#contemporary influences

[gigivas]

1K GIGI Prompts Collections 'Classical Bust: Vivid Contrast and Detail' 5882 Free 10 pages out of 1000 pages

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[serpentface]

Do psychotropic drugs and/or ritual play a role in any of the blightseed cultures? A pretty broad question, lol

Yeah that’s a very broad question, the answer is about as much as it tends to play roles in real history. Alcohol is pretty ubiquitous (outside of cultures that abstain from intoxicants) and used for a variety of purposes, opioids are commonly used in some parts for pain relief or recreational purposes, stimulants (usually in mild, natural forms) are used to provide extra energy, and hallucinogens are most commonly used as part of a larger religious framework (rather than for recreational purposes). Any more elaborate answer kinda has to be case by case in a certain culture or part of the setting.

I'll just take this as an opportunity to talk about the one established sect that pretty much REVOLVES around psychoactive use. This is the Scholarly Order of the Root, which is a sort of mystery religion + elite community of scholars who currently occupy the Ur-Tree and its forest in the far southern Lowlands (southeast of Imperial Wardin, on the same land mass).

The Ur-Tree is the obligatory Huge Fucking Fantasy Tree (and its surrounding forest). It’s a mass of vegetation about a mile tall and almost as old as Plant Life Itself, its upper branches are primeval plants, which become more modern the nearer they get to the ground (and each 'level' holds tiny ecosystems, some containing descendants of LONG-extinct arthropods/other small animals). Its lowest branches and the surrounding forest are contemporary plant life, and all is connected and protected by an incomparably MASSIVE fungal mycelium network (which is itself a living god).

A lot of the Scholars' more secretive practices revolve around experimentation with substance use with the goal of expanding the Mind and transcending the body to fully connect to the Dreamlands, and they have a supply chain of traders and mercenaries called Rootrunners who traffic substances into the Lowlands. Most of their psychoactive use is in a very intentional capacity and not just like, for fun, but a LOT of them are just straight up addicted to cocaine (in the form of alchemically refined bruljenum, which is used for practical purposes of its stimulant effect during long hours of work).

All known psychoactives are desirable for experimentation (particularly hallucinogens), with each having properties that either allow expansion of the Mind, transcendence of the body, or outright divine communion. Their effects are logged in great detail and interpreted to form the basis of the Scholars' understanding of the natural world and reality itself.

The most important substance is Ur-Root, which is root matter from subterranean levels of the Ur-Tree that have both their own intrinsic psychoactive substances and a very, very high concentration of living god mycelium. The tree root contains DMT and the mycelium has its own wholly unique effects (being an actual living god). They alchemically refine it into a purer, more potent form, and use it to expand beyond the body and directly commune with the Giants, a group of entities they have identified as the only true gods.

An Ur-Root trip starts off with minor visual distortion, which turns into shifting fractals that slowly obscure the vision. Eventually the senses are entirely taken over by a 'tunnel' of rapidly shifting fractals and geometries. In a complete trip, the experiencer gets a sense that they have been pushed through a membrane and entered another realm, finding themselves in a distinct experiential Space.

At this point they may encounter entities which communicate to them in a language impossible to describe but wholly understood. These beings are understood to be the Giants, or at least aspects of the Giants that mortals are capable of comprehending (they often take familiar tutelary forms of the Mantis or the Snake, or appear resembling the same type of sophont that the experiencer is, all composed of ever-shifting geometries). The experiencer often feels a sense of unconditional and endless love from these beings, though the Giants may be more hostile and may appear in the form of the Trickster (usually a cultural figure regarded as malicious, be it an animal or otherwise) in a bad trip.

(^Up until this point, this has mostly just been a DMT 'breakthrough' experience ft. 'machine elves' and the like).

They are then removed from this space and returned to something that feels like the real world, but is nearly unrecognizable. They have a sense of rapidly moving through time, and will usually see 'the spires' towards the beginning, which just so happen to look like this:

(source + some context via Implication- the spires are exactly what this art is depicting)

The experiencer continues to move across an unfathomable amount of time, occasionally 'seeing' other such flashes of unfamiliar landscapes and creatures, and yet also being devoid of all their senses, the 'seeing' is pure, unfiltered experience. There is a sense of interconnectedness with all life, and that one has become the forest (or even Life) itself. The sense of time is wildly distorted, the trip lasts only about 5 minutes but feels like an eternity and is understood as literal hundreds of millions of years.

The experiencer has usually lost any remaining sense of Self and individual consciousness during this phase (in which case this time distortion is usually a neutral or even peaceful experience), but some retain a fraction of their identity, and find themselves trapped and conscious while experiencing what feels like eternity (which can be LIFE-CHANGINGLY distressing, even after the fact).

(^This latter part of the trip is the effects of the Ur-Tree fungus).

The trip ends with a sense of rushing through the ground and back up into one's body, at which point they will abruptly return to their senses and consciousness. The details are then immediately retrieved via interview and recorded in immense detail. The whole experience is understood as having been full comprehension of the Dreamlands, communion with the Giants, and then a tour through the act of creation.

This is done as part of the initiatory practice into the inner mystery-religion of the scholars, and as needed for study by high scholar-priests. It is not taken lightly, both as it is absolute communion with the gods and reality, and in that it can be a very, very difficult experience. People who have gone through this often walk away with a permanently shifted perspective, often in a positive and/or comforting way- a sense of interconnectedness with all life, a peace with the concept of death, seeing less of a point in individual ego and the concept of Self, and comfort in the sense of divine love they (may have) experienced. This heavily influences the philosophy of the Scholars and has had effects by proxy in the religious worldviews of the region.

Details of this experience are closely guarded, and initiates are given absolutely no prior knowledge and expectations for their trip. This is seen as a necessity- their naivety will allow for a true, unfiltered experience, and can be used to gauge whether they should or should not be accepted. Those that have a distinctly bad trip upon initiation may be assumed to have been 'rejected' by the giants and thus denied full priesthood, though this largely depends on How they interpret their distressing trip- those who identify this as a test and harsh lesson in a journey to enlightenment may be accepted (as this is how fully initiated scholar-priests interpret and handle their bad trips).

This inner priesthood is only a small fraction of the Scholarly Order, and its greater function is as a hub of education and repository of knowledge, and Scholar-trained doctors can provide some of the best medical care available in the setting ('best medical care in this setting' only means so much but it's pretty solid, relatively speaking). Only a chosen few Scholars ever get to commune with the Ur-Root, and most of the divine secrets revealed in the process are kept hidden (though they indirectly influence the politics and worldview of the entire order).

[sofipitch]

I will say, I don't understand the compulsion to claim anytime a writer used to write fanfic that they repurposed their fanfic. Like read like 3 things by the same author and you'll realize authors have their things, characters and plotlines they like, words or metaphors they prefer. It can often be an intimate experience where you start to get the sense of what is haunting that author. Yes their works may look similar but they are in fact written by the same person, enjoy getting to know them. And furthermore I hate the culture of artists having to pretend art doesn't inspire other art without fearing accusations of plagiarism

[sivavakkiyar]

tbh I think he has like a curious enough position where it’s actually kind of hard to get across how significant Quincy Jones was, and how people take it for granted. Like without giving a lecture

But he was major major. It’s almost guaranteed that some of the music you love—-and I mean this globally—-was heavily influenced by his work. Like yes on par with The Beatles

[miamaimania]

Whispers in the Dark ☾️ ➤ Ayu Gani, an enchanting portrait by Amanda Camenisch

[wonder-worker]

Angelberga was a peculiarly prominent personality in manifold aspects of European politics [in the late 9th century. Born to the Supponid family of Italy, she married Emperor Louis II and had several opportunities to establish her position as an active and controversial player in the vicissitudes of her husband's reign]. She acted as Louis's regent, accompanied him on expansionary military campaigns in the south of the peninsula and represented him at [congresses, tribunals, and diplomatic negotiations]. Strikingly, she was also the beneficiary of a spectacular collection of charters. Almost one in seven of Louis II’s extant charters were issued in her favour. Angelberga’s conspicuous exploits in the field of charter acquisition did not diminish after the emperor’s death, and this helped her to maintain a position as a key power-broker in Italian politics, control of land [particularly monastic foundations] being a fundamental building-block of power in this period. In the interregnum following 875, during which Charles the Bald of West Francia and Karlmann of Bavaria fought to claim the succession to the heirless Louis, Angelberga herself conducted the negotiations and decided the loyalty of a major sector of the Lombard political community. She maintained this high profile until her death [having supported her son-in-law Boso's quest for power, endured a temporary exile, maintained the support of Pope John VIII, and founded the monastery of San Sisto in the city of Piacenza, where she probably ended her days sometime before 891].

-Simon MacLean, "Queenship, nunneries and royal widowhood in Carolingian Europe"

[pearl-plays-piano]

Incognito (Jazz Nocturne)

Jason Sifford

[fideidefenswhore]

My critique of WH is also not that the narrator seems to have such a biased, strange inner moral code/ sense of justice, that really would only make sense to him, that really only reflects his own emotional truth (I think many people have that); it’s that everyone around him reflects this in a way that feels … unrealistic.

[joncronshawauthor]

The Genius of Pratchett: A Deep Dive into Discworld's Lasting Impact

If you’ve ever found yourself chuckling at a grumpy, anthropomorphic Death or a suitcase on hundreds of little legs, then you have fallen under the spell of the late, great Terry Pratchett. His legendary Discworld series, a mirthful, satirical romp through an absurd universe teetering on the back of four elephants (all of whom are perched on a giant turtle, naturally), has left a lasting imprint…

[janettkabeh]

[floatyhands]

Normal contemporary urban area that just happens to be Chinese: *exists*

1930s English-speaking newsreels narrator: OVER THERE THEY CLING TO ANCIENT UNCHANGING CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS, WITH NO REGARDS TO PROGRESS AND MODERNITY

Context: (very illuminating video otherwise)

[eachuisge-cc]

Hey, just wanted to let you know how absolutely pleased I am that there's another person with many Big Feelings (tm) about horses in skyrim. I completely yeeted my save game to get these gorgeous horsies. I am so excited for the light horse addon. I do have a suggestion, since you also mentioned making Cicero's cart horse unique. Unless he sold his horse for a fluffier one in Dawnstar, since he brought the night mother in from Cyrodiil it is possible his horse, if he indeed kept the same horse, would be a more Imperial type. That could be a neat way to make his horse unique! Although I totally get it if it's too much work for a horse we only see in passing.

aah thank you! very glad you're enjoying the mod.

I'm still debating what to do with Cicero's horse, my instinct is to keep it as a Skyrim horse for now because it would look a little odd to have a single barb-type horse pulling a wagon that size by itself, and I can believe that he might have changed horses/wagons between Cyrodiil and Whiterun, that would be a long way for a single horse to pull. I'll have to figure out the carriage horse situation if/when BS Cyrodiil comes out and at that point I'll replace Cicero's horse with whatever I end up with for that (I'm having a hell of a time finding info on work horses in Imperial Rome, everybody focuses on the war horses and the chariot horses which is all well and good until you need to know about the horses with less exciting jobs).

It seems like maybe they didn't have much in the way of draft horses (some pages on the Ardennes claim its history "dates back to ancient Rome" but don't elaborate in any way and it probably wasn't the contemporary version of the breed) but I'll have to do more research.

[maxellminidisc]

Greek and Roman power structures are why I hesitate to call most things people call "queer" about their societies queer on the internet or like when people ask the stupid question of "Do you think theyd be into bdsm?" I'm like do you WANT that kind of inherently bad for consent society to be into bdsm???

Putting my thoughts under a read more cause its lengthy and something that I've wanted to talk about for a while now!

Like I'm sure queer relationships with like 1) no weird power dynamic and 2) pedastry existed in these societies, we have always existed, but it would not have been easy. They most likely still would have had to have played the part of a man who followed the rule and roles of what a MAN had to to be considered a man on the surface of society, because if they didnt, they would've been ridiculed and seen as lesser men. A big example of one such rule in the sexual realm is men could not and should not be penetrated; penetration was the domain of those lesser than men, if you were a man who liked being penetrated you were a fucking joke. They would've even been called perverse for not having a weird power dynamic in their romantic or sexual relationship with other men.

Slaves, young boys, slave boys, etc were basically equivalent to women in classical Greek society: they are those below the status of men and thus suitable objects of ones sexual desires. Like think about how fucked up that is??? And on top of that courting was also fundamentally tied to this perception of these groups of lesser status and required guidelines, so seeming genuinely invested and lovesick in ones relationship to these lesser beings was also seen as ridiculous.

Like it was all seen as taboo for the WRONG reasons. They'd would be so confused, ridicule you, or frankly be pissed if you pointed out how awful the inherit vacuum for consent these dynamics are and rife for abuse of power these relationships would have been to begin with because you're basically questioning the standards of classical Greek masculinity.

And I also wish we discussed more how the classical periods in Greece and Rome played a part in contemporary homophobia. Like it's not all 100% the result of Christianity moving into these societies, but more so a chain with Christianity being the biggest domino to fall at the end. Rome in particular was influenced by these sexual and social ideas of class and sexual dynamics in Greece, so the undercurrent of homophobia inherit to those ideas made Christianity all the more appealing for aligning with those already establied ideas.

In the end sex was basically used the same way everything else was to men in classical Greek and Roman society: its about power, gaining power, flexing that power and through this, raising ones status in these societies. It left very little room for partnerships of equals and the little room that was there was probably incredibly suffocating for anyone who didn't want to abide by these rules and standards of masculinity or others of which they were expected to.

[xandle]

bout to become the twitter suit guy of fanfic descriptions of characters who are wearing different outfits

[wonder-worker]

"[Alice Perrers] was an outsider to the exalted social and political world in which she found herself after becoming Edward III's mistress in the 1360s. Lacking any gentle or noble connections within her family, she had no natural network of political supporters in the royal household and council. She was dangerously dependent on her association with the other members of the court covine who were themselves exposed and disgraced in the Good Parliament. And if the testimonies given against her by other courtiers in 1377 are anything to go by, she had a knack for alienating many of those with whom she came into contact in the royal household. Furthermore, while significant numbers of single and widowed women in her generation were able to pursue independent and successful careers in trade, Alice's strategy of developing an extensive landed estate brought her into contact with members of the nobility, the gentry, and the church who were far less conditioned than their counterparts in the mercantile world to disputing with self-made, independent women. The effusion of misogyny in the Good Parliament, represented by the extraordinary preamble to the ordinance against women's practice of maintenance, speaks powerfully to this deep-seated social and gendered prejudice."

W.Mark Ormrod, "The Trials of Alice Perrers"

[donutcrow]

🌟 Eyes like gold coins 🌟