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writingwithfolklore · 7 months ago

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Tips for Moving Out for the First Time

I moved out of my parents house around 5 years ago and have since lived in four different apartments with four different combinations of roommates. And I’ve made a million mistakes. So if you’re thinking of moving out soon or have a move planned already, here’s just a few things you need to know:

1. Don’t mess with your lease

I cannot express this enough. The lease you sign is a serious legal contract. To break your lease is a genuinely big deal, and one that I didn’t take seriously enough in my first apartment. Listen, you may hear about your friends or other people sneaking in pets or an additional roommate that goes against what their lease says—I did this too, because people do it all the time and who cares as long as I pay rent on time? What started as my best friend and roommate bringing in her cat in our no-pets-allowed apartment ended in a very traumatic eviction, police involvement, and a permanent fissure in my friendship with my best friend.

Listen, I don’t want to scare you with all the gory details, but eviction is no small thing, and after that experience, I would never mess with my lease again. Even afterwards, I found landlords will always take the word of another landlord over yours. To get our next place we had to lie about our previous housing, give a fake name and number of our previous landlord, and in general it was incredibly difficult and stressful to get into a new place having to make up everything about our previous situation since we were in the wrong.

Please, don’t mess with your lease. The rules are the rules, and unfortunately landlords can make your life hell if you don’t follow them.

2. But seriously question it + know your tenant rights

On the topic of leases, read yours thoroughly to understand what rules are expected you follow, what it’s expected you’ll pay versus what’s included in the monthly rent, and when your contract begins and ends. Leases are packed full of important information, so don’t let anyone rush you through reading and understanding it, and it’s definitely a red flag if your landlord isn’t willing to talk or answer questions about it.

If your landlord told you that utilities are included in the rent, but your lease says it isn’t, question them! The lease is ultimately what rules you will follow, their word doesn’t mean much. If you need to change something, get it on paper, and don’t sign until you’re both happy with your contract.

Also do your research on your tenant rights in your city. What actions you can take if your landlord breaks your lease, what’s expected from your landlord in handling concerns of your suite/house, rent increases, what things a landlord can ask you about or not, and what is grounds for eviction (versus what they can't evict you for). Take notes for later in case you need them (but hopefully you won’t!)

3. Sign contracts with your roomies

I lived with a friend I kind of knew from school, my best friend, two best friends, and then a best friend and their friend, and no matter what my relationship to my roommates was, it was made 1 million percent better when we had a contract with each other, and had talked over and set specific rules for how we’d live together. People say don’t live with your best friends—I’d just say, don’t live with your best friends without a contract.

Sit down with your roomies, figure out who will do what chores and when, what the expectations are for sharing or not sharing groceries, cleaning supplies, dishes and other kitchen supplies, toilet paper, etc. etc., rules for having friends and partners over, noisiness, and any weird pet peeves you all have so you can avoid them with each other.

Put down everything you decide together on paper, and get everyone to sign it. It maybe seems extreme, but it’s better to do this right away than have to have a difficult and awkward conversation later about your roommate’s boyfriend who hasn’t gone home in three months and is driving up your grocery costs without adding anything to the household. Trust me on this one.

4. Get a job before you move out

Especially if you’re moving to a new city or far away from where you live currently, don’t assume you can move in first and then find a job later. Unless you have a lot of savings and you’re willing to lose it all if it comes to that, a job isn’t always guaranteed and rent money goes quick. To be safe and maintain trust with your landlord, job comes first.

(It’s also going to be a lot easier to get a place if you have a job first, landlords always ask about your work and earnings each month to make sure you’re a reliable tenant.)

I have a lot of experience in moving and finding apartments so if you want some more specific tips about actually getting a place, roommates, or anything else about the moving out process I’m happy to answer questions as best as I can! Just send em to my inbox or in the comment.

#writing community #life advice #moving out advice #tips for moving out for the first time

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cryptwrites · 2 years ago

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Poisons

Hello! I'm gonna share how I go about writing poisons and the things I think are helpful to keep in mind. Now, I have never actually poisoned someone - shocker - but I have done extensive research on the topic, so I would say I know a decent amount about how to effectively poison someone. Disclaimer: This is for writing purposes only, don't poison people. Thanks.

Keep In Mind:

Poisoners need little to no physical strength although they do need a strong sense of self control & nerves of steel. Shooting or stabbing someone takes a mere moment of consideration and is frequently the result of a split second decision, while position requires dedication. Many poisons require a certain amount of time to work and the poisoner usually must administer several doses of poison in order to work. The poisoner also usually must be within close proximity to their victim and often will have to look them in the eye and engage with the person while the person slowly dies.

Exotic poisons can be more trouble than they’re worth. Importing exotic poisons leaves a trail for authorities to follow, and they require more research to correctly use.

Smart poisoners work with what they’ve got. The clever killer looks for drugs that are already in the victim’s medicine cabinet and that could be deadly. Read medical warning labels to get an idea of how to use them.

Poison can be used in ways that aren’t deadly. If the goal isn’t death, you can render someone dizzy or dopey, making a character vulnerable to a bad influence.

Common Poisons

Hemlock: Poison hemlock comes from a large fern-like plant that bears a dangerous resemblance to the carrot plant. It was readily available for treating muscle spasms, ulcers, and swelling, but in large doses will cause paralysis and ultimately respiratory failure.

Mandrake: It was used as a sedative, hallucinogen and aphrodisiac. Superstition mediaeval denizens believes when the vaguely human-shaped root was pulled out that plant gave a piercing shriek that would drive anyone to madness or death - hence the harry potter scene.

Arsenic: Arsenic comes from a metalloid and not a plant, unlike the others but it’s easily the most famous and is still used today. instead of being distilled from a plant, chunks of arsenic and dug up or mined. It was once used as a treatment for STDs , and also for pest control and blacksmiths, which was how many poisoners got access to it. It was popular in the Renaissance since it looked similar to malaria death, due to acute symptoms including stomach cramps, confusion, convulsions, vomiting and death. Slow poisoning looked more like a heart attack.

Nightshade: A single leaf or a few berries could cause hallucinations - a few more was a lethal dose. Mediaeval women used the juice of the berries to colour their cheeks, they would even put a few drops on their eyes to cause the pupils to dilate for a lovestruck look which is why Nightshade is also called ‘Belladonna’ or “Beautiful woman.” The symptoms include dilated pupils, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, tachycardia, loss of balance, staggering, headache, rash, flushing, severely dry mouth and throat, slurred speech, urinary retention, constipation, confusion, hallucinations, delirium and convulsions.

Aconite: This toxic plant, also called Monkshood or Wolfsbane, was used by indigenous tribes around the world as arrow poison. The root is the most potent for distillation. Marked symptoms may appear almost immediately, usually not later than one hour, and with large doses death is near instantaneous. The initial signs are gastrointestinal including nausea, and vomiting. This is followed by a sensation of burning, tingling, and numbness in the mouth and face, and of burning in the abdomen. In severe poisonings pronounced motor weakness occurs and sensations of tingling and numbness spread to the limbs. The plant should be handled with gloves, as the poison can seep into the skin.

If someones poisoning another:

The character should analyse the daily life of the target well before attempting to poison them. Note what sort of medicines they take, at what moments they are most vulnerable, how attentive they are to their surroundings, and so on.

Choose a poison that suits your needs. You need to be as discreet as possible and not arouse suspicion. Too dramatic and people will know something is up. Choose poisons that are easy to slip into meals/don't have to be administered constantly, or you could simply frame it as an overdose by using the target's own medicines.

Think of how you want to administer the poison. Some take effect through touch while some require being swallowed. Based on that, come up with a plan to poison your target.

Make sure everything corresponds with the plot and characters, and nothing becomes a plot hole. Don't have a typically nervous character be perfectly calm when thinking of poisoning. Don't poison someone just for the sake of it. Have everything tie back to the plot, your characters rarely should be poisonings someone just for the "cool" effect. Trust me, it doesn't actually have that effect and just comes off like lazy writing. Have your characters act in accordance with their personalities.

Research time periods and history when choosing poisons. Not all poisons were popular during the same time periods, and not all of them are native to the same geographical areas.

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blessedarethebinarybreakers · 5 months ago

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Hey, this is going to be long and wordy but I’m kinda desperate. Lately I’ve been having doubts about whether Jesus actually said what’s recorded in the gospels and whether those accounts are true, and the uncertainty there scares me, especially since I know the gospel writers almost certainly had their own agendas and that’s why accounts of the same event can sound different, why the birth narrative was skipped over or not, etc. On top of that I’ve seen posts from Jewish users outlining why Judaism typically doesn’t accept Jesus as Messiah/why you can’t be Jewish if you believe that, and their arguments seem pretty sound. So it all boils down to this big scary question of “What if this whole Jesus-as-Messiah thing was just the result of projection onto some random guy who seemed to be the real deal because the writers were so desperate to be rescued from the Roman occupation?” It sucks cuz I’ve been enjoying my renewed interest in church (for the most part) and while I’ve tried my best to learn not to take the Bible literally all the time (yay for growing up in an inerrantist doctrinal tradition 🙄), I still want to take it seriously and I still want to believe in Jesus as savior/Lord/etc. I don’t want to just be like, “Yeah I don’t buy the whole Messiah thing but I can still follow his example!” I want there to be meat behind why I follow, if that makes sense. So inasmuch as this could be my OCD being bored and trying to take hold of whatever it thinks would bug me the most (wouldn’t be the first time!), I would really appreciate any advice you have. I know there may not be any certainty or reassurance to be found here, but I still want to hear from someone who’s been there before so I can chart a path forward, and I think this is an important question to wrestle with. Plus I remember from one of your posts you said you have seminary notes on this exact topic so I’m curious lol.

"Gospel Truth": how do we know what Jesus really said and did?

Hey again! Sorry for the long delay on this one but I wanted to do some research before responding! You're right that these are important questions, and you're absolutely not the only one to feel doubt and anxiety over them. You're also right that I can't offer you certainty, but I do hope you'll find encouragement here, and places to go as you continue your journey.

This got super long (as always lol), so let's start with aTL;DR:

In this post, you'll find that there's a lot that we can surmise is very probable about Jesus' life story, but that ultimately we can't know much for certain — and that's okay. In Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions), Rachel Held Evans gets to the heart of the matter:

"I don’t know which Bible stories ought to be treated as historically accurate, scientifically provable accounts of facts and which stories are meant to be metaphorical. I don’t know if it really matters so long as those stories transform my life."

This is a time where scholarship & faith go hand-in-hand: using the minds God gifted us, we study and learn what we can; and we cultivate faith in the things we can't — a faith that doesn't deny doubt, but makes room for it, and calls us into community so that we can wrestle out meaning together.

A couple other notes before we kick off:

Please know that you don't Have To Study All The Things if you decide it's healthier for you not to go chasing those rabbit holes. You don't need to be an expert in Biblical studies to be a "good Christian" or to take scripture seriously or to get to know God deeply.

I trust you know yourself and how your OCD works better than I could. So I'm going to share the information I have, and leave it to you to determine for yourself how much information you need in order to feel reassured, without giving your mind new problems to ruminate over.

So here's a link to a Google doc that has A Lot of information — like, too much lol. But save it for after you read this post; I'm putting the most relevant & important info here! If you finish this post and feel satisfied, you never even have to look in the doc.

However deep you go, if you find yourself getting overwhelmed, know that whatever you are feeling is valid and probably pretty common, and take a break! Do a calming meditation or an activity you enjoy to help regulate your mind and body. If possible, have someone you can unpack this stuff with — or have a notebook ready to journal in. <3

Okay, all that outta the way, let's dig in!

Who wrote the Gospels?

Tradition goes that the authors of the four canonical Gospels are three of Jesus' closest disciples — Matthew, Mark, and John — plus a disciple of Paul — Luke. But academics have determine that this tradition is very improbable; it's much more likely that none of the four authors knew Jesus personally, and that the earliest of them (Mark) wasn't recorded till the 60s — decades after Jesus lived and died!

When people learn this, it often leads to something of a crisis of faith. If these writers didn't even know Jesus firsthand, where the heck did they get their information?? And come to think of it, why do their accounts differ? Is some of it made up? Is all of it made up??

The anxiety and fear that wells up is normal, and it's healthy to acknowledge that you're feeling it. But once that first shock abates, it's possible to discover a sort of freedom in the knowledge that the Gospel writers (and all the authors of the biblical texts) were human, with human biases and specific goals fitting their unique context; and that they didn't have all the answers!

This realization can free us to approach scripture without certain expectations (that it's all inerrant and prescriptive, etc.), and allows us to bring our doubts to the table with us. If something in the text seems questionable — particularly if it seems to promote bigotry and injustice rather than God's love — we can consider whether something in its author's cultural context might be responsible for that part of scripture.

So taking some time to learn the unique contexts of each writer can be quite enriching to how we engage the Gospels. For a chart that sums up the Gospel writers' unique contexts, audiences, and priorities, see this post.

For even more, you'll want a book that digs into that stuff — I recommend Raymond Brown's An Introduction to the New Testament (the abridged version!!). As you learn about the Gospel writers, I hope several things become evident:

First, that they weren't just making things up whole cloth, or relying on a game of "he said she said" telephone for their information! Each one drew from different primary or secondary sources, eyewitness testimonies or written texts (many of which no longer exist, but scholars have pieced together evidence of, like the famous "Q source" that both Matthew and Luke drew from).

Yes, each author does have an agenda in writing about Jesus, and in how they tell his story. But that's not a nefarious thing; it's true of any text, whether biography, poetry, novel, song — you don't take the time to write something without a purpose in mind! With variation between their specific goals, overall each Gospel writer's agenda was to persuade their audience that Jesus is worth following, and/or to offer encouragement to those who already believed.

Another thing that modern readers sometimes interpret as intentionally deceptive is that, yeah, the Gospels contain things that aren't strictly factual, and that the writers knew weren't strictly factual. This is because ancient ideas about history & biography are very different from our own. When we read a biography, we expect it to be all facts, with citations proving those facts. But the ancients were much less concerned with making sure every detail was accurate; instead, they were focused on making their specific point about whatever thing or person they were writing/reading about. So yes, they might embellish one detail or leave out another in order to fortify their desired message. They cared more about the Truth as they interpreted it than a purely factual account.

On a similar note, each Gospel writer understands Jesus and the meaning behind his story a little differently — hence why they all tell things in slightly different orders, and characterize Jesus differently, etc. This is also understandable — we all interpret stories differently; we all come to different conclusions even when we have the same or similar information. See the section in the google doc titled "each Gospel's essence" to learn more about the different ways each writer characterizes Jesus, and why they may have interpreted him the way they did.

On that topic, let's get to your question about...

Jesus — Messiah, or no?

If you read the Gospel of Matthew and take it as pure fact, you'll determine that Jesus is the Messiah his people were waiting for — that he did indeed fulfill various scriptures. But if you read Mark, you won't find that argument at all! To the author of Mark, Jesus clearly did not match the stipulations of the awaited-for Messiah — and for Mark, that's kinda the point: that Jesus is something new and surprising, unlike anything human beings expected, upturning our ideas of power and salvation.

...So how did they come to these vastly different views??

Well, Matthew was a Jew writing to persuade his fellow Jews that the Jesus movement was worth joining; to do so, he felt he had to "prove" that it fit into Jewish tradition. So he prioritizes showing how Jesus is a righteous Jew who abides by Torah, and that he is indeed the Messiah they've been waiting for.

(It's also worth noting that when Matthew writes, over and over, about Jesus "fulfilling" various bits of Hebrew scripture, that verb "fulfilling" doesn't mean what it might sound like to us — that a given text was always and only about Jesus, with the prophet having Jesus in mind when they wrote it. Rather, to Matthew "fulfilling" the text meant "filling it up" with more meaning — adding to its meaning, not replacing the old meaning. More on that, with citations, in the Google doc.)

Meanwhile, Mark's author was a Jew writing mostly to gentile members of the early Jesus movement. He knew they wouldn't care whether or not Jesus fit the Jewish expectations for a Messiah! (In fact, giving Jesus a bit more of a "Greek" flair would appeal to them more.) So Mark doesn't perform the mental and rhetorical gymnastics that Matthew does to try to make Jesus fit the Messiah requirements.

So which Gospel got it right?

For many matters of scripture, I say "it's open to interpretation!" or "Maybe both are right in different ways, conveying different truths!" But for this particular case, it is very important as Christians to accept that Jesus absolutely does not fit the Jewish requirements for their Messiah. To argue otherwise is antisemitic — it's supersessionist, meaning it claims that Christianity supersedes or replaces Judaism.

We might understand, as the author of Mark did, Jesus to be a messiah — which just means "anointed one" in Hebrew (the Greek counterpart is "Christ") — without making antisemitic claims that Jews "failed to recognize their own Messiah." (In fact, there are multiple messiahs in scripture, e.g. in Isaiah 45, the foreign king Cyrus is referred to as God's messiah; though later scriptures like Daniel do start talking about a specific Messiah who will usher in redemption & a new age for the Jewish people.)

We can understand why some of the biblical authors, like Matthew, interpreted Jesus as this specific Messiah as a result of their own specific context, without agreeing with their view. See this post about “Anti-Jewish Content in the New Testament: Why it’s there and what we should do about it” for more on this important topic. (You can also find even further resources on supersessionism in this post.)

...Okay, so we've looked at the authors of the Gospels a good bit. We've learned that their idea of a "biography" is very different from ours — that they didn't consider it bad to rearrange, leave out, or embellish accounts — but what does that leave us with when it comes to knowing who Jesus "really" was?

What can we know for sure about Jesus?

Let's look at the facts. The first one is: we don't have any. Not any 100% certain ones, anyway. The guy lived before audio recorders and cameras; we're relying on written and oral accounts, which can be fabricated.

However, there are points about the Jesus story that are regarded as almost certainly historical by the vast majority of historians today, so let's look at those first:

Jesus almost 100% certainly existed. There is enough historical evidence (both inside and outside the Bible) to confirm this — even non-Christian historians almost unanimously agree that there was a historical Jesus. (Phew, am I right?)

Almost all historians also agree that several parts of Jesus' story almost definitely happened: that he was baptized in the Jordan; that he traveled around teaching and offering miracles (whether or not they agree he actually had the power to perform real miracles, of course); and that he was arrested and crucified by the occupying Roman Empire.

Some of these almost-irrefutable claims lend plausibility to others: if he traveled around teaching, what was he teaching? Why not the sermons, the parables recorded in the Gospels? And if he was crucified — the death of a criminal, an insurrectionist — what did he do to get himself crucified? He must have done something to cause Rome to see him as a threat to their Empire — why not some of the sayings and actions that are recorded in the Gospels, like his claim to be "Son of God" (a title used for Caesar); his protest march into Jerusalem satirizing Caesar; and his disruption at the Temple?

The attempt to determine which parts of scripture are "authentic," i.e. things that really happened / things Jesus really said," is often called "The Quest for the Historical Jesus."

Over the decades, scholars interested in this pursuit have developed various "criteria of authenticity," which they use to try to determine how probable any given bit of the Gospels is. In the google doc, I summarize the history of this "quest" and describe some of the most popular criteria. But what's important to understand is that these criteria have major limitations — they're often applied somewhat arbitrarily, for one thing, and ultimately they can't "prove" for sure whether something in the text is definitely historical or definitely not. So honestly, this is not a field of study that I recommend everyone go immerse themselves in! When I do, I have fun for a while, then kinda end up more overwhelmed by how much we can't know.

Still, sometimes these criteria of authenticity do yield some interesting points. For instance, the "Criteria of Embarrassment" (yes, that's what it's called lol) asserts that anything in the text that would have been embarrassing to its author is more likely to be historical fact — because why would the author have made something up that puts them in an unflattering light, or might be used to argue against their message?

For example, a lot of Gospel stories depict Jesus' disciples being kinda clueless, or saying petty things, or failing miserably (e.g. the denial of Peter). Why would the Gospel authors have wanted to make these earliest believers, who are meant to be role models for their audience, look so bad? This criterion says that wouldn't — that they must include those stories because they really happened, rather than being things the author made up to make their point.

Or take the Criterion of Multiple Attestation, which determines how many sources include a certain saying or event. The more sources contain a specific story, the more plausibly "authentic" that story is, since it means that different unconnected communities knew that story. Logical enough.

So yes, there are ways to consider the historicity of the Gospels — but not definitively. So the question becomes: is the historical knowledge we do have enough for me to feel some level of, I don't know, peace? stability in my faith?

And, at the end of the day, how important to me is it that every single thing the Gospels say is completely factual?

Back to what matters: the Good News

Facts are great — God gifted us our minds, and various scripture stories show God encourages us to wrestle with the text! — but we are called to faith as well.

Furthermore, taking the Bible seriously means accepting it for what it is — a collection of ancient texts compiled by humans, even if guided by Divinity — rather than insisting it be what it is not. For the Gospels, that means accepting that they are not biography, but story, and prioritize Truth over fact.

My pastor friend Roger puts it like this:

“For me, it isn’t about deciding which things Jesus really said or didn’t say. That’s a road that goes nowhere. As a pastoral response, I take scripture at face value and work to empathize with the people in and behind the text. Through that empathy, I can find some meaning that connects with what we’re facing here and now.”

When we acknowledge that the Bible includes human interpretations of the Divine, and that we bring our own human interpretations to our reading of it, where does that leave us?

It leaves us in need of conversation, of an expansion of our perspectives by talking through scripture in community. We do that conversing with friends, or attending Bible studies at church, or reading a variety of theological texts — getting as many unique understandings of Jesus as we can, joining our ideas together to get an ever broader glimpse of the Divine.

There's a reason Jesus taught in parables: he didn't want there to be one definitive answer to matters of life and faith! He wanted to ignite conversation, to draw us into community — because it's in community that we are the image of God, the Body of Christ.

So keep on wrestling, wondering, talking it through (taking time to rest when needed — there's no rush!). We discover scripture's meaning for us in our own place and time through the wrestling, together.

#reading and studying the bible #bible tag #the quest for the historical jesus #gospels #historical criticism #biblical criticism #essays #i didn't do a great job of citing all my sources in this post -- for citations go to the google doc!#there's a list of further reading at the top of the doc too btw

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risuola · 1 year ago

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I — A PRINCESS // F. READER x TOBIRAMA SENJU

There wasn't much that Tobirama wouldn't agree to do in order to keep the village he loves safe and strong, so it didn't take him long to agree to an arranged marriage that was meant to give Konoha a valuable ally.

contents: no specific warnings. slight objectifying of women, underage marriages mentioned, arranged marriage duh — 3,4k words

POLITICALLY LOVELESS || SERIES MASTERLIST

When Hashirama informed about the newest political arrangement that was already set and decided, Tobirama couldn’t disagree to fulfill his duties. As the fresh settlement between Konoha and the neighbor village of the land of Hot Water bloomed, it was required to join forces with them. In order to ensure peaceful co-existing and gain protection from the Land of Fire, Yugakure offered their princess. The Kage, Minozuki of the small, but powerful clan Yasu, as a sign of ultimate unition let go of his daughter to marriage, but demanded a husband of the highest rank for her. Joining forces with the village of hot springs made a direct impact on Konoha’s forces, as the shinobi from the smaller nation were well seasoned in war, for years offering their combat-related services, taking part in many conflicts. Knowing the importance of matter, in time where wars were hanging in the air, Hashirama agreed to the requirements, offering the highest available individual for the princess. His brother.

Tobirama was always convinced he’ll end up in loveless, political marriage, as love and affection were things he couldn’t afford. He had his hands full in the village, making sure every decision made was the best one possible. He was the brain of Konoha, taking care of politics, formalities, negotiations and on top of that, he was a curious and ambitious man, so every time he had spared, he used to develop new techniques, research topics that he deemed interesting and resting. When the idea of arranged marriage with a foreign princess was brought up to him, he agreed with no further discussion, unbothered by the thought of now sharing his life with someone. A princess.

Whilst traveling to Yugakure to meet Minozuki and to take his daughter away from him, Tobirama took time to refresh everything he knew about the village of hot springs. It made for a small dot on the map, but their shinobi were one of the best: skillful, all-rounded ninjas that took part in conflicts that Senju fought in as well and Tobirama could recall few of those that stood with him side by side, facing dangers that frightened others away. Having a diplomatic conciliation with them was highly beneficial to Konoha and silently he was proud of Hashirama for making such a great deal, politically speaking. But besides that, Tobirama was also aware of a culture and traditions that Yugakure cultivated for decades now, that he found odd enough to feel uneasy at the thought of marrying one of them. A princess. Being a man so informed, so engrossed in research and so hungry for knowledge, the young Senju had never even heard about Minozuki having a daughter. She was well hidden for many years and it was troublesome enough to make him worried about the age of said princess. Yu leader was relatively a young man, by the looks of him, so his daughter could possibly be any age and although it wasn’t uncommon for males to tie with underage wives, for Tobirama it was troublesome. With Hashirama he had fought for years to let children be children and give them time to grow before they face adult responsibilities.

Arriving at the gates, the young Senju was escorted into the palace in the middle of the village. The place was warm and welcoming, but he knew that the smiles plastered on everyone’s faces as he was passing by them were artificial. Given five hours to rest after travel, Tobirama changed his clothes and familiarized himself with the details of agreement, searching for any clue about the mysterious princess. A princess. It told him just enough to know she’s a female, but he would like to know more. It wasn’t necessary for the political issue for him to know the person he marries, but his curiosity was unfulfilled. Tobirama was a man that liked to be informed about every detail possible and if there was no one who could explain things to him, he would do his own research on the matter. This princess wasn’t a matter that could be researched as there are no traces of Minozuki even having a partner, not to say a child.

Feeling the heavy tension in his shoulders, Tobirama sat down on the pillow cushioned floor, facing the leader of Yugakure. The man situated in front of him had a slight smile glued to his face, being visibly proud of the deal he managed to get with Konoha, but no princess was around him. As the maids spread down various snacks on the short table between them, following closely with a porcelain tea set that was soon filled with greenest tea Senju had ever seen, the meeting was cued.

“I hope your travel was eventless, lord Senju,” Minozuki said, beginning with trivial questions to loosen up the tension buildup in the air. “How was your arrival? I delegated my best soldiers to escort you.”

“The travel was calm,” Tobirama spoke, internally hating the plain talk. “Thank you, I was welcomed well.”

“I’m glad. I’ve already expressed my gratitude towards the Lord First, regarding the agreement that we managed to reach but I feel obliged to also show my deepest respects towards you. As you might know, I’m offering my dearest daughter to the marriage and I can only hope she’ll meet all your needs and desires.”

“I hoped to meet your daughter here, before I take her tomorrow to Konoha.” The Senju spoke, already hating the way Minozuki voiced his statements. He was offering the daughter like he would offer a blanket – golden, but blanket nonetheless – hoping it’ll meet the requirements.

“My daughter is attending her last traditional lecture with elders before leaving the village and moving to the Land of Fire, but I can assure you, Lord Senju, that my daughter is pleasing to the eye. I made sure she remained as pure as possible for her future husband. I’m sure she’ll be done before we finish revisiting the details and then, I’ll invite her here.”

“That would be appreciated.”

If Tobirama was to point red flags, Minozuki would be the biggest and reddest one in the entire proximity of Konoha but Senju was aware of traditions and rituals Yugakure cultivted for decades, so he couldn’t question them too much. If anything, he was worried about tearing the princess out of the world full of said habits. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, Tobirama spent nearly three hours talking with the kage of Yu, making the most out of his diplomatic skills and making sure no misunderstandings were left hanging, as he wasn’t present in the initial conversation between Yasu and Hashirama. Everything that needed to be said and discussed, regarding the formal procedures was covered during that meeting and when it was coming to an end, one of the servants entered the room, bowing lowly and apologizing for interruption.

“Is my daughter finished with elders?” Minozuki asked and the servant confirmed. “Please bring her in. Lord Senju wishes to meet her.”

With another bow, the man left and a mid-aged woman entered, leading another, much younger girl. A girl, that Tobirama assumed was the mysterious princess, was dressed in a simple, dark kimono with bright flowers embroidered on the bottom and fading the higher they reached, with sleeves long enough to hide her hands completely and with another layer of fabric, that covered her chest up to her jaw. Minozuki raised up and so did Tobirama, as the father approached his daughter, leading her a little further into the room. When they were close enough, she bowed ninety degrees and sat down on her knees next to the kage, after both men situated themselves back on their seats. The princess. You.

Looking at you, Senju couldn’t focus on anything other than the black strip of satin fabric that was tied around your eyes.

“You probably wonder, why would I keep my own daughter blindfolded,” Yu leader noticed the interest. “As I reassured you before, the princess has been kept pure, protected from the shameless men that arrive at our village to enjoy the hot waters. I did everything to keep her out of foul experiences.”

“I see,” Tobirama nodded slightly, understanding nothing from the tradition that was presented to him. You were quiet and by the look of your body-form, slightly tensed as your father kept his iron grip on your forearm, claiming his control over you. From what Senju could see, you were quite tall but petite in figure, with the length of your hair unknown as they were neatly tied at the back of your head in a low bun. Your skin was clear and supple but nothing more than that he could tell. Your face remained a mystery, due to half of it being covered and it didn’t truly matter how his wife would look like but it would for sure give him a little clue about your age. Without it, he could only assume you were in your teens or, preferably, early twenties, judging by the curves that your kimono accentuated. “May I ask how old is your daughter?”

With the most disgusting smile Tobirama had ever seen in his life, Minozuki responded redundantly, “she’s old enough to fulfill her duties. I can assure you, Lord Senju, you won’t be disappointed by the transaction. Now, as our discussion has been completed, I’d love to give my daughter the last lecture before her departure but if that’s what you’d wish for, I’m willing to send her to the chamber you’re staying in at night.”

“We’re set to leave early in the morning so I’d prefer to have her well rested. The walk is quite long.”

“As you wish, Lord Senju. My servants will lead you to your staying chamber.”

With a firm handshake, the meeting ended and you were taken away as Tobirama was walked to his room, confused as ever. He had been offered many women during the short time since Konoha has been established, which all of them he had to reject simply because of lack of the benefit to the village but this… you. You were such a mystery to him, with no face, no voice, no signs of personality. You were kept hidden as gem by your village, but Senju wasn’t stupid. With his exceptional sensing abilities, he felt the chakra that was hidden inside that petite frame, he felt the captivating mixture of light and darkness filling every cell of your body, he felt the power of which one would never suspect you just by glancing at you. It was well known the Yasu clan in which you were born is powerful and it’s only right to assume you, as the successor, are powerful as well. Hashirama even told him, that in his initial conversation he was made aware of the training that the princess had to go through to be worthy of her position.

With the thought of how many changes he’s probably not ready for are coming, Tobirama tried to rest at night. Being bothered five times by the maids and servants wasn’t benefiting his sleep, but he pushed through the night hours, overthinking every single one of his life decisions. Yes, he was ready for marriage that’s purely political and yes, he’s more than alright with it being loveless. Hashirama had the luck to marry Mito Uzumaki, that although it was more on the arranged side, they fell in love and created a happy couple for which Tobirama couldn’t be happier. His brother deserved a good family, he needed someone who could cherish him and his angelic character, his loving heart, his kind intentions and Mito checked all of the boxes, with the addition of having enough power to proudly stand next to the hokage. When it came to himself, Tobirama knew his partner would have to be higher-rank to keep the appearances but he couldn’t imagine himself being all lovey-dovey with anyone. With so much war tattooed in his memory, so many losses and so much blood, his emotions were buried deep inside of him but he enjoyed the calm that his home is and this calm was about to end.

Early in the morning, he got ready and led by a servant he met Minozuki at the gates to Yugakure. He was there, with you by his side, controllingly keeping his grip on your arm as your eyes were kept covered. You were dressed less formally but still far from travel ready, in long dress with a high collar and a black blouse underneath, so your arms were covered. Everything was kept in dark navy color that complimented your skin tone and hair. It was also a shade that Tobirama himself felt the best in and he wondered if they chose your attire based on that.

“Lord Senju,” he welcomed and you bent in half, bowing with excessive respect that was forced upon you. It was clear that it was your father who pushed you lower than you’d probably go by yourself. With a soft nod, Tobirama acknowledged the head of the village, addressing him officially. “I’m devoting my beloved daughter to your hands in hopes for her safety and our successful cooperation.”

“I will make sure to send a notice when we arrive in Konoha.”

“That would earn you my endless gratitude. Sadly, I won’t be able to attend the wedding ceremony but I hope you’ll visit our land soon, to celebrate the marriage in our wonderful hot springs.”

“If the duties allow. Now, it’s best if we take off already. Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Pleasure’s on our side.”

With the exchange of bows and the short goodbye you said to your father, you left the village, led by Tobirama’s hand placed delicately on your shoulder. The Senju decided to keep the blindfold on for a little longer, until the gates closed and then he stopped you.

“Excuse me if I sound disrespectful towards your traditions, but I find this ridiculous,” he informed bluntly and pulled the band off your head, finally revealing your face. “You can open your eyes and talk.”

It took you a moment to accommodate your eyes to the bright morning sunlight. “I find this ridiculous as well,” you said quietly, finally raising your eyes to look at the man you were given to. From the deep voice you expected someone older, but as you took in his features, you could tell he was in his mid to late twenties. He looked stunning in the morning sunrays with his pale complexion marked with three thin, red lines; his light, almost white hair and long, sharp eyes. Way taller than you, strongly built, he looked almost godly in the early aura of the day. You bowed to him already, but as you saw him for the first time, you felt the need to lower your head once more. “It’s an honor to meet you, my Lord.”

“Your father refers to you as his daughter or the princess. Could I know your name?”

“My name is y/n. Y/n Yasu.”

“Tobirama Senju,” he introduced himself, slightly relieved you were not so strictly tied by tradition as you seemed before. “I’ve noticed your father is quite… protective towards you.”

“If by protective, the controlling is meant then yes, I would say it might be true,” you gave the thought a slight nod and both of you moved forward.

“I see. Well, we have a long walk ahead of us, so if you have any questions that would be the best time to ask them. Tomorrow we will be a husband and wife and after that, I’m afraid I’ll be consumed by my duties.”

“I’ve been told that you are busy in the village. I’ll do my best to not interfere with your duties, my Lord,” you said and thought about the questions you had. There were so many things that you had no idea how to even ask about. Last thing you wanted to do right after meeting him was to annoy him. “Could you tell me what is your role in Konoha?”

“I’d say I’m the voice of reason to my brother, Hashirama, who is the hokage. I take care of diplomacy, negotiations, I’m part-taking in decisions and I do research on the art of ninjutsu or train,” Tobirama said bluntly and you nodded, understanding his role as the right hand to hokage was indeed important. You could also already tell, Tobirama wasn’t the warmest of a person, by the way he spoke and looked at you, it was clear that marriage is one of his duties and he treated it strictly as one. That hinted a loveless, lonely life.

“I would like to know the history that stands behind founding Konoha, so if that’s something you, or someone else, could familiarize me with, I’d be grateful.”

“There are documents on that matter in my, no, in our home that you’ll be more than welcome to read,” he said, smiling slightly, pleased with your curiosity of his homeland. You were, after all, meant to represent it, to protect it, to fight for it and, if necessary, to die for it. That was what his wife was required to represent – the love to the village he loves.

“That would be wonderful,” you smiled as well and sighed right after, deciding to ask questions that were important to you, risking his annoyance. “Am I allowed to touch you?”, questioning it you expected a scoff, but were met with quiet hum that told you to extend on the topic. “I’m by no means clingy, don’t misunderstand me, my Lord. But I was told by people around whom I’ve been raised that my love language is physical contact. I wouldn’t want to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“I see. Well, we will be husband and wife tomorrow and I would only assume it comes with its delicacies. Although I find it hard to answer as of right now.”

“Understood,” you nodded, taking a mental note to stay cautious. “In that case, if I do anything you find uncomfortable, please inform me so I can act on it.”

“Of course.”

“Ah yes, I recall you asking about my age,” you reminded yourself, replaying the short conversation you’ve witnessed the day before. “Is that something that still interests you, my Lord?”

“Yes. The information was kept hidden and that concerns me. You do look young and it is known that what me and my brother wanted to achieve was letting children live their lives as children, before they face adult duties. Saying that, it only worries me that you might be younger than I’d want my wife to be.”

Chuckling quietly, you felt the weight dropping off your shoulders. Ever since you were informed about the marriage, your father assumed the younger you are, the better for a man that was about to marry you. You were told to present yourself as sixteen to seventeen, which was the smallest number believable with your youthful looks. In Yugakure it wasn’t a foreign concept to girl being given up to marriage even at the age of thirteen and Minozuki assumed, and even openly told you, you’re too old to find yourself a husband.

“Is there something funny?”, Tobirama asked seeing your amusement and you shook your head.

“I apologize, my Lord,” you lowered your head slightly, showing respect. “I was instructed to say I just turned sixteen in assumption that the younger I am, the more attractive you might find me. It’s well practiced in my land to arrange marriages at very young age for females. We have girls as young as fourteen to give birth to their first child.”

“That’s what I heard as well, hence my worry.”

“I’m 21. Is that closer to what you’d expect your wife to be?”

“So, five years age gap. Sounds reasonable. I’m relieved.”

“I’m glad. I have no muscle memory to act sixteen and by the few moments I now spent with you, I can tell you’d find it annoying, wouldn’t you, my Lord?”, asking that, you already knew the answer even if he wasn’t going to say it out loud.

“By this pace, we’ll reach Konoha by evening,” he said after a moment of silence, internally annoyed by the slow walk. On his way towards Yugakure, he managed to reach the village in just few hours and now it seemed like a waste of time to just walk slowly on the ground. There was a wedding tomorrow and he needed to fill few formalities by the ceremony. “Would you mind if I use my technique to get us faster into the village?”

“Please,” you agreed, aware of his reputation for speed.

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lynnlyrae · 3 months ago

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The Devil, the Scientist, and the Most Beautiful Creature

This is my attempt to analyze the connection between the Teacher, Faustina and Luna through the lenses of Goethe’s “Faust” and determine the origins of the “cursed moon twins”. There’s also alchemy.

This text will consist of four parts. And yes. It is long. Reader, you are warned.

Enjoy!

PART ONE: PARACELSUS, THE FATHER OF BABEL

What do we know about Paracelsus:

Lived in 15-16 centuries;

Was a scientist;

His actions led to the Babel Incident.

The real world Paracelsus was “the father of toxicology”, our Paracelsus is The Shapeless One. Alright, this is a bold statement, but why not.

The twin six-pointed stars above Paracelsus head (Ch. 7) have always stood out to me. Guess who else has exactly same two six-pointed stars as well? Teacher/Saint Germain (Ch. 55)!

Some other similar motives:

Paracelsus’ face is always obscured, we never see his eyes, only vague shadows. Teacher’s face was always drawn without eyes before the Big Reveal Moment in Ch. 55. He’s also known to frequently change his name and appearance, to the point where it’s not always possible to determine whether one’ve met him before (Vanitas has met him in another form, but has no idea when and how it happened).

Paracelsus wanted to save the world from sufferings and guide people to happiness (Ch. 7). He also assembled a team of scientists to conduct a research. Teacher/Saint Germain is referred to as savior by Misha, and he also saved Noé from human traffickers. He also claims his ultimate goal is world peace (Ch. 61). But the goal is shared with someone (he says “our” wish specifically).

And honestly, their vibes just fit so well. Paracelsus and Saint Germain, two mysterious figures who are renowned scientists and alchemists with ambiguous lore — why wouldn’t they be the same person?

Since I want to use “Faust” as base for analysis, let’s assign him a role – Mephistopheles. I mean, just look at this (Ch. 61). It’s as devilish as it can get! The free force in s shape of a fine gentleman that ultimately creates destruction.

Mephistopheles also claims to be an observer:

“I’m so involved with Man’s wretched ways,

I’ve even stopped plaguing them, myself, these days”.

And look how well it fits to Teacher, who left the Court to enjoy his little things in a secluded mansion (manipulating kids and raising pawns) and also claims to be an observer!

Alright, I’d like to keep this part short because my main focus here is Faustina-Luna situation, so let’s move on. We’ll get more bits of this manfailure there anyway.

PART TWO: FAUSTINA, THE QUEEN OF THE RED MOON

What do we know about Faustina:

she’s a Queen and the first vampire of red moon to ever exist, while Teacher was by her side the longest;

she has a special power to control other vampires as herself, not as Naenia;

she’s mostly active as Naenia and was likely cursed in 17 century;

there are two physical bodies that are stated or hinted to be her: one in her bedroom in Carbunclus castle and one in Ruthven’s lab.

Now let’s take a look at Faustina’s bodies (Ch. 13, Ch. 26). I briefly mentioned in one of my recent posts that I think Faustina changed bodies at least once, possibly due to them being damaged by curse. I believe these pics support this idea: the body in the castle looks like that of an adult person, with limbs and fingers much longer than those of the body that was seen in Ruthven’s lab and reacted to Naenia’s name (Chloe also summoned Faustina in the same body of a young girl).

Additionally, when Ruthven talks about her connection with Saint Germain, she is portrayed as having adult-like proportions (Ch. 19). And when Naenia takes more human-like shape, it also has adult-like proportions (Ch. 9). So I think she was cursed as an adult, and her original body is the one in the bedroom, but her soul went from one vessel to another, while her cursed form remained more like her original body.

While we are on the topic of bodies, I’m going to show you this. Thankfully, the moment when Luka stayed at Faustina’s bedside wasn’t omitted from the anime — and the queen’s skin looks quite the same color as Luna’s. I’m not sure what to do with this information yet, but it creates another link between them. It’s quite interesting that Faustina’s corrupted form looks a lot like Luna’s normal form.

Ok now that I’m done with this idea, let’s move on to something more interesting: Faustina’s role in the story.

Right now her position is not really active: she steals true names as part of the Charlatan, but it’s unlikely that she in control of the organisaton (at least in present time), and Ruthven leads it. She obviously can’t fulfill her duties as a Queen either: they’re taken over the Senate (which again includes Ruthven) and a puppet-on-the-throne Luka (who is, again, under Ruthven’s control. Ruthven, what kind of power play is that?).

But I think it’s wasn’t always like this. After all, she was an absolute monarch with magical power to make every vampire fall to her feet! And, well, she had to do something even before that, right?

I believe that prior to becoming a vampire she was involved in Paracelsus’ research, possibly even as an alchemist. While the majority of well-known alchemists were male, there were some cases of women conducting and publishing researches in this field as well. A notable example are Sophie Brahe (1559-1643), who studied astronomy and was also well-versed in Paracelsus’ medical texts, and Isabella Cortese(fl. 1561), who was the first woman to publish a book on alchemy, titled The Secrets of Lady Isabella Cortese. Tbh I just really hope that Paracelsus team (Ch. 7) will include women in general…

Of course, my desire to see Faustina as an alchemist is not enough to claim that this is a credible theory. So let me elaborate on that a bit more (and we’ll get to Luna right after that).

Her name derives from the name of a Ghoete’s character Faust, a man who makes a deal with the Devil to exchange his soul for fulfilling his desires of knowledge and pleasures. Faust is deeply dissatisfied with his life:

“He drives his spirit outwards, far,

Half-conscious of its maddened dart:

From Heaven demands the brightest star,

And from the Earth, Joy’s highest art,

And all the near and all the far,

Fails to release his throbbing heart”.

… And Mephistopheles offers him everything he wants.

I think she literally is Faust. And her Mephistopheles wanted to grant her wish that they probably shared (Ch. 61).

Faustina (well-educated person dissatisfied with reality) met Paracelsus (who offers a way to change the entire world). Perhaps he plays both the role of God and Devil in this version, since Paracelsus is described as someone who actually wanted to help people, but his action led to a literal apocalypse. Way to go, Paracelsus!

Anyway, in my theory, she joins the research and becomes the first vampire during the Babel incident. Perhaps all other scientists, except for her and Paracelsus, died during the incident (but the research itlsef survived and was later used by Chloe’s family). Faustina was reborn as the Queen and Paracelsus as the Teacher.

Why only Faustina is considered to be the first vampire and not both of them? Well, they didn’t necessarily fully awake as vampires at the same second of the same day. Or maybe the Teacher hides his identity and true powers this good… After all, he is known to mess with history (for example, he removed everything about Ruthven from his books, leading Noé to being completely oblivious about his existence). But honestly the parallel between vampires reacting to presence of Faustina (Ch. 38.5) and Teacher (Ch. 55) are interesting…

PART THREE: LUNA, VANITAS OF THE BLUE MOON

What do we know about Luna:

they’re the only known vampire of the blue moon and are considered abnormal and dangerous;

Naenia is the one who steals vampires’ true names, but it’s believed to be the fault of the first Vanitas;

they’re told to have created the Books of Vanitas (it may of may not be true);

they’re canonically agender, neither male nor female, and regret knowing what they are (Ch. 51).

I mentioned here that Luna is a Homunculus. Now it’s time to explain what led me to this idea.

Noé points out that Luna and Faustina look alike (Ch. 49) Is it connected to whatever knowledge Luna regretted having? Considering Luna’s unique blue skin, blue blood and their statement “I’m not like any other living thing in the world”, I don’t really think Luna could be Faustina’s human twin. Or rather, it’s not my first guess. I’m inclined to believe that Luna was an artificial being whose creation was connected with Faustina.

In “Faust II”, the theme of artificial human, the perfect creature that surpasses humanity and yet serves their creator, is also present. Faust’s student, Wagner, works on a project when Mephistopheles visits him. Wagner claims: “A Man is being made!”, Mephistopheles jokes about a “loving couple hidden up the chimney”, but Wagner pronounces this way of creating life “unfashionable” (🤝) and delivers a beautiful speech:

“The tender moment from which life emerged,

The charming power with which its inner urge,

Took and gave, and clearly stamped its seal,

First in a near, and then a further field,

We now divest of all that dignity:

Though the creatures still enjoy it, we,

As Men, with all our greater gifts, begin,

To have, as we should, a nobler origin”.

The interesting thing here is that Wagner’s creation is alluding to Paracelsus’ recipe of homunculus in Of the nature of things, 1537 (I found this in an article which referenced a publication by R.D. Gray Goethe the Alchemist. A study of Alchemical Symbolism in Goethe’s Literary and Scientofic Works.) Paracelsus called the creature “chemisch mensch”, but Goethe adapted that to Homunculus, an alchemical term.

The Homunculus desires to become fully created: “Since I exist, I must find things to do”. He (this character is referred to as a male in “Faust”) seeks “the beginnings of creations”, to “reach at last the human state”. In order to achieve it, he wants a connection with the sea goddess Galatea (here a version of Aphrodite), but his brittle flask hits her chariot-shell and breaks. He spills in the sea and dies, but he also merges with the sea itself.

Now that I’m thinking about it… Painfully familiar… Blink if you too were forever traumatized by “I won’t die, Noé. Even if I’m no longer here…” in Ch. 1…

Well, back to Luna. Just like Goethe’s Homunculus, Luna was created in a certainly unique way. Here it’s time to remember the fairytale about Vanitas, told by Noé to Amelia (Ch. 1). Granted, it’s something he learned while under Teacher’s care, and we know he isn’t above censoring of wildly retelling anything, but Amelia doesn’t correct him on anything, so let’s accept this fairytale as it is.

Perhaps the “birth” of the first Vanitas on the night of a blue moon refers to the artificiality of their creation? Artificiality can be equalized with “unnatural” birth of the Moon in the fairytale version. Even if the concept of homunculus will not be directly named in VnC, we already have the idea of an artificial being that differs from all living things in this world, is nonbinary and possibly agender and is able to perform unique functions — to control the book of Vanitas.

Interestingly, our Vanitas and Misha are also to some extent “artificially created” – without experiments of Moreau and Luna’s bite they wouldn’t have been able to control the Books. It’s possible the reasons for the existence of Luna and both their children were somewhat similar – it was merely an experiment conducted in order to change the design of the world. (Ch. 48)

Perhaps those “reasons to exist” are also the reason of Luna’s regrets and the reason to forbid Vanitas to allow Archivists to read his memories. We don’t know why it’s so. Maybe Vanitas learned something about Luna, and now those memories are meant to be hidden carefully. Maybe Luna just wanted to find out about themselves, asked an Archivist to read their memories (Machina, perhaps), and was so traumatized that simply wanted their children to never go through this kind of pain.

And the knowledge that traumatized Luna? It could have been knowledge about the purpose of Luna’s existence. I don’t think Luna was created by accident. They were meant to do something or to be something. The Books are said to be created by the Vampire of the Blue Moon, but they could have been created for them as a tool to rewrite the world once again.

In “Faust” Mephistopheles tells to the audience:

“In the end we’re dependent on

The creatures we’ve created”.

What if Paracelsus and Faustina needed someone else to fully realize their plan? And that someone was Luna, “the most beautiful creature in this world” (Ch. 55) (he’s so real for this).

Saint Germain, the president of Luna fan-club, everyone!

Oh, one more little thing. The “perfect creation” of alchemy is the Philosopher’s stone.

Carbunculus is one of many synonyms for Philosopher’s stone, which may be anything from a rock to a human-like being (waving at fellow FMA fans);

It’s also the name of Queen’s castle;

And Goethe uses this word to describe how Homunculus looks:

“The deep alembic now has passed,

And like a living coal at last

A fine carbuncular fire is glowing

Into the dark it’s brilliance throwing”.

No way it’s a coincidence. Just. No way. C’mon, it Jun. So… Luna is the “ultimate creation” of alchemy, VnC’s version of Philosopher’s stone and Homunculus at the same time.

PART FOUR: THE THRIAD

Now that we’ve assigned roles to all of them, let’s go deeper in another rabbit hole that is alchemy. This one is hella hard to research because of the amount of extremely different modern occult groups. But alchemy was my childhood hyperfixation, so… let’s do it.

Together, Faust, Mephistopheles and Homunculus form a triad. (Yes, Wagner created Homunculus, but he kinda diss appears from the plot afterwards and Homunculus goes on a journey with Faust and Mephistopheles). This is kinda relevant, because Goethe actually researched the topic and it’s not unreasonable to connect his characters (and their VnC analogues) to certain alchemical symbols.

The triad is Salt, Mercury, and Sulfur. Here we can see irl Paracelsus at work again, because he was among the alchemist who popularized this theory. In alchemy, the idea of “feminine meets masculine” is pretty common, but unfortunately, different sources assign these qualities to different elements in the triad. That being said, the common point is that one is “female principle”, one is “male principle” and one is “neither, or the spirit itself”. The most common division of that in the triad is:

Sulfur — the active male principle. Causes change. Brings an object to be changed. Associated with fire and sun. Red King.

Mercury – the passive female principle (it’s just medieval occult stuff is I’m sorry). Needs something to give it shape and change it. The chaos of creation. Associated with earth or water and moon. White Queen.

Salt – pure and undivided salt is the result of the interactions between mercury and sulfur. Such perfect things are the purpose of alchemy.

Here are illustrations from Splendor Solis, which was also written under the influence of Paracelsus. Really can’t get away from this man… The first one is the Chemical wedding, the second one is… also that. Just in a fusion way I guess. Here the result of the Weddking is portrayed as Hermaphrodite with two heads (like in the myth, where human souls were originally of dual nature, but got divided into two parts that are men and women), but sometimes it’s a child or a person with both male and female features. Hermaphrodite can also be called Rebis (which means “dual matter”, aka Philosopher’s stone) or Androgyne (hello Luna).

I don’t expect Faustina, Saint Germain and Luna to fulfill this specific roles just like that. Rather, I think their roles would be mixed a bit, like how Saint Germain is both God and Devil. Still, the idea of the first one providing an idea, the second one helping him work on it and a third one being born out of it all as a perfect creature is intriguing to me.

The three of them are the oldest, most ancient and perhaps the most mysterious vampires in VnC, and I’d love to them connected in such a way where one can’t exist without the others.

In conclusion: tragic ancient vampires own by brain.

#vanitas no carte #vnc meta #vnc #the case study of vanitas #vanitas no shuki #vnc teacher #vnc saint germain #vnc luna #vampire of the blue moon #vnc faustina #vnc naenia #vnc vanitas #the shapeless one #vnc theorie #mochizuki jun #vanitas no carte meta

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chalkodareal · 3 days ago

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please lore dump ab ur tmbg au. i care.

LOLLLL funny to me u say... i got two other ppl asking for this exact thing soooo. well. um. non-losers look away now ig... my See The Constellation Au...

okay um. basic gist is that flansburgh is an astronomy student at some college in '92... doesnt really matter which. um. and late one night he ends up making brief contact with a constellation guy that, while he first connected him from sheer tired joking, he starts to like actually see (and hear the next night which is honestly freakier). the constellation is linnell obv though this is technically a little complicated

um. so he forms an insane connection with this constellation p much. initially theyre more curiousities to eachokther than actual FRIENDS but it very quickly becomes a friendship just. well honestly probably just bc flansburgh is bad at being professional....? its okay bro idbe freaking too

okay on the topic of flans seeing and hearing him its time to explain this umm. i dont wanna pull something lame and say "oh hes just imagining the constellation LOL" bc thats not whats happening but the constellation is vry much shaped by his psyche. ultimately the constellation is sort of just a sentient chunk of the stars but flansburghs mind has sort of given him an actual form??? if this makes sense??? to everyone ekse hes invisible p much but he and flans share an astral link of some sort. freakssss.... um. but p much hes very much real he just pulls from flansburghs concious to give more understandable form to himself.

flansburgh mental and social state very much ends up deteriorating over the course of the au sorta... its not that hes like. acting crazy he just stops waking up at normal times and talking to actual people less and less. he kind of yearns to be able to have real communication with the constellation outside of the sky and that. weighs on him. i wont bury the lead ill just say see the constellation is probably a song avout killing yourself.

again on their relationship it very quickly turns into something casual as opposed to any sort of REAL research. flansburgh had a lot of questions about what gives the constellation life and how he moves early on but apon being given the chance to bitch about going to colkege uhhh yeah. hes doing that. the constellation isnt completely clueless on human culture actually hes seen a lot of it but probably just doesnt understand certain finer aspects.

okay other thing to say. linnell is also just a real fucking guy in this au and i havent mentioned it until now bc it can get confusing. PRETTY MUCH. he abd flans were really good friends in highschool but insteah of ever going off and starting a band together they just drifted apart. the constellation looks and sounds a lot like linnell (to the most recent of his memory, likely a few mundanes tapes he was able to snag) but ultimately is not actually linked to him. even flansburgh doesnt really realize the similarity until he ends up finally seeing linnell again for a while on the train. he got a job working for one, and because its an overnight ride on obe of those old fashioned ones just because i think they look cool, they end up chatting a bit. feel the need to say flansburgh is a lot less shaken by this than he really should be... like even the constellation is asking about that guy that bears a strangely apt resemblance to him.

um. short of the au is this timeine ig

1. flansburgh resents his astronomy studies

2. flansburgh meets constellation for first time

3. flans develops constellation friendship

4. flansburgh begins ditching certain more um. applicable stidies just to reasearch and understand this guy

5. as they continue to grow closer and more isolated flansburgh takes a long train ride back home, meeting linnell briefly and promicing to really get back to him this time (the mail address sits unused atop a stack of frantic sketches and half finished papers)

6. this guy starts like actually seriously yearning for the constellation to be a real human guy

7. through an offhanded comment of the constellations, flansburgh is lead to believe after around 11 months of contact with the constellation that there is infact a way to be with him in the sky which no is NOT a good deal but hes a little desperate and honestly living off college student money

8. i lay my head on the railroad tracks

it sounds like tragic yaoi this way but i assure you not only is it not YAOI.its not that tragic okayyyyy

other tidbits i cant fit other places hrm.... flansburgh was like incredibly social before all this. like he wasnt already a little introverted he straight up threw college parties. the constellation has communication with other parts of the sky and is not well liked for only having one fucking guy that gaf about him... um. to the stars constellations are honestly a huge thing because the expression of human expirience and guidance onto them is like a massive gesture of love and its part of why the constellation likes flans so much. becahse of this he ceases to exist in a major way after flansburgh is gone. and last but not least. robin MIGHT b here. im still thinking about it...

( @spyjam24 since u asked too... )

#ummm. warning for loser behavior and jf dying. lol. im so sorryyy...

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mushiemellows · 5 months ago

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On Rivd and AI

So last night I made this post and said I'd elaborate more in the morning and when I had the time to do a bit of research. Upon doing said research, I realized that I had misunderstood the concerns being raised with the Rivd situation, but that isn't the case any more. However, some of my thoughts on ai still stand. Heads up, this is going to be a long post. Some actual proper blogging for once wow.

I'm going to discuss the Rivd phishing scam, what can be done for fic writers as ai begins to invade fan spaces, and my elaborated thoughts on Language Learning Models. Warning for transparency: I did utilize chat gpt for this post, NOT for the text itself but to provide examples of the current state of LLMs. Some articles I link to will also be ai generated, and their generated quality is part of what I'll be warning about. This is not a generated post and you can tell because I've got those nifty writing things called "voice" and "style."

ANYWAYS:

Okay so what was the Rivd situation? So two days ago this post was uploaded on tumblr, linking back to a twitter thread on the same topic. I saw it late last night because I was traveling. A reddit post was also uploaded 3 days ago. According to google trends, there was a slight uptick in search traffic the week of June 23rd, and a more severe uptick last week (June 30th-July 6th). That's all to say, this website did not exist until last week, caused a stir, and immediately was put down.

Rivd is not longer up. Enough people contacted its web hosting service Cloudflare and they took the site down. This happened yesterday, from the looks of it.

So, then, what was Rivd? And more importantly, what was the point of scraping a chunk of ao3 and re-uploading it? There seems to be 2 possible theories.

1) The more innocent of the two: they genuinely want to be an ao3 competitor. I can't look at the website any more, and very little positive results appear when googled, but I did find one ai-generated puff piece called "Exploring Rivd: The Premier Platform for Movie-Based Fanfiction" posted to Medium last week by one "Steffen Holzmann" (if that is your real name... x to doubt). This account appeared the same week that Rivd had that first little uptick in google queries, so it is undoubtedly made by the people running the website themselves to create an air of legitimacy. Medium appears to be a safe enough website that you can click that link if you really want to, but you shouldn't. It's a bad generated article, there's very little to glean from it. But it is a remnant source on what Rivd was claiming to be, before it was taken down. Here's the conclusion from the article, the only portion that gave any actual information (and it barely offers any):

Rivd is the ultimate platform for movie-based fanfiction, offering a diverse range of content, a supportive community, and robust interactive features. Whether you’re a writer looking to share your work or a reader seeking new adventures in your favorite movie universes, Rivd provides the perfect platform to engage with a passionate and creative community. Start your journey on Rivd today and immerse yourself in the world of fanfiction.

There's a second article by Holzmann titled "Mastering the Art of Fanfiction Writing in 2024" that's essentially similar ai bull, but trades explaining that fans can write Star Wars fic for explaining that you can make OC's and maybe get a beta (not that that's advice I've ever heeded. Beta? Not in this house we don't.) This was posted six days ago and similarly spends half the time jerking Rivd off. That's all to say, if they are to be believed at face value, this website wanted to just be a fic hosting site. Scraping Ao3 would have made it seem like there was already an active user base for anyone they were attempting to attract, like buying your first 50,000 instagram followers. Anyone actually looking to use this as a fic site would have quickly realized that there's no one on it and no actual fan engagement. There's already fan community spaces online. This website offers nothing ao3 or ffn or wattpad or livejournal or tumblr or reddit didn't already.

Similarly, it reeks of tech bro. Between the scraping and the ai articles, the alarms are already going off. According to that Reddit thread, they were based out of Panama, though that doesn't mean much other than an indicator that these are the type of people to generate puff articles and preemptively base their business off-shore. Holzmann, it should be mentioned, also only has 3 followers, which means my tiny ass blog already has more reach than him. Don't go following that guy. The two comments on the first article are also disparaging of Rivd. This plan didn't work and was seen right through immediately.

If fan communities, and those who write fic know anything, it's how to sniff out when someone isn't being genuine. People write fic for the love of the game, at least generally. It's a lot of work to do for free, and it's from a place of love. Ao3 is run on volunteers and donations. If this genuinely is meant to be a business bro website to out-compete ao3, then they will be sorely disappointed to learn that there's no money in this game. It would be short lived anyway. A website like this was never going to work, or if it was, it would need to ban all copyrighted and explicit materials. You know, the pillars of fic.

So then what was the point of all of this? Unless there was a more nefarious plan going on.

2) Rivd was a phishing scam. This is so so so much more likely. The mark for the scam isn't fic readers, it's fic writers. Here's how it works: they scrape a mass of ao3 accounts for their stories, you catch it, you enter a lengthy form with personal info like your full name and address etc. requesting they take your work down, they sell your data. Yes, a lot of personal info is required to take copyrighted materials down on other sites, too. That's what makes it a good scam. Fic already sits in a legal grey area (you have a copyright over your fic but none of the characters/settings/borrowed plot within it. You also CANNOT make money off of fic writing). So the site holds your works ransom, and you can't go to Marvel or Shueisha or fuck it the ghost of Ann Rice herself to deal with this on your behalf. Thankfully, enough people were able to submit valid DMCA's to Cloudflare to deal with the issue from the top.

Remember this resolution for the next time this situation arises (because of course there will be a next time). Go through higher means rather than the site itself. These scams are only getting more bold. Me personally? I'm not going to give that amount of personal info to a website that shady. Be aware of the warning signs for phishing attacks. Unfortunately, a lot of the resources online are still around text/email phishing. We live in a time where there's legal data harvesting and selling, and illegal data harvesting and selling, and the line in between the two is thin and blurry. Here's an FTC article on the signs of phishing scams, but again, it's more about emails.

I should note, I do not think that Rivd is connected to the ransomware virus of the same name that popped up two or three years ago [link is to Rivd page on PCrisk, a cypersecurity/anti-malware website]. It's probably just coincidence.... but even so. A new business priding itself on SEO and all that tech guy crap should know not to name itself the same thing as a literal virus meant to scam out out of a thousand dollars.

That's all to say, this was absolutely a scam meant to take personal info from ao3 writers. And that blows. To love art and writing and creation so much just to have your works held hostage over data feels really bad. Of course it does!

So, should you lock down your ao3 account?

That, to me, is a little trickier. You can do as you please, of course, and you should do what makes you feel safest. Me personally, though, I don't plan on it. I really, really like that guests can interact with my work from the outside. Ao3 still uses an invite system, so a lot of regular users still don't have accounts for any number of reasons. I read a lot of the time logged out anyways. I started writing again last year after all the info on the ao3 Language Learning Model training had already come out. Like I talked about in my last post, I set out to write things that a computer couldn't produce. (from here on out, I'm going to be using One Piece fic as an example, simply because that's what I write. It's also in a really prime position for a lot of ai discussion due to the size of the fandom and the size of the original work)

I'm going to be honest, I'm not all that afraid of my work being scraped for LLMs to train off of. Text generators have existed for a decade now, but they really popped off last year. LLM's are at a point, though, where the tech is sort of stagnating after the initial boom. The flaws of current ai chat bots are so baked into the flaws of ai itself that they won't be ironed out soon. They make up info, they're easily manipulated, they simply are not people. The flaw here is deep- you can trace it to the fact that we don't know enough about neuroscience itself, and even then neuroscientists don't make ai. Ai programers do. Complex info already has to make one synaptic jump without losing any understanding from person to person, and then it has to be perfectly abstracted for a machine to comprehend. It can't be done with the tools we currently have. I DO hate to admit it, but there are some decent uses for ai. if you are specifically a python programmer. The rest of us? Maybe not.

I don't like generated fic, I don't read it on principle. Checking on ao3, though, there's only 4 total generated op fics (3 in spanish, one in english, 3 xreader, 1 zosan but 2nd person zosan? and the author edited the framework the computer generated text. I still didn't enjoy the fic, tho.) But that breaks down to .005% of all op fics. I went into chat gpt and asked it to generate a drabble for me based on One Piece, and this is what it wrote:

[Image ID: A screenshot of chat GPT. The first line shows my prompt. It reads: You- write me a short 100 word fanfiction based on the manga One Piece. Next line, Chat GPT- "On the shores of an uncharted island, the Straw Hat Pirates stumbled upon a hidden treasure trove. Among the glittering gold and jewels, Luffy discovered an old, weathered journal. Inside, he found sketches and notes detailing the adventures of a legendary pirate who once roamed the Grand Line. Excited by the prospect of a new adventure, the crew set sail. following clues left in the journal. Along the way, they faced formidable foes and forged new alliances, unraveling the mysteries of the lost pirate's legacy. With each island they conquered, they grew closer to uncovering the ultimate treasure- a legacy that would shape their own journey." End ID]

Okay so like, this blows, yeah? 75,000 One Piece fics to train off of on ao3 and it still can't like, write a decent little story. This reads more like an episode summary or a book dust jacket blurb. Drabbles have an internal structure that make them interesting, much like a single sentence short story. You have to get very baby shoes never worn with them, yeah? Ai doesn't understand that, it just knows how many words it has to generate. It doesn't have any sense for creative language, metaphor, simile, poetry. I asked it to write me a poem and it wrote me the same poem with thesaurus replacements each time it re-generated one. A lot about dreams and stars and midnight and whispers, over and over again. The same rhyme scheme and cadence too.

It's also- vitally- so unhorny that it's almost a crime. For a test, I asked it to generate a story about a uhhhhh robot and an archeologist kissing. Just to see what it would give me. I ran 4 tests, a robot falling in love with an archeologist, a robot kissing an archeologist, an archeologist kissing a robot, and an archeologist falling in love with a robot. All 4 were incredibly chaste, quiet little drabbles about the innocence of discovery or whatever the fuck. Here's one of them:

[Image ID: A screenshot of chat GPT. The first line shows my prompt. It reads: You- write me a short 100 word story about an archeologist kissing a robot. Next line, Chat GPT- "Int he dimly lit chamber, Professor Evelyn Porter stared in awe at the ancient artifact- a remarkably lifelike robot buried for millennia. As she leaned closer to examine its intricacies, a surge of curiosity and admiration swept over her. In a moment of spontaneous fascination, she brushed her lips against the cool metal of its cheek, a gesture of reverence and connection across ages. The robot, dormant for eons, stirred faintly in response to the unexpected contact. It was fleeting, almost surreal exchange between past and future, bridging the gap between human exploration and technological marvels of ancient civilizations." End ID]

So like, some of these phrases gets to what's vaguely intriguing about this dynamic, sure. But at the end of the day it's still uhhhh chaste as hell. A reverent kiss??? Not what I want in my fic!!!! This is all to say, LLM's can scrape ao3 all they want, that doesn't mean they can USE what they're stealing. The training wheels have to stay on for corporate palatability. I'm stealing, I'm taking these dolls out of Shueisha's grubby hands and I'm making them sexy kiss for FREE.

In my opinion, the easiest way to keep your work out of the hands of ai is to write something they cannot use. If the grey area of copyright lies in how much is transformed, then motherfucking TRANSFORM it. Write incomprehensible smut. Build surreal worlds. Write poems and metaphors and flush out ideas that a computer could never dream of. Find niches. Get funky with it. Take it too far. and then take it even farther. Be a little freaking weirdo, you're already writing fic so then why be normal about it, you know? Even if they rob you, they can't use it. Like fiber in the diet, undigestible. Make art, make magic.

Even so, I don't mind if the computer keeps a little bit of my art. If you've ever read one of my fics, and then thought about it when you're doing something else or listening to a song or reading a book, that means something I made has stuck with you just a little bit. That;'s really cool to me, I don't know you but I live in your brain. I've made you laugh or cry or c** from my living room on the other side of the world without knowing it. It's part of why I love to write. In all honesty, I don't mind if a computer "reads" my work and a little bit of what I created sticks with it. Even if it's more in a technical way.

Art, community, fandom- they're all part of this big conversation about the world as we experience it. The way to stop websites like Rivd is how we stopped it this week. By talking to each other, by leaning on fan communities, by sending a mass of DMCA's to web host daddy. Participation in fandom spaces keeps the game going, reblogging stuff you like and sending asks and having fun and making art is what will save us. Not to sound like a sappy fuck, but really caring about people and the way we all experience the same art but interpret it differently, that's the heart of the whole thing. It's why we do this. It's meant to be fun. Love and empathy and understanding is the foundation. Build from there. Be confident in the things you make, it's the key to having your own style. You'll find your people. You aren't alone, but you have to also be willing to toss the ball back and forth with others. It takes all of us to play, even if we look a little foolish.

#meta #fandom #fanfic #ao3 #again i put this in my last post but this is JUST about LLMs #ai image generation is a whole other story #and also feel free to have opposing thoughts #i'm total open to learning more about this topic #LONG post

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riderkaitlyn5 · 7 months ago

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Okay, random worldbuilding/hc thing I have about Cybertronians reproducing since there are so many fanfics about mechs creating a sparkling even though in canon, they just cabbage patch it. Anyway, here we go

So there are two ways Cybertronians can reproduce: taking a spark from a hotspot or two mechs merging their sparks to create a sparkling, which is called kindling. Most Cybertronians prefer getting a sparkling from a hotspot because it's easier. Kindling isn't common because the toll the newspark takes on their carrier is seen as unnecessary and ultimately not worth it. Kindling is also uncommon because of how difficult it is to spark a newspark. Cybertronians aren't “fertile” like humans are; there's less than a 2% chance that a spark will be kindled. It’s like playing a game of chance with almost all the odds stacked against you

Another reason why kindling isn't considered an option is because the sparkling will take after its creators. Since the kindled sparkling will use their creator's coding as the structure for their personality and filling in their own coding over time, as opposed to a hotspot sparkling building their coding from scratch

(It's for that reason, kindled sparks are usually more developed, and their personality is more defined than hotspot sparks)

The kindled sparks taking after their creators in terms of personality isn't the issue—it's actually one of the biggest reasons that mechs will choose to kindle instead of taking in a hotspot spark. It's their frame that poses a problem. Similar to humans, cybertronian genetics when kindling gets a little... screwy. It's not an issue if the creators are the same frame types because then, the sparkling will share their creator's frame. But if say, a racer and an armored truck kindled… well, results may vary

Most of the time, the sparkling will take after one creator's frame type and their coloring, or their other creators coloring, or a combination of both. This is the best outcome and is typically acceptable. Other times, the sparking will have a combination of their creator's frames. Using the racer and armored truck example, the sparkling can be built like their racer creator but might have the same thicker plating from their other creator. Because of the racer “genes” the sparkling has, their plating won't be as thick as their creators. Which leaves them too slow for racer jobs and too light for armored trucks

The Senate did not like that at all since it went against the Functionalist society they created. To counter this “problem”, the Senate made kindling sparks illegal, their reasons being:

It was too dangerous on the carrier's frame and spark, which, to a small degree, it was but was blown extremely out of proportion and greatly exaggerated. Cybertronian pregnancy is pretty similar to humans in terms of danger. Yeah, it's there, but it's not a giant threat like the Senate claimed it was

The sparklings will come out “deformed” and won't be able to contribute to Cybertron because of their so-called deformities (they would more often than not be outcasted and left to suffer)

The senate put so much stigma on kindling that it was considered frowned upon and extremely taboo to kindle a sparkling, on top of it being a crime you can be imprisoned for (though if the kindling was an accident and the sparkling was terminated, there were no consequences)

During the war, the option of kindling to save their rapidly dwindling race was considered but since it was so unreliable and because of the senate, there was little no information about the process and medical procedures if something went wrong, it was quickly dismissed

I'd like to imagine when the war ended, kindling was a topic bots were exploring and soon enough, medics and scientists alike began to shine the truth on the lies the Senate spread and began educating the public on what kindling is and how it works. Slowly, mechs took an interest to kindling, and soon enough, there was research dedicated to coming up with actual medical procedures for kindling and accurate information on the process for anyone to read. Later down the line, there were even ways to increase the chances of kindling

Uh yeah. That's pretty much it. Do with that what you will

#no clue if this makes sense or not #been gnawing on this for a little bit and i think i covered everything #though i really hope someone didn't already come up with this because then i'll feel like an idiot lol #transformers worldbuilding #transformers #maccadam

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barrenclan · 1 year ago

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begging some of yall not to idolize deepdark and defiance how you do. i have a friend who’s actually lived through a cult’s wrath and they r mega not cool. like i know defiance is narratively AMAZING but we. shouldn’t put it on a pedestal of “oh this thing is so cool and its leaders are amazing” because ultimately it’s safer for everyone if we start recognizing that while yea defiance + deepgang are cool… theyre still a cult. and we should not be viewing them positively at all. cults are inherently models of rigorous and severe repeated abuse, and by romanticizing them you are inherently romanticizing abuse. i don’t think you’re bad for letting this happen, raz, i just think that if you have any sympathy for cult survivors you should have stopped it before now. Especially as the comic ramps up towards the inevitable climax of the cult in it doing many awful things to the main characters. I know no one here intended to romanticize it, but by treating deepdark and other leaders of this cult as silly uwu murder cult guys we are actively doing that.

thank you for listening if you did, and i hope this feedback helps us all grow.

Well, thank you for sharing your concerns, I appreciate it a lot, as well as explaining the reasons this is important to you. Nothing you said is incorrect or invalid! I do have a few other thoughts I wanna share along with this ask.

Firstly; Defiance is fictional, and more than that it's not based on any real world cult. I obviously had to do some research and take some general real-world influence, mostly because I wanted to capture the kind of personality that exists in cult leaders with Deepdark, but in the end it's a completely made-up group. I actually based their group structure much more on a mafia-like organization than a traditional religious cult. There is a sliding scale for these sorts of things in stories of course, topics that are treated with varying levels of severity based on our culture, and everyone is going to be affected by them differently based on personal experience anyways. I refer to Defiance as a "combination death cult and mafia" sort of flippantly (which is my own fault) because just calling it a "group" is sort of vague, non-descript term. But its structure and actions are way, way more dramatic and obvious than any cult that exists today, or existed previously.

With the kind of fanbase I've gathered, I would like to believe my readership is able to separate the difference between talking about real-world cults and fictional ones. No one I've seen is actually idolizing Defiance as something to genuinely be admired, outside of talking about and making up in-universe characters who do so. Deepdark is fun, and dramatic, and over-the-top, because I made him that way, so it's natural that people like him. But no one is saying that it's good to be like Deepdark, or that he's some sort of aspirational goal (I hope! If you are, we'll have words!). I do believe that in the story itself I've pretty thoroughly conveyed how cruel and malicious Defiance & its members are. In fact I've pretty intensely tried to emphasize the insidious way that cults hurt people, and the danger of charismatic leaders like Deepdark! Maybe I've failed a bit in that regard, then.

But besides all that - your points are very valuable and worth repeating, and I will be more on the lookout for anything treating Defiance's impact irreverantly, and either delete or correct it. I have a feeling people are not going to be happy with them anyways, as they continue to hurt more of our main characters.

Real-life cults are not as obvious and over-dramatic like Defiance. Many ordinary people like you and me are deeply hurt by them all the time, and any time you joke about Deepdark's murdering or silly lieutenant shenanigans, it's always important to keep in mind that there are tons of real-life people like Deepdark out there. I never wanted to come across as unsympathetic for real-world victims of cults. Making people think more deeply about the various shades of gray and subtle acts of evil that exist in our world, as well as the inherent humanity that exists in people who do terrible things regardless, are some of my goals with creating PATFW in the first place.

#ask #anon #deepdark #defiance #advice

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salixsociety · 2 months ago

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Book Review: Gathering Moss

Gathering Moss : A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses - Robin Wall Kimmerer Oregon State University, 2023. English.

★★★★★ (5/5) This is, indeed, the book for animists.

Few and far between are books on natural history that really strike me, as an animist. The commentary on biology, ecosystems, and interconnectedness usually only swings one of two ways: either aggressively secular, or entirely unscientific. The former has its place, but the latter attempts to distill nature into something solely spiritual and intangible, when really, the majesty of it all is knowing that science and traditional ways of knowing can and should be combined for optimal effect - and no book details that fact better than Gathering Moss.

Even as a passionate animist and amateur herbalist, even as someone who takes great interest in all the plants around me, mosses are a topic I have been afraid to delve into. While I had always assumed their importance to be great, I knew them for little more than their roles in birds' nests and decomposition. Researching mosses, understanding who they are and what their purpose is, seemed too daunting of a subject to me, entirely too vast for somebody like me, who is not incredibly scientifically wired. This book revolutionized my understanding of mosses in every way. It does a phenomenal job of detailing how mosses function, and how their function affects their surroundings, how crucial they are. In this exploration of the great significance of mosses in their native environment, Kimmerer forces the reader to foster a growing emotional connection with mosses, cultivating a genuine sense of empathy between moss and man. Nothing could possibly have been a better introduction into the role of mosses in an ecosystem - something I had not anticipated to understand in any capacity at my young age.

Furthermore, Kimmerer does not neglect the 'cultural history' part of her subtitle. She does, in fact, delve deeply into the relationship mosses had, could have, and still do have with people. The intersectionality between her politics and her biological research is palpable and intoxicating, and though I have worked hard on cultivating a relationship with my land that reminds me there is nothing the grocery store could offer me that nature could not, Kimmerer does a phenomenal job reminding the reader of that fact.

But there is much more to this book than just mosses. The red thread that this entire book was built on is one of animism, of love for the land, of the ancestral knowledge that mankind is part of nature as much as anything else, and we ought to return to our reciprocal relationship with it. Through a 'moss-colored' lens, Kimmerer encourages the reader to explore their conflicting feelings about being part of nature, taking part in nature, and ultimately, our role in the destruction of nature. It doesn't just address those living in rural environments, either. Kimmerer does an incredible job of including those in the city, and familiarizing them with their mosses, and the animism they could enjoy if they only went out and looked for it.

There are not a lot of things these days that every single human culture on earth shares, but one of those few things, is that we all, at one point, cohabitated harmoniously with nature. All of our ancestors, regardless of race, ethnicity, origin and location, at one point knew how to live alongside nature, who is not our neighbor, but our mother, in a way that was reciprocal, honest, and sustainable. When one wants to be reminded of that, and begin to understand the way they viewed their place in the world as animists as cohabitators, this is the book to read. There are no flaws, there is no exclusion. This is, truly, one of the books I say everybody needs to read.

The only thing I could possibly think of that could go wrong in recommending everybody on earth to read this book, is that some people do not have the tools nor frame of reference they need to understand where the border of cultural appropriation lies. Kimmerer is a Patowatomi woman, and her Native American practices are outlined in this book regularly. I feel that, in recommending this book to a community of spiritualists, pagans, witches folk practitioners and the like, it needs stressing to say that this book is not a guidebook to animism. While it introduces the themes of animism better than anything I have ever read before, whatever bits of culturally-specific practice and understanding are outlined should be treated with respect, and the reader owes it to themself and their practice to use what they've learned from this book and apply it practically. Learn about your ancestors, learn about your local plants, learn about how animism fits into your life. Do not take this book as a sign to start smudging with white sage, as some ill-informed readers might. Take it instead as your sign to read up on your local invasive and endangered plants. Read about the way your culture has used those plants and similar plants. Be critical. Be respectful. The way forward is respectful cultural diversity, and you can participate in that diversity by honoring your own culture.

Over the summer this book has gone absolutely everywhere with me. Every word I have enjoyed. It was easy to understand and yet gave me much to ponder as I went about my life with the book in the back of my mind. Read it, for the love of moss.

#willow reads #witchblr #animism #botany #herbalism #magical books #book review #gathering moss #robin kimmerer #enviromentalism #environmental literature #natural history #moss

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