#but a lot of people have to decide between themselves or the greater good

[peregrinethegryphon]

New Mystery Dungeon game pitch: instead of saving the world from complete destruction, you're tasked with saving the world from a minor calamity, one that would still kill a lot of Pokemon, but the world would ultimately recover after the fact. In fact, if you and your community just lay low and hunker down you can avoid dying in this disaster, live through the apocalypse while others perish. But you won't, because you can stop this disaster from happening all together, and keep any Pokemon from dying.

When the stakes are as high as the entire world being destroyed, the ONLY option is to try and stop it. The villains so often try to convince you that it's better to give up because fighting back is useless, and you'll just die trying. But letting the disaster happen is also certain death, at least trying to stop it has a chance. Not much a difficult decision. BUT if you have more to lose by stopping the disaster than you would just letting it happen, with the only consequence being that a lot of Pokemon that aren't you dying, now other characters in the story have more of a reason to try and persuade you to just leave it be. "The disaster's not going to affect us, why bother trying to stop something inevitable?" This will give the player an actual moral conundrum. Save yourself at the expense of others or risk your life to save people you don't even know.

[kestrel-of-herran]

severance season three hints from interviews

take these with a grain of salt as the season is still being written, but i think we can sense some patterns here...

helly interacting with gemma

The moment that was important to me that stayed in the edit, which I’m proud of, is Helly seeing Gemma. Mark pulls her, she lingers, and she’s really connecting with Gemma for the first time. That moment is really essential for what comes next. [...] The whole scene is a reckoning for all of them. Helly is reckoning with this other person who loves the same person she loves, but on the outside. (Britt)

innie rights

All of the Innies are waking up to their own humanity and free will. Dylan is on that journey and even the marching band, another department, is now. Helly’s just like, “Maybe we have more people on our side than we think, and maybe there’s a chance for us down here to figure out something.” (Britt)

mark's development

Outie Mark makes a clear case for what he wants, which is to see his wife again, and Innie Mark makes a strong case for what he wants. That conflict will create a lot of story and tension moving forward, because both of these characters have a very compelling case to make for themselves. [...] Outie Mark’s motivation is very pure — he wants to be with Gemma — but he’s missing the fact that he’s created this other part of himself that he doesn’t want to accept. I don’t think Outie Mark understands that this is part of him, this is who he is. He wants to deny that. It’s obviously a weird, complicated situation that is theoretical, but I do feel like both of these parts of him represent parts that we have in ourselves. (Ben)

Mark’s choice to reintegrate represents a willingness to destroy himself, because he is so desperate to get his wife back. First of all, there’s the question of whether reintegration is survivable, because, so far, the survival rate of it is zero on the show. And then secondly, there’s this question of to what degree you will still be yourself by the time it’s done. [...] Is this something that will fade once they have stopped doing the procedure, or will he continue to see these flashes from his other life? That’s a question that we have going forward.(Dan)

With Mark, we leave him in this place now, where he’s having these flashes between his innie and outie life, he’s not fully reintegrated, but he’s getting these glimpses, and that makes him different from any other severed person on the show. We ultimately want to just live in that world for a while, and that was something we decided not to resolve this season. (Dan)

[The finale] shows innie Mark, having gone through the growth to see himself as an individual worthy of life and worthy of protection, he no longer feels that he is an appendage of his outie or an offshoot of his outie. He, through his love of Helly and his time on the floor, sees himself as a person. But it’s going to drive a hell of a wedge between him and outie Mark, I’ll tell you that much, because while innie Mark did get her to safety, he didn’t follow her and so he has robbed his outie of that reunion, which is what he’s been wanting the entire series, is to be back with his wife who he lost. I would imagine that to outie Mark, that feels like an extreme betrayal. (Dan)

helena's development ft. lumon

For someone to have inside of her a really strong rebellion, how does that affect the company for the greater good? On a personal level, how does the wilder, fiercer, and freer part of this woman — which she has lost touch with — affect her moving forward? What does she have to learn from that? How can she grow and expand? [...] I think she, much like Helly, is on a journey of self-discovery and answering the question Who am I? (Britt)

Of all the outie characters, Helena is the one who is the most masked. I think that she was raised with a very specific purpose, which is to be the best Lumon leader that she can be. I like to think that when she was young, there was a lot more Helly in her. And a lot of that got stamped out. So she’s walking around, playing this character, without even realizing it, that she has been forced to craft. So I think that if Helly seems really different from her, that’s why. (Dan)

As for Lumon, it’s another question that relates to corporate culture. You have Kier, who founded the company, and then all these different CEOs who put their own agenda onto what the company is. That’s an interesting question too — the difference between the core idea of a company and what it evolves into. (Ben)

fade to deepest red

It’s something we haven’t seen before. The colors have been pretty specific in the show. It’s an indication that we’re going to another place now. With red, you think of heart, and love. Things are changing. It’s a different tone. (Ben)

[butterflydm]

Rings of Power - s1 eps 5-6

This is not exactly a liveblog, but I am going to write down my thoughts about each episode before I move on to the next one.

(spoilers for the whole rings of power show and for LotR)

Episode 5 continues the trend of strong episodes. Very good episode. The Harfoot song in the beginning was pretty touching and a nice way of showing that time was passing in that storyline.

This was a great episode for Elrond, who really goes through a lot of stress. He learns that his king was hiding information from him because he wants mithril from the dwarves; he learns that his people are dying/fading. Gil-Galad says here that he was hoping that sending away Galadriel and her soldiers -- the last remnants of the war -- would make the blight stop spreading on the tree. And I continue to love Elrond and Durin's relationship - <3 <3 <3 <3.

We saw some significant cross-cutting between Gil-Galad and Halbrand (our High King and our "Lost King") as well as between Halbrand and the Southlanders who went to pledge themselves to Adar.

"Only blood can bind" -- Adar says that here and it feels pretty significant. I have seen some s2 gifsets that use that quote in a pretty clear and significant way. It was also implied that the Sauron-sympathizer killed the teenager to earn his place to Adar (though we only saw orcs marching later on, so we don't know if any of those who surrendered survived). The sword was revealed as a key in this episode and it uses blood to work whatever it does. Only blood can bind. From what Adar says, he plans to do something to blot out the sun in the lands -- I have my suspicions about that, based on what I think the Southlands end up being in LotR. We also had Miriel's father warn her of darkness if she goes to Middle-Earth.

Actually oaths in general seemed like a strong theme in this episode. We have Elrond's oath to Durin being a strong source of conflict for him, and Arondir warning Bronwyn that pledging themselves to the orcs will drag the Southlanders back down into the darkness.

We also get our big moment when Halbrand decides to be Galadriel's lost king. I do see a lot of conflict in him in this episode, especially in the scene in the forge where he talks to Galadriel. She convinced him that his fate belonged in Middle-Earth (which was "the one place I swore to never return" per Halbrand). This is when everyone's fate was sealed, because as soon as Halbrand goes back to Middle-Earth... that's a bell that can't be unrung. But I do feel like I watched him actively making his choice, and he made it because of Galadriel's passionate and vulnerable words to him. He wasn't at all involved in the fire on the boat that made the queen doubt herself and push harder on Galadriel to make sure the "King of the Southlands" was with them -- that was entirely due to the actions of Elendil's and the chancellor's kids. If the fire doesn't happen, then Galadriel doesn't go back and tempt Halbrand one last time.

btw, SUCH a great scene between Galadriel and Halbrand in the forge! He is trying so hard not to be tempted by what she's offering him but she's right that he yearns to be more than "common" (see: him feeling the need to show off that he can handle a sword after her training exercise with the soldiers). The real power that Halbrand fell from was even greater than being a mortal king.

Very strong episode.

Mom update: she's still inclined to believe that Adar is Sauron, though she has some doubts; and the Gandalf storyline is her least favorite because she feels like he's not learning the ropes of living in the world quickly enough. She did like the Harfoot song at the start of the episode. She's really into our other three storylines (Galadriel & Halbrand; Elrond, Durin, & Gil-Galad; and the Southlands).

Episode six was really powerful. Very much focused on the Southlands people and then the arrival of the Numenor back-up, and super-intense.

The big kaboom at the ending was... when I saw that water going through the channels and realized that Adar wasn't just creating a way for the orcs to move in daylight, but that this was part of his larger plan... I was aware that the Southlands didn't actually exist in LotR, at least not to my knowledge, but I wasn't certain that they would be Mordor until we saw that mountain blow.

Theo had a heartbreaking episode -- and we got a reminder/foreshadowing of the One Ring at the end, when he was talking about feeling a loss over the key/sword and how holding it made him feel powerful. That's Sauron's main temptation -- the allure of power, and the various things that can be done with it. (and that's also what Galadriel has been tempting him with)

Arondir and Bronwyn were both very brave and heroic, and got to finally openly acknowledge their attraction to each other and kiss, plus Arondir doing so much to try to look out for and support Theo. They are such a good little family unit. I'm gonna miss Bronwyn in s2! (I am aware that she doesn't come back)

Isildur also had a good episode, plus there were some visual reminders of what I vaguely remember from the LotR prologue about what he's going to do in the future. I actually also felt like we got a visual reminder of Sauron's tower in TRotK going down in this episode, when Arondir collapsed the watchtower. The Return of the King... and we did have a "king" return in this episode.

Galadriel and Halbrand were both heroic in saving the Southlanders... and both had intense moments of deeply desiring revenge that the other one pulls them back from. Halbrand is definitely not working with Adar at this point, since Adar is under the impression that he killed Sauron (and I've seen the gifsets of how!), so this plan is all about Adar using the bones of what was once Sauron's plan to instead conquer and create a homeland for orcs (killing and enslaving the current occupants).

If I had been watching this live and unspoiled, that scene in the woods would have made me ship Galadriel and Halbrand for sure... I mean, it still did, but you know. I know it's a lot more complicated than it looks, lol. I feel like I can safely say that I am ~into~ Galadriel/Halbrand (Sauron) at this point. Everything with them pulling each other back from the brink of revenge and then bonding over it... delicious. Honestly, even more delicious knowing the truth about him.

Adar using himself as the bait so that the human worshipper of Sauron could actually go and use the key to make the mountain go boom... that was very clever of him. (also, we see that the humans who surrendered to Adar were thrown out to be on the front lines of the assault against their own people; that's what surrendering gets you. it doesn't save anything)

Halbrand/Sauron assumed that Adar would recognize him, even in a different form. But he didn't (though Adar was clearly feeling some twinges of something by the end of their scenes together).

This is the second episode in a row where we've had Galadriel and Halbrand deeply bonding over something they have in common, so that is definitely a thing.

Adar telling Galadriel that maybe she should have looked for Morgoth's successor in her own mirror? Ooof.

But now that the mountain has blown up... Halbrand is very very good at noticing and taking opportunities when they arise. And I'm aware that he's not still being "the King of the Southlands" in s2. I'm aware of the actual reveal scene but not what exact events lead up to it, so I am interested to see how that goes.

Adar said that after Morgoth died, Sauron dedicated himself to healing Middle-Earth, but at the expense of the Orcs? I think I understood that correctly.

Sauron's intentions might be genuinely good but if he uses manipulation and violence to achieve them, then he poisons his own goals. We've already seen that Halbrand is just... effortlessly manipulative. During the scene where Galadriel escapes from the cell in Numenor, Halbrand wastes no time to find a way to get something out of the situation that benefits himself (the guild crest).

And that is maybe the key thing that Sauron never figured out after Morgoth died. That Morgoth's endgoal wasn't the only problem -- Sauron's methods are also a problem, also create and court evil results. He always looking for an angle that benefits himself and though violence isn't his first resort (manipulation would appear to be), once he does choose violence, he's brutal about it. He didn't just need to fix the endgoal of idk destroying the world (or whatever it was that Morgoth wanted, I'm not a Tolkien scholar). He also needed to fix the methods that he uses to interact with the world. It's not just the 'what' that matters but the 'how'.

So... if Halbrand had stayed in Numenor, what would have changed? The mountain would still blow, because that was Adar's plan, and he put it into motion before he was captured by Galadriel & Halbrand - he made himself into the bait to distract anyone from the real danger. The only thing that would have changed (so far) is that Galadriel might have actually killed Adar in the barn -- it was Halbrand who pulled her back from the edge, just like she was the one who pulled him back earlier. Everything else that happened in the battle and afterwards didn't need his involvement, not as long as Galadriel still brought the Numenor host. I suspect the answer to the question of "what would have changed" will rapidly change in the upcoming episodes, though.

It is also easy to picture a scenario where finding out about the mountain going boom leads to Halbrand going to the chancellor of Numenor and selling himself as the solution to this new problem of all his hopes and dreams of trade with the newly-rebuilt Southlands going up in flames. A road that would carry less guilt and turmoil for Galadriel specifically, since she would not be the reason that Sauron returned to Middle-Earth.

Mom update: she was feeling pretty stressed out about the mountain blowing up, so we will continue next week! She isn't sure what to think about Sauron at the moment, after Adar saying that he killed him. She knows that Sauron isn't dead, because of LotR, but she doesn't have any guesses as to what's going on with him. She is considering the idea that he's already basically disembodied, the way that he is in LotR. She DID have a critique about how quickly Bronwyn was on her feet after that terrible injury (my mom had a real bad shoulder injury when she was a kid, so she's experienced that kind of pain. Not an arrow, but there were broken bones and such).

So far, I feel like the episodes have been building on each other and getting better and this episode in particular was... so so intense.

[txtpics-zip]

BEOMGYU INTERVIEW with GQ KOREA

GQ: “A 3am and 3pm kind of person”. I like Beomgyu’s expression the most.

BG: I like it too.

GQ: I have an idea (of the meaning of it), but I want to hear it in Beomgyu’s words.

BG: I think I only showed my “3pm” side before. It’s true that I have a bright side, and like to play around like a kid, but there were times that seemed to be like it was everything there was to me. After I was defined as the “bright person Beomgyu”, I regretted showing only that side of me. “Would people think too simply of me (because of this)?”, I worried about that. Nowadays I like that many people know my sensible and serious side as well. It’s comfortable. Completely different sides coexisting, like 3am and 3pm, is a virtue and a distinct character. I think it's an interesting and good descriptor.

GQ: So would you say that 3pm Beomgyu and 3am Beomgyu are different people?

BG: It used to be like that. I would show only my bright side outside (in public), but then after work when I was alone in my room, I wouldn’t say even a word. The gap between those two was really big. Sometimes I even wondered, “Is this really not me?”, I had this thought a lot. Right now, I’ve accepted that this version of me is me, and that version of me is also me.

GQ: Was there a specigìfic point in which you decided to embrace this change?

BG: It just happened naturally. As the years turned and time passed, my thoughts started reorganizing themselves. I’ve come to accept myself a little more, and decided that at least I should not stress myself out, and that change in my mindset has come naturally.

GQ: There was one time where we had to cancel the <GQ> shooting due to an ankle injury. I thought you were going to take it easy since you were still on tour, but <Workout Zzang Beomgyu> season 2 is starting soon? This photoshoot was also possible to be realized again due to your willingness.

BG: I don’t want to hold back, I want to do everything. Be it variety shows, photoshoots, I think being recognized and contacted for things is a hugely great opportunity for me, so I’m immensely grateful for that. That is why I want to do my best.

GQ: I think it must not be easy to have this type of mindset as a global idol like Tomorrow X Together. Since we surprisingly live taking many things for granted.

BG: I feel like I don’t take things for granted at all. There are so many good, talented and cool idols out there. And, out of all of those, you called for me? That’s amazing, isn’t it? That’s why I have to work hard. Each of my members are also people that shine individually. Once I used to worry, “Why don’t I have my own special ability?”. Time passed and years amounted, I felt like I shouldn’t take for granted the things around me. So I’m even more grateful. These moments are so precious these days. Happiness is greater than hardships.

GQ: It’s interesting to observe how, throughout interviews, your thoughts on “happiness” have gradually changed. How do you feel these days?

BG: These days, I feel just happy.

GQ: Was there a change in how you view happiness?

BG: I’m by nature a person who feels happiness through ordinary things. But sometimes there’s parts of our lives we have to give up on. Because of those things, I felt frustrated, and the small joys seeming to get farther away made me feel such sadness as well. But now, come to think of it, if I look around me, I find so much happiness.

GQ: Before, in your solo radio content <Beomedio>, I heard you say an expression: “I decided to feel happiness in little things that come from everyday life”. That stuck with me. Because, all this time, I thought happiness was something you just felt, and not something you “decided to feel”.

BG: If you don’t look for them gropingly, there are a lot of things that pass you by. Should I say it’s about looking at the world in a more optimistic way? As I tried to feel that way, everything started to look happy. At that time, I had to make an effort. Right now though I don’t really have to do that, it seems to come naturally.

GQ: My little happiness of today was listening to Beomgyu singing ADOY’s ‘Wonder’ while I took turns between watching the video and gazing at the sparkling Han River from inside the car, while I was coming to the filming site. Were all the videos also your idea?

BG: When I decide which song I should make a cover of, I simulate what kind of video I should shoot for that song. I want to express through the video the emotions and striking scenes I thought of when I heard that song for the first time, so I endeavor not to completely forget that first feeling. When I listen to ‘Wonder’ or city pop music, in my head there is a scene/situation that unfolds.

GQ: Would you say then that you like more the type of songs that are created in a way that allows an image to suddenly unfold itself?

BG: Yep… I think so.

GQ: Could that be the reason why you like indie music and older songs?

BG: I don’t know if maybe it’s because I live in the present, but I would like to live in an older time. Since the sky was clean, I picture that if you just raised your head to look at it, stars would feel like they’re pouring down. I think that it was a more sensible time than nowadays. Any place is fine. When I listen to those older songs, I have the feeling that I’m living in a time I’ve never experienced, so that is why I think I like it.

GQ: Recently, you’ve also been into cameras, right? What type of scenery makes you raise your camera?

BG: The water swaying here and there on a river, or at the beach. The reflection of rain pouring in front of a streetlamp at the Han River during rainy days. The moment a car swiftly passes by a long, stretched-out road.

GQ: Do you prefer the moment of capturing a photo or the moment you look back at it later?

BG: The moment I capture it. There’s more sensibility in it, you know. (Laughs) Actually, my camera has both film and digital functions, but I mostly take pictures through digital. Since it’s such a hassle to go get it printed. Ahaha. There’s funny pictures of the members in my camera, I should release them on their birthdays.

GQ: Is there a saying that stuck with you recently? You said that, while you’re writing a song, you combine words you’ve written down on memo notes.

BG: “Heaven”. I can’t say anymore than this.

GQ: Have you been working on a song recently?

BG: These days, due to my injury, while I was resting I wrote about two to three songs. And there’s also another song I want to write on piano and guitar. Recently, I’ve started to learn electric guitar back from the basics. Before that, I was self-studying, so there were a lot of things I didn’t know. Studying everything gradually from the basics will allow me to come up with more diverse compositions, either in writing songs or performing, so I’m looking forward to it. The songs I want to write are still in the planning stage.

GQ: What is your composition process? I think each person must have a different style of writing songs.

BG: Sometimes when a great line or melody comes to mind, I don’t want to forget it and become desperate to remember it. ‘Thursday’s Child Has Far To Go’ is a song which bass line came to mind while I was washing my hands in the bathroom. With my hands still damp I turned on the recorder and sang, then I ran to the studio and wrote it for two days, even at night. Once I get a “feel”, it’s easier to write quickly. These days when I lie down to sleep, I think about a lot of things, like what line should go before and what should follow. Imagining these things is fun to me.

GQ: “Before I felt like I was a frog in a well*, but now I feel like my eyes have slightly opened. Still, there’s a big difference between having your eyes closed and open.” This is such a cool line you said in the documentary that captured your first U.S. tour,  <OUR LOST SUMMER>.

BG: Oh, look at me!

[Translator’s note for "Frog in a well"*] This is a proverb used to describe an individual who cannot or refuses to see the big picture because of being sheltered and close-minded. Like being ignorant of the world outside one’s limited environment. Some websites compare this saying to the English “a babe in the woods” or “being a big fish in a little pond”.

GQ: How open would you say that your eyes are now?

BG: I think I’ll have to finish this tour to know for sure.

GQ: When that first tour was over and you opened your eyes, what did you see?

BG: The first thing I saw was our fanclub, ‘MOA’. It was completely different from performing in front of an empty audience. After a tour, you notice your skills and other aspects have improved a lot. Only when you look back at it after it’s over, you’ll be able to finally see some of these things.

GQ: Do you remember the moment you felt the power of music the most?

BG: During last year’s U.S. tour. While I was listening to music by Heo Hoy Kyung, I felt all my troubles and anxieties disappear. Just like magic.

GQ: What do you think troubled you at the time?

BG: I’m not sure about that either.

GQ: On the contrary, have you ever felt frightened of the enormous power of music?

BG: More than getting frightened by the power of music, the pressure of doing well and not making mistakes blends together and it makes me feel very nervous before I go up on stage. Rather than a good trembling feeling, it’s more akin to bearing a burden, and this tension does not lessen even after performing so many times. If my heart could kindly hold on, it would be good!

GQ: How do you deal with your emotions in such times?

BG: Until the lift goes up, I keep my eyes closed and repeat to myself “I did well up until now, I can do well today as well, I can do it”.

GQ: So, you mean to say that you don’t feel any anguish or pain at all later up on stage?

BG: That’s because I just go crazy. (Laugh) This situation makes me feel so pleasantly crazy that I become completely concentrated and immersed. Once I immerse myself, things that hurt me and make me feel anxious are not a problem anymore. The exact moment the lift stops at the top and I open my eyes, I turn my focus to the stage and say to myself “Go away, bad feelings!”. And after that, it gets really fun.

GQ: I am really curious about this feeling.

BG: Would you like to come on stage and try it once? (Scrunches his nose)

[onepiece-polls]

One Piece Shipping War - Round 2 Side B

Propaganda under the cut.

Propaganda for Smoker x Law:

Their interactions on punk hazard are just hhhhnnnggghhhh. First they fight against each other and then they have to team up! The sexual tension is through the roof 👀 and they fight so well together too 👀 also law LITERALLY stole smoker's heart?? Sorry for being incoherent that's just what they do to me

I read it in a fic and it was compelling also it would be cool if they both knew rocinante

Law literally stole Smoker’s heart during the Punk Hazard Arc - they saved each other during the Punk Hazard Arc even if they were enemies - classic “Enemies to lovers” energy - perfect matching personalities (INTP x INTJ) - the thrill of a forbidden love between a marine and a pirate.

They have. SUCH a divorcee dynamic listen. - Law literally stole Smoker’s heart in the Punk Hazard arc. - Even though they were enemies, Smoker fought against Vergo and stole Law’s heart to give it back to him, hurting himself A LOT. - at the same time, Law saved Smoker from Vergo and gave Smoker’s heart back even if he didn’t have to. - the way Law smiles when fighting against him and getting on Smoker’s nerves (a lot of tension here hehe). - Smoker’s a marine and Law a pirate, what’s better than a forbidden relationship? - their personalities match perfectly (INTJ and INTP).

SUCH a divorcee dynamic. - we all love a forbidden romance between marine and pirate - the way they interact with each other on Punk Hazard is at the same time easy but full of tension, they clearly have some familiarity w each other - ...and then later they manage to work together seamlessly despite those tensions and differences, and Smoker trusts Law to pick up the slack where he can't. And Law DOES follow through - after the battle Law TELLS Smoker what he's planning next - yeah it's all purposeful for his plans but it's such a clear and obvious manipulation. And yet Smoker does exactly that. - the guy sent to Dressrosa is Issho (which ok Sakazuki says he sent BUT what a funny coincidence still that it's the one guy who's most likely to help Law rather than hinder hmmmm) - when Doffy shows up after Law&co have left and demands to know things Smoker just straight up stonewalls him and lies to his face, with the full knowledge that it may cost him his life. Which yeah, Smoker hates pirates, but he doesn't actually have any reason to do that - if he really didn't care he wouldn't mind siccing the two warlords on each other and watching them destroy themselves so he at the very least must agree with Law if not outright want to help him - delicious narrative parallels! Bc fundamentally they're two sides of the same coin: both are absolutely driven by their personal moral codes and care DEEPLY about people and things. Law may be driven largely by more self-centered goals and focus his good on the smaller circle he chooses to surround himself with, while Smoker is drawn to more lofty pursuits of greater good and helping even those he will never meet or even know of, but at the core they share very similar ideals and values - and ykno. Law LITERALLY punches Smoker's heart out of his chest - also Law is a scrawny-ass twink and you cannot tell me he doesn't have a thing for buff dilfs who could bench press double his weight.

Propaganda for Law x Robin:

Their intelligent goth energy combined would be off the charts

Their backstories parallel each other perfectly! Home destroyed, hunted from a young age saved by a kind marine. Spoilers ahead: They're working together to figure out what the history of the Will of D is, and what happened in the void century! She was the only person Law trusted enough to reveal his middle initial! Also, they could do horrible things together if they decided to use their devil fruits as a team. So many limbs in places they shouldn't be.

Smart, sexy, sleek, intelligent, empathetic, humorous, *might get flustered on occasion*, hobbies: riling up Usopp. Terrific and morbid sense of humour. Just *get* one another. Very close to one another in both age and height!

[sullustangin]

Fluffy February Day 15 -- Arrow

SWTOR

Time: End of KotET

Pairing: Theron Shan/Smuggler

~~

Jace was siting in his office when his radio broadcast was interrupted. He nearly did have a heart attack when he heard a voice, lost to him, say, “--- system-wide holochannel.  The galaxy is ready to meet the new empress.”

Theron. 

He was alive --!! 

Saying Vaylin had fallen – saying another woman was in charge of the Eternal Fleet?  Another monarch, another oppressive -- ?

The most unladylike scoff came over the line.  “I’m no empress.” 

Jace had heard that voice before.  He pulled up his intel files on her.

…to be honest, Jace hadn’t exactly let them collect dust since Theron left the Republic for her. She who was dead.  She who had conspired with Sith.  She who had ruled the underworld.

…she who had saved the galaxy.  Again…

Jace tacitly leaned in his chair to see out of his office, into the bullpen of open office space.  Dorne was already corralling people into an orderly viewing party.  

Of course she was.

“People of the galaxy.  The war is over.  The Eternal Fleet is pacified.  Vaylin is dead.”

Jace flipped on his holo viewer in his office, and there she was.  The Voidhound.  If it wasn’t her double, that is; he learned later she’d played him at Makeb. 

“Today marks the end of the Eternal Empire.  The people of Zakuul are now free to rule themselves.”

There were a lot of nice words in the speech.  A few promises.  She kept it short and to the point.  Jace liked it. 

But what he liked more was the shadow at the edge of the frame.  Jace could pick out the profile of a man that had drawn a few features from his end of the gene pool.  He could make out the distinctive shoulders of the jacket.  He could even see the stupid haircut, when the head turned just right, as if conferring with someone as the Voidhound spoke. 

There had been profound concern in the Republic that Theron Shan was a broken arrow.  A bomb, not in their hands, waiting to go off or to be used against them. 

…Jace knew that fear was not going to fade away.  In fact, it might get worse, because the Alliance had won.  Because they were now the balance of power in the galaxy.

Because Theron could and did decide for himself what was the greater good.  It’s why he ultimately became unhappy in the Republic. 

…what if the infatuation with the Alliance never faded and he never came home?

The speech eventually ended.  Jace sat back in his chair, and he realized … he was coming down off a high mountain, one he’d been perched on since the active phase of the war had started almost a year and a half ago. 

Jace Malcom relaxed.  And, as was his habit in meetings, he sat there, watching the now black holochannel.  It was still open, even though the speech was over.  He heard some movement, footsteps, droids walking.

And then paydirt.

“How was that?” the Voidhound asked, when she thought she was alone again. 

“Optimistic and ambitious.  A good pairing for challenges ahead,” replied some Imperial accent. 

“I’m proud of you.”  Theron said that, with so much warmth – Jace knew he was still a man in love.  “We all are.” 

A little ‘heh.’  “Good.”  Then the line did go dead, as if someone notice a light on a board somewhere. 

Jace couldn’t make any conclusions about the status of the relationship between Theron Shan and Eva Corolastor, alias the Voidhound.  But in that moment, he knew Theron was safe, and his side had won the galaxy. 

Jace was relieved. Sad, immensely proud, and relieved. Mostly relieved.

...and now there was still a chance for him to fix things. That might have been best of all.

~~

@fluffyfebruary

[evilelitest2]

Russian-Ukraine War Part 4: The Birth of Russia

So Russia is big. It's like one of their defining traits, vodka, art, brutality, colonialism, communism, and being massive.  But did you know that once Russia was once…not so big?  Let's do some history.

So the Mongolian Empire was a brutal genocidal engine of conquest but if you survived the initial invasion, it wasn’t so bad by the standard of brutal imperialists, the Mongols were big on religious tolerance, cultural integration and above all trade.  So the Russians found themselves suddenly connected to Central and East Asia through their Mongol overlords, and Russia for the first time in Russian history, it is as connected to East Asia as it is to Europe.  

The Mongolian Empire was great at conquest but struggled a lot with the ruling, and it probably won’t surprise you that it broke into 4 smaller states shortly after the death of Genghis Khan, located in the Middle East, China, Mongolia and Russia Respectively.  The one that concerns us is the Golden Hoard, the Russian based Mongolian state, who were called “Tatars” by the locals. 

The Golden Hoard wasn’t an Empire that spent most of their time breathing down your neck and setting major policies in their capital, instead they ruled indirectly via tributary states.  They would basically allow your kingdom to exist and kinda do its own thing as long as you paid your taxes, and one special boy kingdom was allowed the honor of collecting the taxes.  The special boy of our story is the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which will overtime be upgraded to the Principality of Moscow, to the Grand Principality of Moscow as they steadily get more and more powerful, using the privileges they got as the Mongol’s special boys to eventually grow their military and economy. 

Eventually they were able to push back the Mongols (assisted by the Golden Hordes constant civil wars), and by the time of Ivan the III aka Ivan the Great, the state was independent and a massive nation. Ivan III is kinda seen as the first independent Ruler of Russia, where Russia exists in its own right and not just as a Mongolian Tributary state.   Ivan’s grandson, Ivan the IV, aka Ivan the Vasilyevich, aka Ivan Grozny, aka Ivan the Terrible eventually decided that the Title of Grand Prince wasn’t quite good enough and so it was he who formally turned the state into an Empire, giving himself the title of Tsar, after brutally conquering all the people around him.  And so the Russian Empire was born between Ivan the Great and Ivan the Terrible, go figure.

(Ivan the Terrible, Very stable man)

So Ok, Russia is an independent Empire, but under Ivan the IV it becomes more than that, it becomes the Orthodox State.   Let me walk back a bit.  Christianity first super huge split was in 1054, where the Eastern Greek Speaking Orthodox Church broke apart from the Western Latin Speaking Roman Catholic Church.  The Catholics have the Pope, who manage to establish himself as a religious power greater than even Kings, while the east had the Patriarch, whose power was limited by the Emperor?  What Emperor you say?  Well time to talk about the Byzantine Emperor 

Patriarch (left) Pope (right)

So the Byzantines are the dominant supreme cultural power of the East right?  Well by the time of the Mongols, not so much.  The great city of Constantinople was sacked in 1204 by the 4th Crusade, in one of the greatest own goals in history, and the Empire was in a state of decline ever since.  And I mean actual decline, not Edward Gibbon (your decline is almost a thousand years) decline, which was pretty upsetting for the Rus, the other great Orthodox power (Ok I see you Bulgaria and Romania, you’ll get your own episodes another time calm down), and as Byzantine declined, Muscovy keep taking on more and more of the role as “big Orthodox power of the east”.  But the striking blow came when Constantinople fell in 1453 to the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed the II aka Mehmed the Conqueror, bringing a final end to the Byzantine empire…ok there were a few splinter states but Mehmet gets them 20 years later so once and for all Byzantines are gone.

(Mehmet II preparing to destroy Byzantinium)

SO I cannot empathizes enough how much of a blow this is to the Orthidox World. The Byzantine Empire was THE Orthidox power for over a thousand years, it was the center of the Orthidox world.Consantinople had been the center of the Orthodox church since Constantine himself, it's like Rome turning Muslim or Mecca Christian, like this is a theological crisis.  However, the Grand Principality of Moscow was eager to take on the role of center of the Orthodox Church, and Ivan the Great started to call Moscow “The Third Rome” to succeed the Byzantines as the Byzantines had “succeed” the Romans (despite being Roman…look i never said it is smart).  This is why Russia’s coat of Arms is the two headed eagle of the Byzantines.  His grandson Ivan Grozny unified the Principality into a strong centralized autocratic state through the power of brutal oppression and secret police, creating the Russian Empire.  Later the Patriarch would relocate there, effectively the closest thing to the head of the Orthodox church, making Moscow the new center of the Orthodox faith.

As the "Third Rome" Russia wasn't just an Empire, it had a divine mandate to take territory and spread the Orthidox Faith. The notion of this Russian style Manifest Destiny is going to come up again in this series, and it has never completely left the Russian National identiy.

Ivan took the title of Tsar which means Caesar as in Emperor.  As an Empire rather than a Principality, the “Divine Mandate” of Russia became to serve as the protector of the Orthodox Church, to reunify the old Kievan Rus, and restore Constantinople.  Like most empires, including the Mongol, the Russian Empire is based on the notion that they have a divine right to rule over everybody else. This dream was put aside for the Time of Troubles, a civil war so horrific that it makes Game of Thrones look peaceful, but after that confusion Russia was ready to go (this is where the Royal family goes from Ruik to Romanov) This is not going to be an extensive look at all of Tsarist Russia, just the stuff which I think is important to understand for Ukraine.  Colonization, the Tsar and Serfdom.

[leonsliga]

Leon Goretzka for Sports Illustrated Deutschland

-> In this Sports Illustrated interview, Leon discusses not being called up to the national team, his character, and handling high pressure situations. The new Adidas Bodycare brand ambassador also discusses his hopes for the future.

On the pitch you show strength, off the pitch you are known for your social commitment. How is it that you are so present and outspoken?

That has envolved over the course of my life, but the sense of justice has always been within me. The only thing that has changed over the course of my career is that I now have a much greater reach and more people hear my opinions.

How difficult is it to fight against adversity? Can something like this be trained or is it something you’re born with?

You have to learn to deal with it. Then you can take a clear stance—or you can just leave it be. Everyone has to decide that for themselves. But I can cope with resistance, even though some of the things that come at me these days are extreme.

How do you deal with pressure and disappointment?

Pressure is something very positive for me. I really like it. It probably helps me in my job too. When it mattered most, I was able to deliver top performances. I like a bit of pre-match jitters. That's why I'm not afraid of pressure. Disappointments are also part of it. You learn that very early on, especially in football. Losing games starts in training. But that’s why you play in a team; that's the beauty of team sports—that you can support each other. Like at FC Bayern this season, which wasn't quite as successful as we had expected and were used to. These are experiences that you can take with you and mature from.

Did it hurt you a lot not to be called up for the national team?

It was an extreme disappointment for me because I didn’t expect it. Afterwards, I gave myself a day to come to terms with the situation. The day after that, I looked at how I could rectify it. The best way to do that is to perform at your best and accept this new role.

How hopeful are you that you will be at Euro 2024?

Very.

What is your emotional world like? Do you always allow all feelings—even the negative ones?

Everyone has to find out for themselves how they deal with feelings. My recommendation would be to talk about them, but I don't always manage that either. I like to work things out on my own and let the process mature within me. I can draw strength from that.

How do you strike a balance between self-criticism and self-confidence?

Self-criticism and self-confidence are mutually dependent. Telling yourself that you are the best has nothing to do with self-confidence. You are strongest when you also know your weaknesses.

As a leader, do you always have to live up to the sometimes very high expectations?

Yes, that's the job of a footballer. We live in a fast-paced, day-to-day business. You're only ever as good as you were in the last game. In my career in club football, I've won all the major titles that you can win with a big club like FC Bayern. Nevertheless, this season I have experienced what it means to be criticized as a leader. It reminds you that you are obliged to perform week in, week out.

How do you build yourself back up again when things aren't going your way? Do you train even more then?

I don't make my training dependent on situations that I experience week after week. I have long-term training plans. But of course, the motivation to correct things when they go poorly is always there.

What role do negative fan opinions play? Should they be ignored?

You have to accept these things. Everyone has their own opinion. Of course, it would be nice if things were a bit more civilized, but unfortunately that's not the case. This doesn't just apply to football; it can happen to anyone on social media. It's extremely disappointing. We should think about how this can be regulated. I'm lucky that things don't bother me too much. But there are certainly many users who unfortunately don't get on so well with it.

The football business can be very tough. What do you wish for the future of football, especially for the players?

I don't know if I should give an honest answer to that.

We’re asking for one.

If I'm completely honest, we should stop trying to generate clicks at the expense of the players—both on social media and in reports.

Can football help people and society feel more positive?

The 2006 World Cup showed how football can galvanize our country. Germany's enthusiasm and interest in football are certainly back. As players, we can influence this huge potential if the German national team performs well.

You are an ambassador for Adidas Bodycare. What does "well-being" mean to you?

For me, "well-being" means that I have an awareness of my body. For the balance between strain and relief, but also for regeneration. Ultimately, it’s also about work-life balance.

[rubyfoxfyre]

What did you base Alastors Nox Magia off of? Why type of magic is it and where did you get the ideas for a good ass fanfic?

Thank you for the question!

The answer is sort of a long story that I suppose begins with my first exposure to Hazbin Hotel in general, during a particularly doomed D&D campaign where my character basically acted exactly like Charlie did in the pilot:

Granted, Fianna is not anything like Charlie at all, but the DM found it funny enough to send me the gif above and then everyone got distracted for about 5 minutes while they started meming.

The next day I watched the show and was completely hooked!

I started looking into the Wiki to get a greater understanding of the world shown, read the comics (like all 20 pages hahaha), and listened to Addict while working on prompts for Charlastor Week 2022, taking a break from my regular manuscript I'd been working on for a few years (stay tuned for updates soon on that one!). I had about a month so I decided to try my hand at smaller short stories, since some of the authors I idolize are so good at short fiction, and conveying strong emotions in just a few thousand words.

I watched and rewatched the Pilot, studying the characterizations there as well as thinking about funny and unexpected scenarios the characters could get into while dealing with the concept of redemption and how to make it work (needless to say that the fact that they already had it happen was... unexpected. I have thoughts on that but will put a pin in that for now to avoid getting too distracted from your question!).

I can't remember which rewatch it was that I picked up on an interesting exchange between Charlie and Alastor that turned into a whole mess that would consume me to this day:

She tries to put a limitation on his ability to do too much, and I wondered if that could lead to a sort of interesting power-play between them (because in the end this is the part of their relationship that is fundamentally interesting - they're both powerful people with opposing moralities, having to work together to acheive a common goal). Basically, because Charlie's not precise with her language, she ends up basically not controlling Alastor at all. Which works out in its way, because she hides from her deeper wellspring of power with the aid of a gentle persona.

I liked the idea of something deeper between them and within themselves - and with them being opposing forces, I wanted to work with the idea of Alastor being associated with "night" and "dark", versus Charlie being associated with "sunlight" and "rainbows".

Shadow and Flame, only a bit less Lord of the Rings and a bit more sexy.

Nox Magia , the "night" magic, follows basic arcane principles that I've picked up on through the long and involved process of being a massive nerd and reading a lot of stuff.

For writing magic, I like looking at basic logic structures and hovering somewhere between harder and softer magic. My other manuscript that is premiering this year will be discussing some differing types of magic systems as well, if you enjoy reading Riddle and my other works, I hope you enjoy those as well!

But as for the story itself, it wasn't meant to be a story about a man falling in love... it's the story of a man being dragged into love, kicking and screaming about it. 🦌🌈

To Alastor the Hotel is about control, and his experience there is just a game not to be taken too seriously. Charlie is also about control, or rather, trying to find a way to control without breaking everything with her terrible strength.

Alastor embraces his strength, while she hides from it, and he finds that contradictory instinct in her interesting, so he comes up with the idea of a game to teach her some magic that might help her. But as with all magic, intent governs everything (even when you don't realize), and the spells he's teaching are telling a particular kind of story - you can preview what's happening in the chapter titles that have the runes' names! 🍷

❤️ Thanks so much for reading! ❤️

[foxhole-tarot]

☄️🪐 An Introduction to Energy Work for Psi Vampirism

AKA how to siphon and take in energy consciously for beginners

these are real spiritual beliefs, not roleplay

learning to take energy consciously is an important part of psi vampirism as it both gives you a consistent supply of energy and prevents you from drawing too much on sources you do not want to take from extensively. learning this skill can also be important for sanguinarians as psi feeding can, for some people, be used as a substitute for blood. it's important to remember that neither blood nor energy are more moral than each other in and of themselves.

this form of energy work can also be used in witchcraft as a way to draw in external forces and use them in a way that comes from within yourself.

this is my personal experience and what I have been taught, it is not irrefutable fact.

when drawing energy through psi feeding you have 3 options:

take from a human source

take from ambient human energy

take from a nonhuman source

☄️ 1. human sources

taking from human sources is often the preferred method of taking energy for psi vampires.

if you decide to take from human sources it's important to establish your own code of conduct, what that contains is a personal decision but you should be conscious efforts to avoid causing harm. some things to consider are:

how much energy you take

who you take energy from

what situations you take energy in

etc.

generally it's considered bad form to draw large amounts of energy from a single person as this drains them. while no physical harm will come of it, it's just a shitty thing to leave someone feeling exhausted.

some psi vampires find they are only satisfied with human sources. this is fine. some psi vampires just prefer human energies. this is also fine. drawing from humans is not immoral as long as you do so with care.

☄️ 2. ambient human energy

if you're concerned about the ethics of drawing directly from humans, you are worried about your ability to control your feeding, or you just simply don't want to take directly from humans it's good to consider ambient human energy. ambient human energy is a good in between step between nonhuman energies and human energies as ambient human energy is human energy that is lingering and not in active use.

finding ambient human energy is the real trick. while ambient human energy is everywhere that humans are it's greater in crowded areas and greatest in high energy crowded areas. a concert has a lot of ambient human energy, rural Idaho does not.

it often takes more practice to take ambient human energy than human energy or nonhuman energy as your source is much broader and much muddier.

☄️ 3. nonhuman sources

everything has energy. animals have energy, the sun has energy, the plants have energy, your dining room table has energy. it's possible to draw energy from all of these sources.

some psi vampires have a harder time benefitting from these energy sources. not everyone has the option of drawing from nonhuman (and particularly inanimate) sources.

when taking energy from living things I would encourage you to first build a relationship with that thing- particularly if you plan to feed off of it regularly or extensively. this can be a simple process, and can look like taking care of something (watering a plant, putting out food for a stray cat- don't feed wildlife, etc.), leaving offerings, or working with and building a relationship with the spirit of whatever you're taking from.

☄️🪐 Beginning Energy Work

If you already have a foundation in energy work, skip this section

energy work is the manipulation of the metaphysical energy around us. it is the core of psi feeding. while most psi vampires feed unconsciously naturally most desire to break free of this as it can have unintended consequences for the people around them. on top of this, unconscious feeding does not always satisfy energy needs. with conscious feeding you get control of all aspects of your feeding.

one of the best ways to learn basic energy work skills is to spend time playing with energy- but to do that you need to gather the energy in the first place. start by visualization. hold out your hand and imagine the energy, imagine its feel, its heat, its static, imagine its appearance, its color, its size. imagine gathering that energy, imagine sparks coming together. try to put that visualization into action.

this step is trial and error, it takes time to get it. you'll know you've succeeded when you feel the energy there, it's a hard feeling to describe but it's very distinctive.

from there, practice changing the size of the energy ball you've created. take energy in and release it. this is the same method you used to gather energy in the first place, you're drawing it in them drawing it out and letting it dissipate.

practice moving the ball of energy, move it upwards and downwards in small increments until you have a good grasp on moving energy from far away.

repeat these exercises until you feel comfortable with them.

☄️🪐 Siphoning & Taking In Energy

The first step in siphoning energy is getting to know the energy source you're taking from. feel out the unique characteristics of the energy you're taking from. at first, you can start by literally placing your hand on your energy source. then take the skills you learned in the last step and this time try to collect your energy from one specific source. if visualization helps you, visualize sparks coming from your source and into your hand.

from there, take the energy you siphoned and put it inside your body. you can do this however you like, but I prefer to put the energy inside my chest. consciously add the energy to your own and mix the two. if visualization helps you, visualize the energy swirling together with your own until they're one homogenous blend.

congratulations! you've just fed off an energy source

now, practice the above steps until they flow. you can cut out parts as you become more comfortable with what you're doing.

[asteriaspirit]

A Season For Letters

They’re in love.

Caius would never answer if I questioned him and Emyl would blush, look away, and change the subject, but they’re in love. It’s about time, honestly. They’ve been dancing around each other for weeks, ever since…

They’re leaving tomorrow. I recognize that this is my burden to carry, that all these problems with the village, the mine, and my family have nothing to do with Caius and Emyl. They got me this far, they stayed with me, put up with all this small town bullshit, but it’s time for them to move on. We’re a small pond—too small for big fish like those two.

I’m going to miss them. They’re more my family than the people I share this house with: my mother in her room, sweating through possession and my father so blinded by rage and hurt, he can’t see the forest for the trees. Emyl and Caius are leaving and they’re taking a little bit of my heart with them.

We—I—have been moving since the first frost, always moving toward something. Answers and questions and revelations in equal parts. First with Eirik, then with them. This year has been exhausting and summer is still weeks away. And now I’m here—home—and I’m afraid because I’ve only known movement. I’ve only understood how to keep going, to not look back, to not hesitate and now there is…silence. There’s stillness. And I don’t know what to do with that.

How do I wake up from the nightmares and not immediately roll over, look for Emyl and curl up against him in an effort to return to sleep when he won’t be there? How do I not join Caius outside the tent, quiet except for the crackle of fire and the sound of our breathing, sleep a distant fevered fantasy for us? I fear that these two became more of a home than actual wood and stone, than memories of birthday parties and festivals. And my home is leaving and I’m staying here.

…I could leave. I wasn’t supposed to come back. I’m not wanted here, but if I do leave, if I decide that this problem happened while I was gone, not because I left, then who will solve it? You gave me these powers for a reason, I’m assuming, and if it’s not to bring light to my village and deliver them from whatever the fuck is down in those mines, then what is it for? What is the purpose of my magic? It has to be for the greater good.

Our medicine woman is dead. Paela is pregnant. The other families have tried to squeeze mine out of any “marginal gains” that would have been ours from the beginning, but through a complex system that I don’t even remotely understand, have taken the profits for themselves instead. My father rants about that to the twins a lot, about this “monopoly” that is happening. It is, apparently, really, really bad.

There are so many problems here and I am the only Teafellow that can fix them. And although my father did not love me—does not love me—I love the rest of them enough to try and help, to try and provide stability. Azira should not be made to suffer because of the choices of her parents. Not when I can fix them.

So, I’ll stay.

There’s no going away feast tomorrow. No final gifts traded between us. They’ll leave at dawn. I’ll hug them both, kiss them on the cheek, and wish them a safe journey.

And when the sun sets and the moon is only a sliver in the sky, I’ll head out to the fields, and sit down, and cry. It’s become something like a ritual now—sneaking away, laying in the grass, crying until my stomach caves in on itself and then dragging myself back to bed. It helps me sleep, once it’s all out—once all the feelings are drying on my cheeks and my head is filled with cotton and my nose is red from me rubbing it.

At the end of it all, the world seems a little less…turbulent. A little less off kilter. And I can work there—one foot on steady ground, one foot bracing for whatever else you’re going to throw at me. Is that one of your tenants? Be adaptable? Probably not. You don’t seem like an adaptable god.

So, the question you’re probably wondering is why this letter? What’s it for? And it’s for nothing, really, and everything, all together, all at once. It is a request to keep Caius and Emyl safe, a prayer that you allow Marcus to rest easy in whatever afterlife fueled his soul and kept him warm on cold nights, and another moment for me to get it all out. It does nothing locked inside me, rolling and writhing and screaming. I have enough external demons to deal with; if I can silence the ones that continues to nip at my soul, then I will.

…I’ve never been good at ending letters, but I feel as if this one has come to a close. So I will end by saying thankyou.

This path has been difficult, filled with horror and pain and very little happiness. Very little light. But, I would not be who I am right now if it weren’t for this path, for this curse turned into a gift, that you have given me. Eirik would’ve dies, Caius and Emyl would have perished, and even though I couldn’t save those boys…

Emyl once said that everything has its season. I agree with that, to some extent, and I think this season where I’m afraid of these gifts is done and over. You can’t unknow what you know, you can’t…pretend to sleep after you’ve been forced awake. Things are changing, again, and hopefully for the better, and I have to change with them.

So I will end by saying thank you—thank you for allowing me to see another season and letting me grow through it, even when I thought it would kill me. Even when it almost did.

Yours in Service,

          Nadia Teafellow

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Eva Kurilova

Published: Jan 13, 2024

Locus of control is a term used to describe an individual’s belief about what factors control their lives. Those with an internal locus of control have a strong sense of agency and believe that their lives are influenced by their own actions and abilities. Those with an external locus of control feel that they are subject to luck, environmental factors, and other people’s actions.

Most people fall somewhere on the spectrum between an internal and an external locus of control, as this is reflective of life itself. There is a lot that we can control but a lot that we can’t as well. However, regardless of what is objectively true in any given situation, our preference for one view or the other has a major impact on our lives.

Those with an internal locus of control are more resilient, motivated, and independent, have a higher capacity for self-control, are better able to manage stress, and enjoy overall higher levels of mental and physical health. Those with an external locus of control, on the other hand, lack self-confidence and self-efficacy, blame others for their shortcomings, are less likely to take accountability, and experience worse mental and physical health outcomes. They are also more likely to have a mindset of victimhood.

Research abounds expounding the positive associations between an internal locus of control and factors like academic success and favorable work outcomes, as well as between an external locus of control and negative outcomes, like criminal offending. Helping people develop a greater internal locus of control has long been a goal of psychotherapy.

And yet, when it comes to the concept of gender identity, all of this knowledge and research is thrown out the window. After all, what is gender identity but just another term for an external locus of control?

Those who claim to have a gender identity that conflicts with their sex require participation from others. Their gender identity depends entirely on other people’s perceptions and on the way people treat them. They cannot concretize their identity simply by going about their lives, doing their job, practicing their hobbies, and fulfilling their roles as friends and family members—which is what an identity really is.

Instead, trans-identified individuals often try to artificially manifest a fantasy in their heads by forcing others to call them by a different name and pronouns and to pretend they see them as anything other than their sex. Some aren’t even satisfied knowing that others are merely playing along—they go further and demand others actually brainwash themselves into perceiving them as they wish to be perceived.

Furthermore, when someone is trying to manifest a gender identity, their locus of control sits not just in other people but in the rest of the world at large. They rely on external accouterments like clothing and makeup to signal what “gender” they are trying to appear as. They may go as far as to rely on external hormones to try and change how their body looks and even rely on surgeons to physically alter their body parts.

Obviously, all of us rely on the external world. None of us are entirely self-sufficient, and even if we have a strong internal locus of control, there is still much that is out of our control. But this is not the same as relying solely on the external world to recognize and manifest your identity for you.

I should also add that not all trans-identified people are like this. I think the locus of control is one of the main differences people implicitly note between trans-identified people who cause problems and those who don’t. This then gets clumsily translated into speaking about trans people with an internal locus of control as “real” or “actual” or “good” trans people.

I don’t believe there is any such thing as “true” trans. But I do believe there is a big difference between people who decide to transition and consider the onus to be on themselves to pass and be treated as the opposite sex and those who think the onus is on the rest of the world to make them feel like the opposite sex. I think this is the split that people pick up on when differentiating between the trans-identified people who really do just want to live their lives and those who want to tear the world down while paradoxically relying on it for their entire sense of identity.

(It is also my experience that trans-identified people in the former camp are less likely to insist that they have a “gender identity” and more likely to view themselves as having a mental disorder—gender dysphoria—that they are managing as best as they can).

Unfortunately, trans activists, doctors, teachers, counselors, politicians, and “experts” of all stripes are encouraging all trans-identified people to take on the latter mindset. They encourage an entirely external locus of control which then invariably develops into a victimhood mentality. Trans-identified people with an external locus of control come to believe that because they have no power to improve anything for themselves the world owes it to them.

This is what makes it all the more pernicious that this ideology is being pushed on children. Introducing the concept of gender identity to kids is the same as showing approval for an external locus of control. Where children should be taught self-efficacy and resilience, they are instead being taught that their very sense of self requires others to act a certain way and the world to comport itself to their whims. It’s a disaster that isn’t just waiting to happen but that is already well in progress.

There is no way to continue teaching the concept of gender identity to children and spreading it throughout society while encouraging people to develop an internal locus of control at the same time. The two pathways are mutually exclusive. If we want to encourage good health and happy lives, we need to drop the concept of gender identity entirely.

==

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if your "gender" can be invalidated by others not participating, like gods, it was never real in the first place. You can't claim "an internal sense of self," and then also claim it requires external validation. That's "I have a personal relationship with Jesus" and "I want to pass laws based on what Jesus wants." It's either a private personal matter, or a matter of public interest. You can't have both.

And in both cases, attempting to do both results in authoritarianism.

[vialdovi-artstuff]

Using my artblog as a hc diary lol.

(This is just a recopilation of some thoughts about havik and somewhat his past...mostly just a ramble)

A lot of how i see havik, specially mk1 , comes from a mix of my favourite media, bloodborne, the thing , lovecraft mythos ,true detective ,uzumaki etc etc ..

But also apply now the empty man where you gotta have

thought+concentration+time= flesh

using this mathematical equation you can bring the one who walks between dreams and is on the middle to reality and start a sort of apocalypse but all of this has to be done with a male vessel devoid of any memories and filled with confusion.

So coming back to my favourite gremlin i think it would be fun to have something similar or inspired by since his past is a contradictory white canvas.

So what if he was never part of a low caste , never a guard , never a prisioner,soldier,none of that ...what if the guy was founded stranded on a shore by lets say seido militia in some of their conquering travels or making sure people follow their regimen.

The conditions he was found in was not a pretty sight, covered in blood , with a red cord coming from the back of his head unconcious from what it looked and covered by the quiet sound of the waves from a seido beach.

He looked fragile ...for the captain and seido's ruler, king , conqueror and protector ( who we will later know is hotaru father )

A strange whisper from the corners of his mind start to appear for the captain , he decided to have a look of this man himself ..to see if he was not indeed dead or a sick guy contaminating the looks of the precious sea, he went closer to him . The whispering increased everytime he took a step closer, like a weak beating of a dying heart ..once he was almost face to face to him suddenly it was just the 2 of them in the darkness of the universe.

No sea , no soldiers , not the sound of the blades clashing against another, not even the memory of his son whom he considers a failure ..just this delicate corpse clinging to life and him , the one who uses order to make everyone lay their head low.

Everything was just a like a faint dream so he took a look of this man eye , to his iris and that is when his heart stopped beating and his breath freezed.

He saw chaos.

Visions of stars being born ,beings that lived out of time and space , older ones that looked over their shoulder to the silence of the cosmos. Beings of chaos and life whose death cannot touch them. Older ones with secrets and knowledge not for any man but also beings who longed for a child of their own . A child born from the deep of the universe and blessed by chaos.

A miracle of this chaotic cosmos.

In that moment, the ruler of seido understood that what they worship now, the so call deities that can bend fire , talk with dragons and look at time are just fakes and irreal creatures. Just animals empty of any kind of divinity , parasites that feed themselves off of the magic of jewels and crowns, who dared to change space and timelines just because they think is for the greater good, men walking with fake mosdesty in a cold fire.

Their flesh was not divine.

They werent blessed the old stars.

But this man , this body that seems so very delicate compared by the armours of the soldiers that carried several war stories within them , this body stranded on a parabola ...he seemed to carry that divinity on his flesh even if the sleep and dream was all he knew in that very moment .

Just chaos waiting to be awoken.

But while he sleeps , while his powers seems to be dormant he will take him and protect him from curious eyes or people wanting to rewrite time.

He will cut that red string to woke him up , he will see the eyes of this man who doesnt know anything about the world yet, whose heart and soul is driving by confusion.

He tries time and time again to woke that chaos without results.

He is keeping him safe in the center tower of seido despite the jealousy of his own son and he keeps trying but this man is a like a ghost , no words come from him just fear of not knowing who he is.

So the captain remenbers this vision , that vision of blood, flesh dreams nightmares and chaos ...all of them provowued by a child full with anger,pain,sadness and confusion ..

So for chaos to be awoken in the flesh of this unknow man ,they need to follow a simple equation ...

Repetition of a made story for him .

He even gives him a name to repeat , a false name , Dairou.

Repeat it enough times until he believes. Until his anger became real and his pain tangible.

Repetition became reality and reality allows anger to transform and pain covers everything for chaos to make its way.

So the ruler concentrates on the story , repeats it enough times and mutates the thought of this strange man and there he sees it ..a small glimpse of what he saw when he found him for the first time ..just chaos, divine flesh on this black void reality.

But the puzzle is not complete yet , missing pieces are needed .

Pieces that have to be found by the divine flesh himself so the chaos on his blood and mind can be fully awoken, after all this red cord that only appears and the light of the stars is a guide for him , to follow the dream.

In this anger of a false iddentity who he doesnt know yet , he scapes and he vows revenge against seido regimen and rules.

He pledges pain and destruction,anarchy against their orden , against the father and son.

Thought+concentration+time=flesh

The flesh has been found , the repetition made the story believable , fire has burned the skin and part of chaos has been awoken but not in full yet ..he need the rest of the pieces despite him not knowing in full.

He needs the guide of the cosmos to find them and he will ...this child birthed from the universe.

And that is how the captain sees this miracle child scape and he lets him because he knows what he truly is even if everyone thinks is just a crazy man or an anarchist in their eyes , but what they do not know yet is that this being , this miracle will be the true divine being who they will kneel and pray, who they will offer their blood for him to feed and bring the dream and nightmares together in one grey reality.

He sees how he grows , while his skin becames old and rotten ..he hees how this man and his chaos start to wake up little by little ...

[jeannereames]

I'm new to reading about Alexander the Great, and I read your books first, then Mary Renault's. I like your Hephaistion a lot better, and Olympias (Myrtale), but the two novels were a lot alike in the story itself. I saw at least one reviewer said that yours was like a retelling of hers: "dangerously similar." So I wondered how much her first novel on Alexander influenced yours?

You’re not the first to ask, and the answer is: very little.

When I get that line about my novel being “too much like” Mary Renault’s, or even “fanfic” on Mary Renault, it tells me the reviewer is completely unfamiliar with the ancient sources themselves. For those who are familiar, I never hear this (perhaps because where we differ is obvious).

Unlike the novelist who makes up a completely original plot, when writing historical fiction, at least of this type, there IS a historical thread to follow. I’m not copying Renault. I’m following Plutarch, Diodorus, and, to a lesser degree, Justin. So is she.

Where we “cross” is on the historical elements in the original sources.

If you remove those bits, our two retellings don’t have much in common. Likewise, even in some of the elements from those sources, we differ in interpretations. My novel also begins a good deal later in ATG’s life. We do both end with the same event—I suspect because, when history gives you a “made for Hollywood” incident like the murder of Philip, you don’t turn it down. LOL. Also, for me, it’s the “natural joint” between Alexander-the-prince and Alexander-the-king. Just as the end of Alexander’s stay at Mieza with Aristotle forms the hinge between the two novels—or originally, the hinge between two halves of one novel. (Which is why I was able to divide it in half, when Riptide insisted that I do so in order to publish it, due to its original length.)

But the plain fact is I’d written my own before I’d ever heard of Mary Renault. I backed into Alexander as a result of some grad classes at Emory. He kept popping up in lecture, and I realized I had NO idea who he was. As an English major, I’d read Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” so I knew the “big” Roman-era names. But I’d managed to get out of both high school and my BA at the University of Florida without taking any (real) history classes. Now I was running into mentions of people (and places) with which I was completely unfamiliar.

So, I waltzed over to the Emory library and picked out two bios on Alexander: Nick Hammond’s Alexander the Great: King, Commander, and Statesman, and Peter Green’s Alexander of Macedon (the original version, with pictures…I picked it because it had pictures). As I’ve said elsewhere, I couldn’t have selected two more different views of the conqueror if I’d tried. And that’s what intrigued me…so I kept reading. Then I decided to write a novel about the “making” of him (coming-of-age), and the importance of Hephaistion in his life (because Green was so dismissive of the poor guy). Hephaistion was originally much clearer in my mind. In fact, he’s the (real) protagonist of Dancing with the Lion…certainly for the novel’s first half (Becoming). So I’m glad to hear you liked how I portrayed him.

It was only later that somebody said, “Oh, hey, have you heard of Mary Renault?” English major or no, I hadn’t. I did pick up her novels on Alexander but read only a little way before putting them down precisely because I didn’t want to be influenced by her work. In fact, I read nobody’s novels on him until I finished my original (way too short) rendition. Then I started on the second draft (which turned out to be way too long).

But by that point, my picture of Alexander, and even more so, Hephaistion, was quite set. As was the story I wanted to tell.

So no, Mary Renault’s novels had little impact on the genesis of Dancing with the Lion. But you are not the first person to wonder.

Ironically, Mary Stewart’s Crystal Cave and her subsequent Arthurian Saga had a much greater impact on how I chose to tell Alexander’s story. I did read those as a teen girl, and they fomented a fascination for King Arthur in me that lasted into college. The fact I wound up getting a PhD in Greek history is ironic, as I actively avoided it in high school and (undergrad) college, all my love given to Celtic and Scandinavian myth and history. I still do enjoy Celtic myth, btw. And it was with some amusement that I realized the tale of Alexander and Hephaistion was the foundation for the legend of Arthur and Lancelot. That probably IS part of why Alexander and Hephaistion gripped me so.

So yes, a “Mary” did influence me, but Stewart, not Renault. 😊

[fagsystem]

One interesting thing we have been learning in my psychology class is Tajfel's experiments related to intergroup discrimination.

It honestly reminds me a lot of syscourse.

The summary is that the participants (boys aged 14-15) were split into groups, and very quickly there was a lot of out-group discrimination. For example, the boys could decide whether they would award money to benefit only their own group, or everyone in the study. They chose not to allocate money in a way that maximised total profit, instead the majority chose to allocate money only for the good of their own group.

They were more concerned about creating as much difference as possible between the amounts allocated to themselves and the other group than getting a greater amount of money for everyone.

This reminds me a lot of the ingroup outgroup mentalities I have seen and experienced in syscourse.

When I first joined syscourse, I was overwhelmed by divide between pro-endogenic and anti-endogenics. I felt as though I had to pick one. I quickly became anti-endogenic, despite not really caring before, and also very quickly became quite hostile towards pro-endogenics. It was less so even about endogenics, more so about pro-endogenics.

Which you see a lot in syscourse. People will use pro-endogenic when they really should mean endogenic, because they are opperating under an in-group (anti-endogenics) versus outgroup (pro-endogenics) mentality.

You also see this whenever someone on one side does something poor, in the reaction it receives from their group versus the other group. If an anti-endogenic said something horrible, generally I see pro-endogenics responding to it by saying, 'Anti-endogenics believe XYZ.' Generally, I see anti-endogenics addressing it by addressing the specific person/bad thing, and denouncing that thing. And vice versa.

@sysmedsaresexist just made a post where they said if you engage with pro-endogenics you will see the worst of anti-endogenics, and if you engage with anti-endogenics you will see the worst of pro-endogenics. Which is entirely true.

With this intergroup fighting, people are always searching for the worst of the other side and dragging it around as proof that the other side is horrible. That their own side is better. And, if you consider yourself in either group, subconsciously you are likely doing the same. Not to mention, I feel as though people are subconsciously justifying horrible behaviour because it is happening to the other group.

Very little has changed in how I engage in syscourse and who I engage in it with since I stopped considering myself anti-endogenic. I am still seeing much of the same sort of content as I ever have before. If anything, I am seeing far less anti-endogenic content as I end up blocking a lot of anti-endogenics now. But whenever I see anti-endogenics being mean, it properly bothers me now.

Before, it would feel cathartic. 'I also dislike the other group, the other group has done all these bad things, it feels good to see someone else who is angry.:

Now, it just feels mean. It feels as though so much of it is just people being angry over ableist rhetoric they have seen in the pro-endogenic community, and in their angry they are lashing out at people and their existences. It feels as though so much of it is just people wanting to hurt the other group and using shallow excuses of 'but pro-endogenics are bad because-' to justify it.

Honestly, almost all of syscourse feels as though it is just people wanting to hurt the other group and using shallow excuses of 'but the other group is bad because-' to justify it.

We are all just people. I suppose ingroup outgroup mentalities is just as people do. But I hope if you have read this far you can recognise that people outside of your group are also people. Extend the same care, compassion, and respect to them as you would someone in your own group. Including those in the other group that cause harm, are you treating them more harshly than those in your own group who do the same?

Be nice to each other please.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.198 thoughts

[Alright, Keep Your Secrets]

(Contents: speculation - Sun/Luna/Soul)

After last week's chapter, I imagine most of us were expecting this week's chapter to be about Top discovering his soul and pushing Unstoppable further than ever before. I at least thought we'd see a bit of a capstone of his story with Haruka and his mother's illness, his reconciliation with the fact that he needed the help of others to win the day and that he can't survive alone like he thought, and the determination to reach greater speeds because he knows that Haruka's armor will be there to catch him just like she did when they met

All of those would have made a great finale to this arc and Top's re-introductory storyline, but for whatever reason, that's not what Tozuka decided to do. There will likely be time for Top to wrestle with his demons next chapter, and Top worrying about going all out only to be reassured by a friend who can stop him at his fastest could end up feeling like a rehash of the Creed fight, so instead Tozuka chose to give us just a little teaser for what's to come now that souls have been officially introduced into the game

Soul's discussion with Luna is both extremely cryptic and illuminating. While we now know that there's a greater gap between Sun and Luna's goals than just a difference of opinion, we are somehow less clear on her goals in the first place than we ever were before

Once again, I think we may be operating under some kind of misconception. Beast told us that the world began with only Man and Earth, that human souls were placed on Earth by God. This tells us that after the Earth was (presumably) created by Sun and Luna, they created human souls to inhabit it, and that these souls came into existence with the birth of UMA Soul

However, Soul is now telling us that his creation granted people potential. This sounds like something that would have been a subsection of UMA Change's powerset, but no, it's Soul's purview. This suggests that souls themselves may have already existed prior to the Earth's creation, but Luna introduced UMA Soul to create rules and stipulations surrounding the soul that would encourage growth

"There isn't a single Rule in this world designed to aid your survival." That's what Beast said, but Soul is making it very clear that Beast isn't as in the know as he thinks he is. It seems like Soul himself is the Rule designed to aid humanity, the Rule that allows humanity to become more than a collection of disparate spirits floating around a molten dead rock. Whether Luna always planned for humanity to overthrow Sun or she just wanted to see something more interesting, I think there's a good chance that Sun wasn't pleased with this decision

This is likely where their goals split; Sun may have decided that the world was as it should be after introducing the souls to Earth, but Luna saw no meaningful future in that state, so she created a new lifeform, the UMA, to drive an ever-evolving, more lively planet. It was then that Sun retaliated - if Luna can make Rules, so can Sun. And so he did; Death, Change, Luck, Justice, War, all were created to torment and hold back the coming advancements of the world that threatened Sun's vision of perfection. Like children playing in the schoolyard, Sun just kept making up new Rules that continuously put Luna at a disadvantage. Whether they made a formal agreement after this on how to proceed with their wager or if they already had it and Luna broke it first, we won't know for some time, but I'm getting the impression that Sun isn't as petty towards humanity as we initially thought, rather he's petty towards Luna and using them as a proxy

Also, Soul's more amenable attitude towards Fuuko suddenly makes a lot more sense when you know that he was made by Luna - ostensibly, Sun is the one who told all of the UMA he created to make humanity suffer, but if Luna created Soul, he most likely never received that order. Soul doesn't seem to be rooting for the Negators or anything, but he also doesn't seem too invested in being their enemy. What part of Sun's agenda he plays, again I don't know, but his allegiances seem pretty different from everyone else's. He's not fighting so Sun can win, but he's also clearly not giving up any ground to Luna. Perhaps it's the fact that he doesn't know Luna's plot, so he doesn't trust her or Sun and is instead fighting for the sake of his UMA brethren?

I'm really hoping we don't have to wait too long to get more info here, because Soul and Luna are suddenly waaay deeper characters than they seemed to be in the beginning

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

...

Wait, is that why he's Sun and not Sol?? So we wouldn't get Sol and Soul confused???