#and i think this is why people have such different intuitions about what qualifies as a ''good use of research funding''

[arb0k]

to me there's a distinct and meaningful difference between scientist and engineer. they're comrades in the same project! both sides of the coin are required. but they're distinct mindsets

the scientist is primarily concerned with "why", whereas the engineer is primarily concerned with "what". when faced with three potential algorithms for solving a specific task, a computer scientist sits down and calculates which is theoretically most efficient, then implements it; a computer engineer implements all three, measures, and picks the fastest one

you could argue that either method is a waste of time or effort compared to your preferred one, especially if they both end up agreeing. but sometimes they don't agree! and noticing and picking apart that dissonance is how we learn

[hollowed-theory-hall]

what would tom riddle's patronus?

Okay, it took me some time to answer this ask since I needed to spend some time thinking. I didn't really have an answer in mind until your question. It's just something I apparently never thought about. So I was interested in finding the most canon-adjacent answer I can for if Tom Riddle/Voldemort could cast a patronus, what would it be.

So, my approach to finding the right animal was based on a few factors, the first of which:

How exactly is the form your Patronus takes determined?

Because we don't actually get a straight answer in the books. We know Patroni can change with a person, but we don't exactly get an answer on what their form represents and why some couples have matching Patroni.

Basically, I don't know what you expected, Anon, but what you're getting is some rambling about the magical theory behind the Patronus charm followed by why that means Tom gets a certain animal over another.

So, let's start with the basics, the incantation:

"Expecto Patronum"

This is in Latin and literally translates to: "I await/expect a defender"

And Remus Lupin explains what the Patronus charm is as:

“Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus,” said Lupin, “which is a kind of anti-dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor.” ... “The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the dementors can’t hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it.”

(POA, page 237)

We also know the patronus is cast by thinking of a happy memory — well, not really. The memory isn't really important; the emotion is. The memory is to help you have the right happy feelings that can fuel a Patronus. "You got to mean it" just like with an unforgivable.

So, what does it tell us about the Patronus:

We have a defender made out of happiness, literally.

This already sounds like something Tom Riddle would struggle with. I don't really see canon Tom Riddle/Voldemort being capable of producing one, but let's assume he can in some hypothetical AU. Let's take a look at a few patroni to see how their form is chosen and why.

Obviously, we have Harry's (and James') stag. A stag symbolizes many things in different cultures, but deer (both Stags and Does, like Lily and Snape) in general symbolize:

The cycle of life and death

Agility and grace

Bravery

Nobility

All this fits the Potters quite well. The nobility and bravery of Gryffindor and the cycle between life and death. Stags actually represent regeneration, as in a return from death, which fits with the Potters' connection to the Paverells and death perfectly.

Stags also symbolize authority, strength, leadership, and fatherhood, while does symbolize femininity, grace, intuition, and devotion. All in all, both animals fit James and Lily well. And while the stag does fit Harry (to a degree), I don't think his Patronus represents him.

I think Harry's patronus is a stag because James' patronus was a stag. Harry was actually convinced his father cast the Patronus when he first saw it in POA. And it makes sense.

I don't remember where I saw this theory, but it essentially was that your patrons would represent a person or an idea that you feel will defend you. It's why certain couples have matching Patroni, why a Patronus can change when you or your feelings about people change.

And Harry, when he casts his Patronus, the idea of his father who he never knew but would have protected him is the idea represented in Harry's Patronus. It's a stag like James' not because Harry and James are so similar (they have very different personalities actually) but because Harry's Patronus is James. It's a stag because James was a stag, and Harry is calling the concept of his father to defend him.

Following this logic, Lily's Patronus is a doe, because she is the doe. Lily's defender is herself. Courageous, noble, graceful and devoted. Lily's devotion to her son is what literally sets the series into motion. The reason she and James match is that they always have. He was always represented by the stag and she was always represented by the doe. Their Patroni aren't matching because of their relationship with each other, but because they are so compatible their Patroni matched from the get-go.

Snape's Patronus is a doe because of Lily. Lily is represented by the doe. As she was Snape's first friend and defender, whenever he calls for a protector, it's Lily.

Let's look at a few other Patroni, like Hermione's otter:

Playfulness

Joy

Family and close-knit friendships

Loyalty

All of this doesn't really sound like Hermione. Ron's Jack Russell Terrier on the other hand:

Loyalty

Courage

Playfulness

Cleverness

Protectiveness

Tanasity

Does sound very in line with who Ron is.

But then who does Hermione's otter represent? Well, an otter is from the weasel family and the list of characteristics looks closer to Ron's list of traits than Hermione's. I think Hermione's otter represents Ron who did step in to defend her since the troll incident in their first year multiple times.

So, where does that leave Tom Riddle?

Well, we established the Patronus becomes your defender, and in Tom's case, it'll be himself. Tom is distrustful and sees himself as more capable than anyone else. Not to mention he never had a real connection or person in his life he could call upon to defend him. So, whatever animal his Patronus is would represent himself as his own defender.

So, which animal represents Tom best?

The first animal I thought of, is of course: the serpent. Snakes are heavily associated with Tom (for obvious reasons) and is an animal we know he has a soft spot for. When looking at what snakes represent, you can see why he is associated with them:

Deceit

Transformation

Power

Regeneration and rebirth (shedding their skin)

Healing (Cadcadeus)

For the most part, the list seems to fit him well. Specifically their association with rebirth and the cycle of life and death by shedding their skin. Deceit and power are also right up Tom's alley. And even transformation considering he rewrote his entire identity to become Voldemort.

But, just "snake" wasn't good enough for me, I wanted to know which kind. And as I wanted his Patronus to be as rare as Harry's stag, I went to the list of official Pottermore possible Patroni to find a snake that is as hard to get in the test as the stag while not being magical.

(Magical Patroni are incredibly rare and to have yourself represented by a magical creature in your Patronus you need to be incredibly unique or incredibly full of yourself. At least, that's how I see it)

And low and behold, there was one on the aforementioned list:

The King Cobra

So I looked up if this snake has any interesting additional unique symbolism that would fit Tom. And, well, there was:

Authority and Leadership

Aggression and Fearlessness

Destruction and Creation

Intelligence and Cunning

Which all in all sounds fitting for Tom Riddle.

I also continued reading and apparently, snakes are associated with lightning by some Native American tribes. And when I saw that I was sold on the idea. Considering how the killing curse is represented by lightning (Harry's scar and the lightning-struck tower being the name of the chapter Dumbledore dies in). It feels appropriate with Tom's connection with snakes.

The King Cobra is actually not really a Cobra and is considered a unique breed of snake, which Tom would approve of. It's also the longest venomous snake and its venom can result in a rapid fatality, as soon as 30 minutes following a bite. It's also a cannibal snake that eats other snakes, including its own kind.

Overall it just fits perfectly, both in traits, symbolism, and how rare and dangerous it is. So, for your question, I think Tom Riddle's Patronus, if he could cast one, would be a King Cobra.

[hbmmaster]

would you ever consider making a "how many Sonic games are there?" or would it be too redundant?

I think it's something that should exist but I don't think I should make it. I don't have nearly as deep of a connection with the sonic games as I do with the mario games, and as such I don't have strong opinions on the classifications of any of its edge cases.

there also isn't a super mario wiki quality resource* I could rely on for a well-curated list of things sonic experts theoretically might classify as being mainline sonic titles, so even if I set my own lack of experience aside and just did it as an academic exercise, I'm not confident I'd even be able to generate a survey for sonic fans that sufficiently covers a sensibly sized range of different analyses sonic fans might use.

*this applies to literally every fanbase that isn't mario. the super mario wiki has an unusually high standard of quality.

the other potential issue is that it would be considerably harder for me to analyze the data from a survey about what sonic games are mainline, which again comes from my relative lack of experience with the series. if you were to tell me that more people on average consider Shadow The Hedgehog to be a mainline sonic game than Sonic Advance 2, I would have no intuition for how much sense that makes as a thing to say. I'd be able to come up with guesses for why it might be true if it's true, but I'd almost certainly be missing some crucial context that only someone who's autistic about sonic in the way I am about mario would be able to recognize.

so, yes, I think this is a good idea for a video, and if anyone else wants to make it I'd love to see the final result, but it's not something I feel qualified to take on myself.

[queen--of--maggots]

What’s your most unpopular DN opinion? (It can be about canon, fanon the fandom)

I don’t even know if you are still around anon, but I promised you an answer, and here it is. Unpopular opinion time! And here’s a really unpopular one: I wish Wammy’s wouldn’t exist and Ohba went in a different direction after L’s death.

I’m probably almost the only one with this opinion. I know many people love the Wammy kids, and I want to make this clear, this is not necessarily about the characters from Wammy’s. I appreciate them, some more, others less. However, you can like a character and still think the story would have been better without them.

First, a few points on why I don’t like the introduction of Wammy’s.

One thing I enjoyed a lot about DN up to L’s death is the lack of overused tropes. For example, DN isn’t L’s story despite him fitting more into the good guy role, L isn’t portrayed as a hero, Light isn’t portrayed as a villain, Misa isn’t the innocent victim who was dragged into this, and neither L nor Light is the chosen one(s), main characters don’t have an extremely outstanding design, and so on. Wammy’s changes this partially. There must be people, qualified ones included, in the entire world that have reasons why they want to stop Kira, but all of Kira’s antagonists originate from the same place – Wammy’s. That’s pretty much the secret-intuition-that-protects-the-world-from-evil trope. It also falls into the chosen one trope because only L’s successors are apparently good enough to put an end to Kira. Also, Near has a rather outstanding design. Having white hair isn’t impossible, but highly unlikely. In addition, he looks like 12 despite being 18 and always wears fucking pajamas instead of normal clothes. Mello has a somewhat outstanding design too, but it’s more the way the dresses. I won’t complain too much about it. Still, compare this to Team Kira’s new additions. Mikami’s and Takada’s designs are way more grounded.

Another trope I find annoying is linking everything to the same two or three people. Every important character that is introduced later in the series has a connection to one of the original main characters (being related, childhood friends, same former mentor, …). In my opinion, that’s just a cheap way to give a new character credit without them doing anything and make them more popular among fans. If the character is well-written enough, things like that are not necessary. Ohba goes hard for this trope with Wammy’s: Near, Mello, and even fucking Matt are all L’s successors, so they have a direct link to him. And, while it’s just a spinoff, and how canon it is is debatable, even the BB murder case goes back to L and Wammy’s. (I know AN wasn’t written by Ohba, but it fits the pattern.) Compare this to Light’s allies. Most Kiras had no previous connection to Light before meeting him. The only exception is Kiyomi after the time skip. In Misa’s case, Kira gave her the revenge she wanted. However, she’s likely still one of many with similar stories. She didn’t know Light before, and Light didn’t know her. Even how Misa got her DN is unrelated to Light and Ryuk. Mikami had to stand entirely on his own feet. He had no direct connection to Light or L whatsoever.

I’m also disappointed that Ohba toned down the realism with Wammy’s. DN wasn’t 100% realistic before either, but there is a drop in it with the introduction of the Wammy’s characters. We go from one rich dude who fights crime mainly for entertainment to an entire training ground for super-intelligent orphans to become the world’s greatest detectives. Then there’s Mello with the missile and ultra-fast healing powers, and Near winning because of magical guessing powers and plot armor. Both are also younger than Light and inexperienced. And while humans aren’t born with special powers in the DN universe and supernatural aspects are limited to the Shinigami and the Shinigami realm, BB has Shinigami eyes for no apparent reason. Technically, these are still connected to the Shinigami within the story, but the explanation given for this is extremely vague and unsatisfying.

The points I’ve listed so far would bother me less if they always would have been a thing or if both sides were treated equally regarding tropes and bullshit. But they are particularly noticeable for Wammy’s characters, while Team Kira is not so much affected.

Also, I liked that before Wammy’s became a thing, L was an extraordinary element. L appeared to be self-made. He even became an important part of law enforcement even though his main motivation wasn’t justice. Before Wammy’s introduction, his death would have had a massive impact on the DN universe because once he is dead, L doesn’t exist anymore and is no longer a secret weapon in difficult cases. Even if Kira is defeated, losing L in the process would be a massive loss. Wammy’s existence reduces L to a replaceable role. If he dies, someone else from the L-factory will take the position. The death of L as a person has almost no impact on the DN universe because L as an entity still exists, and that’s the only thing that counts. No consequences whatsoever. Barely anyone knew how he looked anyway.

I understand why Ohba went with L’s successors as a continuation instead of something else. He was playing the safe card by feeding the consumers something they are already familiar with. Going for different scenarios would be risky and require more effort. However, it could have been more rewarding if executed well. I would have liked a greater variety of enemies for Light and him having to adapt to new dangers. So, here are some scenarios that I would have found more intriguing than the one we got.

The premise of Mello’s arc was interesting; unfortunately, the execution was horrendous. But Light vs a criminal organization that, for example, wants the DN or Kira’s power for themselves isn’t a bad idea. A criminal organization would be a lot more ruthless than L. L needed evidence, while a crime syndicate would immediately shoot Light if he showed up on the list of suspects. And his family would be in danger too.

Or a revenge plot? Something like Kira killed a family member or other loved one (preferably justified, but could also be someone wrongly accused), and a bereaved person wants revenge. Now, this person is on a suicide mission, and Light has to fight against someone who has nothing left to lose. Their own survival is optional, only getting revenge before dying counts.

How about Kira vs a fanatic Kira fan? Someone who thinks Kira isn’t Kira enough anymore and feels they can do better? Maybe this person could make Light’s allies question their loyalty to him. Who are they loyal to, Light or Kira?

A female antagonist would also have potential (but not with Ohba as an author). Light tends to underestimate women. Now, Light faces one as a competent opponent, and he has to take one or more critical hits to realize the danger.

Anyway, the successor arc definitely has its moments, but overall, it is a lot weaker. And in my opinion, these weaknesses are primarily connected to Wammy’s. So, removing it could have been beneficial for the story. At least, that’s my opinion. If you have a different opinion, that’s great. But please, I’m not particularly interested in lengthy discussions about this subject.

[anumberofhobbies]

It is a lovely warm August day outside, and I am wearing a green loose top. Does the second part of that sentence sound strange to you? Perhaps you think I should have written “loose green top.” You’re not wrong (though not entirely right, because descriptivist linguistics): An intuitive code governs the way English speakers order adjectives. The rules come so naturally to us that we rarely learn about them in school, but over the past few decades language nerds have been monitoring modifiers, grouping them into categories, and straining to find logic in how people instinctively rank those categories. If you’re someone whose reflexes scatter the moment you try to lift the veil on your unconscious, this fascinating little-known field (little-known fascinating field?) will drive you nuts. On the other hand, thinking about how adjectives work may bounce you to an epistemological Zen state, wherein you can contemplate amid flutes what it means to partake of Redness and whether former child actress means something different from child former actress. Adjectives are where the elves of language both cheat and illumine reality. Maybe I am overqualifying this article about qualifiers (or is that the point?).

[asleepinawell]

assorted dawntrail thoughts below in no particular order. they range all over the place

loved the first half of the msq story. super fun, cool areas, interesting npcs, paced out pretty nicely. traveling around meeting/helping people and learning about cultures is what the wol thrives on and that is their type of vacation imo. shard of azem behavior

wuk lamat is one of my fave characters in the whole series. himbos stay winning. the amount of (usually bigoted) hate she's getting just makes me like her more. people seem mad that the wol wasn't the main character but i prefer it that way. they are there to help people!

erenville 😢. enjoyed his parts and man i felt so bad for him in the last area

krile finally got more time on screen but it did feel like her main bit was crunched in at the end kinda

alpacas 💯💯💯💯💯💯

overall the scions got a lot less screen time which was mostly fine. one thing I'd really been hoping for in dt was that y'shtola would finally get the focused arc that almost all the other scions have (krile was the other odd one out until now). and boy did the opposite of that happen. i don't know why they made the choice to basically not include her at all but it sucked. estinien was the other one who got almost no screentime but he had a whole xpac about him already. so yeah, that was my biggest negative overall. sometimes i wonder if there's some writers who don't like her or if the fact many fans hate her influences the focus on her. she's my favorite character in the whole game so, yeah, disappointed

second half of the msq. hmmm. shaaloani felt like a filler area and was meh though i got a laugh because of course they put dinosaurs in the wild west area. it did feel a little "wooooo cowboys!!! and oh native americans maybe exist, moving on". I'm not going to make any comments about cultural sensitivity stuff in dt since i think there are other people better qualified to examine that, but this part did feel like everything not yeehaw cowboys was an afterthought

the sphene part of the story confused me, as in i was confused why they went with that. it felt so much like the amaurot story which... we've already done? yeah there were some differences but it had the same vibes and themes. it was fine? just a weird choice. wish zoraal ja had had a little more going on beyond daddy issues for someone we spent a lot of time dealing with. i felt like i didn't even know what his relationship with his father was like. there was some piece of story tying into his motivation and past that was missing. sphene was more interesting though i wish they hadn't gone the route of 'she was programmed to do this so you can't dissuade her' and kept it more as her choice. i'm not saying i wanted her to be 'evil' just that it makes her more interesting if she's acting with free will

las vegas as the last zone lmao. kinda bummed the area stays dark now. like yes it makes sense for the story but it's now a much less visually interesting area to run around and that's a shame. it would have been fun to fly through and now it's just bland and empty

gulool ja should NOT be in charge of a city, he should NOT be at the club, he should be playing tag with ga bu in the park and living his best life. I'm taking him into protective custody

VERMEDICA ii

cities! tulliyolal is great! they did a really nice job of making it feel alive and bustling. it will probably be my main city to hang out in for the xpac because... solution 9... just was not a fan. it feels huge and empty and has elevator music. i like cyberpunk bi lighting but it just isn't enough to save it for me. ah well. neither of them can replace radz in my heart but i didn't expect them to

dungeons. they were all pretty and i liked how they incorporated little events into them like zoraal ja blocking a path. i wasn't crazy about most of the boss fights. they're definitely harder than ew mechanics but it was more that i didn't find them intuitive. I'm sure I'll learn them eventually but the types of mechanics in them just weren't fun ones to me. also i do them all duty support and while it seems like they've broadened the ai abilities for the npcs they also added a ton more aoe and line marker mechanics and those SUCK with npcs because the npcs will run to a predefined location with theirs regardless of what you do and they sometimes wait to do this until the extremely last second. so you move to be somewhere safe and oh no alisaie what are you doing *dead*. this happened a bunch in dead ends and mothercrystal (urianger..... you know what you did) and i was hoping they'd make less of those situations but no they made MORE. so in addition to learning the mechanics you also have to learn where the npcs are going to run. once you know you know but it's frustrating the first time through when your own buddies are killing you

trials. the first one was fine. second one i Did Not Enjoy (also hope that a wipe in the second half only sets you back to phase 2 start because the cs....). third one i really liked though i still have no clue what happened in that one part. you know which part. fortunately a healer survived it to lb3 us so we didn't wipe. i don't even want to imagine what the ex of that will be like. it was a nice ending trial

i was having a harder time than usual seeing mechanics in dungeons through my own ability effects (old and new) for most of the boss fights and i figured it was just me but some of my friends reported the same issue. not 100% sure what is going on there. i only have my own effects on and i really don't want to turn them down but :(

two of my favorite cute little moments: 1) when wuk lamat was despairing that zoraal ja brought back the fancy alpaca and then apologized to her own alpaca and told it it was great and it did a little step towards her to encourage her 😭. i just loved the alpacas okay. 2) vrtra showing up! and then azdaja doing a tiny roar!! crying yelling throwing up etc

i did all the side quests as i went and I'm glad i did. especially in the first half they felt like they added to the whole learning about new people main story and there were some fun ones. i had to catch a hyper cat in solution 9... that's my sort of quest

I've only done the magical dps role quest so far. comparing notes with someone who did a different one it seems like the role quests are very silly storywise this time. it wasn't the most exciting story but i liked my npc buddy and the final duty wasn't bad

job gear looks fantastic except for poor pld who is cursed to be a shiny knight forever. gnb coat is superb. blm wins though i think. cat staff!

i had to turn off shout chat when i got to solution 9 because i guess that's where all the cool kids hang out to talk about how much they hate the game they're paying to play. i haven't switched it back on and am enjoying blissful silence

i swear we've seen that world traveling key thing before???? it looked so familiar. also looked ascian which would make sense. they should not have left it with my son he is going to make a blue raspberry slushie in it or something horrible. please give it to an adult

i haven't been looking at too much in the way of interviews or speculation about the raid series, but my guess is it will involve the ascian(s) who were on whichever shard alexandria is. my crack theory is one of them is, uh, duedaf...duedalus...dudeathon........ whatever i'll get it eventually, because the constellation from their stone is an upside down triangle like the ones on the robot faces. big if true. a friend told me there was something that might have looked like part of an ascian sigil in sphene's outfit decoration but i wouldn't have recognized it on sight

pct is great. hanmer time! i am not a 'serious' gamer and i am so pleased to have a new job with a not serious aesthetic. vpr i am trying very hard to like but so far the gameplay style hasn't vibed for me

have i mentioned i love the alpacas? the ear wiggles!!!!!!!!

i probably forgot a ton of stuff but those are my rambles for now

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 4 Himatsubushi pt. Final

Akasaka has himself a little pity party at having failed to understand that Rika may have been subtly asking him for help to escape her fate in Hinamizawa which makes me wonder about the idea of fate/destiny. In one of the TIPS earlier in the chapter the narrator, I assume Rika, talks about how she hates things that are destined to happen, or occur while never changing. Does she view Akasaka staying in Hinamizawa and not leaving for Tokyo the same way she did the clear weather days, just something vaguely annoying because it's happened before and it'll happen again? In the timelines where Akasaka does intuit her request about getting out of Hinamizawa does it actually change anything? Or does she still die around the end of June regardless? Nothing has been outright confirmed she's stuck in a Groundhogs Day loop, living the same six or so years over and over, but I feel it's a reasonable guess given her calling Akasaka Tomitake Mk. II. But I repeat myself.

For the people who died in Hinamizawa Ooishi and Akasaka decide to investigate what really happened in June of 1983. Was it simply a freak geological event, divine wrath, or somehow the result of a member of the cult who killed the thousand plus citizenry of Hinamizawa.

Their righteous anger at the deaths wakes up Akasaka's daughter, which causes Akasaka to have a brief vision of Rika. I wonder if the console art here was added specifically to make it more obvious that Miyuki might possess something of Rika in her. You could probably handwave away the pair having a passing familiarity, but the eye colors matching seems like a pretty deliberate on the nose decision. In the remake and original versions obviously that screen doesn't exist, and I didn't think to screenshot Miyuki using the remakes art style so I don't know how similar to Rika she looks there. But I can't imagine it's too different.

Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni

They said the thing!

This is the second time a chapter has ended with the protagonist asking people to solve the mystery. Both times are when the antagonistic force is believed to be the cult conspiracy who did the deeds. For Watanagashi, and Tatarigoroshi where there's a deliberate specific character they point the finger at there's no "solve my mystery." Just an interesting little thing I noticed.

I just have to say, by the end of the chapter I was kind of getting tired of Ooishi's laugh. It kept happening every three minutes, it started grating on my nerves. Guess that's what can happen when you give one of your main characters a character tic like that, and you decide to make them the focus of a ten plus hour game.

You should probably give Keiichi god mode, let him get through a chapter alive for a change. Except for this one, he survived by not appearing. Like Tomitake and Takano now that I think about it.

I guess that's a common enough debate online that they kind of felt they had to address it here. Does Higurashi count as a video game? Do any visual novels really count? Do you need the small crumb of making a choice now and then to qualify for video game status? There's one section in this where you have to choose to open a red or blue box, so is that enough for it to be a video game? Is a choose your own adventure book a game? I don't know, and I don't think this particular debate is a particularly helpful or useful one. I count Higurashi and other VNs that just tells its story as a video game, and that visual novel is just a genre in the medium. I don't necessarily agree that simply the act of discussing the clues and so on with others (be it in person or online) is what makes it a video game. Maybe that's why the first four episodes contained minigames? To lend credibility as a video game. Of course then you can argue if since this counts as a game why not any given movie or television series. After all, if you hit auto and just absorb the story that way what's really the difference between reading Higurashi, or reading an Alex Cross novel, or watching True Detective?

Speaking of visual novels having choice in them. I decided to go back and go through the chapter again.

Cause I wanted to see what the additional choices were. What type of bad endings are we talking about here? I present here now for you, the single choice the console port added:

During the action climax you're given the option to beg for your life or try to steal the gun away from the kidnappers. I admit to a certain amount of disappointment that the only addition was one small aside that added basically nothing to the story. I imagined it was going to add a fair few more deaths since the narrative was largely about Akasaka infiltrating the Onigafuchi Guardians to solve a kidnapping. But alas.

I wonder what exactly were the circumstances that made them decide to make Himatsubushi. The end of Tatarigoroshi made it sound like chapter five Meakashi was ready to go, so what compelled Ryukishi07 to make this shorter interlude chapter? Was it just some last minute lore seeding that needed to be done to make everything flow better in the Answer Arcs? Even though chapter four did sort of feel like unnecessary filler I enjoyed it, more for the plot details regarding Rika Furude it showed than for any of the kidnapping or action plot. I can't help but wonder if towards the end of the series there'll be a chapter that's from Rika's perspective. Also, at least with this chapter when it decides it needs to tell you some of the lore and important events it keeps it brief and doesn't dive too deep into it. Do we really need another description of what Watanagashi is, or Oyashiro's curse? Now that I'm halfway through the series (or one third of the way depending on how you look at how much exists post chapter 8) I figure I should probably rank the chapters so far.

Going from best to worst:

Watanagashi

Himatsubushi

Tatarigoroshi

Onikakushi

And really I'm indecisive about the placement of the last two. There's some stuff I really hated in Tatarigoroshi, and stuff I really liked in Onikakushi.

[gentle-psi]

Today I watched an astrology prediction video for the geopolitics of 2025, a physics rant about the stagnation of theories of quantum gravity, and an entire BL anime about a 30 year old virgin with mind reading powers. None of these things are even remotely related, and somehow I feel you get a near complete image of the person I am just by knowing that information.

There’s a lot of interesting ways to get to know people, and I like just asking a stupid amount of annoying questions. Well, they seem to be annoying to people, I’d personally be thrilled if someone were to talk to me the way I talk to others. Either way, I’ve made peace with the idea of being annoying. If ‘annoying’ is the worst complaint you have about someone, they can’t really be that bad, I think.

I asked my friend, my dad and my mom ‘what is your favorite thing about your thought process and the way it feels to be you in your own head?’. My friend said that he likes that he can consider all sides of an issue, which I agree is an admirable quality. We somehow ended up talking about ghosts, which was also very interesting. This friend says he thinks people stay when they have unfinished business, and then listed examples illustrating when that might be. He listed nearly every cause of death besides old age, but I never pointed that out. Seems like an awful lot of unfinished business.

I’m not capable of knowing with certainty if ghosts are real - I lean towards no - but I think if they are, what qualifies as unfinished business may have a lot more to do with the quality of a person’s conscious experience at the time of death than any particular cause of death itself. I don’t think you can see a murder victim, and know just by that fact alone if they had found peace in their life or not. If I was murdered tomorrow, I don’t believe I would have unfinished business.

When I asked my dad that same question, about what it feels like to be you, he said his favorite thing was his ability to look at a problem and see dozens of potential solutions. That’s an unrelatable concept to me in a lot of ways. I wanted to vacuum spilled sugar off the counter last night. My dad said ‘do you know what sugar will do to a vacuum cleaner?’ And I laughed and agreed, but in truth, I still don’t know what would be so bad about it. I’m not sure why I didn’t ask him. Maybe I will.

My mom’s answer was a little hard to hear. She thought for a long while, and said ‘I’m too tired these days, I’m not sure I have thoughts anymore.’ My heart ached. I noticed she’s been out of it recently. Part of me thought I was the problem, but I checked my ego on that idea very quickly. I’m not that important. We talked more, and it doesn’t even sound like she knows what it is. Whatever it is, I really hope she starts to feel like herself again, or at least, just happy and less stressed, even if she feels different than she used to.

Circling back to the idea of ghosts, just because I’m thinking about it now, and wanna get it out of me. Stuff to do with life and death and reality and consciousness are so complicated and hard to capture with language. I always feel a little like I’m tripping over something, like I’m stumbling back to my bed in the dark after taking a midnight piss, groggy and walking into walls. Maybe the journey is passable, but it’s far from ideal or comprehensive. I’ll try to be articulate, who knows, maybe it’ll be easier to type it than to speak it.

I intuitively don’t believe we have any attachment to the human we were after we pass. This is not a physicalist and realist perspective, I’ve moved on from that years ago. The more I think about this, I think if sleep is the pause button, then death is ejecting the disk, and throwing it in a fire. A hard reset on subjectivity. But I believe we still exist.

I need to take a step back, this is such an expansive topic, and I’m leaving holes in it all over the place. I feel attached to the idea that, beneath the ego, under all the memories and formative experiences and dna, there’s something that’s fundamentally the same about everyone. I believe, above all else, that the one label that is truly applicable to everyone in exactly the same way, is that we are all Subjectivity itself, in the purest sense. Everything layered on top of that is what creates the experience of being an individual who’s different from other individuals.

I’m also swaying towards the idea that time itself doesn’t even exist without some form of conscious subjectivity to observe its passage. Think of sleep, when you aren’t dreaming, and then you wake up, it doesn’t feel as though you waited in bed for eight hours, it feels like time stopped existing entirely while you were unconscious. This leads me to believe that time is a lot more abstract and less linear, at least in relation to consciousness, than we often intuitively make it out to be.

I think maybe everything is happening all at once, but different subjective perspectives experience it at different points. The future to me is the past to a child born ten years from now, but whenever we are asked, both of us would agree that the current time, whatever it happens to be, is now. I think that’s important. Now is the only tangible thing we have, the past only exists as memories and traces, and the future is just an amorphous concept. Now is where all the things happen.

So, I think that maybe when we die, it’s because time isn’t actually linear at all, and the branch of subjectivity that was us has come to its natural ending point. Maybe, just how at some fuzzy point in my own past I went from being non-existent to having a subjective experience, that exact same thing will happen all over again, in a different body. Maybe I’ll be a young man in the year 3024, or my own great grandchild. Maybe I’ll be Socrates, or my mother. Maybe I’ll be a T Rex, or some species of crab that hasn’t evolved yet. More likely, all of them are true all at once.

My only question after that, the thing that stumps me, is if I really am just Subjectivity itself, why am I experiencing this precise life right now? The really stupid thing is, any instance of subjectivity could ask itself that question, and I guess maybe at the end of the day, the only real answer is ’someone had to do it’. Because wherever there’s life, Subjectivity makes a home. Always. That’s a comfort to me. Just as how nuclear fusion starts happening every time a star forms and the conditions are suitable, subjectivity fills every void that it is able to fit into.

This got a lot deeper than I originally intended. I was just gonna see if I could ramble my way to an interesting plot idea, but this is potentially the most autobiographical piece I’ve ever written. And I’m past the thousand word mark. That’s absurd to me, because I haven’t been able to get to the thousand word threshold without it feeling like a chore for the last couple of years. Maybe I’ve been writing the wrong things.

That leads me to wonder if anyone would ever want to read something like this. Not in the sense that I necessarily care to monetize it, but more that I’ve been creating into the void my entire life, and I would love for something that I make to resonate with someone. Even just one person. If a single human took the time to read all this, and resonated with it, and enjoyed it, that would be deeply meaningful to me.

In all honesty, I’m not much of a reader. It has to be a very specific kind of content to hold my attention, and I struggle to think that whatever I’m doing here would ever be anyone’s cup of tea. Mind you, there’s a market for biographies, I guess. Is that what this is?

I’ve given up on creating anything that will ever reach an audience. That isn’t to say I’ve stopped drawing or writing, but I’ve stopped hoping for or expecting any engagement when I share it, and my art has made its home mostly on the walls of my bedroom. Think if Francesco Goya was a 24 year old woman with access to an inkjet printer. It’s wild in here.

I think maybe I’m done writing this, whatever it is. I think maybe I will share it somewhere. Or maybe, it will live in this liminal void forever. If by some odd chance I did post this, and you saw it, and that little voice in your head is narrating these words to you right now, imagining a voice for me, just know I appreciate that the void I’ll inevitably feel I’ve thrown this into has found some company. I hope your life is full of wonderful things.

[grandhotelabyss]

Excellent Weekly Readings this week, John. It's inspired me to the below thoughts, a systematically intuitive rhapsody (apologies for some of my sloppiest prose):

I think the aim of artistic education (i.e., education of the artist rather than the aesthete) is to systematically expand one’s intuitions. Note *both* words — not merely to expand haphazardly, nor to systematise your imagination, but to take a dedicated approach to expanding the areas that you can feel your way through. Building a structure of similarities and differences, viewed from a hundred different angles, which becomes so natural that your taste can intuitively (usually unconsciously) run through it when you begin to work.

Because art education is extension of this awareness, criticism is central to it, in that it provides an example of/foundation for your own map, which is of course unique, but will coincide in a thousand ways with other people's, and perhaps — if you are a great imaginative poet — differ in a few truly new ways. The construction of your own poetic ancestry, as you keep talking about on the Invisible College, could be seen as one end goal of all this.

I have so far gone fairly deep into this process for music (where I think Kyle Gann might be the only consistent systematic-imaginist, though David Schiff's 'The Ellington Century' and Joseph Kerman's 'Opera As Drama' also qualify) and literature (where you have been a wonderful guide, and we can turn to many others from Aristotle to Shelley to Wilde to Frye to Paglia). I'm trying to start it for visual arts, where there are again a multitude of useful guides — art critics and 'art schools' generally being better, which is why half my friends are visual artists; while attempts in film have been hampered by its youth as an artform (Eisenstein and Deren probably come closest, but their insights were about a quarter of the way through cinema history, and so necessarily limited). I would love to hear other people chime in about other artforms!

But as you say, all of these can only point us towards maps, so above all we must read, listen, watch, gaze, wear, taste, smell and feel our way around the real world of art, guided but unhampered by even the most imaginative of maps. Theatre, for example, has its Virgils too — Aristotle again, Artaud, LeCoq, Mamet — but I have learned more from performing Shakespeare than from any of them. Is my idea of art, then, a mystical-scientific religion? I would say no, for religion is an offspring of art, a boundary-setting around a certain part of this kind of systematic imagination.

One final key point: a systematic intuition is, of course, a contradiction. If it wasn't, we'd be doing science, not art. Without contraries there is no progression!

Thank you, very well said! Sometimes I think the questions I receive about what or how to read are about how to begin this process of expanding intuition. My advice is usually just to jump in anywhere that looks inviting, but you are of course correct that criticism helps us navigate once we're "in." And then there's the Wildean argument that criticism and art are co-extensive, the eras of great art also the eras of great criticism.

(I'm not actually sure about that. The great ages of criticism in English literature are the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries, nestled in the two gaps between the three explosions of the Renaissance, Romanticism, and modernism. The greatest American criticism was arguably written in the middle of the 20th century, between the high periods of modernism and postmodernism. Major criticism seems to happen in the aftermath of great creative periods as an attempt to explain what happened and to point the way forward. Even considering Wilde's own example of "the Greeks," Aristotle was born a century after Sophocles, just as Wilde's contemporary Nietzsche would stress the belatedness of Socrates's critical spirit in relation to the tragedians.)

Re: other art forms, yes, especially the younger ones. Comics has perhaps had its Aristotle in Scott McCloud, but there's much more to do, and the academic absorption of the form has been a been a bit misleading in its essentially literary and sociological preoccupations.

[dreamingsushi]

Dance of the Phœnix - Episode 20

We have reached now way past the middle of the series and are going towards the ending. There’s still a few episodes and I do hope that they use their time well. At this point I have two fears : either they will add too much and it will be lacking in explanations, either they’re going to run in circles endlessly until the end. Both options seems very likely for me. As for now, I hope they focus on getting Feng Wu’s phœnix blood and nothing more. Then engagement with Jun Linyuan and happily ever after. Or something of a regular unsatisfying ending, without too many deaths. Because there are always too many deaths in Chinese dramas.

Zuo Qingluan’s master is once again very mad at her for failing. But... you that wasn’t her fault. The guy is in love with Feng Wu since they were kids. Even though she is quite different than she used to be before. Zhao Ge kind of witnesses her elder disciple sister being ignored and think of the past, whence her mother used to abuse Qingluan if she wasn’t doing good enough. I don’t understand why she’s being so cold towards Qingluan nowadays, it seems she used to care a lot for her, but keeps a distance. I mean I get that she’s bad at cultivating her spiritual powers and she’s an outcast in her sect since she’s not meeting her mom’s expectation, but that’s a little over the top. Zhao Ge seems to want to talk to Qingluan, but she’s invited to visit the empress. Qingluan swears to serve the empress. She doesn’t like Jun linyuan, she just likes winning.

Feng Xun is still upset about Jun Linyuan and Feng Wu, ish. I mean, he should be over it by now. Anyways, he tells Jun Linyuan to be careful. Yu Mingye could try to get Feng wu away from him, this dude is weird. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such murderous intent in Jun Linyuan’s eyes as he polishes his sword.

Talking about Yu Mingye, he’s too busy following Wu Youdao to pursue Feng Wu seriously. He thinks there’s something fishy inside the library, but doesn’t know what yet.

The colourful bird calls Feng Wu. He thinks the second piece is going to appear anytime soon. Also, something bad is going to happen at the school. He doesn’t know what yet, but his intuition is always right so he tells Feng Wu to remain on guard.

I thought there was some fighting happening, but it was actually only Zuo Qingluan training or venting her frustrations. She ended up meeting Yu Mingye. I really like the dynamic between the two of them. In some ways they are quite similar as they have to bear the pression of the role they are forced to take on. Geniuses, their sect leader expect a lot of them. I think that’s the reason why Yu Mingye is well qualified to advise Zuo Qingluan and that he always hits the mark with her. And I know he does because she would remain unphased otherwise. Yu Mingye is probably the only character who gets to see Zuo Qingluan as who she really is and she need more people to open their eyes for her to find inner peace. My humble opinion. Plus we’ve got to see more of the relationship between Yu Mingye and his father. This guy is really hungry for power. It’s sad, because along the way, he’s totally breaking down his own son.

So it’s Chinese Valentine’s day (I actually don’t like calling it like this because it is actually for spouses and not for couples, but I don’t feel like explaining the whole thing right now) and the girls can write letters to the boy they like. Zhao Ge convinces Feng Wu to write one for Jun Linyuan and herself is going to write one for Xuan Yi. Seeing how many letters Jun Linyuan received, Feng Wu decides on not handing over her own letter. Zhao Ge put hers in Xuan Yi’s book, but Feng Xun grabs it because he lent it to Xuan Yi and thinks Zhao Ge’s letter was for him. He prepares for the date with her, leaving both Xuan Yi and Jun Linyuan upset. To be honest, both love stories aren’t so interesting to me hahaha.

Something happens to the Emperor, he collapses while he was reading in his room (I guess it is his room). Jun Linyuan was on his way to see Feng Wu and confront her when Zuo Qingluan informs him something happened to his father. I wonder why she’s the one relaying the message. It’s not like they don’t have servants and stuff to take care of it. She’s not an employee of the residence or something, is she? Anyways, mister Ning says he’s alright to the empress, but when Jun Linyuan comes inquiring of his father, he eye signal him that they should talk alone. DRAMAAAA. It appears that someone is tampering with the spiritual energy of the emperor. He needs to read some books first, because it’s really rare and he is unsure of the cause. Of course, Zuo Qingluan eavesdrop on their conversation. Jun Linyuan must stay by his father’s side until he wakes up again.

So the empress sent a servant girl to the emperor’s side so she could spy on his every movement and she would feed him some pill tampering with his energy. She’s been poisinning him for already three years, so the effects would appear slowly, without leaving a trace. I’m not even surprised. It has been shown for a while that the empress isn’t a very nice person. I really wonder what is actually her main goal. She doesn’t have any children of her own, she doesn’t seem to want to kill Jun Linyuan and take over the power... so I really don’t know. Anyways she kills the maid. Well, her underling, I can’t remember the guy’s name. They use the corpse to stage a different lead, pretending the maid hung herself and admitted in a letter feeding the emperor poison on the orders of someone inside the Junwu academy. Jun Linyuan is reluctant to believe it. Just... pretend to go along with it. Sometimes he’s just really too dumb. The empress orders to search everyone at the academy. Jun Linyuan tries to oppose her, but his hands are tied. I wonder who she’s going to frame. Feng Wu? Wu youdao? Principal Ning? Jun Linyuan is really unhappy about Zuo Qingluan being over. Wow. Bravo. It was about time that you realized that she doesn’t give a damn about being the consort princess. Qingluan is despicable in many ways, but she’s really not an airhead like other young girls her age. She has always relied on no one but herself and she never shown any interest in being consort princess, only perhaps for the fact that she wants to be on top everyone else.

As to be expected, the story is getting even more complicated as it evolves even though there aren’t many episodes left to unravel all the mystery. I think they’re going to use the opportunity well. I mean, the villains. They’ll probably lose in the end, but for sure a lot of drama is incoming.

[sewingshadowsx]

she really was turning into a liar these days. wendy didn't think that was really helping her qualify as the good person she claimed to be. maybe she didn't want to be a good person anymore. maybe being a good person was something that wasn't universally possible. bad people did good things and vice versa. this wasn't really the time for her to discuss amongst herself her morals, but wendy's mind didn't seem to care. at least until it reminded itself where she was. who she was with. now, all her thoughts really cared about was hook's touch, how he could touch her more, how she could touch him too. his proposal of her coming back to read lingered in the back of her apparent lust. a clear excuse to visit him more despite her already having a legitimate reason with her being tied to a deal with him.

"pirates do seem to have better intuition than i thought...." she whispered, staring up at the cunning captain. the book pressed against her chest that she hugged in her arms was the only thing keeping her grounded. he taunted her but it only made her breath quicken. as much as her entire being seemed keen on giving in, her words carried a different tune. "you're right, james, i lied. what do you do with liars like me?" she was pushing buttons, trying to get a rise out of him for her own expenses. it didn't make any sense to her why she wanted him to get angry with her, or be impressed by her truth, but she was playing with their emotions anyways. yeah, she really wasn't turning into a good person.

weighing the book in his grasp, hook gave it a full survey with his eyes, dark irises following the stitching of the binding and the well-loved creases in the fabric stretched across its cover. the text had nearly entirely faded, and he ran the pads of his fingers along the front, as if a magic touch would be enough to restore the book to its former glory but, alas, james hook wasn't in possession of such an ability. while he appreciated a story, the only touch he wielded was that of a villain's. he didn't create stories, he was written out of them. calloused fingers were skilled only in the art of destruction, not restoration. " me either , " hook mused, gaze shifting up to hers, noticing the swell of her pupils and the way warmth had pooled in her features. amusement sparkled in his eyes, the corner of his lips twitching upwards. " you've got a good eye, miss darling. i'm sure this book would have never been found had it not been for you."

he chuckled at her comment in regards to the books cost, inhaling deeply through his nose and breathing it out in the form of a soft sigh. " well, in that case, perhaps i won't sell it at all. you'll just have to come visit whenever you wish to read it, " the pirate mused, though in contrast to his statement, he returned the book to her, a knowing gleam in his gaze. wendy darling was many things, but subtle was not one of them, and he felt one of his dark brows raise at her last statement, beguilement clear in his expression. " a book you've never seen before now was your only motivation to come here ?? " hook taunted, stepping forward, closing an already short distance and lifting his now unoccupied hand to delicately lift her chin, curling pointer beneath the soft, round of her chin. " call it a pirates intuition , but something tells me you're lying to me. . .and i'm not fond of liars, wendy."

[samwisethewitch]

How Find Safe Groups, Teachers, and Authors in the Pagan and Witch Community

In my last post, I talked about how to recognize if a group is a cult or is using cult techniques to control its members. As I pointed out in that post, cults can be based on any ideology -- including pagan spirituality or secular witchcraft.

So now that we know how to identify the bad teachers and groups, how do we find communities, teachers, and resources that are safe, healthy, and helpful?

Obviously, the first step is to compare any teacher, group, or author to Steven Hassan's BITE model (the four-part model of Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional control used by cults to control members) and see if it matches up with their behavior -- anyone who employs the BITE model is not someone you want to involve in your spiritual journey.

Beyond that, here are some more things that you SHOULD look for in a teacher, author, or group:

1. A safe teacher, author, or group prioritizes the individuality, independence, and autonomy of every student, reader, or member.

A good teacher can share information and even their own personal experiences without telling students how to think or what to believe. The same goes for authors. Safe teachers and authors encourage students/readers to use their own judgement to decide if what is being taught is right for them.

Likewise, a healthy group may be founded on a common belief or practice, but group members recognize that each person's experiences within that framework are going to be different.

Be wary of groups with imbalanced power dynamics. If a group has a clear hierarchy (official or unofficial) with some members getting special treatment, ask why. Some pagan groups do perform ordination, and it's normal for students pursuing ordination to get extra training or coaching from leaders. But even then, they should not be treated as if they were superior to other group members.

Avoid groups that put pressure on new members to make public commitments, such as baptism, initiation, or ordination. Again, some groups do offer these, and that's perfectly fine. What isn't fine is new group members being pressured to make major commitments before they feel ready for them. In groups that offer these commitments, they should be available for students who feel ready for them, but should not be treated like the default or like they are mandatory.

2. Safe teachers, authors, and groups are honest and transparent about where they get their information.

If you're considering buying a book on witchcraft, paganism, or any other spiritual topic, perform this quick test before you do: flip to the back of the book and look for the "Resources" section. In a well-researched book, this section will be several pages long. In a really good book, it will include sources from non-pagan, non-witch authors, like historians and scientists. If the book doesn't have a resources section, or if the resources section is especially short, don't bother with it.

Likewise, when you're attending a class or group meeting, teachers and leaders should be open about where they got their information. If a teacher doesn't specify where their information is coming from, don't be afraid to ask them -- if they can't answer off the top of their head or they dodge the question, you may want to consider finding a different teacher.

Don't be afraid to ask teachers and group members for book recommendations! Most witches and pagans do a lot of reading, and will have no problem giving you a list of their favorite resources.

If you notice that a teacher or group is only using books from one or two authors, that's a red flag. This goes double if a teacher or author only uses or references books that they wrote themselves.

If a teacher or group relies heavily on information from a single author, do your own research into that author's legitimacy. For example, Silver Ravenwolf was a very popular Wiccan author in the '90s and early 2000s, and a lot of older witches still recommend her books to newcomers -- but a quick Google search will reveal that Ravenwolf is extremely controversial and has been accused of knowingly spreading misinformation in her books. If a teacher or group relies heavily on Ravenwolf or other authors that have been publicly exposed as frauds, you'll want to take what they teach with several grains of salt.

(For the record, the points in this post are based on the work of cult researchers like Steven Hassan, Margaret Singer, and Luna Lindsey. See? It's not that hard.)

3. Safe teachers, authors, and groups are open to analysis and criticism.

If you really want to know an author's integrity, look at how they respond to their negative reviews. Someone who accuses those who disagree with them of being ignorant and small-minded, or of "persecuting" them is not someone you want to rely on in your spiritual journey.

Likewise, if you're considering joining a group, pay attention to how they talk about ex-members. A healthy group is able to acknowledge that what they offer isn't for everyone, and doesn't take it personally when someone leaves.

A good teacher will lead class discussions that encourage questions from students. Avoid teachers who belittle students for asking "stupid" or "irrelevant" questions, or who refuse to answer questions on certain topics. You should also be wary of teachers who use canned answers that don't really address what was being asked.

4. A safe teacher, author, or group leader is qualified, approachable, and down to earth.

Determining someone's qualifications gets a little tricky in witchy and pagan communities, because many of these traditions don't have a formal clergy, and I have yet to see an accredited school offering degrees in magical theory. In some cases, the only qualification a person can have is being an experienced practitioner.

But there are some cases where you can -- and should! -- ask someone for their credentials. If someone uses a title like "High Priestess," "Elder," or "Reverend," make sure they were ordained by a legitimate religious organization. (Even if a group isn't legally classified as a church, you can still research them and their reputation.) If someone is teaching a formal system like Reiki, they should be certified to teach in that system. Any time someone claims to have a certain title, status, or certification, ask to see the paperwork to prove it.

A good teacher is accessible. If they charge for their services, the price should be reasonable for the service being offered. It's entirely appropriate for someone who is putting a lot of time and energy into teaching a class to expect payment, but it isn't appropriate to overcharge or exploit people.

A good teacher, author, or group leader is down to earth and approachable. They don't claim to be anything more or less than a human being looking to share their knowledge and experience with others.

Avoid anyone who claims to be an incarnated deity, angel, demon, or other non-human figure, or who claims to be the spouse, consort, or child of such a being. Avoid anyone who claims to be a reincarnated master or historical figure. Be very skeptical of anyone who claims to be on a unique divine mission or have been "chosen" by a higher power. These are all common tactics used by cult leaders to gain respect and worship from their followers.

If a teacher, author, or other authority figure asks to be "paid" for their services with sexual favors or says you have to have sex with them as a form of initiation, LEAVE IMMEDIATELY AND NEVER LOOK BACK. Any person who tries to coerce you into sex is an attempted rapist, and you need to get away from them as soon as possible, no matter what title or authority they have.

5. A safe author, teacher, or group believes in science and history and does not try to discredit them.

Contrary to popular belief, you can have faith in magic, divinity, or some other cosmic force and still believe in science. Paganism and witchcraft are no less compatible with science than any other spiritual practice.

Avoid anyone who tries to twist history to make themselves look more sympathetic. Any author, teacher, or group who talks about "the Burning Times" or claims that there was a unified "witchcraft cult" in ancient Europe is either a liar or willfully ignorant. These things never happened. We know they never happened because there is no historical evidence to support them and a lot of historical evidence that disproves them.

Likewise, pseudoscience should not be taught as fact. You may hear people talk about how your emotions vibrate at different frequencies which have the power to positively or negatively affect your life -- what they won't tell you is that these ideas come from a book about political theory (Power vs. Force by David R. Hawkins) and have no scientific evidence to support them. Or, you may hear people say that psychoactive medications block your psychic abilities -- how can this be true, when most medications are derived from the same plants and herbs that witches have been using for healing magic for centuries? Most of these conspiracy theories have little to no backing in the scientific or witchcraft communities, and they have no place in a spiritual learning environment.

Most importantly: If YOU feel uncomfortable, then it is not the right group for YOU.

A group doesn't have to be cultish or unhealthy to be a bad fit for you and your spiritual path. Ultimately, both witchcraft and paganism are highly intuitive, and you will have to do what feels right for you.

[stygiusfic]

megzag thoughts, part 2

A few months ago I wrote a long post about how I interpret Megaera and Zagreus’ history (found here). This post builds on those points, starting from the assumption that Meg and Zag’s first relationship was orchestrated by Hades, as one of the in-game remembrances seems to imply.

Under the cut for (you guessed it) length and tons of screenshots. (Also, more drive-by mentions of BDSM).

I’ve talked before about how Megaera is really, really not the type to explicitly state her more vulnerable feelings. This is partly due to her personality, but also, I think, because she’s really good at reading people and interpreting body language. (She would have to be! Insight is helpful for any interpersonal task, and I’d say torturing the wicked for all of eternity qualifies).

This insight is one of the reasons she and Thanatos get on like a house on fire, aside from their dedication to their respective duties; they understand each other on an implicit level, and they don’t need words to know they have each other’s back. It’s also the reason she can smell it a mile away when Zagreus starts trying to get back into her good graces.

So, being a good judge of character, Meg conversely expects the people close to her to understand her as intuitively as she understands them. In her eyes, her actions speak for themselves.

(And when she doesn’t want her actions to speak for themselves, she does make it known; most notably, she tells Zagreus that she didn’t choose her assignment of killing him at the edge of Tartarus, and that their fights are just business.)

I’ve said all this before, but I’m emotional about it today because the game just gave me the following gem:

The way I read this when I got it was: “I’m showing Zagreus with my behavior around him that I care about him, but he still seems to need me to put it in words, HELP”. It’s hilarious, and very heartwarming. (It’s very possible that I’m reading too much into this one line, but I think my points stand regardless.)

From her perspective, Meg probably thinks her feelings are obvious and don’t need stating. Multiple times, we see her running away from explicitly attaching words to what’s between her and Zagreus. She tells Zag he asks too many questions, and not to worry about the gossip as long as he’s happy. She reassures him in her own way, and to her it probably feels much more straightforward than it actually comes across as.

But when the person on the other end is someone who craves reassurance the way Zagreus does, “hints” just don’t cut it.

It’s not that he doesn’t get the hints. I do think Zagreus understands that she cares, and he seems happy around her.

He’s also very good at reading social cues—for different and sadder reasons, having grown up feeling unwanted. He’s able to put the pieces together by himself, but it’s not about that. Sometimes he needs to be told outright that he is, in fact, wanted. (He seeks reassurance in a similar way from Thanatos, a bit more directly than he does with Meg.)

Zagreus’ interactions show, time and time again, that he’s incredibly conscientious of other people’s feelings and boundaries, and in part that’s due to the neglect he endured from Hades growing up, being constantly reminded of his shortcomings. He reads into other people’s words and gestures to gauge if he’s welcome or not, and he does it unconsciously, always eager to please.

Which is perhaps why Megaera expects him to understand her feelings (aside from the oblique admission that she’s in love with him). But she of all people, in my opinion, should know that Zagreus needs to be absolved from that guessing game and shown inequivocal approval sometimes.

I say “she of all people” because I’m convinced that’s where the appeal of their sexual dynamic lies, for him. He wants to please, and by submitting to her orders and directions, he is told exactly what he needs to do in order to please. He doesn’t need to guess; he is told and he obeys, and he’s rewarded when he does well.

“Punishment” is also a reward for him in a similar way, since I imagine the pain helps him to empty his mind of the constant looping thoughts and self-doubt. And she would know to give him aftercare, which is another form of reassurance. (All this, of course, is my headcanon, since the game doesn’t go into that level of detail, but it makes sense to me).

In any case, regardless of the depth of their implicit understanding of each other, there’s a lot of water under the bridge that they can’t clear out unless they actively talk and are open with their feelings. The need for communication is something they’re both aware of, I think; it’s just that Zagreus is more receptive to the idea, and better at the execution.

But the screenshot further up this post seems to prove that Meg is coming around. It seems to show that she’s at least aware that she can’t continue to expect Zagreus to be content with the reassurance she provides indirectly and through her actions.

That, in my eyes, is the first step to making their second attempt at a relationship more successful than the first was. From where I’m standing, their first relationship failed because they failed to communicate that they were important to each other, regardless of Hades’ involvement in bringing them together and whatever complications that circumstance introduced.

So, now that they’re choosing to be together again fully of their own volition, they have to recognize the danger of letting implications alone speak for themselves.

This is a very healthy step. And in true Hadesgame fashion, it’s just the beginnings of resolution, because the game always makes it obvious that fixing and maintaining relationships is a constant work-in-progress. The road still stretches ahead of them, there’s still work to do—and I, for one, hope Dusa came to that particular conversation armed with a good bottle of Ambrosia or two.

[sabakos]

if the main purpose of charity is what makes people's lives better

i don't think most people's goal in giving to charity is that abstract! this isn't to say that they don't care about helping people (they do tend to care about whether or not a charity is a scam, after all...) but that most people's giving to charity is not an allocation problem of the form "I have $X and would like to maximize the good $Y that I would like to have" and I also feel that it shouldn't be taken for granted that it *should* be that.

Admittedly, I am somewhat drawing an equivocation between moral intuitions and "what morals people ought to have" but this is because I don't think that that second one has any independent reality outside of people's moral intuitions. Someone wanting to make the claim that it does, and that people's moral intuitions are somehow defective with respect to an objective moral standard had better make an independent argument for that moral standard, ideally one that stands up to scrutiny outside the context for how people spend their discretionary income.

Yet while I do find that EA-aligned utilitarians largely take for granted that there is *some* kind of ethical duty to maximize goodness within this sphere, I don't think this reflects how they live their lives outside how they allocate their own discretionary income, and at any rate I never see them give any arguments for this standard or why it should only apply to this one aspect of a person's life! so I think the idea that one "ought" to give to charity based on the principles of effective altruism is, at best, a personal aesthetic preference much like "wanting to appear to oneself like a good person" rather than a normative claim.

A lot of people have an intuition that their tribe or race or nation should be treated better than others; that's not the same as actually being good.

well, i don't know. I think there are probably contexts where I would agree that this is true, but I don't think I'm prepared to argue that everything that fits under this statement necessarily differs from "actually being good." For example, I think it's fine to give your friends gifts for their birthday and not your enemies or complete strangers, but I think it's probably not okay to give your friends cushy positions at the company you work for that they aren't actually qualified for just because they're your friends. and i think someone would have an uphill battle arguing the one as ardently as the other.

more generally, I think it's rather easy to make broad statements about "what is right" that sound noble because they accord with our moral intuitions, but that these often collapse upon further inspection because they *don't* actually accord with deeper values that we hold. and since this is all based ultimately in moral intuition or moral values that people actually hold, it makes sense to discuss those, rather than trying to construct some simple objective moral standard that we're each not living up to.

it's probably good that Peter Singer got a bunch of software engineers to donate a portion of their excess wealth to Africa rather than more light-up keyboards. But like... "guy with extra money who doesn't have any particular ties and just wants to see his dollar go as far as possible" is not necessarily the typical small-time philanthropist! Many people have causes they care about in the same way they have people they care about, and while "don't donate to this charity because it's a scam or doesn't spend that much of its money on helping people" is useful information to them, "don't donate to this charity because you'll save more lives buying mosquito nets" is not any more useful to them than "be friends with different people" would be. Maybe they're donating to ALS research or the Audobon society or a political campaign for a reason other than "to save the most human lives as possible" and the difference in values and what they're hoping to accomplish is more of a point of departure than the idea that they're somehow "misinformed" about what the best charities to donate to are!

[haunted-hijinxer]

Hi hello I’m obviously one of ur players but it just occurred to me I could use the power of askbox to be like HEY UH WHAT ARE THE LURKERS THOUGHTS ON EACH OF THE CTHULHU BOYS,

Haha, thank you for this delightful ask - happy to oblige! 

(For context this is in regards to our BatIM CoC game, where some of the JDS crew somehow befriended a shape-shifting eldritch horror called the Lurker of the Star Pools that ended up looking like Bendy, and brought him back to the studio! The Lurker has become the studio’s resident Bendy, and has some… weird perspectives on some things.)

His thoughts about them in general kind of boil down to: These are the people who took a monster who was very casual about the possibility of all of them ending up dead or insane and yet somehow went ”Hey Lurker, you kinda seem like you don’t really love this situation you’re in, instead of trying to use you as a compelled servant or a bargaining chip in our supernatural struggles, would you like to come back with us and keep your memories for once and have a home where people don’t order you around and also hey, here, have a part of our...souls maybe??? While we’re at it? Yeah, You can have that too!” 

His memory from before they showed up might not be the best, but he’s pretty sure that’s not the sort of offer just anyone would make. Suffice it to say that while he has come to learn lots of people are interesting and neat, the original three are especially significant to him. Bendy the cartoon may not take anything seriously, and the Lurker would generally agree... but there’s definitely one thing that’s not a joke to him: living up to their baffling show of trust, and removing anything that threatens them.   

As for specific boys, I tried a couple times to answer succinctly and thoroughly failed, so, uh, have a bunch more musings on what this weird cartoon monster NPC thinks under the cut! 

Henry:

He thinks of Henry as the one he trusts the most, both his word and his judgement. If two people are urgently telling the Lurker to do two different things at once and one of those people is Henry, he’ll generally listen to Henry. Henry was the one who had control over him the longest of the group, but also the one who consistently chose not to take advantage of that position...it made an impression. I think Henry is the one who gives the Lurker the strongest sense that there is something like ‘right and wrong’ worth aspiring to vs. ‘most efficient’ or ‘most beneficial’.

The Lurker is also the most concerned with protecting Henry, both because the idea of Henry not being around bothers him a lot, and because he’s worried Henry is so busy caring about others he sometimes forgets to care for himself. If there’s one thing the Lurker doesn’t thoroughly trust Henry on, it’s Henry’s ability to judge how much he can endure. So while he’s protective of all the boys, he can get especially protective of Henry. 

The Lurker is most comfortable asking Henry for information on things he doesn’t understand about society and people. He trusts Henry to give the truth as best he knows it, and has found Henry most reliably can explain things in ways he will understand. At one point talking to Maf - Henry’s player - about this, Maf pointed out that since CoC Henry is autistic but coped by learning how to mimic the behavior of others early on, Henry has actually put a lot of thought into why people do the things they do and why some things are considered ‘normal’, which could make him especially qualified to try and explain societal constructs to someone else who doesn’t intuitively understand. 

The Lurker isn’t exactly a great artist, but he does enjoy drawing, and drawing with Henry especially. He just likes being around when Henry is doing what he loves, and Henry's nice about giving tips. 

He respects Henry greatly, and when he’s around Henry, he wants to be better.

Joey:

I think the Lurker sees a kindred spirit in Joey. Joey may not be the best for explaining the rest of the world in a way he gets? But the Lurker DOES feel like he gets Joey himself. They seem to share a lot of the same drives and insecurities, and even though neither of them tends to talk about anything vulnerable if they can help it, I wonder if they recognize the similarities in one another. Though they handle it differently they’re both worried about not knowing where they stand, if they’re ‘good’ enough, and are afraid of losing or hurting those they care for and not being able to stop it. The thought of being out of control terrifies them both to the point they are generally more comfortable actively refusing to acknowledge the possibility. 

On the flip-side the Lurker relates to Joey’s pragmatism and his enthusiasm. They both know how to enjoy the moment with no shame. And neither of them is the best at looking before they leap, which has led to them collaborating on a lot of sometimes questionable magical experiments with the Star Pools Ink now flowing through the studio. They work well together, and both understand the impulse to maybe take a few… risks to protect what is important to them. He’s very fond of Joey’s intense belief that everyone can choose their own course, control the path of their destiny. He knows from experience it’s not always true...but he wants it to be. He wants Joey to be able to keep on believing it.

Joey is probably the Lurker’s first stop if shenanigans or new exciting ideas are afoot, and in some ways he’s most comfortable with Joey. Talking about his history usually alarms people or makes them uncomfortable, whereas Joey is generally matter-of-fact about what he doesn’t like and just interested in the rest. If the Lurker just wants to focus on something and have easy company and maybe some thoughtless chit-chat without worrying about shocking or alarming someone, he’ll often swing by Joey’s office.

Sammy:

Sammy is a weird case, because despite the respect and affinity the Lurker has for Henry and Joey, Sammy was in many was the first thing he had to a friend…except that for most of it, Sammy was his ‘crazy’ SillyTime prophet self. They were peers, two guardians of the Star Pools working towards the same goal.

From the Lurker’s point of view, Prophet Sammy was someone who actually chatted with him, considered him favorably, and wasn’t afraid. Even after some loops put them in opposition and ended very badly for Sammy, he was afraid of the danger, but didn’t hold it against the Lurker himself. He wanted to help the Lurker, not even on the basis that it was somehow morally correct, but because he actually seemed to like him. Of course when the party came along and regular Sammy ended up with an insanity that also made him want to please the Lurker, it felt a lot like having the same friend but now with some memory problems. 

This meant that it was Sammy’s opinion the Lurker wanted when he realized the party was actually trying to upend the Masked Messenger’s plans. They’d been in this together thus far… if Sammy thought giving their purpose up in favor of an uncertain future might be worthwhile...maybe the Lurker ought to consider it too. I think he also really took to heart Sammy’s somewhat confused assertion that he preferred not knowing what was coming. Maybe there was something to be said for the future being unwritten…I don’t think the Lurker had ever properly considered the concept of actual freedom or making any choice that actually mattered before. If Joey helps him believe free will is attainable, Sammy led him to believe it was alright to want it. 

Then there’s the whole period where Sammy’s devotion insanity was wearing off, wherein Bendy realized Sammy, much like himself, didn’t properly have control over the things he did to help Bendy, which was….I think kind of horrifying?? Bendy might have...overcompensated, not wanting to do the same thing to his friend that had been done to him, but.. I think he was also seriously worried that as Sammy got control of himself it would turn out their friendship had only been a byproduct of that forced devotion too. He didn’t tell anyone, but he was deeply relieved when that turned out not to be the case.

As bizarre as it sounds when taken in terms of Sammy Lawrence, I think he’s still the one the Lurker is most likely to admit actual doubts or tough questions to. Both because he genuinely values Sammy's opinion while not feeling expected to follow it, and also because he still has the lingering feeling that Sammy ‘gets it’. 

Jack:

Jack he doesn’t know as well so far, and hasn’t had any deep hugely formative experiences with, but…..in some ways, that’s also...nice? 

Jack is someone he’s met since choosing an identity for himself, who met him first that way, and who has been generally compassionate and easy to get along with. I suspect Jack might be unusual in how much he treats Bendy like a living being, it seems like it would be very easy for most of the bewildered employees in the studio to treat him like...some kind of bizarre gimmick of the studio, or at best an actor doing some sort of incredibly long form promotion. I think he likes Jack’s quirky style and is delighted by his complete lack of shame with dropping one-liners. There’s also the bonus that Jack hides away and creeps around in the sewers which Bendy just finds interesting, and Jack has also been teaching him music! He originally asked Jack mostly because he didn’t feel he should ask Sammy back when the devotion insanity was still resolving, but now he values their get-togethers for their own sake. 

(Also if you think the Lurker wouldn’t 100% conspire with Jack on jokes or bits to spring on the rest of the studio, let me assure you he would be in on that in an inky heartbeat. I like to think whenever they meet up for a lesson or just a chat, their interactions are liberally peppered with them ad-libbing jokes back and forth, and that the Lurker might just be in the running for liking Jack’s jokes as much as Jack does.)

[elftwink]

someone on twitter is trending for tweeting “my argument is that horror can’t be set in space” (paraphrased) and is being torn apart for it. obviously this is a bit of a reductive phrasing but i honestly think that if ppl were being less obnoxious about it this could be a really interesting conversation about what genres even are and how we define them. people are acting like genres are obvious and clear cut and they’re not. they’re somewhat intuitive and fluid

her follow up point (“Horror is predicated on the fear of the other, the unfamiliar in the world as we know it – space, we already don't know it,” copy pasted) at least brings up an interesting discussion. what is the difference between sci-fi and horror, working under this definition of horror? is this even a good definition of horror? you COULD just snark back with sci-fis that you think also qualify as horrors but isn’t it sort of interesting to arrive at the conclusion that space cannot be a horror setting? don’t you wanna dig in and ask why?

like i don’t agree. i think space makes for an excellent horror setting precisely because we don’t know shit, and i would just argue it’s a slightly different kind of fear of the unknown (i might say that instead of the horror being that something is unfamiliar in the world, it’s that you are the ONLY familiar thing in an unfamiliar world, but even that i think it’s not broad enough to encompass all the ways people can write horror set in space). but i don’t think that’s like, the Objectively Correct opinion because there is no such thing as an objective take on genres because theyre so inherently fluid and contain sooo much overlap.

maybe i just think talking about genres is fun and nobody else does. but i simply thing instead of everyone getting weird and uptight about movies they like we could have been having a very interesting convo on what makes horror horror and what makes sci-fi sci-fi and how space as a setting fits into either of those genres. however everyone on twitter sucks so we can’t