#anti performing animals

[the-angry-acrobat]

just curious, do u support circused that have wild animals in them-?

(tigers, lions, elephants, bears, etc.)

no, I am very strongly against it. the truth about animals in circuses is that they are abused and endure lives of complete misery, usually illegally poached from the wild and sold or bred into circuses, purely for entertainment. 

in circuses, animals are made to perform unnatural tricks which none of them would willingly carry out. elephants are made to stand on one leg and spin in circles – often while standing on top of small stools. these are actions elephants have never been observed carrying out in the wild precisely because they cause long-term damage to the animals’ physiology. it is well documented that elephants are forced to perform these actions by being terribly abused, and young elephants are savagely constrained in a process called ‘the crush’ which breaks their spirit and forces them to comply. big cats have been popular in the circus industry, but many have their teeth and claws removed rendering them harmless to their abusers. they are ‘trained’ with whips which teach them to fear the handlers and not attack.

the actions animals do in performances are so unnatural that no animal could be encouraged or instructed to carry them out – they would have to be forced. initially this is done with violence, then with the promise of food. as a result, many circus animals are also underfed to keep them hungry and eager to please. 

the animals commonly abused in circuses are extremely stressed by circus conditions. the loud noise of the music, the cheers of the crowd and the dizzying lights all disorientate and cause stress to wild animals. over prolonged periods can result in abnormal behaviours and health problems related to anxiety. for species such as tigers, bears, macaques, etc, performing on stage is deeply traumatic. 

the living conditions for wild animals in circuses consistently fail to meet the animals’ most basic needs. when the show ends, the animals typically return to isolation in small barren cages which give them no opportunity to carry out behaviours natural to their species, or to interact with their own kind. investigation into animal circuses found 100% of facilities failed to meet the animals’ basic needs. bears were found rocking in tiny cages – a well-known sign of stress and mental health disorders – and macaques chained by their necks.

circus animals are often transported over large distances with circuses, even transporting dolphins by truck and plane which is clearly unsuitable for the species, and more. they are abused, humiliated, and treated absolutely dehumanisingly. how anyone that treats an animal like that could live with themselves, I don’t know. but none of that matters when it comes to monetary gain.

as with any industry that creates financial gain, some people try to defend animal circuses. they say the animals are stimulated by training and performance, but all the evidence and the experts disagree. defenders of animal circuses also argue that seeing animals perform is a form of education which raises awareness and appreciation of wild species. but the truth is very different.

in reality, animal circuses teach nothing. the behaviours they see are completely unnatural and give an entirely false impression of the lives and needs of animals. seeing animals abused on stage only teaches people that animals are here for human entertainment and that we can treat them in any way we please, regardless of their emotions and needs. this is not a lesson people want to teach their children.

and animals don’t belong in circuses. they belong in their natural habitats, free, in their own cycles of life, wild, ferocious, untamed, and left the fuck alone. they should not be in the circus industry, and any entertainment industry for that matter. having wild animals in captivity is horrific, vile, inhumane and just plain wrong. when animals are caged, it's a loss of what and who they are. it’s wrong to capture wild animals and confine them in captivity for people to go and gawk at them. and I can’t believe some people don’t understand this. 

however, animals that do enjoy the stimulation of circus are dogs. dogs love training and performance. they love to learn, with the right rewards. a lot of the time they consider it play time, and for them, getting attention from their people is always a good thing. it depends on the dog, and some dogs may not enjoy performing tricks they've learned. but most of the time, as they are so smart and energetic, dogs do enjoy performing. 

I love animals with all of my heart and I will advocate and fight for them forever. the circus I am in is also obviously very against it.

in short, no, I do not support and never will support animals in circuses, and that’s not even an option. animals deserve a far better life than the ones they've been subjected to.

[mugiwara-lucy]

So I recently came across THIS:

And it proves what I've been saying for over a week now. Could Kamala Harris be more progressive in her words about the Palestine Genocide? Yes BUT the Palestine people LITERALLY SAY they view her as being better for that sitaution than Trump.

So this notion of her and Trump being two sides of the same coins is a misunderstanding at best or a lie at worst.

So again; you have someone who has said she won't be silent about Gaza suffering OR you have someone who says Isreal should "get it over with". Take your pick. I'm going with the former.

[pb-dot]

It occurred to me that I've been posting a lot about Kendrick's halftime show without linking the whole thing, which is an unforced error on my part. The Not Like Us part gets a lot of attention, and rightfully so but wow the other stuff is cool too. The scene show is astounding, and the build-up to Not Like Us is powerful. Kendrick knew he had a cultural moment on his hands and he put the work in.

[jagar-tharns]

I didn't care for the Wickerman

[the-party-bus]

“Wait, there are people blaming the writers?”

Are you surprised? Fandoms have become notorious anti-writer spaces. Studios love you guys. They can cut the budgets, cut the number of writers, cut the wages of the writers, and you guys always blame the writers. “The writers ruined the show!” It’s never “the studios ruined the show.”

I hate to break it to you: more than half the shows you complain were “ruined by the writers”, were ruined by the studios. Studios cut the scenes and arcs you were excited for. Studios cut the budget of the show, or even raise the budget of the show and force a “bigger, louder, bolder” tone on shows that were unexpected hits (this is where we get “the Netflix look” on every show post-Stranger Things and Queen’s Gambit).

You guys do not do your research. Half your fanfics are tagged with bad faith digs at the writers, when a few searches would reveal how strapped that show was and how poorly the writers were treated. Writers are being given a 10 weeks to write 10 episodes. How are good arcs and scenes supposed to happen under that time limit, with a max of only four writers?

Tumblr, the self-proclaimed “pro-union, pro-worker, pro-artist” site is also a major fandom site. You guys rarely practice good faith consumer etiquette for television and film writers, because your fandom salt always turns you against writers. And studios love you for it.

Yeah, individual writers do create bad writing from time to time. But so do painters, chefs, and musicians. Directors and actors sometimes refuse to film certain scenes or follow a show’s projected style and arc, and the writers always get the crap for a bad performance or a poorly directed episode. This isn’t to blame actors or directors; it’s to point out that you guys have one villain, and it’s always the writers. You guys never give writers the same grace you give animators, designers, directors, actors, composers, and editors.

Studios love you every time you say “the writers ruined the show.” Every single popular fandom is guilty of this. View any of the “why did the writers cut this scene, they hate my characters” talk when leaked scenes hit the internet. Writers barely get paid for what they do write. You think they’re writing scenes and then happily throwing them in the shredder? You guys just eat the talk that studios put out. Always have.

[beakers-and-telescopes]

With the fast fashion industry… how it is… finding sustainable ways to make fabric is super important.  Fibers from synthetic fabrics make up 35% of the microplastics that make their way to the ocean.  Natural fibers sourced from plants or animals are much more environmentally sound options, including silk.

Currently, the only way to get natural silk on a large scale is to harvest it from silkworms.  You’ve probably heard about the strength and durability of spider silk (it is 6x stronger than Kevlar!) but as of yet there hasn’t been a good way of getting it.  Raising spiders the way people do silkworms isn’t really an option.  Spiders need a lot of room to build their webs compared to silkworms, and individual spiders don’t produce that much silk.  Plus, when you put a whole bunch of spiders in captivity together, they tend to start eating each other.

Attempts to artificially recreate spider silk have also been less than successful.  Spider silk has a surface layer of glycoproteins and lipids on it that works as a sort of anti-aging “skin”- allowing the silk to withstand conditions such as sunlight and humidity.  But this layer has been very tricky to reproduce.

However, as scientists in China realized, silkworms produce that same kind of layer on their silk.  So what if we just genetically modified silkworms to produce spider silk?

That is exactly what the researchers at Donghua University in Shanghai did.  A team of researchers introduced spider silk protein genes to silkworms using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and microinjections in silkworm eggs.  In addition to this, they altered the spider silk proteins so that they would interact properly with the other proteins in silkworm glands.  And it worked!  This is the first study ever to produce full length spider silk proteins from silkworms.

The applications of this are incredibly exciting.  In addition to producing comfortable textiles and new, innovative bulletproof vests, silkworm generated spider silk could be used in cutting edge smart materials or even just to create better performing sutures.  In the future, this team intends to research how to modify this new spider silk to be even stronger, and they are confident that “large-scale commercialization is on the horizon."

[littlemssam]

Patch Updates

As always delete old Mods Files and the localthumbcache, when updating my Mods!

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Make sure to download the updated XML Injector when you Patch your Game!

Patch 1.110.265 Updates (All other Mods should still be compatible!):

Advanced Birth Certificate Anti Heat Pill (Pets) Autonomous Gardening Autonomous go Jogging when Sims are Stressed & Children can Jog too Better Butler (and Hire more Butler) Better Nanny (Second Nanny & more) Calendar Tweaks Carryable Performance Stage plus Sing Songs! Collectibles (Rock Digging) Rework (Slower/Harder) Flea Market appears every Sunday Food Delivery Service Go for a Walk with Cats Healthy Drinks Hire certain Vet Employees Hire certain Sims (incl. Family Members) at Restaurants Housewarming Party (instead of Welcome Wagon) Improved Kids Night Light Improved Practical Spells Kids can go for a Walk with Dogs Let Friends Age Up More Away Actions More Buyable Venues and new Venue Types More Woodworks My Little Neighborhood Objects don't share Inventory Parenting Skill for Teens & more Personal Objects (Computer, Tablets & more) Power Napping on Sofas Pregnancy Overhaul - Pregnancy Belly Part Pregnancy Overhaul - Can do more Part Retail Overhaul - Hire certain Employees Part Retail Overhaul - Go Shopping – More Options Part Sell more self made Woodwork at the Flea Market Sleep In Small Archaeology Overhaul Small Invite to Hang Out Overhaul Teach me the Rumbasim

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Random Bug Fixes

Deliver Baby at Hospital Elevator Fix for Toddler & Pets Murphy Beds Fix Trait Buff Fixes Weather NPC Deaths

Probably obsolete, pls remove and test without it:

Stop Eating Spoiled Food Fix

EA patch fixed that in 1.110.265 "Sims will not eat spoiled food autonomously."

Other adopted Mods

Always keep a Doctor at Hospital Change Into Towel Everywhere Faster Gardening Homework Tweaks Immortality Potion Tweaks Keep Books after Publishing Kiss Neck for Adults More traumatic divorce for Children Play Cards Anywhere Subject Homework Tea for Children Violin & Guitar Bugfixes

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Support Questions via Discord only please!

[despazito]

I'm anti captive cetaceans but it is frustrating how well meaning people pressure aquariums stop doing live shows because a lot of those animals really do benefit from those performances as enrichment activities. They're already in tanks and now whatever novel experiences they got to have has been taken away just because it felt "wrong" on some dialectical level.

In general I think the angle of "exploitation" is not a very great approach to argue for better welfare, it's an extremely abstract and subjective measurement. We've come a long way from Barnum and Bailey style animal tamers. The reality is for a lot of intelligent animals in accredited zoos, getting to interact with their keepers and new humans is actually a highlight of their day and not some kind of torture they dread lol.

Idk people have it in their minds that a species probably not best suited for captivity must therefore be spending every waking moment of its life acutely suffering, but I don't think that's a fair assessment unless it's a neglected roadside zoom and it flattens nuance. A lot of the cases it's not so much "is this animal in a torment nexus" and more "can we simulate a good breadth of the species' natural environment and behaviours for them to really thrive" which I think is challenging for many giant, long lived, socially complex species with tight family bonds.

[reikiajakoiranruohoja]

One thing that eternally baffles me with people calling dog sports abusive, is how the offered alternative assumes that a dog is happiest when it is not doing anything.

Putting aside PETA and its anti-pet stance, most critique I have seen comes from people saying the dogs are forced to perform for humans and therefore its exploiting them.

But even a cursory understanding of dog breeds tells you this mentality is not only flawed but also ignorant of the needs of the animal.

For one, you cannot force a dog to do things most dog sports require. If a greyhound doesn't want to run, it won't. If a husky doesn't want to pull a sled, it won't. Have you ever seen a dog in a situation it doesn't like? Most of us have to drag our dogs to the vet and then try our best to mitigate the dog's displeasure towards the vet.

A dog who wants to do something like running or fetching will do it regardless of your opinion. That is why most of dog training is directing this want so the dog isn't destroying things or hurting people.

The breed or breed mix also affects things. If you get a chihuahua, the experience with that dog is completely different from a border collie or a husky. Heck, even closely related breeds like German shepherds and Belgian malinois are vastly different in their temperament and mentality. There is this call for ignorance and naivete in posts decrying dog sports, where breed doesn't exist and any kind of activity outside the home is harmful to the dog. Admitting that dogs have been bred for jobs is to admit that human contact is not always negative for animals and that is a bridge too far for many of these people. It also means that jobs such as ratting, hunting, protection and such are blissfully ignored or assumed to be forced by humans. This means that when a pampered terrier does maul the family guinea pig, the owner gets blamed for abusing the animals. Posts that tell you dog sports are evil are not made with the dogs in mind, they are made solely for an ideology that benefits humans who do not have to live with the animal in question and so can sit on their constructed high horse.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Templates: Character Sketch & Character Bible

Character sketches - the characters’ biography or CV.

Thanks to these sketches, your characters will have no secrets.

You’ll be clear about their appearance, behavior, past, and above all, about the way they must react under different circumstances.

They can take many forms, but they are usually divided into 2 groups according to their purpose:

Short Sketches: These contain the most basic information about the character. They are perfect for describing minor characters and can also be used as writing prompts. You can store them in a folder and resort to them when you are in need of inspiration. Georges Simenon used to choose two characters (a man and a woman, for example) and ask himself what would take them to the limit. The answer to that question was the beginning of a story.

Character Bible: This document contains a lot of information about each of the protagonists and their relationships with other characters. It’s used during the prewriting stage.

WRITING TEMPLATE: Character Sketch

Short character sketches can be used as writing prompts or as a prewriting strategy. Don’t be too exhaustive; it’s enough to just jot down a few general notes on your characters in order to know at a glance what is unique about each of them.

1. Sketch Number

Organize your sketches by number and add their creation date.

Make note of what story they belong (or could belong) to.

2. Character’s Name or Nickname

3. Type of Character

Role they play in the story (protagonist, antagonist, mentor...). 

When a character isn’t part of any story yet, it is not that easy to assign him (or her) to a role.

To solve this problem, ask yourself these questions:

Does (s)he meet the requirements to be classified as a protagonist (or antagonist)?

Should (s)he play a minor role?

Is (s)he a hero or an anti-hero?

There are many possible combinations.

4. General Information

Gender, age, date and place of birth, place of residence, etc.

5. Appearance

In this section, it’s not necessary to go into too much detail.

You just have to consider the features that make a character different from the everyone else (a scar, a limp, unique physique...).

Characters’ height, eye color, and hair color.

6. Personality

Try to focus on what makes each of your characters special.

Is he or she a home-loving introvert or a rather independent and sociable adventurer?

Choose adjectives that best define your characters’ personality.

Take into account their main virtues and shortcomings as well as their hobbies, fears, dreams, and goals (which can be important to define their motivations in the story).

7. Profession/Studies

What do your characters do for a living?

Explain the characters’ frustrated vocations.

The things they have given up can also define them.

Unless your characters are animals/fantastic creatures.

8. Family, Friends, and Acquaintances

Specify the kind of relationship your characters have with their family, friends, and acquaintances.

Who are the most important people in their lives?

9. Personal Motto

A personal motto, slogan, or catchphrase is a sentence or concept that sums up a character’s philosophy and values.

It’s not compulsory to invent it.

You can always use sayings such as “you live and learn” or “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” etc.

You can also use quotes by famous philosophers.

10. Notes

Leave a blank space for other relevant information such as my characters’ biography, a funny anecdote, etc.

Anything that helps you visualize them in more detail will come in handy when you start writing your story.

WRITING TEMPLATE: Character Bible

This must be as detailed as possible. In this way, you’ll be clear about your characters’ appearance, peculiarities, virtues, shortcomings, customs, relationships, etc. Think about actors and actresses who must be very familiar with the characters they play in order to make a good performance. A writer who gathers information about a character faces a similar job.

Feel free to create the type of character sketch that best suits you. If you don’t know where to start, you can use the character sketch outline that I use for my stories. This document covers the most important points of a sketch.

1. General Features

Organize your sketches by number and add their creation date.

Make note of what story they belong to.

Character’s name or nickname (with origin and meaning).

Character’s role in the story (protagonist, antagonist, mentor...); specify in which part of the plot (s)he participates.

Gender, age, marital status, studies, occupation, residence.

2. Appearance

Write about the character’s appearance:

Physical features, clothes, gestures, manners, etc.

Pay attention to the features that make a character different from everyone else (a scar on the face, wears glasses, etc.).

3. Personality

Information about their character traits.

Adjectives that best define your character and the way (s)he sees himself/herself; the way others describe him or her.

Hobbies, fears, phobias, fixations, dreams, and goals.

4. Family and Friends

Information about the parents of each characters (names, jobs, ages, and type of relationship with their son or daughter).

Hobbies or events that marked them deeply.

If your main character has siblings, a partner, children, or other intimate acquaintances (name, age, and relationship with the main character, etc.)

5. Biography

6. Relationships and Other Notes

Include the rest of the characters and state how they met your main character, the type of relationship (s)he has with them, and how it affects their life and their actions.

Leave blank space for random notes and observations.

Source ⚜ More: Writing Worksheets & Templates 600+ Personality Traits ⚜ 100 Sensory Words ⚜ Goals & Motivations

[todropscience]

THIS TRUMPETFISH IS USING ANOTHER FISH TO HIDE ITSELF WHEN HUNTING

And is working

Many animals use camouflage to avoid detection by others, yet even the most inconspicuous objects become detectable against the background when moving. One way to reduce detection while moving would be to ‘hide’ behind the movements of objects or other animals. Now, researchers have demonstrate experimentally, following field observations, that a trumpetfish (Aulostomus maculatus), a common marine predator, can conceal its approach from its prey by performing a behaviour known as ‘shadowing’, hiding behind, swimming closely next to another, larger and non-predatory fish.

Bicolor damselfish (Stegastes partitus), form highly localised colonies within structures on the reef substrate and exhibit characteristic anti-predatory responses, and are common meal for trumpetfish. Marine researchers working in the coral reefs off Curaçao, set up an underwater system to pull 3D-printed models of trumpetfish and the stoplight parrotfish (Sparisoma viride) being hand-reeled along a clear nylon line from one tripod to another, passing over the colony in the process, which was positioned halfway between the two. When these two 3D printed fishes were together, damselfish were quiet and show low antipredator responses.

-After field observation, marine researchers modeled the ‘shadowing’ behavior.

This is the only known example of a non-human animal using another as a form of concealment. According to researchers, this evidence reveal how predators can actively use another animal as a form of concealment to reduce detection by prey.

Reference (Open Access): Matchette et al., 2023. Predatory trumpetfish conceal themselves from their prey by swimming alongside other fish. Current Biology

VIDEO here

[that-hazbin]

Media Demon AU

Imagine Charlie gets that tour in heaven and.. Isn't really all that impressed.

Somehow she convinces Emily to take a tour of hell, Sera and Adam agree because they want to see/spy on why their exterminations aren't as effective as before. So as Charlie and Emily have a week of exploring and partying in hell, the Heavenly Council is scrying their activities the whole time.

It isn't what they expected, between Angel Dust explaining the Safety & Consent Contracts, Alastor dragging the duo out on a multicultural day of musical hyperfixation, Vox explaining his failed attempts to make it big in entertainment, Velvette animatedly talking up the individual sectors separate cultural fashions and foods. Alastor definitely heard about Charlie's first adventure in heaven in the previous timeline and he can't resist a little oneupsmanship so Hell definitely has a petting zoo dedicated to tamed Hellscape animals. They meet Sir Pentious The Architect overseeing the reconstruction of a few devastated areas that 'that one uncouth uncultured golden pigeon Exorcist who wouldn't know good architecture from a mud hut keeps levelling' and who is undecided between rebuilding using a Russian Theme or South African theme because he's done too much Roman architecture lately and if he has to carve one more marble pillar he is going to cry.

Maybe they run into one of the other Overlord's like Camilla who offers a tour to the visiting ambassador of her own district's musical instrument repair and medical facilities dedicated to removing angelic steel contamination from demons, amongst them, child sinners still in recovery from angelic steel wounds caused on extermination day.

There is uproar in Heaven upon seeing actual children in Hell, even more so when they look up their files and learn they're in hell on a technicality.

And then they learn that Charlie Morningstar's redemption project isn't facing problems about recruiting sinners because they don't believe redemption is possible, but because the Exorcists actions have soured any belief that Heaven is any better than Hell.

Really, if the Exorcists stayed out of Hell and never returned, Hell would happily just go about it's business as if Heaven didn't exist at all.

Alastor probably isn't the only demon with Pocket Dimensions like his Bayou in terms of providing space for overpopulation issues.

While I don't think Heaven would do a tour of Hell specifically because they can just spy on them whenever they want without having to go in person, I absolutely LOVE the idea of Alastor purposely showing off how great Hell is. Alastor worked so damn hard to make Hell beautiful and worth loving, that Charlie probably WOULDN'T be as impressed with Heaven as she was in the previous timeline.

In fact, she might find Heaven a bit... ugly, actually. Heaven's all whites and pastels, everything looking entirely modern, clean to a clinical degree, kind of quiet, and it's just not very appealing to her. In fact, it's both blinding and sort of boring. Meanwhile, Charlie's used to a Hell full of jewel colors, fairy lights, street performers, murals on the side of buildings, and a whole TON of cultural diversity at every corner. Sure, Heaven has petting zoos and rainbow sprinkles, but uh... So does Hell. Does Heaven have paintball parks? Escape rooms? Laser tag? What about rage rooms, those are super popular in Hell, and they're pretty fun! Sometimes you just gotta break things to let off stress. How do people burn stress up here?

Heaven kind of leans towards anti-chaos, while the Hell that Alastor built embraces the chaos. I imagine the Heavenly Counsel or whatever they're called would be taken aback by this new version of Hell, as well as the sinner behind the change. Sinners are not just modeling the same behavior most have on Earth, they're living exponentially better lives than before.

Hell is meant to be a place of suffering, and yet it's basically become a place of rehabilitation itself, and the evidence of its effectiveness is everywhere. The fact that sinners are willingly selling their souls, expecting safety and human respect, and then getting that safety and human respect, is absolutely insane. People are actually kind to one another, work exploitation is basically non-existent in the entertainment industry, everything is bathed in artistry, from the streets, the buildings, and even the people themselves.

I think Charlie presenting her case in this timeline is going to go very differently from the previous one, because for one, she's not going to struggle with her talking points at all. Alastor had an impact on her upbringing and she knows exactly how to present her case in a way that forces her audience to listen, whether they'd like it or not.

For another, the sinner she'll choose to represent the possibility of redemption probably isn't going to be Angel Dust. It's going to be Alastor, despite the fact that he doesn't want to be in Heaven. Because in her eyes, he is by far the prime example of a redeemed sinner.

And Alastor, knowing from the previous timeline that the Heavenly Council is going to be spying on hell during Charlie's trip, is going to put on a Performance. He brings Angel along with him to the hospital, having a casual and Totally Not Planned conversation about how they can improve the soul contracts to make everybody feel safer. They pass through beautiful city streets, a park, a petting zoo, briefly stop by to talk with Pentious about his new project, the whole works. Take the scenic route to the hospital, making sure to show off just how beautiful the Pride Ring has become.

He visits the children's ward, because he's going to make this Hurt, and he and Angel distribute donated toys, blankets, and books. Makes sure to mention how "the angels killed this one's parents" to Angel, just to make DAMN SURE the exterminations are revealed. He knows he's changed things so he has to take extra measures just to be sure.

Sera is left floundering as the room devolves into Chaos, and Charlie, upon realizing the exterminations weren't public knowledge, smells blood in the water so she sinks her teeth in like a shark. Yeah, why do you think she's here? You've been killing children, and as you can SEE, Hell's doing FANTASTIC without Heaven's interference so she wouldn't even BE HERE if it weren't for the YEARLY GENOCIDE. You know, the crime that sends mortal souls down to Hell to begin with? And now you're trying to tell her redemption isn't possible BECAUSE you want to continue committing yearly genocide, is that what she's hearing?

Charlie's still a bleeding heart, but she's much more inclined to manipulation in this timeline because Alastor made sure to teach her that manipulation in itself isn't mean or evil, especially when you wield it as a weapon or shield to protect others. And she's going to manipulate the rising emotions of this room to her advantage and make them SEE her point. She's going to win this trial by a landslide.

[mobblespsycho100]

Ivan, The Idea vs. Ivan, The Man

a totally serious Ivan Alien Stage analysis by yours truly, Sash @mobblespsycho100

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( Quick Disclaimer that I'm mostly going to use the word "love" here in a romantic context, but trust me, I am doing an inherently aromantic/anti amatonormativity analysis/interpretation of Alien Stage by virtue of being an aro doing the essayin. )

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The whole premise of this analysis is that in my opinion, Ivan, homotron 3000, king yaoi the 3rd, canonically does not recognize his feelings for Till as "love". And no, it's not just because the aliens don't have a concept for it or the way they were raised in Anakt Garden / by their pet owning humans (even though that's partly one of the reasons)– because we see Sua and Mizi sort of recognize that their feelings for one another are something akin to our modern definition of love – even if they don't have the words for it and even if it goes beyond that ('my god my universe')

So, why do I think this? a couple reasons! the main one being the Ivan centric comic we got after round 6, but let's start with the thesis of this analysis:

Ivan thinks his feelings are selfish, and does not consider the alternative that it might not be.

[ exhibit a: "thank you for being the victim of my shallow emotions"

but i wont get into that yet (says guy who is holding back to not talk abt it right away) ]

We're going to the very beginning to psychoanalyze king yaoi the 3rd, a little prelude if you will: ALIEN STAGE (Sweet Dream) & Black Sorrow brief discussion !

Alien stage (the video not . not the name of the series) is basically our introduction to the series and it is a banger. What's really interesting to me is that in the Ivan centric scenes it shows adult Ivan singing in alnst and smiling & staring at till with those homo eyes. The only time he's shown as a kid is in the Anakt garden singing practice group shot.

We can infer that he is a guy who I think cares abt his image or appearance, he looks like a very stereotypical image of an idol. However, his smile never really reaches his eyes. even when hes looking at Till, neither of them are smiling. Ivan only smiles on the stage, as he is performing. The careful and deliberate way he showcases himself is easy to see. He's charming, hes the thumbnail of the prologue! What's interesting to me is that there's really nothing that striking about his character design aside from the fact that his bangs are half covering his other eye (and what I mentioned abt the smile not quite reaching his eyes). There is a distance between him and the audience, the stage persona, not Ivan the man but Ivan the celebrity. Just another handsome face in the game.

Now, that initial character analysis isn't actually going to be all that relevant in this essay unfortunately (though I could definitely go into that! Maybe in an analysis comparing Ivan and Luka), but I really do like how the lyric that shows up on the [Ivantill] frame is "Live in Darkness" because it goes to my next point, Black Sorrow Ivan whos singing about himself and Till (him as the pov character and "you" as till, but I'm stating the obvious here). I'm not going over every lyric because this analysis would be way longer but basically, Black Sorrow is about the grief of never being able to reach someone who you want to be by your side forever so badly. Ivan understands that the ending of this contest is not a kind one, there is no field of flowers waiting for them after they win, only bloodshed.

"To me , you are black sorrow" says by the guy who wears all black and has eyes filled with sorrow. Alright all jokes aside though, I do enjoy the most widespread interpretation of the animation itself, that Ivan compares Till's nature to stars or a meteor shower in particular because of how that image is ingrained in his mind since childhood. I also think that Ivan associates Till with more of a candle always burning up, a star that has fallen to the dirt. A meteorite if you will, rock that made an impact and left a crater in Ivan's heart. He was always fascinated by the light in the dark sky. It represented beauty and hope to him, that maybe theres more to life than getting hurt. That there's light in the ever growing darkness as cliché as that sounds.

Till makes Ivan curious, more than anything. He enjoys aggravating him, making fun of him. Mizi is Ivan's friend , because (and I'm just guessing here mostly. i love their silly friendship shown in comics, its very important to me. ) she's fun to talk to and shes silly in a way that just makes people gravitate towards her, but Till is Ivan's friend because it is funny to piss him off. Till is interesting to Ivan because hes entertaining. Someone so talented and beloved yet easy to target. Someone who stands up for himself. Someone who is so so alive, burning up like a short quick fuse. Someone who can't and would not be kept down despite the collar on his neck. It intrigues Ivan, this guy who sings with enthusiasm and passion, not just going through the motions. Like some comet striking in the darkness. A true artist.

But in his eyes, this isn't Love. Its fascination at best, interest sure, admiration ? perhaps. What Ivan wants isn't Till's happiness, what he wants is to see him react in a funny way. Everything Ivan does is not for Till's sake, it's for his sake. His amusement. Till makes him feel alive, and hes grateful for that, he's grateful to have a companion like Till. (OR SO HE THINKS). In the end though, although he is affectionate, I don't think it registers in Ivan's mind that whatever he feels for Till is love. This is simply their dynamic of push and pull, tug and shove, tease and cry. It's something, and also nothing at all.

But then he tried to save him. He thought he could be the one to save him. And it fails– badly.

(right this is a small tangent but how exactly did he know how to open the collar mechanism? this guy's really fucking smart. did he use a pick? how did he just unclip it so easily??? is he crazy? did he observe the anakt supervisor do that? what the hell Ivan Alien Stage. maybe I'm missing an explanation here . if anyone knows please share .)

Right okay so the whole running away together , escaping the garden hand in hand, this must be when Ivan realizes he truly loves Till, enough to potentially sacrifice his life for him right? WRONG. We all know how this ended. Black sorrow, out of reach, so close and yet so far. Till going back to Anakt Garden, gazing at Ivan, looking back. Conflicted. Till was always a beacon of light. Till was always rebelling against the Anakt. He's the problem child, surely he'll go along with it? Surely he'll run away with Ivan. He's freed him! He's out of his cage now! He can do anything he wants, and they can go anywhere together!

Till went back. He couldn't bear to not see his friends again. He felt wrong for leaving everyone behind. He doesn't want to leave anakt garden, and maybe Mizi is the defining factor, but I think even if it wasn't Mizi who was left there I think he would've gone back. He looks back like Orpheus and Eurydice. He looks at Ivan and his eyes are almost an apology, he runs back. Fire burns around them. Ivan smiles.

And he goes back too.

OKAY now im just writing a whole ass fanfic. back to the damn analysis section.

Ivan's thoughts toward Mizi and Sua are so damn interesting to me, especially how he feels abt Sua. He recognizes what those two have going on as Love. He's kind of jealous of them really, he won't ever understand the feelings he harbors fully. He sees them laughing with each other, truly embracing each other's company joyfully, looking at one another like they're looking at the whole world. Part of why he doesn't think what hes got going on with Till is "love" is because its not the same, Till won't ever look at him like how he looks at Mizi or how Ivan himself looks at Till (in his eyes but lets be real I think Till pining for Mizi woulda been obvious for Ivan so he cant imagine Till enjoying his company the same way as Ivan does Till even if theyre friends but tbf I DON'T THINK IVAN WANTED SOMEONE TO MATCH HIS FREAK i think he wanted to be the only freaky one. but i digress). Right — so this is what establishes Ivan feeling like his feelings for Till are "shallow" and also what makes him laugh at Sua and call her twisted and selfish and "you'll be nothing more than a trauma to Mizi" (wtf btw) when Sua told him (presumably. honestly idk . how did he fuckin know) abt The Plan to sacrifice herself in round 1. Because to Ivan that is selfish, that is imbalanced, something that isn't right because to him Sua is only thinking of her own feelings. He laughed at her, taunted her. He felt vindicated. So yeah, you truly are twisted like I am, I thought we weren't the same, but deep down there is something deeply wrong with you too! (okay . stop that)

To Ivan thats kind of like how he feels about Till, he's not thinking about Till's feelings when he acts. He just Says shit and Does stuff and likes to bother Till because of the love of the game??? (Honestly? I can't tell. His mind is too oopy goopy for my comprehension)

And he ultimately regrets the words he said to Sua right? He said he was relieved that Sua is "also twisted" but all he did was project his own feeling of being a selfish and twisted person to Sua, who had no clue what the hell he was on about. Sua believed that she was going to save Mizi from pain, because death is pain, because she's seen that before and she would not let Mizi die in front of her. And Ivan says "hey but thats stupid , in dying yourself you're going to make her feel pain because she actually *loves* you and would not want you to die.". Which brings me to the whole point of the analysis though, because this isn't a "did Ivan love Till forreal" analysis it is a "Did Ivan realize he was experiencing love or was he fucking stupid" analysis.

and the answer is that its kind of a mix of both, but mostly hes fucking stupid (saying this with love in my heart).

Because until the end he thought he was selfish. Until the end he thought it was shallow emotion (and maybe he was being sardonic towards himself, but lets be real he understands that he was punishing himself for his feelings. He knew he felt strongly, but he didn't think what he felt for Till was love because it did not make Till happy. "I could never love him, I let him go" "I don't love him, I'd rather leave him then see him gone because he would not miss me, Im sure of it.")

Sooo what was the point of all this again? The point is that. Ivan is stupid. im joking okay the point is that maybe round 6 wasn't about the doomed tragic yaoi kiss. Maybe it was abt doomed yaoi but not about Ivan dying knowing that he loved Till. Maybe it wasn't about Ivan getting shot 3 times and dying in such a way it changed the trajectory of my life forever. Maybe it was about Till deserving better than Ivan (which is probably Ivan's thought process but lets be real did he even think abt how this would affect Till. He literally went "nah it won't" but no its not the point once again).

Round 6 was Ivan beginning to realize that maybe he's never going to get what he wants, and thats okay, because there is something selfless about dying for someone. Even if his emotions are "shallow", even if his motive was selfish, even if he looked hot during it (sorry. sorry) (he didn't i just wanted to tack on a joke), maybe in the end this was a little bit of "love" like what it looks like in Mizi and Sua. Maybe even better, because Till does not love him. Till would not feel pain if Ivan died, because he does not feel the same way (OR SO HE THOUGHT). He's only sorry to Till because this will be his last memory of Ivan now, a farewell kiss, and his cold clammy hands closing around his neck.

(Speaking of the kiss, I wonder if it's something he learned from books? or his segyein? because apparently a kiss is not a well known or even established sign of affection in alien society right (idk I'm not in the vivinos patreon i just saw this from somewhere)? and the only other person who knows the significance of a kiss as a gesture of love is Luka.)

Now back to love.

Till never realized it until it's too late. Ivan has not realized it even in the grave. Because dying for someone is a twisted thing, especially when it's someone like him who is already a twisted person doing it for Till, who is his light.

Was it a good show, Ivan? Did he look at you at the very end Ivan? did you see his expression when you fell to the cold stage, Ivan? Was it tears or was it rain that fell down as you lost your balance? Did your vision go dark before you saw that light Ivan? Did it even matter at the very end? Are you glad you made sure of your demise? Did it guarantee Till's safety?

Maybe it did. Even at the very end. You got the reaction you loved so much right? Another one to add in the ever expanding gallery, even if it was in these horrible circumstances.

Anyway, in conclusion? Ivan did not realize that his feelings for Till was love because he thought love had to be some kind of perfect thing between two people and since he was a selfish person then it could only be "shallow emotions" and Till the recipient of his "shallow emotion" could only be a victim. It never crossed his mind to even think otherwise and think about how Till might feel about all this because it's already set in his mind that he's selfish, cruel, and vain and Till deserves better. Gah.

Rest in peace king yaoi the third fly high this has been my ted talk/hot take/analysis that may not be a hot take I just don't actually engage with the fandom takes all that much . Peacing out now this guy is so fucking weird (peace and love) (Ivan stans don't go after me I am aware of his autism swag. I too am also--) 🕊️

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Special thanks to you, the reader, if you managed to read all this :3 another special thanks to my friend group, crossover ✌️ especially E my good friend E. Alrighty idk how to end this

bye 👽🎙️

[savage-sinister]

Fandom History | Media Literacy | Anti Censorship Whump | Self Ship | Villains, Monsters & Criminals Polyshipping | Shipcest | Age Gap | Enemies to Lovers Fandom Old | Fictive System | Fictionkin

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Bad person alert! This account is run by bad people! If you don't like bad people don't follow this account!

AO3 Account: thesavagesabretooth fic & art only tumblr: @sinisterartsandfic

System Tag and Kintype Directory.

Our drawings are for our own entertainment only. We do not take commissions or trades. You are free to repost our drawings or use them in any non-commercial way (avatars, phone backgrounds, etc).

👉 he/they | queer | married | adult | elder millennial

👉 plural | fictionkin (serious/spiritual) 

👉 Muti shipper | Poly shipper

No DNI we block at will 🫡

Please do not send us asks about babies, pregnancy, or raising children.

Source fandoms: Resident Evil, Final Fantasy 7, One Piece, Metal Gear, Marvel Comics, Persona games, Slayers anime, GTA V, Great/Ace Attorney, Homestuck, Danganronpa, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Urusei Yatsura, Digimon, Girls Frontline, Steven Universe, Pathologic, Jem & The Holograms, Peter Pan, Welcome to Demon School, Disgaea, Sherlock Holmes media

non-source fandoms: Invader Zim, Kill La Kill, ABC’s Lost, Twin Peaks, Silent Hill, Marble Hornets, Creepypastas, Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Vampire Chronicles (books), Doctor Who Labyrinth, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Final Fantasy (4-6, 8,9), Pokemon, Black Lagoon, Miami Vice, Bioshock, Bioshock Infinite, Prey 2017, Dishonored, Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption, Frankenstein, the Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Gargoyles, Fallout New Vegas, Elden Ring/Soulsborne series

Favorite genres: horror, mystery, thriller, noir, crime fiction, psychological thriller, supernatural horror, sci fi horror, gothic lit

Shipping, plurality and squick explanations:

Our ships: We are a polyshipper and a multishipper. We ship multiple characters together in the same context, in the same relationship, in the same fics etc.

A "ship" for us does not equal in OTP or an ideal relationship. We use the word "ship" to denote any romantic or sexual relationship between two characters, even when that relationship is unhealthy, toxic, twisted, and bad for one or both participants. Ships are a narrative tool, not something aspirational. 

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Plurality: We are a plural system– many people living together in one body. We have been plural since we were children, and we have been blogging about our plurality for 15+ years.

Please do  not use psychiatric or pathologizing terminology for our plurality. We do not refer to ourselves with terms like DID, alter, or introject, and our system members do not have defined roles.

Our preferred terminology is: plural, system member, and fictive.

System members tend to sign or tag posts and refer to one another with a two emoji 'signature' rather than a name. Unsigned posts are understood to be a product of multiple members or a joint consensus. 

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squicks / tropes we prefer to avoid

non-con of any kind (but especially underage non-con and non-con incest) 

pregnancy & babies (especially as the joyful and expected result of a romantic hetero-presenting relationship)

nonbinary or trans characters deciding it's better for them to perform their assigned gender at birth

Characters submitting to the will of a lawful aligned god.

Parental control and discipline being shown as narratively positive and correct 

characters giving up their careers and aspirations and 'settling down' when they fall in love

prophecies that are unavoidable and/or narratively depicted as inherently good and just

characters following the life-path set out for them by their parents/following in their parents footsteps

filial duty and filial piety in general

pretty much anything to do with traditional family structures, gender roles, and lawful aligned religion, honestly

wing whump / characters having their monstrous or inhuman traits harmed

monstrous or inhuman characters becoming human (especially when presented as positive)

soul destruction / soul death

characters being metaphysically kept apart for all time

any kind of 'conversion therapy' or metaphorical conversion therapy (especially being portrayed as positive)

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We are: 

non-christian | magical practitioner | chaotic neutral

polyamorous  | largely aplatonic

trauma survivor | abuse survivor

Weird | Freakish | Monstrous

[tagamantra]

karma engines for sundang langit ttrpg, the most important invention in hingsajagra's world-system, the beginning of the industrial revolution feat. public domain prayer wheel from the PSF archives, since karma engines have prayer wheel furnaces

Text below the cut

The Karma Engine resembles a giant spirit house but with the offering platform replaced with a giant prayer wheel etched with the appropriate offeratory mantras written in Twilight Karitan, a writing system that has no spoken language. Within the prayer wheel is a furnace. There, little gods, weaponsouls, ghosts, sacrificial people, and mantra-mandalas are burned upon samadhi fires. Karma Engines are therefore a joint machinist-monk invention (and indeed, the patenter of the technology is widely agreed to have been Vajra Monk Rakan Jesung, who grew up in a working-class machinist family).

In so doing, their karma is converted into usable energy, often electrical energy or mechanical energy. The study of karma is known as Karmalogy in the world.

The ethics of such an invention was hotly disputed when it was crafted. Vajra Monk Rakan Jesung was always seen as a pariah and an apostate, and as someone who perverted the teachings of the Buddha Gnostics.

But it was wildly useful. In a world mostly influenced by talismanic technology--written script imbued with Sapi of a magick-wielder to perform various movements, such as pulling, pulling, moving side to side, and converting--the Karma Engine allowed amazing amounts of energy to be crafted for relatively smaller cost.

More importantly, all it needed was proper maintenance by Monk-Machinists, instead of requiring paid wizards and mystics to create talismans that could fail or short out if the wizard was not good enough. This heralded the industrial age, there was no need for a steam engine with the invention of a nigh infinite source of power through karma.

In Karmalogy, karma is seen as the potential energy of existence and being itself, and many Karmologists posit that the entire current world of Hingsajagra exists because of the Karma of the past world.

When sentient beings are sacrificed to the Karma Engine, this is seen as a painful but purificatory ritual, and is deemed ethical by many world faiths as the being that dies from the Karma Engine's samadhi fires is almost always reborn as a human due to the neutralizing of their karma. Many who have surplus good karma do not go through this, and so the majority of criminals and harmful animals are given to the Karma Engine.

Infrakarmalogists, however, put forth that there are abundant amounts of ambient karma that arises from the world itself, surplus karma that emanates from the deeds of the past world, and this can be used to power karma engines without voluntary suicide.

Magnetitologists have been creating Magnetite Engines, which seek to replace Karma Engines. Magnetite is widely believed to be the infrasubstance, the aggregates of atoms. A level above the smallest quantum, where the material dissolves from perception.

Magnetite arises from places of intense emotion and thoughts, and so it can be mined from worship, war, joy, and other such sites of powerful explosive emotion. Currently magnetite is being used in socialist Hokou and in Selorong. The bourgeoisie that own Karma Engines (many of them non-religious themselves) have become ardent anti-magnetitians, and have begun slander campaigns against them.

Karma Engines have been made quickly efficient. Demons and Ghosts are commonly used as fuel--demons are beings of pure karma that are not destined to be reborn, and ghosts are beings that need light karma to have a better reincarnation.

The Exorcist Industry, though extremely dangerous and highly professional like mercenarism, has become extremely lucrative because of this fact, wherein spirit-binding and spirit-capturing have become in high demand.

Other popular forms of energy are weapon spirits, armor spirits, heirloom spirits, treasure spirits, and the like who wish to tangibly support a family or a bloodline by providing free power for them until their Karma burns off. This tends to last for centuries, as gods and spirits have copious amounts of positive karma owing to them being of the two Higher Paths. Gods are used sometimes to power entire cities.

Commonly now are used Mini Karma Engines. These are small generators that can be used to power a house, as long as proper rituals are performed to maintain them and proper karma items are fed to it. Those that do have Karma Engines out in the countryside and probinsyas tend to also have some form of knowledge in Karmamakinas, or have a Monk Machinist living amongst their midst. In the present year of 11,664, monasteries almost always have a group of Monk Machinists at the ready to be able to provide free support for a village, town, or city’s Karma Engine.

[cantareincminor]

Day 30: Why I Love Spy x Family

It's a story with heart. It has several deep messages that resonate with me. Aside from the obvious anti-war, anti-greed message, there's Twilight's personal philosophy that it's worth striving to understand other people, even though we can never truly know what they're thinking. Meaningful relationships are ultimately built on trust, which is inherently risky. There's also the message that children are the world's greatest treasures. I believe this, though it's a constant struggle to live it out. It’s easy to see them as an afterthought or obstacle to one's career, personal ambitions, etc. As a parent myself, I often doubt whether all the sacrifice is worth it. But in the long run, I know it is.

The main characters are interesting and three-dimensional. Their backstories are tragic, but not overplayed for drama. They're not just scraping by and surviving, but living with purpose and strength, enough to care for and inspire people around them.

The mix of drama, action, suspense, and humor is just right. Oftentimes anime humor is annoying and over-the-top in my eyes, but not Spy x Family. It adds life and color to the characters and keeps things lighthearted when the story could easily become very dark and morose.

Endo is clearly an expert at his craft, from character design to story beats to the way he lays out different scenes and characters' inner dilemmas and emotional reactions to maximal effect on the page. It's just so cool studying how he fills the blank canvas so effectively. Several noteworthy examples include the way he kept up the mystery of who was who in the mole arc (i.e. only after the fact do you realize that the first appearance of Winston Wheeler in Shellbury was in fact Twilight looking down at the street after putting on his disguise); the Desmond family dinner chapter; the ending of the Martherson saga with Martha's heartbreak and her ballet performance; the famous Twiyor page spread when they're sitting on the grass in the Belle chapter.

I appreciate that Endo has done a lot of research into Cold War era Europe, espionage tradecraft and tools, fashions, etc. Although it is a bit weird to me that he would simply remove Christmas as a holiday from a continent where Christianity has had such a strong cultural influence. Are there no churches in Berlint either? But, I suppose this isn't unique to Spy x Family; generally Christianity is not accurately portrayed in anime, so I'd prefer for it not to be there at all than to see a poor caricature of it.

It has been a delight to fill out these 30 days of questions. Thank you @gijipaw!