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vexwerewolf · 6 months

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Hello, it is I once again, here with a weird meme build. How would you go about building a hacker Swallowtail at LL6? Standard or Ranger, it doesn't matter which

As it happens, Hacktail isn't a meme build at all - due to the Swallowtail's expansive 20 Sensors and innate +1 tech attack, it's an extremely viable Support pick.

-- SSC Swallowtail @ LL6 -- [ LICENSES ] SSC Swallowtail 2, SSC Dusk Wing 1, HORUS Goblin 1, HORUS Minotaur 2 [ CORE BONUSES ] The Lesson of the Held Image, Full Subjectivity Sync [ TALENTS ] Hacker 3, Spotter 2, Skirmisher 2, Field Analyst 1, Nuclear Cavalier 1 [ STATS ] HULL:2 AGI:2 SYS:2 ENGI:2 STRUCTURE:4 HP:15 ARMOR:0 STRESS:4 HEATCAP:6 REPAIR:6 TECH ATK:+3 LIMITED:+1 SPD:7 EVA:14 EDEF:12 SENSE:20 SAVE:13 [ WEAPONS ] FLEX MOUNT: Assault Rifle AUX/AUX MOUNT: Nexus (Light) / Nexus (Light) [ SYSTEMS ] H0R_OS System Upgrade I, Neurospike, Metafold Carver, Personalizations, Lotus Projector, Manipulators

I call this one Hacking The Omninet.

Firstly, let's discuss the basics. This build is fragile, as all systems-first Swallowtail builds are going to be. This mech needs heavy co-ordination with your team to focus down threats. Employ cover rigorously, stay behind the lines and make liberal use of the Invisibility from Integrated Cloak. Low survivability is the price you pay for being able to turn an enemy comp inside out.

Your armament is not going to be used very much, and so is very simple - an Assault Rifle for Reliable damage, and dual Light Nexi for enemies with high Evasion. Oracle LMG-Is consume 1 SP a pop and we're not going to sacrifice system space for guns we might never fire.

We have Personalizations on there for a tiny bit of extra HP, and Manipulators for one simple reason: sacrificial system. We don't want to lose our hacking systems, and so if we take Structure damage and lose a system, we dump the robo-hands.

With all that out of the way, let's get to the meat and potatoes of this build: the hacking tools.

We start with H0R_OS System Upgrade I, possibly the best control tool in the game, definitely the best hacking tool in the game. Puppet System lets you reposition enemies in a straight line equal to their Speed any number of times, and unlike every other form of involuntary movement in the game, it triggers reactions, meaning you can open enemies up to Overwatch attacks from your allies. Meanwhile, Eject Power Cores inflicts Jammed, shutting down an enemy's weapons and tech attacks. It isn't repeatable on the same enemy, but this often doesn't matter - shutting down a heavy hitter's weapons for a single turn often buys enough time for your team to kill them outright.

Moving on to Neurospike, a much slept-on Invade system from the Dusk Wing. We're mostly in this for Shrike Code, which is a very powerful control tool in Lancer's mid-to-late game. At Tiers 2 and 3, a lot of enemy NPC classes get multiattacks, allowing them to use their weapon twice or even thrice every time they attack with it (including during Overwatch). But Shrike Code applies 2 heat per attack, not per action, meaning that a multiattacker who attacks twice will accrue 4 heat in addition to the (at least) 2 heat you put on them with Invade, which can put them close to or at their heat cap. Neurospike also provides the more situational but still useful Mirage, which allows you to make a member of your team (including you) Invisible to a member of the enemy team.

The third and final Invade suite, Metafold Carver, is the weirdest and most difficult to use correctly, but once you master it, it becomes one of the most effective support tools in the game. The biggest trick here is that the primary targets for both of its options are not your enemies - they're your allies. Your allies can choose to accept an Invade from you without taking heat and without it counting as an attack. Once you understand this, your third eye will open and the absurd power of Metafold Carver will be unlocked.

Ophidian Trek allows you to teleport your target a minimum of 2 and a maximum of seven spaces directly towards you. This is impossibly useful for yanking your allies out of melee combat or dangerous terrain, or summoning help if you're getting flanked. You generally don't want to use this on enemies who are already close to you, but pulling hostile backliners towards your team's melee specialist is exceptionally cool and funny.

Fold Space completely removes its target from the battlefield until they start their next turn. The problem with using this on enemies is that they can decide when their turn starts, and if they have an activation remaining, it will often be "immediately after your turn ends," wasting this power - although if they've already taken their turn, you can use it to ruin enemies that rely on reactions to be useful, such as the Sentinel or Archer.

The primary utility of Fold Space, however, is that it's without a doubt the most powerful ally-focused Invade in the game. This ability can quite literally be a lifesaver. Ally went too hard on their reactor and became Exposed? Fold Space. Ally took a bad structure roll and became Stunned? Fold Space. Ally being swarmed by melee NPCs? Fold Space. Ally messing up the shot of your team's artillery? Fold Space. Ally talking too much? Fold Space. You make them completely invulnerable at the "cost" of removing them from the battlefield, which they only even care about if they're a reaction-focused build, and they decide how long they want to stay on vacation, because they can return to the battlefield at any time by starting their turn.

In terms of other support abilities, we have a beautiful SSC/HORUS combo: at the start of an ally's turn, you can Lock On to an enemy as a reaction with Lesson of the Held Image and use your Prophetic Scanners frame trait to inflict Shredded as well. This lets you strip all damage reduction off an enemy just before your ally winds up to hit them, with no chance to react or clear it.

You also have Lotus Projector to help your allies deal with Invisible enemies - standard Swallowtail stuff.

As for talents, we have Hacker to give you even more Invade options (mostly Hack./Slash for shutting down enemy tech attackers) and help with heatgunning (Nuclear Cavalier 1 is in there too, just for kicks), Spotter to provide aim assist and hand out free Lock Ons and Field Analyst to help avoid "missed it by that much" situations.

As previously stated, this is a heavily team-focused build. You are a Support/Controller to the maximum here. Expect to go entire fights without doing a single point of damage. Coordinate heavily with your team to focus targets down and ensure that you stay safe while lighting targets up for them.

#lancer #lancer rpg #lancerrpg #lancer-rpg #swallowtail

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philosophicalmisuse · 6 months

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Victor from From and Autistic Coding in media

Just finished season 1 and a couple eps into season 2, enjoying it lots so far! Only spoilers for season 1 I think, maybe mild for season 2

Just seen a couple of people discuss Victor and Autism and neurodivergence in general and wanted to add my two cents

I reckon he's autistic-coded (and I think the distinction between is autistic and is autistic coded is important) -

- trouble socialising (esp with other adults, but having an easier time with kids - socialising well with people below and above ur peer group is fairly common)

- restricted interests (the peaches being the one thing he liked to eat jumped out to me - thought it was so sweet how donna made sure that he had some and that she was rationing them for him specifically, both so others wouldn't have them and so that he could have them regularly for as long as possible and genuinely took seriously how important it was and attempted to hold back other supplies in case they ran out to provide an alternative but was aware it likely wouldn't work - she looked at why he liked the peaches and accommodated his needs not just in terms of well this will keep him happy but in a caring way for him as a person, such a little thing but damn made me like donna so much)

- the visual language of how he's presented - wearing his (casual flannel) shirt buttoned all the way up to the neck and pants cuffed, just like how he did as a kid, holding onto an object from his childhood, posture that is overly "correct", slightly shambley walk, 'evasive' body language that avoids eye contact etc - ! important to specify here that I'm not saying all autistic people dress or move like this, I for one hate things touching my neck so you wouldn't catch me dead in a button up all the way to my neck, but this visual language/costuming/physicality is super common for male autistic-coded characters as a visual shorthand to express restrive patterns of behaviour/outsider from social norms of dress, so it jumped out at me right away. Two other examples that spring to mind are young Sheldon and elementary Sherlock Holmes

- the language/tonality he uses - often repetitive to express the rules while not always explaining why (example being when jade takes his violin and ransacks his room, he doesn't explain why jade shouldn't go into his room or how it made him feel, he visually shows distress and repeats the rule that jade violated, even when jade explains his pov - victor responds in his face to the comment I thought you were dead, seemingly understanding that that's reasonable, but it's not relevant to the rule as he isn't dead so he repeats the rule) - he's often fairly monotone/expressionless as well - I don't know how to explain this but some of his inflections/patterns of speech are very familiar to me in terms of how I and other autistic people I've met talk. There's something about how and where the voice goes up and down in a sentence that I can't really explain

- disliking change (eg. peaches)

And I'm sure there's more but these are the main ones I remember

NOW!!! onto my broader points

I have seen some people online argue that:

he's not autistic he's just traumatised

This is rational and I get it! He's presumably been alone since a very young age so not 'socialised', he's had to learn the rules of this place and stick to them or die and so on. The behaviours of cPTSD and asd have a large amount of overlap.

However, my first point would be that a traumatised autistic person (which is most autistic people tbh) look/act different from traumatised non-autistic people. Most autistic people that you meet are traumatised, and there's a lot of traumatised people who aren't autistic. Having cPTSD and having a trigger to a specific sound, for example, is different from having SPD and getting tired/stressed/having a meltdown from most sounds being too loud and your nervous system being unable to distinguish between a relevant loud noise and an irrelevant loud noise and giving you all noises at the same level and stimulating your nervous system to react to them the same, for example. In cPTSD your nervous system is likely also inflating lots of noises, because lots of noises were relevant to your survival in a traumatic environment - but in SPD (something many ASD people have and some argue may be a major facet of the disorder that has, until recently, been unhelpfully diminished in diagnostic resources) this would happen whether or not you were traumatised.

The collection of traits in the DSM is descriptive of a way of processing the world around you - and when people argue that Victor is autistic, they're saying that he is behaving in a way that appears to be characteristic of a certain combination of traits. Additionally, he was old enough to experience some socialisation, and had enough resources to experiment with other ways of dressing - there presumably have been other people that have come to the village over the years, as well. What I see in the character is a very traumatised autistic adult using patterns of behaviour that are explicitly autistic in order to survive in a terrible situation, HOWEVER I would argue that it doesn't matter very much

Regardless of whether he is or is not autistic (he's a fictional character and we can never have enough info to really know unless the characters or creators of the show explicitly say it, ofc) what is relevant in my opinion is that he is CODED to be autistic.

The way the character is presented is similar to a lot of tropes in media about how autistic characters are presented. Whether you think that the character in and of himself is or is not autistic, I think it's fair to say that the way he is characterised is similar to a lot of other male autisic-coded characters in media

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

It's important both in terms of how we analyse/interpret the specific media, and how this can impact social understanding of autism more broadly

First of all, it may tell us something about how Autism is portrayed in media. An autistic character in another piece of media who has not experienced the same levels of insane trauma in a horror setting is thought to behave similarly to a character who has experienced these things.

Secondly, it tells us about how the other characters in the world relate to Victor. Why do they instantly see him as being weird, when initially the only thing he does is simply have a conversation with a new resident? He's instantly seen as a threat by the dad, explicitly seen as weird by everyone else, where the young girl who murdered someone is seen as someone safe, and positive for taking care of the child and distracting them from the horrible new situation they find themselves in.

Honestly, he's initially presented as a sexual threat to both children - I've seen some ppl online refer to him as 'paedophilic'. Why is this?

I would argue it's because autistic traits, down to the way autistic people move and speak, are seen as inherently threatening and other. I don't even blame the people who do read him as predatory, as it's so common in media to be presented with people who look/behave like Victor ending up being creepy and weird. Autistic people are infantilised, seen engaging with children, and the audience is told they're weird - even the dad was so strongly hostile to Victor harmlessly talking to his child BEFORE he took him into the forest (something that I completely agree any parent would be reasonable for responding to extremely hostily). It was clear this was something Victor was used too as well.

This is a common trope. A weird, socially inept older person forms an unlikely friendship with an open-minded child - who is often discouraged from being friendly with this person, as they are viewed as sinister and a threat from adults in their life. This is used as a double-bluff - the real threat to the child is actually the young woman who the adults are fine with spending time with their child, as they view her as fundamentally non-threatening.

This enabled me, as a viewer, early on, to discount the information that was alluding to Victor being a threat - but its also a really frustrating trope, because it relies on the fact that audiences do see autistic patterns of behaviour/speech/movement as fundamentally other/threatening. Even if you subvert this trope by making the threat come from somewhere else, and tell the audience that really they're bad/foolish/wrong for thinking Victor was a threat, you're still using the same tropes that make real autistic people be viewed with suspicion simply for existing in the world. Victor is still portrayed as creepy, and still has to earn the protagonists trust in a way other characters don't. He, and other autistic coded characters, still start off in a deficit, at a negative, where other characters start off with a neutral or positive. This really does impact real life people as well!

Another trope that is used that is relevant is the 'weird' character having a special amount of knowledge about the problem at hand that other characters discount because of their weirdness (knowledge often initially only shared with an open-minded child character). This is so frustrating! I even remember this coming up in The Dressmaker, when the intellectually disabled character (I think? It was one of those very generalist disabled character presentations, to my knowledge) witnessed the crime but no-one thought to ask them who did it till the end, and initially presumed he had done it or something (I still enjoyed the movie tho). Its bizarre to me that none's asking Victor what he knows - he even expresses early on to the kid that noone listens to him or cares, from memory. I find this so frustrating, and is again really common - and is also a part of the othering of autistic coded characters - they're 'not of this world', but are part of both and none at the same time.

While this is something that many autistic people feel and experience, it's partially because we're ostracised from our peers because we're so 'weird', so it's really frustrating to see this replicated time and time again in fantasy, horror and thriller genres especially - it sort of reenforces a social standard that's causing the problem. Rather than create understanding and support the elimination of notions of 'weirdness', even if the character is important and initially creepy but not a threat, they're still not of this world. It's still reasonable to see them as weird, because they are weird. The characters are rational for responding to the autistic coded character as if there's something off, because there is - even if they're ultimately on the same side.

This also has real-world impacts. People discount likely threats in favour of fear of unfamiliar behaviour. For example, the whole predatory thing - autistic people are more likely to be victims of predatory behaviour, not perpetrators of it (for example, autistic women are 3x more likely to have been sexually assaulted than non-autistic women). However, there's these stereotypes in media where an autistic character is so weird that they're viewed as threatening - and, in some crime genre tropes, for example, the threat is confirmed. Even though most predators are stand up members of the community (compensating for their misdeeds via good acts) and people are surprised that they were perpetrators of horrific crimes - crime is often so horribly mundane - the media focuses on portrayals of mentally ill loners, utilising coding that is similar and sometimes the same as the coding of autistic characters. Not saying that no autistic person comments a crime of course, they demonstrably do, but utilising a media shorthand for violent/predatory criminals that is also used for autistic characters - as it is much more conforting for audiences to feel as if they would be able to tell from someone's weird behaviour if they're likely to be a threat - can have some really troubling real world consequences. Also not saying that no autistic coded character can possibly be portrayed as a villain - I really enjoyed Zac's plotline in Bones for example, especially the relationship that the two characters had - but it's the focus on these 'weird, socially inept' villians, over the far more common absolutely totally 'normal' person/family member/ local upstanding citizen that makes people disproportionately fear/stigmatise autistic ways of being

Then, other shows play off of this coding to 'subvert' it, reenforcing the connection along the way

All this being said, I really like Victor, I loved his relationship with Donna, and I'm really enjoying the show more broadly. However, I could defs see a lot of the narrative of s1 coming because of the shows use of autistic coded behaviours for Victor

I found it interesting that some fan theories have actually centred Victor's neurodivergence, and suggested that other characters are also neurodivergent and that might be why some of them are here/chosen - I find that interesting, especially because of the use of 'psychosis' in the show being a conduit for seemingly real voices of people who have passed away there

It will be interesting to see where they take it, and I'm excited to see what else happens in season 2 and even more excited for season 3 - but yeah, Victor is defs autistic coded, and some of those tropes do have negative knock-on consequences. Defs something that will impact my enjoyment of the show, depending on where they take it! It could be awesome and exciting and could be devastating or eye rolling etc but still excited to watch

#from tv show victor #from tv show #from epix #from mgm #FROM victor #from mgm+#mgm from #mgm+ from #epix from #from 2022 #autism #autistic coded character #autism tropes #autism and horror

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schizoidvision · 3 months

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I am in awe. Your analyses are so accurate, so insightful. I had just about given up on finding any information on SPD that wasn't just shallow descriptions of what it might look like from the outside. Your posts are the first place I have ever seen acknowledgement of hyperpermeability/hypersensitivity, hyperawareness of the social environment/seeing yourself through others' eyes, self-objectification, all the inner paradoxes that outside observers can't decipher. I was diagnosed years ago, but the clinicians dxing me had no inkling of any of this. Can I ask, what sources are you drawing on? Personal experience, or research? Regardless: Reading your posts, I have never felt so seen. I just wanted to say- thank you!

You're welcome. It's good to hear that my analyses are resonating with you. My aim in creating this content has been to shine a light on important topics/experiences that are often missing in discussions about schizoid personality disorder/schizoid dynamics.

In writing my posts, I draw from a combination of thorough research and personal experience. Researching the works of psychoanalytic theorists, especially those who delve into the inner experiences of schizoid individuals such as Harry Guntrip, Melanie Klein, Ronald Fairbairn, Donald Winnicott, and R.D. Laing, who explore the complexities of the schizoid condition beyond superficial descriptions, has greatly helped to extend my understanding.

Additionally, personal experiences and interactions with individuals who identify with schizoid dynamics have provided deeper insights into the inner workings of the condition. I believe that these lived experiences bring to light the nuances and paradoxes that are often overlooked by clinicians and researchers.

Thank you for your comment, knowing that my posts have helped you to feel seen and understood helps me to see how this type of content may be valuable to others. All the best to you.

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regaliasonata · 7 months

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fmk: Jen, Taylor, Amelia

(if you don't like girls...Tarrick, Jerrod, RJ)

(I’ll do you one better, I’ll do FMK for the guys since yeah 😭 but make headcanons for the girls here)

Fuck: RJ, I’m terrible….💜💜

Marry: Tarrick, I’m about to be that ghost girl’s new mom…and in the process scare Tarrick cause I’m unhinged😭💜💜

Kill: Jarrod…three times in a row dude I’m so sorry for you🖤🖤

Headcanons

Jen: The pink Morphin Master is actually Jen from a distant timeline due to all her influence throughout the various appearances in the franchise. It’s kinda like Anne at the end of Amphibia with becoming The Watcher.

Taylor: After Wild Force Taylor decided to reach out to other yellow rangers and make a group chat, in a matter of two weeks Dustin was temporarily banned because of spamming at 2 in the morning and she had to lock Cruger and Sky in an office for an hour to discuss things after Z complained about a few SPD policies.

Amelia: Amelia is banned from France in its entirety after raiding the Paris Catacombs, for the record she gave each of those corpses proper burials…you know after having a bunch of seance sessions.

#power rangers #mmpr #mighty morphin power rangers #power rangers jungle fury #power rangers cosmic fury #power rangers dino fury #power rangers time force #power rangers wild force #character asks #ask me!#send me asks #ask asnwered #headcanon #RJ #Tarrick #Jarrod #jen scotts #taylor earhardt #amelia jones

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mofffun · 7 months

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#King-Ohger Finale Theatrical Version

Feb 18 22:31 (JPT) Ito Yosuke (Deka Green, director of King-Chan) created the hashtag #King-Ohger Finale Theatrical Version and tagged Producer Omori. He heard the following feedbacks and asked for fans' voices:

fan screenings at cinema

director's cut of ep48,49,50 as one movie

cinemas across Japan

the fans are willing to do crowdfunding

Feb 19 05:51 Omori thanked Ito for the many feedbacks he received

10:22 Hashtag trending at #10 Writer Takano: "King-Ohger is suddenly trending in the middle of a Monday! 'Please screen it at cinemas!' I feel the same! Thank you very much, everyone, Anyway, I'm sending Omori-P this screenshot."

11:23 Trending at #6 Yano Masato (Racules): "eh, eh, What's happening?!!!"

11:42 Trending at #5 Sound Designer Kuwabara: "So may I adjust the volume for a theatrical version?"

12:29 Trending at #3 Omori expressed gratitude and that he "felt the energy of the work"

12:52 Kaku So (Kaguragi) "Eh? It climbed all the way up to #2??? Cool!!!"

12:53 Kamisato Matsuri (Head Maid Cleo Urbanus) I can't believe the [voice is so loud] I will support in [calm]

12:55 Chiwata Yuhei (Shiokara) "I want to see it I want to see it I want to see it x 14"

12:56 Mori Hirotsugu (Tonbo Ohger suit actor) What's this!?!? This exists!?!?!?!?

13:02 Trending at #2: Takamina: We're at #2 now!!! Thank you very much everyone! The voice of the people is heard!

13:10 Inada Tetsu (ex-N'kosopa crime boss, DekaMaster VA) "What an exciting hasthtag! Is it a go? If there are fan screenings, let's party!"

13:16 Trending at #1 Takamina: "!!!Trend #1!!! We did it!!! Finally!!! #キングオージャー最終三話劇場版| his hashtag is trending #1 in Japan! And on a weekday after broadcast... Because of everyone's love and passion, we achieved this amazing feat! Now even the higher-ups can't help but read the subtext of it! Please screen it at cinemas!!!"

13:26 Takamina qrt Ito noticing he's using the tag: "Thank you for creating the tag! We've reached an incredible height!"

13:40 Kaku So: "Un... Unbelievable Will it really happen? See the passion, I can't help but think so!"

14:00 Creature designer Yogo Yuki If this really happen, maybe Dugded's Phase II form will be added…

14:48 Hasegawa Kasumi (Morphonia): Ohh!! It's impressive that it's trending at #1 🥹 Thank you everyone!!

13:32 15:02 16:33 Inada qrt Ito's original tweet: It was you who created the hashtag! Good one, Sen!

Ito: Yes, Boss! I stood on my head for about five minutes figuring it out! My blood was rushing to my head!

Inada: Ohsama Sentai have the full support from us at the SPD Earth branch 👍

15:19 Mizushima Marina (Head Medic Elegance) I hoped it could reach #1…(T^T) I hope everyone's wish reached them…🙏

15:34 Head Director Kamihoriuchi: "I was buried in work and once I opened X, I'm very surprised! This is thanks to everyone who is watching and loves King-Ohger. Dear Omori-san, How about discussing it with the relevant parties?"

16:39 Takamina: !!!World Trends #1!!! Thank you!!! That's all I manage to say. Thank you very much!!

17:44 Amano Kousei (Glodi) "I waaant to see it on the big screen Mama's Royal Arms."

17:23 Omori P: Thank you for sending your many comments. Please give me time. Regardless, first let's enjoy the TV broadcast of the last episode! #King-Ohger Finale Theatrical Version ?

#kingohger #kotw #long post

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peridouu · 7 months

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two bi-cons battle it out in a dennys parking lot who are u cheering for

+ twinkle and gene being whipped.

mildly inspired by omori. the stats:

RUBY RED

HP: 500

ATK: 90

DEF: 55

SPD: 45

A fearsome pirate.

PRINCE ALEX

HP: 500

ATK: 75

DEF: 70

SPD: 55

Heir to a throne.

in hindsight alex should have less spd than ruby to balance stats (also fits their in-canon) but whatever it’s midnight

also discussing hypothetical stats would be so fun. i think gene should just have a ridiculous amount of hp. twinkle is so fast it’s actually broken. it would be so silly trust

#tumblr CRUNCHED this quality like styrofoam cups bro #super 4 playmobil #super 4 ruby #super 4 alex #super 4 gene #super 4 twinkle #my art #alex and ruby were the REAL bisexuals of the 2010s #i’m not elaborating or debating this #poly super 4 real #THEY MAKE ME CRAZY #crazy… i was crazy once #sorry my irls infected me #anyways these ships can be diced many ways. pick your interpretation #i hate drawing ruby’s hat if i don’t have to sorry guys #i’ll give her the hat back eventually

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the-light-of-stars · 5 months

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Multiple palestinian, jewish, german and international leftist organisations, among them members of the BDS movement and Jewish Voice for a Just Peace, have been organising an event for the discussion and education on matters of palestinian liberation and human rights under the title 'Palestine Congress'.

German politicians and media have been repeatedly calling this event things like "terror event" or "event to spread 'imported antisemitism'" (a racist term common in the current german discussion referring to the idea that antisemitism in germany stems from and is being spread by immigrants and not from ethnically german citizens) and have been calling for a boycott and ban of the event and repercussions against its participants, and have already enacted repercussions against jewish organisations like Jewish Voice in the name of supposedly 'fighting antisemitism' , an argument the german government and media keep bringing up as a moral pretense to justify their continued support of Israel as their second biggest supplier of weapons, and which in the past months and years has lead to the arrests of many protestors, a very large part of them jewish.

"Broad resistance against 'Palestine Congress'"

A broad alliance [of people] from politics and civil society has called for a protest against the 'Palestine Congress' that is supposed to happen in Berlin at the end of the week.

"Berlin must not become the center of terror glorification", emphasized the alliance and explicitly referred to an appeal by the youth organisations of the political parties Grüne [greens/progressives], SPD [social democrats], FDP [liberals] and CDU [conservatives] as well as the youth forum of the German-Israeli-Society (DIG) and the Jewish Student Union Germany.

Famous supporters of the alliance are among others the parliament members Alexander Throm (CDU), Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP), Kevin Kühnert (SPD), Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP) and the former Berlin senator of culture Klaus Lederer (Linke [the left]).

This sentiment and call for protest was shared by the president of the Central Council of Jewish People in Germany who was quoted on the organisation's twitter account:

" Dr. Schuster regarding the planned Palestine Congress in Berlin: 'This event is a parade of anti-zionism and very certainly will not find any answers for the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza. On the contrary: Those who disregard the terror of Hamas and with it also the murderous strategy of the organisation against its own civilian population discredit themselves."

This of course is referring to the popular (in german media and politics) talking point that the deaths and otherwise suffering of civilians in Gaza was not caused by Israel but by palestinians themselves, specifically this argument states that Israel is only defending itself and is intentionally being tricked or forced into killing and starving civilians and breaking human rights conventions by Hamas as some sort of palestinian strategy to discredit the israeli government and that it is not doing this out of its own volition, and that the Gazan civilian populace acts as 'shields' for Hamas that Israel is forced to attack against its will for the sake of self defence.

German media and politicians love calling Israel the victim and treating palestinians as both the perpetrators and collateral damage , at most offering a fake 'oh the situation for the civilians is not good' while cutting off aid to Palestine and increasing weapons sales to Israel.

Of note for this particular situation:

The Palestine Congress is organised by multiple palestinian, jewish, german and international leftist organisations, among them also the jewish organisation Jewish Voice for a Just Peace.

Just recently a german state bank had frozen the organisation's bank account, thus freezing thousands of euros the organisation had meant to use as funding for the Congress. The bank also had demanded a detailed list of all of the organisation's members, including data such as their names and home adresses.

"The repression of the german state against the Palestine solidarity movement are escalating daily, they range from prohibition of demonstrations to police raids, and now the bank account of a jewish organisation was frozen in the name of fighting antisemitism - by the Berlin Sparkasse, a financial institution under public law." , said Wieland Hoban, chairperson of 'Jewish Voice' to jW on wednesday.

The unconditional support of Israel, that may be sold as a moral imperative but that serves real political purposes, leads to a 'dehumanisation of palestinians' and a declaration of war against everyone who calls for equality and freedom for them. "Who thinks they're ensuring jewish safety by doing this is gravely mistaken." so Hoban."

#german stuff #palestine #gaza #current events #free palestine #please excuse any typos I cant edit this rn

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southeastasianists · 6 months

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Tan Ming Li is a certified death doula. Just as there are those who facilitate bringing new life into the world, there should be people facilitating more and better ways to talk about death and dying, she reasons.

In 2023, she started The Life Review, a social venture with the mission to normalise conversations about death, dying and bereavement. Events open to the public include Life Stories, a series of chat sessions with topics such as “Motherless daughters”, “Real men don’t cry” and “Pet loss and our enduring bonds”; as well as Death Over Dinner, in which people come together to have conversations guided by Tan about their personal experiences with loss while sharing a meal.

The last Death Over Dinner took place at South Indian restaurant Podi & Poriyal, where participants were served dishes containing ingredients with special life and death significance in South Indian culture such as black sesame seeds, which signify purification; and jackfruit, the wood of which is often used as funeral pyre logs during cremation.

“What better way for Asians to connect than through food?” said Tan, explaining that Death Over Dinner is actually a global movement that originated in the US, “but we tweaked it so that food was a much bigger component, building the conversations around the ingredients and dishes. In other countries, the concept is just for people to talk about death over the dinner table.”

Tan, who is in her 40s, believes that getting comfortable with talking openly and honestly about such topics is vitally important.

“A nationwide survey conducted last year (by the Singapore Management University) revealed that ‘only 53 per cent of Singaporeans are comfortable discussing their own death while barely a third (33.4 per cent) would do so with someone who is dying’,” she shared.

She feels there is also a tendency to over-medicalise conversations about death, focusing on treatments and doctors.

“As a society, death is not something that is commonly discussed and we tend to be ‘death-denying’. Healthcare and wellness are all about ‘preventing’ death. In fighting against death, we are unaccepting of this natural part of life. This makes it hard to be vulnerable about our emotions around it,” she said.

Even if you haven’t lost a loved one yourself, “When someone else experiences a loss, many of us don’t know how to address the topic and end up using platitudes like ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ or worse, ‘Everything happens for a reason’,” she pointed out.

Ironically, avoiding the subject of death inadvertently gives it more power. “This power can then suppress our thoughts, beliefs and behaviour,” she opined.

NO STRANGER TO DEATH AND DENIAL

Tan speaks from personal experience. When she was 17, her mum died of cancer. “Dad said, ‘Don’t worry, she will recover.’ Her sudden passing left us in shock. I remember my dad brought me to the hospital canteen, broke the news to me and simply said, ‘We just have to accept it and move on’. I don’t think he ever recovered. As far as I recall, there were no conversations about it within the family.

“In the years that followed, I lost my dad, grandma, uncles and aunts… I was frozen in my grief response and it took a mental health crisis for me to start addressing these issues.”

Concurrently, Tan had always been interested in social work, from her university years when she volunteered to support children with special needs, to volunteering to teach yoga and breathing at various institutions including the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD) and the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). She also lived in Thailand for several years, where she gave her time to a social enterprise helping indigenous craftsmen sell their goods.

Her career was in Advertising Research until she took a sabbatical and travelled to India in 2013. Following that period of time in which to think and reflect, she embarked on a new path, offering services such as mindfulness and movement.

“In the course of my work, I encountered clients who are terminally ill or grieving the loss of a loved one. Curious about how to better support them, I started researching the topic,” she recalled. “One day, I received an email from students working on a grief literacy event, inviting me to facilitate a somatic movement session for parents who had lost their child. Somatic movement involves exploring the body's sensations and movements to promote healing. During this session, many participants were able to release long held emotions within their bodies, even years after their loved one had passed.”

Motivated by the experience, she enrolled in the death doula course offered by the International End of Life Doula Association, an organisation in the US. Participants acquire skills revolving around how to support and comfort the dying and their loved ones.

“As I delved deeper into the subject, I realised that this was something that needed to go beyond supporting my clients one-to-one. The societal reluctance to discuss death openly leads to a lot of discomfort and unresolved emotions surrounding the topic, and I realised the need to scale and bring this out to the public,” she said.

So, “I decided to pursue a Masters of Science degree in Thanotology – even doctors go, ‘What’s that?’ – and start The Life Review as a platform for people to get comfortable discussing end-of-life matters through education and engagement.”

As far as she knows, she’s the only one in Singapore taking a Masters in Thanatology (“When the course started, the Programme Director said, ‘Now we are an international programme, thanks to Ming Li!’”) and one of just four people in Singapore who have completed death doula training.

“While trying to help people going through bereavement and grief, it struck me that I also had to look at my own experiences and work through all the emotions and experiences that I hadn’t known how to deal with – or even realised was necessary to,” she divulged.

“The way society operates, if we experience a loss, we are given three days of compassionate leave – and only for immediate family – and then we are expected to get back to ‘normal’ as productive members of society. But what about losing a friend? A partner? A pet? Do you get over it in three days? Since the norm was to get on with life, that’s what I did. It was only later in life that I realised that it was affecting me in ways that I did not immediately connect back to my earlier experiences, such as in the way I interacted with people in relationships and friendships. I would not get too close in case they would disappear,” she shared.

And so, “The main reason I’m doing this now is because of what I have gone through in my own life. The programmes I’m planning are skewed towards caregivers for now, as I don’t want anyone to be in a situation that I was in.” She added, “It was a turning point for me to adopt cats, knowing that they will die before me, yet to accept this and love them.”

Her work has also turned into “my legacy project for my parents”.

“I have a purpose to fulfil now, to bring The Life Review into fruition, in the remaining years left of my life. And in a way, I’m already planning for my end, making sure that I don’t regret things that I could or should have done,” she said.

DINNER WITH A PURPOSE

At Death Over Dinner events, “The framing of conversations is intentionally designed to be inclusive and non-confrontational. Participants are encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences without feeling pressured to delve into deeply personal reflections or imagine their own funerals,” Tan said.

The dinner serves as a casual starting point for discussions about a normally taboo topic to unfold naturally, fostering a sense of comfort and familiarity around the topic of death, she continued. “The intention is not to impose rigid guidelines or restrictions but rather to offer gentle guidance and prompts to steer the dialogue in a constructive direction” while embracing cultural elements within our specific society.

It is also about equipping people with the knowhow and language to either walk alongside a person who is dying, or to support a caregiver.

There are sessions taking place every quarter, which are open for individual sign-ups. The next Death Over Dinner event is planned for Apr 25 at Podi & Poriyal, with a group size of 12 to 16 people. Tan is also open to private group bookings, and hopes to possibly work with other restaurants as well.

The topic of death is rarely broached when everyone is healthy, she mused. But, in the face of loss, which comes sooner or later to all of us, “People may struggle to find the right words to express their feelings or fears, fearing that broaching the topic could cause further distress or discomfort to the person who is ill. As a result, conversations about end-of-life wishes, funeral arrangements, or even acknowledging the possibility of death may be avoided altogether, creating a palpable tension and unease.

"Dealing with it openly and saying what needs to be said can help the ones left behind adjust to the loss after the person passes away.”

And, “In the case of someone who knows they are dying, people around them not wanting to talk about it can leave them feeling unheard. They may not be able to express their desires; there may be things left unsaid; there may be people tiptoeing around them and telling them, ‘You’re going to be fine’ when they know full well they won’t be.”

The question of how we can begin to approach the topic of death in a meaningful way begs another: How talking about death openly and frankly can help us to live our lives more fully and intentionally.

“Accepting the finite nature of life and finding peace with it can change our outlook on life. When we acknowledge that life inevitably starts and ends, we are able to define what happens in between that holds significance,” Tan said.

“How do we make what happens in the middle matter? How do we leave a legacy for ourselves and future generations? Do we want to spend our time sweating the small stuff and harbouring grudges, or instead, use it to create memories and foster deep relationships? Living intentionally prompts us to confront these questions and align our actions with our values.

“Ultimately, embracing the impermanence of life compels us to live authentically, love fiercely and leave a legacy of compassion and connection.”

To sign up for Death Over Dinner, visit https://thelifereview.org/death-over-dinner.

#Southeast Asia #Singapore #Tan Ming Li #Death

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kimberlyannharts · 10 months

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actually I would love a rant about how JJ sucks as a character

Merry early Christmas to you then, Anon!

Like I think what makes everyone clutching their pearls over the sanctity of JJ’s character and place in the canon so ridiculous is he is barely a character in the first place. He is a plot device in SotD, a narrative goal for Tommy, as the story wasn’t about JJ developing into someone worthy of the Dragon Shield or even an SPD cadet - he's already done all of that. The story was about Tommy realizing he should retire and hand over his stuff already. And you have a son who’s pretty good at being a ranger, so……….he should take it! Great! That’s it. I genuinely don't know why they didn't do some kind of Goofy Movie-esque father/son journey together, especially if you really wanted to discuss this idea of him feeling like he's in his dad's shadow. His existence in the show amounts to namedrops and one voiceover line in the Ninja Steel special, and the only bits of characterization these amount to are he’s a kid who goes to karate camp. To me it comes off like people are attached more to JJ’s POTENTIAL as a character rather than HIMSELF as a character, in like a “well, maybe one day they’ll give him his own book/show/whatever” sort of way, which….it’s been five years since SotD. Hasbro is gearing up to do a reboot and even then, as we’ve talked about many times, they don’t want to put focus on cop characters. Unless some stuff is getting retconned, I am not holding my breath.

The reason I call Minh the superior legacy character by comparison is because there actually was time and space dedicated to showing how she stands out as a person and a character beyond her being Trini’s daughter; in fact, her being Trini’s daughter is the least interesting part about her (in no small part because Trini herself was handled very badly by that special.) What makes her interesting is her personality, her relationship with Zack, how she’s suddenly thrown into the deep end of the PR world by way of great tragedy, and her arc from a vengeful kid to a true hero (the special’s shaky writing of this arc notwithstanding. But at least I get what they were TRYING to do here.) JJ did not have anything CLOSE to that.

Something else about him that’s funny but also frustrating because it’s obviously not intended by the writers, but still happens WAY too often for my liking, is how his existence is honestly a detriment to a lot of women in this franchise kjkfdj he was the catalyst for the old SPD ranking drama, as him being green meant Syd and Z had to stay as pink and yellow (and no, them throwing in some random female OC no one remembers as blue does not make up for it.) And then….Kat……well…..I think this belongs in a discussion that covers more than just JJ, as in a way how they handled Trini in OaA is a very similar situation, but the fact of the matter is that since JJ’s inclusion in the canon Kat’s existence has boiled down to being his mother rather than a veteran ranger with her own life and work, no matter how many times the show and books TRY to be like “No look! See! She’s a super cool badass wife who keeps everyone in line! She’s off doing her own things, too, we swear!” my brother in Christ the same 30th anniversary story that tries to show off how cool and independent she is ALSO has a scene where she’s like “it’s okay honey, you take care of the Ranger missions while I stay home with JJ, it’s fine :)” They’ve made it very clear that JJ is Tommy’s son, Tommy’s legacy, while Kat is his stay-at-home caretaker, WHICH IS FINE FOR A WOMAN TO BE, but not in this narrative, where Kat’s time as a ranger is treated as irrelevant compared to Tommy’s. (A good example is how, in SotD, only Tommy was listed as JJ's emergency contact, with no mention of Kat. I'm almost certain there was an early draft of this book where Tommy did not have a wife.) How do we have two (2) comic stories where we have married TomKat but Kat doesn’t morph. And not as a plot point or character bit or something (I think it actually would be very interesting if Kat not having much attachment to her time as a Ranger was actually intentional) but just in a “we don’t feel like involving Kat in her husband’s adventures” situation. Hello???????? I know that kind of feels off-topic to why JJ sucks but trust me, it’s partly his fault. And it’s why I’m making such a big deal over the potential mother/daughter Ranger teamup for Kim and Olivia, because the alternate mother of Tommy's alternate kid has gotten such a raw deal.

And the SPD/Dragon Shield combo is ugly.

#transmission #anonymous

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estel-eruantien · 7 months

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from the three words prompts:

“Cereal is soup.” for the SPD Squad please? (I figured maybe Bridge starts it)

"Cereal is soup."

"Absolutely not!" Jack argued with Bridge, who woke up this morning ready to start a fight, apparently. The two were standing in the common room, both in their pajamas. Jack had a bowl of cereal, that cause of this stupid argument.

Bridge, with a mouthful of buttery toast, replied in a much calmer tone than Jack had, "But it is. You eat it in a bowl, with a spoon, just like soup."

A long groan left Jack, who had been having this discussion for ten minutes already. "That doesn't make it a soup! Soups are hot!"

As he said that, the girls wandered in, Z raising an eyebrow at her long time friend. Sydney looked at Bridge, saying, "No, Bridge, cereal is not a soup." She then proceeded to get her own breakfast, ignoring Bridge's exasperated stare.

"Cereal is a soup, though," Z spoke up, earning a glare from Jack. "Soups can be cold, some use milk in the broth, and, like cereal, it can be eaten at any time of the day."

"Ew! You'd eat soup for breakfast?" Sydney cried, eyes widening at her roommate. Disgusting! That's as bad as eating pizza for breakfast!"

"Cold pizza is a breakfast food!" Jack, Z, and Bridge all exclaimed at the same time.

"Alright, Bridge," Jack said, sighing dramatically. "I'll give it to you - cereal could be classified as a soup - but it doesn't mean I have to like it!"

"Like what?" Sky asked, appearing in the doorway, already dressed and ready for the day.

"Sky! Perfect!" Bridge called out, running up to his roommate. He handed Sky a piece of toast, which the blue surprisingly took willingly, and asked, "Is cereal a soup?"

Sky handed the piece of toast back to Bridge and walked out of the room. He didn't return for breakfast.

#power rangers #power rangers spd #bridge carson #z delgado #jack landors #sky tate #sydney drew #silly fic #writing prompt #fanfiction #we get silly round here #cereal is a soup

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whoredmode · 6 months

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A DUBIOUSLY ACCURATE HISTORY OF PHILOSOTOLOGY

I highly recommend reading my “Dubiously Accurate History of Stilwater” post before diving into this one, as it sets the stage for the foundation of Stilwater (for my headcanons at least) and I actually briefly mention Philosotology there as well. I just think it’s a good post to have in mind for things I’ll be talking about here since the history of Stilwater plays a role in the conception and development of Philosotology.

But why am I talking about a fake cult that is, for all intents and purposes, just there to explain away a game mechanic? If you keep up with my blog at all, you’ll know that Philosotologists are the main antagonists of my SRIV rewrite. So doing this is partially for my own sake, so I have an easy writeup to look back on for the development of my canon; but also…I just think doing shit like this is fun. I think that much is clear with the Stilwater history posts.

In this post, I’ll be using things from canon, my own headcanons, and things from the real life group they parody. As with my other similar posts, this is just my headcanons, so please feel free to believe whatever you want! Be warned that this timeline will go into my SRTT and SRIV canon, which is a complete rewrite. So like. Keep that in mind. With all that outta the way, let’s discuss the (Dubiously Accurate) History of Philosotology.

TIMELINE

Mid 1950s, presumably around 1956:

A major earthquake hits Stilwater, completely razing the city.

Late 1950s, early 1960s:

R. Lon Hibbard, a writer in Stilwater, develops a set of doctrines called “Livenetics” that he begins to preach in order to comfort people feeling lost in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. It begins as a fringe group, but quietly gains momentum in the years following the disaster.

1970s:

Philosotology begins to gain more and more traction, with the group garnering the membership of a few more powerful individuals, including people like businessmen, politicians, and police officers.

The fight between the Vice Kings and Los Carnales is going on throughout the mid-70s, though the group doesn’t directly bother either gang, it can be implied this turmoil did push more people to seek guidance in other places, eventually falling into the lap of Philosotology.

I’d assume the group set up their first church at some point late into the decade. Probably around when the gang war ended in the late 70s.

1980s and 1990s:

Stilwater begins to somewhat come back from its post-earthquake blues, and more businesses begin to set up in the area, typically things like franchise locations like Freckle Bitch’s or Apollo’s. More money is coming into Stilwater, though the city is nowhere near as lively or profitable as it was pre-1956.

R. Lon Hibbard dies. This sparks a short period of unrest, with the next in line ultimately being more of a businessman than Hibbard was. This begins the era of the cult having more direct financial connections with people like politicians and the police.

At some point around this time, as membership in Philosotology is only increasing (as is their influence), they open their first drive-thru confessional called “Forgive & Forget.” This makes profits easier to gain and begins to cement their place in Stilwater. Having been around since the early 60s at this point, most Stilwaterians have become so used to their presence that this doesn’t really bother things. They’re just part of life in Stilwater, and to the average citizen, they’re not anything other than a weird little group.

Late 1990s and early 2000s:

At some point in the late 90s/early 2000s, Troy Bradshaw joins the police force in Stilwater. This is noteworthy because he is NOT a Stilwater native and has no knowledge of Philosotology prior to his employment; upon realizing how deep the SPD and other power players are in with Philosotology, he is gaslit into keeping quiet about it. Even if he’s creeped out by them, he plays along, eventually having deeper knowledge on them than the average citizen would—this would (obviously) lead into him being the one to explain their role to Playa* in SR1. *Note: I’m gonna be referring to them as Anteros (my boss) moving forward as this timeline will move into my canon.

2006:

The events of the first game take place. Forgive & Forget happily takes care of any notoriety issues the Saints, or any gang member, has, so long as they can pay the fee. Even though they’re just a “staple of Stilwater,” this confirms the terrifying influence and power they hold over the city. The police, the other gang leaders, politicians, you name it—they’re in the palm of their hand. They’re powerless against the cult, but on the surface they keep up their appearances of just another harmless fringe group. No one really questions it.

Late 2000s:

Ultor begins moving forward with their Stilwater expansion plan. This leads into Ultor and Philosotology beginning a relationship. Dane becomes a member of their organization (this is backed up by NPC dialogue in SR2), not because he believes in it—he personally thinks it’s garbage—but because the business opportunity is too good to pass up. He’d be an idiot if he didn’t pounce on the chance to become business partners with the group—they’re the richest group in the city at this point. This is important because this begins to show a decline in the higher-ups of Philosotology actually believing in their original doctrines. Those in charge become too concerned with the money and power. This gets the attention of a certain member, but we’ll get into that later.

2011:

Anteros wakes up from his coma. The events of SR2 take place, with Forgive & Forget playing the same role it did in the first game. Even with Troy as chief of police, he still has no power over what the group does. Completely out of his jurisdiction, so he has to let it go, though the group still continues to creep him out. He probably has met at least one or two leaders within the group though, just given his position.

Dane Vogel dies and Eric Gryphon is put in charge of Ultor. Eric has similar feelings on the group as Dane did; he thinks their beliefs are nonsense but recognizes the power they hold, so he maintains a good relationship with them for the sake of Ultor.

Early to mid 2010s:

With the Saints becoming the powerhouse they are at the end of SR2, and with the death of Dane Vogel (and subsequent promotion of Eric Gryphon as CEO), the gang has definitely appeared on Philosotology’s radar more prominently than ever before. One thing of note, though, is that I think the Saints’ use of Forgive & Forget would actually decline around this time, given that the gang now 1) canonically pays the SPD off to look the other way and 2) is doing contract work (like hit jobs) for Eric/Ultor, so they also look away from whatever they do. It’s not enough of a loss of revenue to begin worrying, but it’s enough that Philosotologists begin to keep a much, much closer eye on the Saints.

Autumn 2012:

The events of my Leaders of Progression (LoP) in-between story take place. This is extremely important for the context of my canon, so I recommend checking out that tag if you’re unfamiliar with that story. The end of this story strengthens Ultor and gives them room to do even more backhanded shit. During this time Ultor and The Syndicate have been making new deals, though their own history together goes back decades. Regardless…

Anteros signs a deal with Eric to allow the Saints to become part of Ultor’s media division. They become more of a brand in my canon, with more of a focus on things like modeling, advertisements, and interviews. Obviously a few of them branch into other things, like Pierce and his music, but they don’t do movies or anything like that. Point of the matter being that the Saints have even MORE money than ever before, and they’re distracted by what is essentially busywork. Ultor “stops bothering” Troy, which really means they’re keeping even more shit from him.

2014:

The events of my SRTT canon take place. Within the first act of that story, Troy quits his job as chief of police. He becomes a private investigator instead. This is important because this means the SPD can put whoever they want in charge in the meantime while they find a more permanent person to fill the role. Troy being independent is also important to the start of my SRIV canon, which we’ll get into in a minute. The epilogue of my SRTT canon involves Anteros and Dex confronting Eric Gryphon, deleting files about and footage of Dex, and it ends with them killing Eric in his office. Anteros and Dex part ways, with Anteros returning to Steelport and Dex staying in Stilwater, starting his life over as a city planner, which is what he always wanted to be.

Ultor is in panic mode with the sudden death of Eric Gryphon. They’re scrambling to pick up the pieces, and as Philosotology does in times of crisis, they swoop in to offer guidance. More Ultor employees join, making way for the group to ensconce themselves deeper into Ultor as a whole.

Philosotology’s leader steps down/dies/is gone under mysterious circumstances at some point during the events of SRTT. A new leader emerges, a man named Z. For the past several years, Z had become heartbroken over the direction in which Philosotology had been going, falling so heavily into the depravity and greed it sought to rise above. It was a belief system he’d found so much hope in as a stranger in Stilwater back in the day, so with his new position as leader, he makes an effort to recruit new members, all of whom happen to be Ultor employees scared in the face of uncertain futures.

2015:

Anteros and the Saints have been preoccupied with life in Steelport. Anteros still travels to Stilwater several times a week to check on their rackets and to satiate his own homesickness, but he and the others are unaware of what’s happening just beneath the surface.

As time moves on, Philosotologists are steadily preparing themselves for what they consider is going to be a return to peace. But to do that, they have to get rid of the Saints. For the first time ever, Philosotologists are arming themselves. And with a newfound arsenal courtesy of Ultor, as well as complete ownership of the Pyramid, they have their own little militia ready and waiting.

Late in 2015, disappearances begin to happen in Stilwater, with no apparent connection between victims.

2016:

Laura, Tobias, and Luz have gone missing, prompting the attention of Shaundi and Torque respectively. The abductions have increased in number, with Troy being hired by several different people to investigate. With these disappearances becoming such a public concern, Dex contacts Anteros and asks him what he knows, but Anteros is just as confused as everyone else. Despite really not wanting to, Dex finally goes to Troy one evening to ask what he knows about it. The two are ambushed by several Philosotologists who try to kidnap them, and the duo barely escape. They head to Steelport with solid proof on who is doing these, kicking off the start of my SRIV canon.

I obviously won’t get into ALL the details of my SRIV canon, but I just wanna say that the Philosotologists, with Z as their leader, are the main antagonists of my rewrite. And I wanna just promote it for a minute cuz I love it. You can skip to the next heading if you want, the timeline ends here for now.

BUT if you’re curious about the story and aren’t familiar with it: My SRIV canon takes place in Stilwater, though before the Saints can confront the Philosotologists, they have to get through three other gangs, symbolic of the past. In no particular order: the newly revived Rollerz, led by a woman named Jamie Price—Joseph’s sister, last member of the Price-Sharp family, and perhaps most known as Dane Vogel’s former secretary. Her lieutenant is Donnie. She’s seeking revenge against the Saints for obvious reasons, and will happily take the whole city down if it’ll free her from her misery. Next is the Emperors, a gang led by Lady Ranja and her lieutenant, ironically nicknamed King. Ranja was part of the original VK back in the 70s, and she has a longstanding grudge against Ben and Jules. She has a long history with Stilwater and, after being unimpressed with what the Saints have done to the place, she decides to move in and take the city for herself. Finally we have the Carnales, another familiar face. The Carnales had actually been remaining in operation for a while, just on a much smaller scale and acting more as a liaison for Orejuela and the cartel, with Luz being in charge. She and Orejuela are married in my canon, but she remains in Stilwater. Luz and Anteros have had a really good relationship all things considered, but after her sudden disappearance, her bodyguard/second-in-command Torque (which like. if you don’t know Torque after being on my blog what are you doing), decides to lead the Carnales against the Saints, believing they are somehow responsible for Luz’s disappearance.

So the Saints gotta go through that first. Then they can take on the Philosotologists, led by Z and his lieutenant(?) Josh Birk.

PRACTICES AND BELIEFS

So what all can we piece together about Philosotology from the actual canon of the first two games? In canon, through dialogue and gameplay we know:

“Liventics” is the name of the set of doctrines their founder, R. Lon Hibbard, wrote.

They measure what they call “Phaeton levels” in people. Phaeton levels being “clear” is the goal/seen as a good thing.

An alien in their belief called “Exnu”

Paying them money (arguably comparable to tithings) can clear you of any notoriety, immediately calling off the police, rival gangs, Masako, etc.

Dane Vogel and lots of other presumably powerful people are affiliated with the organization.

With these in mind, let’s try to map out a basic idea of what the general belief in Philosotology is, and how they practice these things. If it’s not obvious, I’ll be making these assumptions based on their real life counterparts, so keep that in mind. And, just to be clear, this shit is all pseudoscience. It is NOT REAL.

Livenetics is, at its core, meant to be a survival guide. It’s meant to show how one should be living based on Philosotology’s principles, most notably in response to traumatic events. Keep in mind that Philosotology was born in the wake of a devastating natural disaster, so it makes sense there would be an emphasis on living through life-changing experiences. Phaetons in this context, we can imply, is the traumatic memory or experience itself. In Philosotology, they want to get rid of the levels of Phaetons until a person is “clear.” This is done through their own means, presumably “counseling” of some sort.

My point being that Philosotology is obviously derived from this idea of removing negative memories and events from a person’s mind, and I believe in the context of canon this makes perfect sense for the role they fulfill. They quite literally remove negative effects from the player. Going further, though, this plays into their role in my SRIV canon, in which they seek to destroy the Saints permanently as they see them as bringing nothing but destruction everywhere they go. This idea of negative memories also calls back to the hellish simulations of the actual game SRIV. To put it bluntly, the people being kidnapped in my canon are those perceived by the group as people who need to be saved from the trauma caused by the Saints.

Where do aliens come in? Again, this is presumably part of Philosotology’s extended lore/whatever you wanna call it. In my canon, Z claims to have direct alien lineage, here to usher in a new era for the cult. Obviously this is meant as a nod to the actual game of SRIV, but it��s important to note that when you get down to it, Philosotology is canonically, we can assume, a UFO cult.

Life as a Philosotologist is presumably marked by constant surveillance, a lack of freedom, and as time goes on, a more militaristic way of life. Unless you’re one of the more affluent members, with access to plenty of luxury, it’s not exactly ideal. As with any cult, it preys on vulnerable people. Philosotology probably encourages people to cut off all ties to loved ones who bring up even the slightest concern or criticism to the idea. At the end of the day, it’s clear that Philosotology is still an extremely dangerous cult who have had an iron grip over Stilwater, yet have very clearly done an excellent job hiding that fact. Their leaders are meticulous, smart, and charismatic. Any group with that kind of deep-rooted presence is clearly a force to be reckoned with.

MISC

I wasn’t gonna talk about this but I saw something added to the wiki page for Philosotology that had me so confused. So real quick, I’m gonna explain the name. The “philo-” or “philoso” in Philosotology is referencing philosophy. Not to be confused with Philology, which is the study of oral and written language in historical sources.

“Love of wisdom” in Ancient Greek, the use of “philosophy” in the name parodies the use of “science” in its real life counterpart, which is something that was deliberate when the group named itself, as it provided an air of legitimacy to the cult. The suffix “-ology” implies the study of or school of thought, so we can take Philosotology as meaning “knowing about,” or “the knowledge of wisdom.” However it’s pretty obviously, again, used in the name to give itself credibility. All that said though I think this name falls in line pretty well with the implied practices of the group.

Also I didn’t really have anywhere else to add this but I always liked this pun: “Phaeton levels” is an obvious parody, however the word Phaeton (coming from the Greek myth) is actually a four-wheeled horse drawn carriage (and I think occasionally used to refer to some vintage cars), however the point being that you first hear about Phaeton levels after driving through the confessional in your car. It’s a really subtle joke but it just goes to show the real layers to things like that in the first two games.

Something interesting, though, is that in the actual myth of Phaethon, he ignores warnings from his father Helios about leading the chariot, loses control, and is eventually struck down by Zeus and dies, falling into the river Eridanus. Which, if you wanna get real tinfoil hat with it, sounds awfully familiar to someone else. Probably just a coincidence as that type of cautionary tale in myths is super common, but I still think it’s an interesting connection.

CONCLUSION

Like my other “History Of” posts I don’t really have some grand conclusion. I just enjoy writing meta and figuring out shit like this. I will say I wish we got more of a look into the cult and its place in Stilwater in canon, because even though it is just a game mechanic at its core, it creates some of the most fascinating implied worldbuilding. Stilwater as it is can feel like a truly haunted place, whether by literal ghosts or just echoes of a past that’s long been forgotten, and there’s this truly sinister overlay to it all when you really think about the fact that a cult has enough influence to stop other gangs, the police, the Masako, whoever, just as long as you pay the right price. There’s a whole world of opportunity there just waiting to be explored, and it’s a shame we’ll probably never get a real answer to who the Philosotologists really are. Or maybe it’s just a silly parody meant to explain away a game feature and I’m thinking too deeply about it, but where’s the intrigue in that answer?

#ashes to ashes (sriv rewrite)#saints row

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