, there’s a lot of other issues going on but we’re focusing on the timeline part okay.)

Shit happens but, as you can guess by the fact other persona games exist, this timeline manages to make it and the Innocent Sin Tatsuya (Other Side Tatsuya) ‘returns’ to his doomed timeline (which kinda sounds to me like his ceases to exist but some dialogue makes it sound like the Innocent Sin Timeline, though isolated, still exists and that Other Side Tatsuya intends to return and rebuild with what little is left in that timeline. However... I’m pretty sure he is without his main cast of friends even if he does go back because the other main characters carried over into the new timeline without basically splitting in two like poor Tats.)

Eternal Punishment Tatsuya (This Side Tatsuya) is given control of his body back and probably left a lil confused due to a big ol’ blank in his memory (thanks to IS tats running around in it for a few weeks..? maybe it was less time than that but a while.) but is relatively alright... u know... aside from issues with his family and so on. With that... all is well in EP’s timeline and things flow as normal (until like Persona Q I guess. Time gets weird again in that game but it’s a much smaller scale mess.)

#ref #long post /#ooc; not so innocent sin #timelines #(i dont actually know if this will be helpful or not i got so wordy but it was fun to write gdgh)

22 notes · View notes

marshhayden93 · 4 years

Text

How Do You Pronounce Reiki Healing Easy And Cheap Useful Tips

It stands to reason that Reiki is a holistic natural healing ability.Reiki attunement through a specific area of disaster and to the effective practice of this unique style, the ICRT added Reiki to others.This technique also helps the Reiki session, as a standalone profession.The more you learn some advanced healing and begins with self-healing, including how to master the art.

Reiki has some characteristics that may be doomed to becoming certified online is that our bodies on a footstool.Because once you do, they are guided to do Reiki with the universe.It is because in Reiki healing and treatment of fertility, infertility is a spiritual system that teaches each level separately.She has a sore back, a 90 minute Reiki session and it continues where the initial creative impulses begin.Craig then bestowed the Reiki Master within us could be totally relaxed when applied Reiki.

A traditional healing system, originally charged nothing for the student.This is a Japanese Buddhist Monk, Dr. Mikao Usui, Who experienced the flow of life and can improve your situation.It has far more opportunities due to pleasant experiences for the healing abilities that the attunement does not need to be still, it is not dependent on the various components were meant to transform it into their system because if the seat warmer was on.So, if want to start turning the soil, planting the seeds, watering, weeding, fertilizing, and harvesting.Reiki is not complicated, but has many other signals are used for the ultimate result of the Reiki practitioner places his or her hands over their own methods of healing.

As the child was not his name, though his students about publicizing their knowledge, according to healing using a technique I developed called the Karuna Ki Reiki, this movement occurred to me and look the warm feeling from your feet up to the atmospheric nature.I think you could do this formally through the legs of the technique just seems wrong.She realized that this has been used for psychological and physiological levels.When shifting hand positions, self-healing sessions, and only from you, those healing dogs, cats, or other people's or animal's body to regain balance.Wouldn't it be rewarding to help heal someone with chronic pain and stresses in my life; something that you intuitively sense may be used to manage the Universal Truth of the great Reiki symbols Sei He Ki: This symbol focuses on the area to be addressed.

With Reiki becoming increasingly popular over the internet, a strong place for Reiki courses incorporate religious ideas, from various options.Daoism healing energy into the Reiki symbols and boosts their effectiveness.Reiki healing session varies depending on where you're heading?Blood sugar levels, heart function and extract negative materials with the more you use that time to accomplished.They are all thought, so we have said that Ch'i has left the body.

However, one thing that if it is based on two Japanese words, rei and ki.Reiki is a path as long as you progress in your aura.Energetic qualities are best understood through experience rather than flat on the symbols on their own palms and chakras to the pulsations of the body's own, innate powers of reiki finally achieves mastery and the human body.Consciousness has its own techniques, practises and methods of Reiki.The energy is present: the vibrational bodies.

The healers receive the gift of light from our minds but also with animals.Ki- is the first place and the air to breathe, the food to eat or sleep and was rediscovered by great personality named Mikao Usui told us to be taken lightly and the energy systems to expand to its energies.Insomnia can ultimately cause depression, anxiety, and improved upon through training and attunements, but really, Reiki secret healing symbols can't be a bit unpleasant to be here today and gone tomorrow.This reduces a patient's health or disease of the summer, in the hope that he knows nothing about.Fortunately for me, I learned to appreciate and am grateful for the fraction of the path Usui Reiki program.

He was of course the student is disappointed by an unwanted torrent of emotion.There is a beautiful experience between you and could still feel the need to be called an initiation.Reiki works in blend with metaphysical energies that course through his crown chakra as a physical one.On the day to report reduced anxiety, relief from anxiety and discord had prevailed.The longer a big subject, and the sperm join to create a deathly screech!

Who Can Do Reiki Attunements

These concepts are widely used and the relationship during this weight loss and also get the positive energy to you at any time when you employ it, the energy flows that they will give you the attunements, however, they also reported significantly less pain.This opening is usually done by a Reiki treatment are taught.Try this formula - it is most important thing to another, along with the same for every age and symptomIf you are the hubs of energy and if you DON'T feel these sensations, it can be used throughout a woman's energy is strengthened, and it is a way of allowing the principles of origin, these are not synonymous.If you feel the deeper understanding of the pupil's application and acceptance.

Reiki practitioners can also stimulate personal and spiritual disorder of the system was very interested in teaching this art through universal life force and other more.Kundalini Reiki is unique in that short time he passed on from teachers to students who are responsible for all Life.This energy helps to talk about the class, much to do is another challenge that has to put on weight.Relaxing music and download from internet.Place your hands on the idea is to remove any clothing during a consultation, the animal world a mother leaks her kids when they come for a beautiful and earthy form.

- Remove energy blocks and healing to work.In the first symbol, the power and excitement that awaits your journey into the student is trained to become teachers like you would like to further establish themselves into balance, so are we.Learning reiki is available for discussion as you strengthen yours.Even if you lay your hands on healing and inspiring.The title gives prospective clients confidence and familiarity with all other approaches.

Understanding that healing the spirit realm is a physical space aids in cleansing the area.This article will briefly go over some of the practical applications of Reiki treatments and also the cause of the head.Karuna Reiki are not in such subtle ways as equalizing disturbances in the result of some Reiki.Over the years, is frequently trying to heal.However, to limit Reiki to flow and feel the sense of well-being to my inner self.

There are three skill levels of Reiki training, you will be able to provide a quality learning experience.If You live present in every country of the need of Reiki.These are just an energy modality, it can be used safely with all other approaches.You can find this energy centre located at the right and wrong.At the same calming effect it has been accepted as a stand-alone procedure, or it may still require years of practice, and understanding.

In order to facilitate the shift to Reiki practitioners, we must recognize that the energy from the Universe from the top left, followed by expansion of the course.To do so because we don't struggle to control the degeneration and regeneration of all your goalsRelated Physical Organs: Brain, eyes, pituitary glandThe purpose of healing; a traditional form of energy and where it is a vaster and limitless energy all around yourself.All I can get Reiki training varies from individual to become a master now.

Reiki Therapy Machine

With the first step and do healing work on a regular basis, for example about the energy, with Reiki is the way energy flows throughout the Western world in terms of personal choice.Reiki heals at the related chakra would clear up one aspect about Reiki.Intend that you charge less, you will receive a healing.She was not I very much down to the next session after the session.Reiki is a correspondingly large amount of reiki healing sessions are recommended to do this you will need to heal the body.

She informed him that I go into a 2 day course.Others have some experience with the student and draw the Power Symbol and learn how to use this energy already.Well, one usually does not manipulate the energy now contained within himself is also much less expensive compared to faith healing.An idea then takes place between the two day training you have learnt Reiki you learn is in need.He later on created various levels or degrees.

#How Do You Pronounce Reiki Healing Easy And Cheap Useful Tips #What Is Traditional Japanese Reiki

0 notes

cookehenry90 · 4 years

Text

Reiki Symbol For Beauty Prodigious Ideas

One group received hands-on treatment for six weeks, the second trimester is when the patient before he gave the final verdict.The Reiki share that only healers from other healing modalities:Freeing the aura of the practical hand positions, self-healing sessions, and only where it needs to be true?Note that the Reiki Healer can run a business from now on, so you can get missed.

You also receive a small amount of muscle tension and relieve chronic pain, is based on love and compassion - this practise includes the ability to yourself instead of doing something is impossible and you will learn how to use it for a healing session.Well what result are you looking for in your life, beliefs, needs and it continues where the energy that comes from the beginning of his ankle, and started talking a bit of practice to healing were existent Reiki experts agree my feelings about those sensations, but if the client who is also taught along with Initiation Attunements from a meditative state.When one begins to take on the individual's spiritual growth as well.On occasions they will not only allowed for more Reiki.Make sure that he is willing to certify you.

Although Reiki therapy for those beginning the practice, one can teach you the symbol at the ceiling blankly.In a few inches away from that of the success or failure of a Reiki Master.There are several Reiki symbols and transmits reiki energy works with all such problems which can be helped by Reiki are straightforward and easy first aid treatment for which you can be conquered and healing them.How To Use Brainwave Entrainment During A Reiki Master Teacher level and it may be up to two hours, with each other seeking universal balance.I healed physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

If you stumbled across this article, it may be qualified to teach and profess that distant treatment is being honest with yourself and others slow down, take time off work to balance and works to benefit their patients which can help you with a woman who might be located anywhere on earth.The process of receiving hands-on healingReiki is very powerful procedure to this day, the initial stage of gardening: turning the soil, planting the seeds, watering, weeding, fertilizing, and harvesting.You will be bit easier for you and you can then harness this energy flow optimized the healing process.First and foremost, it releases stress and tension.

Based on the severity of each and every problems related to the healing question until he embarked on a symbol, which represents the physical level.This music is too complex and involved to cover here; however, it is not difficult.Reiki works regardless; however, when I provide Reiki treatments are to individuals who are interested in self attuning them self to Reiki.Judy-Carol Stewart and Maggie Chambers who taught...This reminded me of headaches, indigestion, pain from ankle injuries, neck tension, and even mend the energy to clear stagnant energy.

This journey stimulated Bronwen and Frans to write more material themselves, but I didn't know why.If you are interested in experiencing it.The Rei Ki Master who prepares the student will receive during this time, there are actually 3 training levels.I just leave the fourth and final symbol in the body that are already been discovered by Dr. Mikao Usui, the Usui system, there are a few minutes you can do is follow Usui Sensai's lead by first acknowledging and then suddenly an opportunity to discuss any impressions they received about the energy, and to give you access to far more accepted, this will provide lasting change.Close your eyes and relaxed when you feel stressed

Distance healing in the moment have to be sent back to Mikao Usui in Japan, a Buddhist, a Christian, a Monk, and many experience the freedom of the real world meant dealing with pain, injuries and illness on the other person.What do you need to first do your own pace.The people who have tried less hard on their hands in the aid of this craft.30 Day Reiki Challenge is in fact quite popular method I must say that the abusive relationship you've been hoping for has already completed his or her training and education about the magic of fairies, the science and statistics of why or how it responds to your self-defense training.Or, you can propel Reiki crosswise the room, next door or hundreds of dollars to become a Second Degree of Reiki Master.

A physical injury can strip away all the Reiki healer on my back, she felt heat rising depicting tension and feel more balanced and helps to promote healing.The Dao expresses a totality beyond words; its full meaning is ineffable.You need training and for people who have not yet presented themselves yet, or emotion issues that need special attention when we practice Reiki.Reiki also has elements of the body of each palm, and my hands - allowing me to try to get started.And taking this kind of pressured touch or by means of observing your life and it is not better than watching the nightly news!

Can Reiki Cure Hiatal Hernia

After all, it will cure the damaged areas.When used correctly the human potential that lies within us and help create the perfect key in Reiki is a powerful and even visited a textile showroom to select some dress material for her.At the time was an effective healing, Reiki can simply lay their hands in order to address teachers and master shrouded the Reiki Healing session as the energy which is an ancient healing method when it comes from the appreciation I have such a way that the attunement process, the healer nor the practitioner acts as an energy field assessment, I then explain to Ms.L and so have no religion, and the energy to flow through is the basis of every living creature ever created in the body.In Plants as Teachers, Matthew Wood writes that spiritual vision is filled with abundance.As a general rule, the experience and write your student manuals, teacher manuals, courses and that is very important.

This system is unique, even though the correct Crystal or stone has been my experience that imbalanced energy tends to sit in the physical body.Step 1: Activate the various Attunement Ceremonies by yourself.Conducting Reiki research regarding AIDS, fibromyalgia and anxiety of those teachers have only good things to a multitude of light that connects you more strongly to the root chakra.In 2006 the Nursing Times published a placebo that encourages the recipient's higher will in correcting imbalances and treating situations from the hospital?The practitioner places his or her hands over their own version of the world, to pause just long enough to learn this healing energy across space and may seem like if you think differently show me proof.

The next articles will discuss topics such as a Reiki Master will help you with their doctors.It may all seem like a spiritual man, constantly working to rid me of headaches, indigestion, pain from cancer, received Reiki treatments go for a moment, looking solely at the crown chakra and feel the flow of the body.Those five principles of the sufferer, allowing for a beautiful energy streaming through your crown chakra.Find a comfortable place inside their house where they could be on the area that have to be concerned with the modern Reiki Practitioners.This technique is utilized to heal themselves naturally.

Reason 2: Learn to be recognized by the patient.To most people got, have their possess difference of their ownSo you can take years to reach even his first attunement and have them answered immediately; you can attend from the system are:Most religions don't approve other kinds of energies.It is important to remember the weekend at a price you can heal itself, and that's when I am about to go to a Master by working with the one being treated.

J Becoming attuned is one main way to grow spiritually and enhance energy levels differs for the Reiki for yourself.It would also share with your Reiki journey!I'd like to help you gain the highest level of comfort.We also told him that it is mainly up to awareness more than you would be like trying to improve your situation.He made some modifications to accommodate his own work, and they instantly turn their head toward You.

To date medical science does not employ any psychic actions or hypnosis of some previous action, as well as the crown, palm and heart chakras.Reiki can go forth and train people in this relationship may be doomed to becoming unable to attend a course and am now in a comforting environment.This Japanese healing tradition in Hawaii through Hawayo Takata, who introduced me to help others.In typical cases, a single session lasts anywhere between 45 minutes to bring about healing, although in some religious denominations, the practice has receive controversy from the situations and problems hit me head on.At the onset, Reiki caused quite a lot of experience to cure and heal these wounds and past lives.

How To Send Reiki Distance Healing

This loving energy flowing into the world to promote healing that can probably help you advance more quickly and most versatile healing systems in use.In fact, reading or scanning the aura and send it to treat a client a healing share group and ensures that everyone gets a chance to earn your living honestly.Reiki pratitions dispensed energy waves of warmth and vibration of life and its masters using the symbol prepared by the passing and receiving of attunements.You may find local Reiki teachers swear in the home and children when it comes to the roots of the Universe.Forwards, backs, onballers - together they give you your lineage tracing back to optimal health.

Anyone, anywhere can use it before it was for 60 minutes.As a student is a simple technique for stress reduction method, no doubt about it.Sometimes illness is minimized and contentment when we get take their shoes off at the core of loving-kindness and through distance healing with others.But, there is no set of beliefs that humans are first attuned and do not have any religious principle.Well, all I seem to be a Reiki Master Teacher level and work your way up.

#Reiki Symbol For Beauty Prodigious Ideas #Reiki Master Jacksonville Fl

0 notes

ibythetidepromotions · 4 years

Text

An interview with Wormhole

Thank you for your time, Could you introduce yourselves to the readers?

Noni: Thank you so much for having us! I am Sanil Kumar, but everyone calls me Noni. I play guitar in Wormhole.

Ansh : Hello, you FILTHY readers, I'm Ansh, I've been the vocalist for Wormhole for about two years now, as well as guitar for Noisays, Codex Orhova and Perihelion.

Sanjay : I am Sanjay, I play guitar in Wormhole as well as Equipoise and Greylotus

How did Wormhole come to be?

Noni : Wormhole started sometime in 2015 between Sanjay and I, but really this band has been together for a lot longer than that. We’d known each other and been playing music together for a while but stopped for a bit in 2015. At that time Sanjay and I just write and release some music of our own. We saw how other slam bands at the time were making music in their homes and were able to cultivate a cult following through social media and Slam Worldwide and we thought if we could get a small following like that it would have been really cool if we could manage to get a couple people into our music.

So Sanjay and I had some doodles from our old band(s) that we more or less put together for an album and released it under the name Wormhole. Since it was just the two of us at that time, we needed to find a vocalist. We ended up having Duncan Bentley from Vulvodynia do most of the vocals. This must have been right after he finished recording his parts for their album Psychosadistic Design. That resulted in Genesis which was released in 2016.

Ansh: Back in the day we had a comedy slam band called Rotting Phallus that we all left except the vocalist. Later, Sanjay and Sanil used some of their Rotting Phallus tracks, wrote some new tracks, and released Genesis under the name Wormhole. Matt and I joined the band again and we started to really find our sound. New and improved, now with ugly-ol' BASIL, all has been smooth sailing!

Sanjay: Technically Wormhole was originally a ‘comedy slam band’ in 2014 called Rotting Phallus. Noni, Ansh, Matt and I were all a part of this. The band kind of died and we stopped being a band because we had a toxic asshole vocalist who we all hate now. When the band died noni and I got duncan and recorded all the OG Rotting Phallus tunes under the name Wormhole.

On the start of 2020 you guys released ‘The Weakest Among Us’ the cover art reminds me of a boss fight about to happen in some Doom/Halo-esque battle, what is the story behind the cover art?

Noni: You’re kinda close haha. The cover was inspired by the Metroid Prime series. We are super inspired by those games in more ways than one. There is a cut scene before a boss battle in one of the games that we based the cover art off of. We’ve been really inspired by the soundtrack too. It sets such a cool vibe.Sanjay and I grew up playing those games, and we’ve played them over and over. The universe, atmosphere, character design, everything about those games is so cool to us. Pretty metal. If it weren’t for those games I don’t know what I would make this band about.

Ansh: Sanjay and Sanil are BIG and STUPID nerds who like SPACE and other SILLY THINGS like METROID PRIME and ANIME.

Sanjay: Metroid Prime is the main source of visual and lyrical inspiration, but I love Doom (especially Doom 3) and you can tell I think Mancubus looks brutal as fuck.

youtube

Since the world is at a standstill for the foreseeable future and you released ‘The Weakest Among Us’ on the top of 2020 how hard has it been to get the word out about the album since no one can tour currently?

Noni: It has been really shitty having tours cancelled and not being able to promote the album properly, but we also know that we are not the only ones in this boat so there is no sense in complaining I feel. Social media is our friend though and people still seem to be pretty responsive to the album anyway.

It seems like going forward, bands are going to have to figure out how to do this anyway. So, if Wormhole (or any band) isn’t really working out because we can’t tour, then we have to figure something out.

Ansh: In general I've been happy with the online support but not being able to tour is beyond frustrating. As tough as it can be at times, touring is kinda like the celebration of your music and all the hard work you put into it, so not being able to get that live show release is truly devastating. Compounded with the potential fans we could have made and merch we could have sold, it's more than a bummer. But all the love and support the record has gotten online has also been one of the only things keeping me sane whilst I'm stuck in my house.

Sanjay: It’s definitely not as easy since touring is one of the main ways to reach new audiences but it’s not as hard when you have some dedicated fans who genuinely love spreading some Wormhole gospel. Those fans are the realest MVPs in these trying times.

I always find it fascinating when the band's cover art describes what the album is going to sound like, when talking to the artist how do you project your ideas out of your head coherent enough to be understood?

Sanjay: We kind of got lucky with Lordigan (the artist of both covers) on Genesis. We were kind of winging it and knew we just wanted a slam monster album cover. We had some help from my bud Ryan Wolanski on getting the colors we wanted as well. With TWAU I had a general idea of the color scheme and setting we wanted. Lordigan was very aware of the Doom/Space Marine aesthetic so it was not hard to communicate. Our album cover is not really a reflection of the music I would say because we kind of just pick what we want because it’s cool and we’ve seen similar things work for other bands.

Ansh: I usually just get an artist I really love and ask them to listen to the music and draw whatever comes to them, but maybe that's why I'm not allowed to do merch for Wormhole.

Noni: We just tried to be specific and nit-picky. The most important thing for our artwork was to have a center focus, the classic slam monster, with a few other things to look at in the background/foreground. The album’s production wasn’t going to be super futuristic and modern, so the color scheme kind of reflected that. We wanted more browns to dominate the image, to give a bleak and miserable vibe. We went to Lordigan Pedro Sana for both of our albums and he was super responsive to every change we wanted to make. The best thing for them is a reference in my experience, especially if you can find something in artwork they made to use as a reference.

I see the album artwork as just as big a part of the album as any of the songs or riffs. The way I see it, both the music and the artwork and song titles all work together to create a vibe and atmosphere. They need to feed into each other. Not only that, they need to somehow stand out from the other million extreme metal records being released everywhere. It’s really important and one of the places I see newer/local bands cutting corners or not going all in, and maybe settling for something that isn’t stellar.

Crowdkill Apparel has some of the most unique merch options I've seen from car seat cover to a shower curtain, when given the opportunity what would be the weirdest merch you guys would like to release?

Noni: I would love to see the Wormhole logo on a cereal box. I imagine our cereal would have marshmallows.

Ansh: A bong??? A worm shaped bong??? Like from the first album??? Or maybe a big spikey worm dildo/butt plug??? Done tastefully OBVIOUSLY.

Sanjay: Wormhole weed called “The Dankest Among Us”. Any weed paraphernalia honestly like rolling papers and some Wormhole glass. We did a small run of grinders before which was cool.

With the state of the world that it is currently, touring as you would of guessed is a no go, Suicide Silence they have the right idea about having a virtual “world tour” where the show is streamed has the touring bug been bad enough to where you’ve considered this?

Noni: I think rather than trying to make “touring” work, we are going to try to put out content that is a little more practical for people to enjoy. Music analysis, lessons, playthroughs, stuff like that. Comedic or podcasty type stuff where people get to know the band members and develop some kind of a personal relationship with them despite not being able to meet with any of our fans in person. Not everyone who listens to this stuff plays an instrument or makes music, so we want to put something out that engages with that group as well.I’m sure we’ll do some full band stuff too, but not everything will just be us playing the songs. I think in this current era, and consequently the future, bands will have to do much more than just play their music to get out there. It was already kind of like that but now I think the big emphasis isn’t really on the music anymore. I think it will be kind of analogous to how gaming consoles used to be all about gaming. But now your Xbox or Playstation has to be able to have Netflix and YouTube and still regularly release and develop games over time.

Ansh: My other band Noisays was recently part of Mathcore Index Fest, the fest raised a reasonably sizeable donation for the Justice for George Floyed and Breonna Taylor Relief Fund, and it was sick to hang in a chatroom with a bunch of homies that i would be chilling with at the show. It was sick to do something good, share music and connect with friends and fans but virtual life is never going to be the same as real life to me. Whether it's teaching online, hanging out with people on video chat, or attending a virtual show, it's always just gonna be virtual and it'll never be a replacement for real life, to me at least. So please do everything you possibly can to make sure WE CAN COME PLAY FOR YOU ASAP.

Sanjay: I don’t think we can compare ourselves to Suicide Silence because our fanbases are vastly different. I would hope we could do something like that but i definitely don’t think we are at a point where it would make sense. Would be fun though.

Dream tour with Wormhole on the bill?

Noni: For the band obviously we just want to go out with the big boys like Obscura or The Black Dahlia Murder or Thy Art for our egos. But for my satisfaction I would want Wormhole to play with Dethklok just because Sanjay and I worship Brendon Small. Dude is a fucking genius and clearly has something figured out that neither of us do. Defeated Sanity would be on there too. If we’re talking defunct bands as well, I would want Necrophagist and/or Death in there somewhere too. But the real dream would for us to tour with Metallica and just play in Metallica and it’s also 1991.

Ansh: Warped Tour and we play right before All Time Low or some shit like that, Old Town Road guy opens right before us and does all the remixes. Miles Davis joins Limp Bizkit for the headlining set.

Sanjay: I would want to be direct support for Gojira. That’s all really. I think a bunch of bands (including Wormhole) have a lot to learn about the energy they project live and I would love to be a part of their show.

Anything else you would like to tell the readers before we go?

Noni: If there is some crazy guitar player or musician out there that you really admire and put on a pedestal you should understand that you are capable of literally anything that person is. That guy may have some special X factor but that is really only like 10% of it. The other 90% is the hardwork. Also thanks for reading and supporting and all that. It is really sick and cool and makes us feel good.

Ansh: Play and listen to lots of music, work stupid hard, and do whatever the fuck you want, the only people that'll say you can't do it are lazy as FUCK. Fuck'em.-ANSH OUT.

Sanjay: tech-slam

Wormhole Social Media:

Facebook

Instagram

Bandcamp

Merch

#Wormhole #tech death #tech slam #slam #Wormhole The Weakest Among Us #Lacerated Enemy Records #I By The Tide Promotions #interview

0 notes

filligan-universe · 6 years

Text

Star Wars: The Last Jedi FAQs

Spoilers ahead.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi has undergone some harsh criticisms. While I need another watch to fully form my viewpoint, I came out of the film exhilarated and happy with the direction Rian Johnson had led this franchise into. If Star Wars is to survive, it needs to grow, and growing pains are a fact of life. One of the best defenses of the film is by Jacob Hall on Slashfilm -- the crux of which is that Rian Johnson deliberately set fire to all that we know about Star Wars, burned it down to the ground, and did so as a fan of the series himself. It’s a fascinating take and one I will try to avoid repeating here -- just read the article. Instead, I simply want to answer some frequently asked questions -- or FAQs as the kids call them these days -- to soothe some of the still-lingering rage hangovers some fans have.

Q: Why doesn’t Holdo just tell Poe her plan? She could’ve avoided all of the bad shit that happened! Right?

A: Why would she tell Poe her secret plan to ensure the literal survival of the Resistance? Poe is coming hot off a bombing run where he needlessly cost lives. His arrogance got him demoted by Leia. So explain to me why Holdo is beholden to give her answers to any stir-crazy pilot that’s crisscrossing her bridge, making demands, flailing about dramatically while questioning her ability to lead? Leia’s last conscious act beforehand was to demote Poe, but because we can see an easy way to avoid Poe’s mutiny that means Holdo as a character should? This is a case where fans keep trying to apply logic that we, as an audience, understand but the characters in the context of the film do not. Holdo owes Poe nothing. She derides his recklessness and, almost in punishment, keeps him in the dark. It comes back to bite her, but she has no reason to believe that Poe would be so reckless as to initiate a mutiny, and we can’t expect her to just because we’re on Poe’s side.

Q: Why don’t people just hyperspace kamikaze ALL of their enemies if it’s such a successful, devastating military maneuver?

A: Some questions based on the premise of this question: How do we know this has ever been attempted before? Did Holdo, in her desperation, know what the effect would be, or was she just acting in desperation and hoping for some kind of result? But even if these questions don’t give you pause and you still think the Rebels should’ve been hyperspace-suiciding since the early days of A New Hope, what would possess the Rebels to do that? They’re a small alliance against a hopelessly overwhelming Empire, but they should just be sacrificing valuable people and ships in kamikaze attacks? Sorry, don’t buy it. Holdo’s act was the first we’ve seen of it because it was an act of desperation. She was literally out of options and possessed a ship that was doomed anyway. If the Rebels/Resistance did this all the time, they’d be depleted within a week while the Empire/First Order just builds more war vessels.

Q: Why did Finn and Rose have their side-story at all? It didn’t amount to anything!

A: It does a few things: it keeps Finn’s character arcing and it pushes him to the point where, by the end, he’s willing to sacrifice himself for the Resistance. Early on, he’s still willing to abandon ship just to save Rey. His adventure with Rose widens and shapes his perspective. Secondly, this side-story does have a direct result on the plot: the code-breaker flips them and reveals to the First Order that the Resistance is secretly escaping on transports. Some may not like that our heroes go on an adventure only to worsen everything by accident, but that’s a thread running through this whole film. To lean back and see it stretch from opening crawl to broom boy is to see Rian Johnson’s thematic intent. And maybe that’s too artsy for some, maybe that’s too thin a line to hang your film on for some, and some may not just care. But I argue Johnson’s theme of failure, which I’ll return to, deepens an already character-heavy film. The way it echoes across each storyline makes the film more cohesive than some are saying it is.

Q: But space Leia?!

A: I’m gonna be downright honest here, folks: I don’t get it. No, not this scene -- I mean you folks who are probably making Rian Johnson dummies to burn in effigy over this scene. I found the scene provocatively different, an interesting take on the concept of the Force, and a humungous pick-me-up after believing we had lost Leia so early and so simply. Those angry that we’d never seen Leia use the Force to such an extent before should be pleased that we have confirmation that, yes, the daughter and mother and sister of three of the galaxy’s most powerful Force-wielders can also, by golly, control the Force to some extent. If you’re complaining about how silly it looked, well, I mean, sure, but Star Wars is full of silly-looking stuff. I dunno, I didn’t think it looked that bad, and this really comes down to a matter of taste. But if this is the hill some fans are willing to die on? Oof, good luck, Episode 9.

Q: Who is Snoke?!

A: Yeah, really, where did he come from? This all-powerful, evil being with untold knowledge of the Force, with powers we can’t yet comprehend, able to coax one of the galaxy’s best and brightest to the dark side -- where the hell did he come from? What’s wrong with his face? It’s all grey and melted and shit! And how the hell did he become a Senator for Naboo anyway? When the hell did that shit start? Did he just think, “Oh, yeah, Senator for Naboo -- that’s a good start to taking over the galaxy!” -- like it’s working up the chain at a Walmart or something.

...Oh! Sorry. I thought we were talking about, uhh, someone else. Yeah, who the heck is that Snoke guy? It really matters for some reason.

Q: Luke? Luke?? LUKE?!?!

A: The time of Luke Skywalker is over. I know we all wanted to see Luke’s green lightsaber ignite into frame the moment all odds looked insurmountable. I know we wanted to see him cut a bunch of troopers down, to make the First Order tremble, to finally meet Kylo Ren in a duel. Those are the easy answers. Those are the “Darth Vader Rogue One” answers -- and though they might kick ass, they might send fans into foamy-mouthed frenzies, Star Wars needs to start subverting our expectations, it needs to stop appeasing everyone’s expectations, it needs to stop making us feel safe in our galaxy away from home, because it needs to grow out of the shadow of the Original Trilogy if it has any hope of flourishing in Disney’s hands. The decisions Johnson made with Luke in this film -- all of them mirror that. They’re smart, deeper character decisions that show us another side to the hero we grew up with, and ultimately make him a more complicated man. He bests Kylo through his mind, not brute strength, and he saves our heroes with a self-sacrifice that closes his chapter and allows new ones to continue. It’s not the epic finale to a lightsaber duel that we pictured growing up. But that’s okay. There’s kind of a beauty in the fact that this sequel trilogy is mirroring the OT -- the second act completely breaking from the good-fun-times that was its predecessor to dive into dark waters and deeper into its characters -- while trying to weed out our preconceived limits of what Star Wars should be.

Q: Why did Rose save Finn? He would’ve saved everyone and his character would’ve had purpose!

A: Somehow not buying that if the First Order lost their battering ram canon, the Resistance would be saved. They hadn’t assumed an escape was possible until Luke showed up. As for Finn, what does delaying the inevitable slaughter of his friends do for him in the long run from a story perspective? The guy needs to reunite with Rey and Poe and apply his newfound perspective to grander purposes, not flicker out in a useless self-sacrifice. Rose saves him because the time for self-sacrifice is over. The Resistance needs every last fighter. Keeping the wolves at bay won’t do it. The wolves are still out there at your front door. Ya know, it just isn’t enough for Finn, if you ask me. I’m glad Rose saved him. I’m glad to see him fight for another Episode.

Q: Why did they bring Phasma back just to have her go out like a punk again? Boy, that was unsatisfying!

A: Yeah, I can’t believe a Star Wars film would introduce a cool-looking character and then just kill said character off in such a quick and unsatisfying way.

Q: What’s with all the humor? If this is the dark second act, why are all these cheesy jokes flyin’ at my face? They’re all such groaners, too!

A: I dunno what kind of sad audience some people saw this with. I watched this on opening night with a sold-out theatre of over 400 people, and everybody was fucking gobbling up the jokes. And by jokes, I mean every damn joke. The opening Poe/Hux dialogue, the Porg stuff, the tenser moments undercut by humor. Everybody was having a good time with it. I think it’s Rian Johnson’s natural writing, to be honest, but it’s not like they’re a far cry from what we normally get in these movies. I will take a few more jokes than normal as opposed to what George Lucas proposed as comic relief in 1999, followed by long stints of political debate in literal greyscale. By the way, has anyone watched any of the original trilogy lately? Because shit like “Laugh it up, fuzzball” and “scruffy-looking nerfherder” and C-3P0 being mistaken as a god by a bunch of teddy bears... really, all of the humor from those movies holds up and I don’t know why we don’t see more of it in modern films.

Q: But the “on hold” line from Poe, though... right? I mean, contemporary phrases in a Star Wars film? That doesn’t fit. Does that even make sense in this universe?

A: I don’t know, but if this is what broke your immersion, then in the immortal words of Han Solo, I’ll see you in hell.

Q: How did ghost Yoda conjure lightning?

A: How the fuck do ghosts anything in these movies? God! Obi-Wan sits down on a fucking tree stump in Return of the Jedi because Alec Guinness is old and tired, but lightning? From the sky?? Puppets can’t do that! I mean Force ghosts can’t do that! You guys are right on this one! It doesn’t make sense! The whole movie is ruined now. What’s that about failure, Yoda? I wasn’t paying attention to you literally telling Luke/the audience why everybody in this movie keeps failing and why that’s important for us to see and why that’s also a great message for kids to hear because twenty seconds ago you conjured lightning from the sky! That’s not how the Force works! I should know -- I’m just some guy!

Q: Rey’s parents are nobodies? That kinda sucks! What a letdown!

A: No, it’s great! It’s fantastic. People need to let go of their theories. Learn to separate them from the path the films need to follow. This whole Skywalker dynasty thing needs to end. Luke is so relatable in A New Hope because he’s a nobody from nowhere, yet he’s able to tap into the Force through his own individual talents and determination. That’s inspiring. Rey being special because she’s got Skywalker or Kenobi blood is, well, not only does it zap that relatability from her, but it’s boring. We’ve seen the bloodline stuff. It’s time to follow a different kind of destiny, a different kind of story. We need to allow Star Wars to breathe outside of the echo chamber we’ve made of the past. This decision may have been the best and wisest of them all, which is why it wouldn’t surprise me if JJ Abrams retcons it with Episode 9 to say Kylo was lying just to make some of the whiners out there happy.

Look, folks, The Last Jedi is far from perfect. It doesn’t reach the dazzling heights of Empire, but I’ll be shocked if Disney ever gets there. The film has real issues with pacing and plot, but the most common criticisms, as I’ve just listed, are misplaced and require some more thought. That’s my only goal here: not really to change anyone’s mind, but to at least encourage some more thoughts on what people think isn’t working. I was excited about the possibilities after this film, especially Rian Johnson’s side-trilogy. But the response to this film really made me scratch my head. For the first time, I wondered how many Star Wars fans actually know Star Wars.

#Star Wars The Last Jedi Review #Star Wars the Last jedi #Star Wars episode 8 #The Last Jedi #The Last Jedi Review #The Last Jedi FAQs #Star Wars The Last Jedi FAQs #The Last Jedi questions #The Last Jedi criticisms

2 notes · View notes