#Common Suffering

[guerrilla-operator]

Harm's Way // Cyanide

Like cyanide Shatter the earth The poison Fatigue sets in Concussed I can't recall Distrust It controls us all

[vermilliondevth]

Harms Way's "Common Suffering" is more than just an experimentation. It's a powerful, hardcore-fueled, and emotionally electrifying album with a hidden message left to be deciphered by its listener. Whomever seeks to find the conventional approach to what they've done in the past could be easily disillusioned with this one, but if you dig deeper, you may find a masterpiece. It asks the listener:

"Do you know what real suffering feels like?"

This album suggests a deep exploration of the five stages of grief:

Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance.

But what is most fascinating is that, it is much more closer to the true expression of how these stages are experienced in humanity. It is not cohesive, but rather confused and abstract. It speaks about a heart finding out that it has been betrayed. The realization that the truth we believed and trusted is no longer there, and so the journey of transcendence begins. The hurt ego begins with trying to maintain itself afloat with - - "Degrade, we're born to decay" - "Decline, they will let you down" - As the feelings and thoughts begin to affect our consciousness by circulating into a downward spiral, it then speaks with - - "I am in denial, I will never be free again" - "I have no sense of self" - "I can't forgive me, another victim in denial" - but the sword of deceit has already been plunged into the heart, perforating deeply - so deeply, it emerges all the way to the back. The sharpness of the pain, the burning sensation felt all over the body, and the mind finds itself in a state of shock. The blood pours out from the mouth and circulates all the way up into the brain. We suddenly become blinded by rage.

The anger. The endless anger. - "I can't live this way, live your way. I can't love like you do." - "Commitment, Illusion, you can't console" - "A selfish force, so cruel, a destructive scheme" - "You take my soul from me and I feel betrayed" - "A broken promise, the hate infests" - "You feel your life erode, it's all for nothing" - "I watched you betray me, I want you to fear me" - "Before they terrorize you, watch them bleed in front of you" -

It is anger sinking you deeper into the abyss, seeking for the ultimate destruction of the lie you lived. It is wanting to skin yourself alive to erode every false touch, hope, and empty promise given to you. Desolation, and despair. Feeling so many violent currents, you no longer can decipher what is real. Worthlessness.

Bargaining with faith, asking the question: Is this really my destiny? Am I still a man or have I become an empty shell? - "(Help me)" - "I remember (When will it end?)" - "Devour me" - "Why do we exist?" -

Only to find the door slammed shut, locked deep inside memories that can no longer be experienced nor lived in no matter how hard we try to pry it open, leading us straight into the meaningless of our existence - The Void. Depression, forcing us to meet face to face with the ultimate darkness, our shadow selves. The endless monologues, paranoia, neurosis - the inability to feel anything but pure emptiness: - "Fade away" - "Looking for seclusion" - "I forever am alone (dying inside)" - "Cornered alone, wounded and vulnerable" - "The years await, to fill the void" - "It's all for nothing, erase my future" - "I lay still, tomorrow I dread" - "The nervous system stalls, you cripple and start to fall" - "I blame myself and I corrode, and I surround myself with what I loathe" - "A sad delusion, I confess" - "I faced God, I was turned inside, It's back to hell, and I'm here to stay" -

The process of isolation. Not having the emotional currency needed to see hope. The endless shades of grey. The endless grief, corrupted by loneliness. Numbness. The "Cyanide" poisoning the heart, obliterating every feeling of hope. Using the last remaining dose of courage to grab the sword by the blade to remove it once and for all, for the suffering has been too great to continue tolerating - the endless bleeding, the ultimate sacrifice of love. Years go by and the wound ceases to bleed, yet it remains open. It then makes us question: Do we choose to remain or do we choose to cease? "The affection I feel, impaired. Relations turn to despair. As I cower to my knees, they empower" - "Never let them take control" - "I will always seek power" - And through the solitude, isolation, we begin to understand the nuances of the betrayal and it's meaning. We begin to understand that this pain and suffering, is a new source of power being gifted to us. Through the path of hell, we meet our creator - ourselves, and by looking at it straight into the eyes of the abyss, we begin to accept our fate. We become acquainted with expansion in our consciousness through our common suffering. We accept our anger and the injustice made onto us: - "And I looked into the eyes of a demon and I saw myself" - "The calm sets in, at peace this time" - "I'm free at last" - "The darkest past, no longer see beneath the surface" - "Sink to peace" - It then culminates with a song called "Wanderer": - "To wander beyond the sunset To sail above the seabed To wander behind the sand glass To reach the past of me

As I'm wandering, I'll be searching through - " The search for a new meaning. A new sense of self. A life beyond deception and hatredness. The search for the new truth.

As mentioned at the beginning, these messages are found scattered throughout the story-line, which brings a lot of confusing thoughts to what exactly is the message that is being conveyed. But that is the beauty of grief - the imbalance of emotions and thoughts, the constant ups and downs, the health within sickness - we can all experience these torments in just a day. The combination of this lyrics, alongside the heaviness and the metallic abstraction of the sounds, brings out feelings rooted within the subconscious that feel foreign, and almost terrifying. It invites the listener to open up their heart and feel the fear. I couldn't bear to listen to this album after the first time I did - for it triggered feelings I didn't wish to re-live again. But I took the plunge and allowed myself to go alongside the journey of pain - a journey that by now, I know very well. I came to understand that I am not completely alone in this world - someone out there experienced the same feelings I have experienced, and meticulously put into words the things I have always wished to express but never could. This band already had an immense sentimental value to me - it reminds me of a life I thought I would live forever. But as I went through it's journey, in the end - all I truly found was hope and acceptance.

Acceptance of what is long gone and no longer will be. Acceptance that I am also the wanderer, searching through - for the truth.

The ultimate truth that can only be found through common suffering.

The light at the end of the tunnel.

[bedforddanes75]

im not american but some of you guys are just fucking stupid ong what do you MEAN youre not gna vote because you disagree with like one part of what youre voting for. like okay me when im fucking thick

[olasketches]

two sides of the same coin

[tea-cat-arts]

Shen Yuan getting transported into pidw isn't "the system punishing him for being a lazy internet hater," but instead representative of "step 1 of the creative process: getting so mad at something you decide to go write your own fucking book" in this essay I will

[still-talking-to-ghosts]

Dirt Under Your Nails

My friends, "I'm the dirt under your nails" is not Vi saying she is in any way less than or a nuisance to Caitlyn. It's the same as Jinx's "I'm always with ya, sis." It's "one flesh, one end," if you will. Vi is saying that she is tied to Cait in a way that can never be severed, no matter what has or will come between them. They have impacted each other in ways that can never be scraped or washed away, just like every other tragically intertwined relationship we see in the show. It's Jinx/Powder and Vi orienting their entire lives around their connection to the other, even when they haven't seen each other in years, even if they think the other is dead. It's Vander working for a better world for Felicia's children even after she's gone, or Silco styling Jinx's hair the same way as her mother's. It's Mel loving and hating and becoming her mother even as she is finding her own path away from her. It's Jayce being most motivated to advance Hextech for Victor's sake and then destroying it with him, to save him again. It's Ekko painting a mural of Powder thinking she's gone forever, only to leave an alternate version of her because he needs to save her as Jinx, too. It's Jinx decorating her space with mementos of everyone she's ever loved and is haunted by. It's Warwick/Vander recognizing his daughters again and again. It's a record spinning around and around with the faces of two people who will always be part of the same song. "You can't take loved away."

Arcane is a show about many things, and one of them is the beauty and horrors of love, whether it's in found family or blood family or romance. Vi is acknowledging this indelible tether to Caitlin, and also declaring that she is going to be intentional about it. They have both lost so much, even each other, in the past. Vi is essentially promising that she is always going to stay.

[a-chaotic-dumbass]

'Nobody cares abt the smallfolk😒' we've spent the past 6 novels seeing the injustice and brutality commited against the smallfolk by the nobility through multiple pov characters multiple times over and over again

[ohgreat-moretapes]

Tim I noticed a lot of indigenous patches on your jacket, are you Native?

Idk what my dad was 'cause I never knew him, but yeah my mom is (or... Was.. I guess..) Muscogee, the tribe native to the part of Alabama I'm in.

If I remember correctly she came to Alabama from Oklahoma (where a lot of Natives were displaced to in the 1800s) to "get back to her roots."

But yknow, I was separated from her in childhood (which tbh is upsettingly common for Native families) and I was raised in a very white very Catholic asylum so I'm not as connected to the culture as I'd like to be.

-Tim

[larapaulussen]

[kaizsche]

baby's first tornado after 5 years ofc she'll be nervous :(( TWISTERS (2024)

[sscarletvenus]

they're like the powerpuff girls for really miserable bitches

[cctinsleybaxter]

i think about that post that's like 'men are addicted to writing sad songs about a time they were clearly the bad guy' every time i listen to music

[serpentface]

Two questions regarding the Wardi religion:

In addition to the bull and the lioness, what are the seven faces of god/sacrificial animals?

Given that white animals seem to be sacred, does that influence how albino humans/other sophents are treated by society?

The seven faces of God are as follows:

-the lunar, horned, or 'wild ox' face of God, which presides over the moons, and the fertility of the land, animals, and people. In pre-imperial times, this was functionally the most central face of God (replaced by the lion face/odomache). The most ideal sacrifice is a wild ox (especially white or albino) that has never been bred. -the ‘ox’ face of God, presides over agriculture and labor, as well as the domestic sphere. The most ideal sacrifice is a healthy plow oxen or khait who has never been yoked or bred (if the sacrifice is towards Ox-Face as the domestic sphere, this should be a heifer). -the lion face of God, presides over sovereignty, statehood, military might, and is most associated with the health and continuing existence of the imperial entity. The most ideal sacrifice is a maned lioness (functionally white, though this is a trait of the captive population). -the ocean or skimmer face of God, presides over the seas, winds, as well as fortune and mercantilism. The ideal sacrifice is the skimmer gull or an albatross, especially one taken from one of the sacred rocks in the 'mouth' of the Viper sea. -the serpent face of God, presides over the cosmos and divine Mysteries, associated with funerary rites and death. Also has a wildly disparate association with royalty (which is derived from entirely separate traditions and has not yet fully been reconciled into the faith). The ideal sacrifice is a two headed or melanistic snake, especially a venomous one (both would be MOST ideal, but this is rare beyond any practicality) -The solar face of God, presides over the sun, stars, and fire, also heavily associated with khait and mounted warriors. (this is a VERY direct import from the chief solar god in the Burri pantheon (who rides and/or is a khait with the sun between its horns), hence the seemingly random khait association). The ideal sacrifice is a healthy riding khait (especially with a white spotted coat), or alternatively a golden eagle. -The river face of God, presides over fresh water, seasonal flooding, and the rains. The ideal sacrifice is the migratory reed duck (which arrives at the onset of the wet season) or a freshwater hesperornis (ideally taken from one of the sacred waters). An-Nechoi are also occasionally given.

Though the core religion is monotheistic, each face of God is functionally a syncretic fusion of older ethnic Wardi beliefs, the Burri pantheon, and other regionally native traditions, which have not all been fully reconciled (the process of fusion is more or less still ongoing). Each face in of itself has dozens or more epithets with distinct features. For example, the river face has a specific epithet for each major riverway, each venerated as a distinct aspect of the Godhead. Functionally, common practice of the Wardi faith is pretty indistinguishable from polytheism, and most of the religious authority does not care as long as required orthopraxy is maintained (the central dogma of the religion does not care How you believe, but that the correct practices are enacted).

Also for reference, these are the specific animals taken on the pilgrimage in the story (transporting seven rare animals cross country can be fraught, so each had at least a few backups):

A pure white aurochs calf, found naturally born in a wild herd.

A massive, unbred and unyoked bull draft khait (dies en route, replaced by a less physically impressive backup with the same qualities)

A lioness with a full mane, from the white captive stock

A skimmer gull taken from a nest on the sacred rock in the waters of Od-Koto.

A baby two headed cobra (which dies en-route and is replaced with its backup, a melanistic viper)

A beautiful speckled riding khait mare whose horns form a near perfect circle (which is stolen en-route and replaced with its sister)

A rare wild hesperornis (haven't come up with an in-universe name yet) taken from the reeds of the Brilla river delta.

Anyway the sacrifices listed above are considered the absolute IDEALS when working with a specific face, but a great variety of animals will be sacrificed to various ends. There’s some very specific cultural/religious components to which animals are most valued, but in practice the value of a sacrifice is pretty close to 1:1 with the animal’s monetary value, at an intersection of utility and rarity.

So a young, healthy bull plow oxen who has never been bred or yoked is a more valued sacrifice than an old, experienced plow ox who has already sired offspring. You are giving up an extremely valuable animal and all its unused potential in a very practical sense, which makes the sacrifice more potent and valued. The 'virginal' status of the animal is key when the rite is SPECIFICALLY related to fertility, in the sense that the animal itself is sacrificing its unused fertility, allowing for the sacrifice-rebirth cycle to perpetuate. (Animals which Have been bred may be preferred in certain cases and rituals).

An animal with a rare coloration is usually going to be more valuable than one with more common genetics. This is the core root of why albino animals are of high value. It's less that white animals themselves are valued, just that rare genetics such as albinism = valuable sacrifice.

There are some specific exceptions where the color itself is significant (rather than just an extension of its rarity). God is specifically supposed to have taken the form of a white aurochs (itself emerged from the foam of the sea) during creation, so white oxen and wild oxen SPECIFICALLY have especially high value. Melanism or black scales are valued to the serpent face of God, which is associated with the cosmos and void behind the stars. (this stems from much, MUCH older beliefs in a cosmic serpent god in the region).

Animal sacrifice is a very significant part of the religious framework and involved in most rituals and prayers intended to affect significant change and transformation. (This is due in part to a deeply ingrained belief in the world being perpetually sustained in a cycle of sacrifice and rebirth, and in God Itself being the physical mechanism of rebirth and requiring sacrifice to be sustained). While blood itself is seen as potent, the nature of sacrifice isn't just 'spill blood and make thing happen', it's got a self contained value system and is very calculated and intentional in nature. You aren’t going to just grab a random rat and bleed it and pray, there needs to be a perceived ‘loss’. Sacrifice via killing is also not the only form, the most common day to day sacrifice is in (very minor) bloodletting and offerings of food and drink- the key is allowing a personal loss to sustain a greater cycle.

That being said, there is a HUGE trade system built up around the breeding and selling of animals solely for sacrifice. The industry revolves mostly around birds (doves are the cheapest, but also poultry, waterfowl, some birds of prey, a few select songbirds and ornamental birds), goats, sheep, and horses (the small, premodern kind). Cattle and camelids are a higher tier, and khait are among the highest of common sacrifices due to their great value.

Other animals that have no direct utility but are sacred are also bred or captured for sacrifice (hesperornis, lacetor, gulls and albatrosses, several kinds of snake, a bunch of wild ungulates, nechoi, etc). Some '''‘exotic’''' animals are imported specifically for this purpose, mostly as a means of displaying the wealth and reach of the state, with their sacrificial value rooted in the difficulty of acquisition. Animals taken from sacred sites are also prime candidates (ie cattle bred and grazed on the foothills of the Sons of Creation are VERY valuable).

---

So all that being said the importance of albino animals has come off a little overstated on my part, and doesn't have any particular impact on how albinism in people is regarded. It’s valued mainly for its rarity in the context of animal sacrifice, which would not have direct translations to how it’s perceived in people.

Albinism in people doesn’t have a super well defined significance in broader Imperial Wardi culture, but perspectives mostly skew negative and towards seeing it as a sign of ill fortune (physical differences in people tend to be seen as a result of being cursed in the womb). Imperial Wardin is culturally diverse (united mostly by a identity based in shared religion), so exact nuances would vary and this statement should not be taken as a universal.

Imperial Wardi population is mostly human (with its citizen population being MAYBE 5% elowey, 2% qilik, and a decimal point of caelin). Overall sentiment towards other sophonts by the human majority is not outright hostile, but is human-centric and tinged with xenophobia (as most qilik and elowey in the region are immigrants, with the only elowey ethnic group historically inhabiting the region (the Jazait) being regarded as 'heathens'). Albino elowey or qilik might be similarly seen as products of a curse, or may be given a 'wow how beautiful' treatment (in a heavily patronizing capacity) and seen as a curiosity, or otherwise just subject to varying perspectives on albinism in the region.

The one other thing I have established in this vein is that the semi-mythological hero Janise (sworn brother of other semi-mythological founder hero Erub) is said to have been albino. While he is positively regarded, he is supposed to have died young of a snakebite (assumed to be the product of a curse from his enemies) and this would not improve perceptions of albinism being related to ill fortune.

[kweenratking]

will graham would put hannibal on a leash i know this to be true and won't be taking questions at this time

[quicktimeeventfull]

frankly death note is one of those rare series where casual fans often understand it better than people who are obsessed with it bc the intentions and scope of the manga are pretty clear. like i find casual fans are generally pretty invested in the whole question of whether or not light is good whereas serious(tm) fans tend to dismiss this as settled. death note is ultimately very firm on the fact that light's whole endeavour is horrific but this does not mean readers aren't being invited to consider it. imo it's not an especially interesting series if you don't engage with that

[korrasamibottles]

Yeah Venom of the Red Lotus showed us how crazy powerful Korra is but The Last Stand had Korra transform the destructive power of a massive bomb blast into something regenerative in the culmination of one of the best character arcs I've ever seen. In my OPINION!!