#how their bond is so powerful not even times; realms and realities can weaken it

[konako]

the level of possessiveness and mental ownership that comes with red snow is enough to put me in the psych ward. just needed to share that in a safe space

don't get me started

speaking of safe space, happy kind of late b-day, @lovecanbesostrange

[doved-icelebrity]

“How to Do Nothing” by Jenny Odell - Overview, Analysis, Reflections, & Lessons

Insistence on Resistance and Birdwatching Too

Jenny Odell explores the concept of “doing nothing” in a world that places immense value on productivity due to the ever growing demands of the attention economy in the digital age. Odell presents a thought-provoking argument for resisting against the incessant pulls and pressures of these technological pursuits. Themes of digital evolution, attention necessity, social media, and productivity pursuits are brought into the light and inspected honestly. What are the everlasting impacts of these streams of stress on our one wild and precious life? Odell gets to the soul of the matter, with the intention for readers to get in touch with themselves and the world we inhabit in a more mindful and purposeful way.

“How to Do Nothing” acknowledges the clear challenges of “doing nothing” within our current societal framework. The attachment between the average individual and constant engagement is an intense bond, growing stronger through positive reinforcement that is not exactly so positive for our mental/physical/spiritual health. Readers are introduced to the concept of the attention economy, though we have been partaking within it for quite some time. The attention economy is driven forward by needs for virtual engagement, mental stimulation, and date collection. These needs can be compared to addictive behaviors, and have harmful effects on the user’s psyche. Excessive technology use results in attention spans that become more and more fragmented, as well as an ability to focus that weakens without regular use. Odell explains that a departure from this cycle is possible, and even encouraged. Though the anxious attachments to our devices is all-consuming at times, we are capable of reclaiming our lives, minds, and selves and re-entering the real world. To connect through disconnection, to look up from our virtual lives and experience reality in all its slow moving glory.

Within “How to Do Nothing”, Odell interweaves and interrogates concepts of connection between oneself, community, and the natural world within the context of modernity and history. Odell explores changing themes of the self from different philosophical, literary, and historical lenses, interspersed with her own personal anecdotes and considerations. This balance of thinkers and different realms of reality create a diverse pool of perspective within one can float and find themselves. Odell draws from iconic thinkers, writers, speakers, researchers, and dreamers to explore the experience of the internet age. This timely odyssey throughout the importance of attention reclamation is engaging, authentic, accessible, and deeply necessary. Productivity is an understandable pursuit to seek amidst the constraints of society, but a powerful alternative exists within ourselves. Odell highlights the vast array of things we are missing out on when we place our attention on that which does not serve us / our world / our communities / our futures. The direction in which one aims their attention can transform their mindset, and, in doing so, this can change the world one mind at a time. As Odell says, “Realities are, after all, inhabitable. If we can render a new reality together- with attention- perhaps we can meet each other there.”

“What does it mean to construct digital worlds while the actual world is crumbling before our eyes.” (Odell, “How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy”)

The COVID-19 Pandemic resulted in a flare-up of a variety of mental health issues, addiction struggles, and plain bad habits. With technology and our cellphones being one the last seemingly-safe coping mechanisms available to us at a time of such great uncertainty, of course we flocked to the screens we knew and loved. The COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 led to a significant shift within the attention economy, with internet entertainment companies being a source of much desired connection, communication, and a sense of stability during such deeply unstable times. Jenny Odell’s “How to Do Nothing” entered public consciousness at the ideal time considering these social trends. Odell’s ideas of alternative ways to spend one’s time amidst anxiety and uncertainty provided necessary solace to those struggling with their place within the attention economy. Odell addresses the push and pull individuals feel with productivity and the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown caused everyone to look at their relationship between their productivity and their mental wellbeing.

“To stand apart is to take the view of the outsider without leaving, always oriented toward what it is you would have left. It means not fleeing your enemy, but knowing your enemy, which turns out not to be the world—contemptus mundi—but the channels through which you encounter it day to day. It also means giving yourself the critical break that media cycles and narratives will not, allowing yourself to believe in another world while living in this one. Unlike the libertarian blank slate that appeals to outer space, or even the communes that sought to break with historical time, this “other world” is not a rejection of the one we live in. Rather, it is a perfect image of this world when justice has been realized with and for everyone and everything that is already here. To stand apart is to look at the world (now) from the point of view of the world as it could be (the future), with all of the hope and sorrowful contemplation that this entails.” (Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy)

The concept of “celebrity culture” and Odell’s book “How to Do Nothing” intertwine in the ways that the foundation of celebrity culture greatly consists of individuals shifting their attention away from themselves and their immediate world in order to escape reality. Odell beckons readers to reconsider the way in which they consume/create art and culture. Celebrities often fall under this umbrella. Celebrity culture as in the concept of branding oneself and monetizing, publicizing, filtering all that one creates and consists of can be seen as a pillar of the attention economy. Shifting away from this mindset in order to resist the forces of the attention economy and the incessant demands on our attention is what Odell offers to readers as a valuable journey.

“Ultimately, I argue for the view of a self and of identity that is the opposite of a personal brand: an unstable, shapeshifting thing determined by intersections with others and with different kinds of places.” (Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy)

Internet addiction is a phenomenon that affects nearly everyone in my community, regardless of age, career path, or social media popularity. While it fluctuates in severity and source, I believe that we all find ourselves impacted by the effects of a highly toxic social media affected culture. I rely on my devices in order to stay close in geographically distant relationships, to be kept updated with new sources and media outlets, to navigate school and work related platforms, and to attempt relaxation after all of the aforementioned tasks have been completed. Digital leisure is something of an oxymoron and I do personally attempt to detox from my screen time through meditation, mindfulness, exercise, and artistic expression. Though I can’t truthfully say that I’m not usually playing music from Spotify, asking my Amazon Alexa for recipes, or following along with a guided breathing exercise on YouTube or Headspace. Even while birding, which Odell praises as an act of “doing nothing”, occasionally requires me to use an app to differentiate bird calls. I attempt to maintain awareness of my dramatic increase in internet usage, though I’ve grown up on the computer. Some of my fondest childhood memories consist of playing The Sims after school and connecting with faraway friends while living in a neighborhood that felt more distant than any cyberspace. I believe my growing away from my childhood interests includes growing away from my internet obsession as much as I am able to. I hope this growth continues on, and my screen time continues to diminish. It is an active process of mind training and focus-focused strength building. It is a process of constantly discovering and rediscovering, of reawakening and rebuilding.

“This is real. Your eyes reading this text, your hands, your breath, the time of day, the place where you are reading this—these things are real. I’m real too. I am not an avatar, a set of preferences, or some smooth cognitive force; I’m lumpy and porous, I’m an animal, I hurt sometimes, and I’m different one day to the next. I hear, see, and smell things in a world where others also hear, see, and smell me. And it takes a break to remember that: a break to do nothing, to just listen, to remember in the deepest sense what, when, and where we are. —” (Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy)

I am reminded of a quote by author Ursula K. Le Guin, written in her novel “The Lathe of Heaven” that speaks to the constant need to be rediscovered and reborn in this world, and this being the most worthy of tasks. “Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; re-made all the time, made new.” There is no stagnancy in love and to build a life that is as magical as this most magical thing, it to be moving, seeking, and working. Odell dissects the commonplace definition of work and productivity, and reminds us that there is work required even in “doing nothing”. Odell’s conception of “doing nothing” speaks to the disconnection from the constant demands of society’s attention economy and reconnecting to the world beyond these soul-draining structures. This “nothing” is a conscious act of resistance. One must actively disengage from familiar manipulative distraction in order to actively reengage with meaningful realms of connection and community. Odell explains “doing nothing” as a powerful example of reclaiming one’s agency in a world that so intensely benefits from our blissful ignorance.

“The world needs my participation more than ever. Again, it is not a question of whether, but how.” (Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy)

Nature, naturally, plays a monumental role in the act of “doing nothing”. When one is unsure of how to “do nothing” and how much of something this nothing really is, we can look to nature, and the glorious ecosystems that thrive spectacularly without even an occasional instagram notification. Odell often draws connections between dynamics of the attention economy and concepts existing within ecological systems. Odell suggests that looking to nature for insights into resistance and reasons to reconnect is a powerful experience. Birdwatching is an art form / practice / protest that Odell draws poetic wisdom from, with the act of birding being a divine example of doing nothing leading to noticing everything.

”However you refer to it, what this practice has in common with Deep Listening is that observing birds requires you quite literally to do nothing. Bird-watching is the opposite of looking something up online. You can’t really look for birds; you can’t make a bird come out and identify itself to you. The most you can do is walk quietly and wait until you hear something, and then stand motionless under a tree, using your animal senses to figure out where and what it is.” (Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy)

Birdwatching experienced a surge of popularity among the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown when individuals were parched for connection with the outside world while living with interpersonal anxiety and isolation. This activity calls for the participant to engage in ultimate mindfulness. One must be present, attentive, thoughtful, and open in order to achieve connection with the bird world. As a birdwatching enthusiast myself, I was thrilled to see this comparison within this book. I find birdwatching to be a delightful form of meditation and an exquisite excuse to study nature more intently. Odell describes her birdwatching practice as an everyday, automatic activity that she incorporates into her regular routines, This practice of consistent attentiveness to one’s immediate surroundings results in a shift in one’s experience of time. When one is not rushing, the world slows and opportunities to think / notice / breathe open up expansively.

”I looked over at my neighbor, the song sparrow, and thought about how just a few years ago, I wouldn’t have known its name, might not have even known it was a sparrow, might not have even seen it at all. How lonely that world seemed in comparison to this one! But the sparrow and I were no longer strangers. It was no stretch of the imagination, nor even of science, to think that we were related. We were both from the same place (Earth), made of the same stuff. And most important, we were both alive.” (Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy)

Just as our relationships with our devices affect each moment of our waking lives, they can significantly impact us as we slumber. Blue light emissions (that we are constantly soaking up) suppress natural bodily processes of melatonin production (a sleep-regulation hormone). This disruption, as well as general cognitive stimulation and notification induced distraction, combine into a perfect insomniac cocktail. I struggle with phone related sleep anxiety, worrying that I may miss a call or an alarm. It is a practice that I am consistently working on and attempting to be aware of. I experiment with tart cherry juice, magnesium, meditation, and breathing exercises in an attempt to create a sleep-friendly sanctuary within my mind. It’s not a perfect system, though it is an ongoing practice in knowing thyself.

Though I have interspersed a selection of quotes from “How to Do Nothing” that struck and stuck with me, I will leave this post with my most favorite of the bunch.

“It’s a bit like falling in love—that terrifying realization that your fate is linked to someone else’s, that you are no longer your own. But isn’t that closer to the truth anyway? Our fates are linked, to each other, to the places where we are, and everyone and everything that lives in them. How much more real my responsibility feels when I think about it this way! This is more than just an abstract understanding that our survival is threatened by global warming, or even a cerebral appreciation for other living beings and systems. Instead this is an urgent, personal recognition that my emotional and physical survival are bound up with these “strangers,” not just now, but for life.” (Odell)

The miraculous interconnection of each being on this universe is something that comes up in my artistic practice and my thoughts in every way and every day. I am astounded by the mindset shift of this responsibility.. it is not one to dread but an enormous experiment in gratitude. We owe each other, and this world, and ourselves, so much. Our fates are all linked, they’re all holding hands in the cosmic soup, learning / wishing / and desperately trying to stay afloat.

Hand-Drawn Map & Digital Detox Experiment

This experiment-experience did indeed result in a few insights. I have realized I cannot draw an accurate map. I have further developed my knowledge of my Spotify app dependency for cinematic soundtracks on my walks. I have grown my appreciation for my tried and true pigeon spotting grounds. I am deeply grateful to live in a neighborhood in which I can center myself and explore the environment with delight and ease. I live beside all of my favorite spaces and places, which sometimes has left me with the thought that my world is small. But my knowledge of my small space is deep, and for this I am incredibly lucky.

[thequeenofcreole]

|《 A Dream of Fire: Chapter 9 — The Road Less Traveled: Part 1 》|

The warmth of hope spreads through my chest and I softly bite my lip as I try to keep my emotions at bay. If this works, whether I’m able to be there physically or just as a distant consciousness, I will be able to see a part of myself that’s been missing. My family. I’ll worry about how to get a message across when I get there. For now, I’m just grateful that I have a passage to the other side. With new, clean clothes in hand that Naël manifested with his magic, he leads me to his room. It’s a wide open space and a beautiful setup.  It doesn’t have a door and the walls are all windows looking out at the wooded area surrounding the house.

“Don’t worry. I have precautions.”

I can sense a little humor in his voice, probably in response to the way that I look around warily at the openness to the outside. With a wave of his hand, a field of magic blocks the doorway and all of the windows black out.

“Please, Miss Devereaux. Take the time you need to ready yourself. You will need all the strength you can find within yourself for this journey you’re about to embark on.” His voice is soft and reassuring. Like he knows that I need my spirits lifted. It wouldn’t be hard to tell. Especially seeing as though he bore witness to my physical pulverization. I’m sure he was the one who healed me and saw that my broken body showed no |physical| signs of my attack. I don’t know what kind of magic he holds, but I do know that I’m grateful. To him.

“It’s Deréon. Ya can call me D if ya’d like.” My voice, too, is kind as I speak and his lips pull into a smile as he bows his head.

“If you need anything, I’m but a call away. Deréon.”

I nod at him and bring myself to smile at him as he walks through the field of magic blocking the door. When he does, the field glows a soft gold hue and I can tell that the whatever magic that shields the doorway has locked in place.

Alone. Again. The last time I was alone in this plane, I felt nothing but emptiness and the need to survive. I felt lost. Since that short time ago, I feel as though I’ve been through twice as much turmoil as I’ve ever experienced. But now, as I walk to the bathroom of this strangers bedroom, I feel what could be mistaken for safety. A feeling I haven’t felt since before I gave birth to my twins. The thought pulls at my heart and I have to take a deep breath to steady myself.

This is only the second time that I’ve been alone on this plane. Alone to contemplate. To think. To create a plan. To fall apart and grieve the loss I feel in my heart. Not only for my family, but for myself. Something terrible happened to me. The thoughts of never gaining my strength back and the raw vulnerability I feel like I exude right now makes me uneasy. So much so that, deep in my mind, I feel myself |needing| this protector of mine. Naël. How hopeless am I that I’m blindly relying on a stranger to protect me? |Me.|

As I walk into the bathroom, I look at myself in the mirror. I should be covered in bruises with the way that Aege handled me. The way his hands, cold as ice, gripped my throat and squeezed until I couldn’t breathe. The way his blade cut through my magic like it was nothing. Like I was nothing. It makes bile rise in my throat and, before I can comprehend what I’m doing, I run to the toilet and throw myself onto my knees in front of it. My nerves make me heave softly and I let loose all of my anxiousness into the porcelain bowl. My pain. My fear. Until I have nothing left to give.

My body shakes as I try to compose myself, my hands gripping the edge of the porcelain as tight as I can. I feel like I’ll be sick again, but my body won’t allow it. After a moment of attempting to compose myself, I manage to pull myself off the floor from my knees and walk to the sink to rinse my mouth with water. I have no idea what’s ahead of me. All I know is that I have to get out of here. But according to Naël, my magic is what binds me here and only my magic can break the bond. How can I do that if I can’t feel my magic? If it doesn’t exist anymore?

I look down at my hands, which once held so much power and promise and I sigh. I’ve never had to |try| to use my magic. It’s always been so easy for me to summon. Especially with my powers having expanded to the level they are now…. That they |were|. So, how do I begin to try and bring it back? How do I heal my consciousness enough to be able to summon my magic? I’m at a loss. But even if it’s just my consciousness that is able to travel back home, hopefully I can find some hope. Something that will help my magic return and break this curse set upon me.

With my mind heavy and my heart even heavier, I gather myself enough to start the shower. Naël is right. I’ll need all the strength I can gather. I need to at least |try| and clear my mind. Starting with the cleansing of my body. When I finally manage to peel my clothes off and step into the scalding hot water, I’m finally able to wash my hair and try to achieve the closest thing to relaxation I can get. My entire body and mind feels like it’s gone through the ringer and I have been in desperate need of cleansing. Not just my body, but my soul. The hot steam that surrounds me feels like what I’ve been missing to fully relax. Not because the steam itself brings me that missing piece, but the fact that I’m able to pretend that I’m not in a place where every living being but one would rather see me burn at the stake for their own gain than let me go back to my family. As much as I hate to admit it, those witches will be looking for me again. As much as I want to believe that they would just forget about me since I’m not the Queen they seek, I know that Talia has paid a price for me that even her Wiccan ancestors wouldn’t be able to overlook. She has nothing left to lose. One hundred souls for one is a steep price to pay to be wrong. She will want to prove that she hasn’t damned herself for nothing. That’s why I have to do this. No matter what the cost.

I get dressed in the fresh pair of jeans and a white tank top that Naël had manifested for me and, since I don’t have the tools to style my hair, I decide to braid it instead. I never knew how calming it could be, in the face of turmoil, to do something as simple as braid my hair. But I imagine myself in my own home, teaching my baby girl Blue how to braid her hair all on her own. And I imagine her telling my other baby girl every single step even though she can’t understand a word she says.

I hope that one day it will be more than just a fantasy. That I will actually be able to show my baby girl how to braid her own hair. Or that I’ll be able to do it myself. The longer I stay here, the more distant that reality becomes. I don’t know how long I’ve been here and how time here moves in relation to my own realm. It both weakens and strengthens my resolve. At times, one always overpowers the other. Up until this point, it’s strengthened me knowing that I will find a way back to them. But my dream to escape this place feels like it’s slowly slipping from my grasp.

When I’m finally ready to face reality again, I walk through the force field at the open doorway and look back at it as it dissolves in response to my passage. I can feel that it’s a complex spell and I find myself trying to break down the properties of it out of sheer curiosity before I make my way down the long hallway that leads to the living room. I don’t see Naël, but the bowl of chicken and rice on the table makes me take a second glance. My stomach shifts in protest and I inhale deeply before padding over to the table where it sits.

I don’t remember when I ate last and I need my strength if I’m going to continue. With the way Naël is talking, this transference will more than likely be one of the hardest I’ve ever gone through. As I take the bowl and sit down, I eat quickly. Mostly because I feel like now that my body has had a moment to slow down, I feel like I’m starving. But also because my nerves are on high alert. I’m praying to all the powers that be that this will work.

I’m pulled from my thoughts by Naël walking into the living space and, as I look at him, he looks a bit apprehensive. My brows furrow in response and I don’t even ask before he begins to speak.

“I’ve looked over the ritual we’re going to be working with. I’ve made a few changes and I think it will work.”

His words are positive, so my head tilts softly at the still ever present look on his features.

“Is somethin’ wrong?”

He inhales deeply and softly presses his palms together in front of him as he steps closer to me.

“You will have to visit the in between. Time does not exist there. There will be a trial that you must complete. Each trial is unique to the traveler. You could be there for what feels like minutes…. or what feels like years.”

I pause for a moment, understanding his concern. He’s saying that there may be a time where I’m in there and it feels hopeless. Like I’ll never be able to leave. Like when I first came here. I nod slowly, my tone firm and confident as I speak.

“That’s how it was wit’ me comin’ here in the first place. I’m ready fa that.”

His expression softens and he nods firmly before I  look back at the open book that lays on the countertop in the kitchen. As I look at it, I can hear soft whispers in my mind. I know Naël is speaking, but his voice is just a hum in the background as the whispering slowly gets louder. It makes my features twitch softly as the soft sensation of heat radiates in my chest. Like my magic is trying to ignite. I softly rub where I felt the fleeting heat and, when Naël turns back to me, his brows furrow in concern. When my eyes shift from the book and back to him, the whispering suddenly stops and so does the heat in my chest. The concern on his face as he steps closer to me makes me shake my head in response.

“I’m aight. I jus’.... thought I felt….”

I pause, not really sure if what I mean makes sense. So, I elect to just smile and shake my head.

“I’m aight. Ya ready to get goin’?”

He inhales deeply and I can tell that he’s apprehensive, but he’s understanding. If he’s right about him being my protector for whatever reason, it must be confusing not knowing |who| you’re protecting. This man knows nothing of |who| I am. He thinks he knows |what| I am and the power I hold. But he doesn’t know my husband. He doesn’t know my children. My sister. Nobody. In this moment, I find myself in a completely different situation than the one I came here in. Where once I was a prisoner, I have an ally. Finally.  And I want to preserve that. As much as I possibly can.

[the-lady-bryan]

because i’m waiting on the water for my pasta to boil, here’s an idea i had for a fic but haven’t worked on it hardly any not for lack of muse. the muse is there. the worldbuilding has been done to death. i just haven’t the time to add it to the mountain of WIPs I’ve already got going.

so here’s the idea.

It’s a Harry Potter/Hermione Granger Soulmate AU.

The least you need to know: involves Lily Potter being a bamf, pagan god worship, god-like Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, reincarnation, future mind/soul into past self style time travel.

also typos. oh god the typos, but i can’t really be bothered to fix them at this time.

This is gonna be broken up into parts so i’m gonna do a different part per reblog till i’m done.

PART 1:  THE PATRONAGE OF A TITAN

When Lily was a young witch - around 13 or so - her best friend Severus introduced her to some old pureblood traditions (which he and his mother did but hid from his father). She was shown how to worship the old pagan gods. To a muggleborn this was at first not well received, but as Lily had learned in the previous three years not everything about her new world was to be taken at face value. So she endeavoured to learn and not be prejudiced. She had lerned that each witch or wizard who practced the old ways had a patron god or goddess to which they prayed. This was, to her, not entirely unlike the idea of patron saints to whom muggles appealed for strength, guidance, or support. And so this is how she approached this new aspect of her magical identity. Even after her parting of the ways with Severus, she continued to learn and had even begun the practice of honoring the old gods - though she had no patron as yet.

On her seventeenth birthday she had ventured into the forbidden forest, feeling an inexplicable pull on her magic. She found herself in a clearing where there was a pond and a small smattering of trees. Despite it being the dead of winter, the clearing was warm and inviting. There was a fire lit, and an old woman sitting before it. She was naked from the waist up, and her skin sagged and her long hair was thin and silver with age.

"Miss Evans, I've been waiting for you."

"Wh- How do you know my name? Who are you?"

"I was once called the Meter Theon. But in Sparta they called me Meter Megale. My brother-husband called me Rhea."

"You're a titan."

"Yes child."

"I thought you'd be bigger."

Rhea laughs at this and invites Lily to join her by the fire. Lily learns from her that Rhea has come forward as her patron, and tells hr that the old ways are dying. That now across the world only the oldest and strongest still remain. "Zeus and his lot were some of the first to go. But stubborn old Hades refuses to give in. Refuses to give up his post and move on like the others." "why?" "What do you know of the tale of Hades and Persephone, child?" And so Lily tells her the myths she learned as a child pre-hogwarts, and of her research. Of the rites she had read about and so on and so forth. "My siblings and I may have been chained in Tartarus, but we could still see. We could still hear. Mother Gaia still whispered to us in our hearts and Father Ouranous still sang strong in our minds. It always brought me great sorrow to see how my son was treated by his siblings. Given no choice but to rule in a place devoid of warmth and love. Forbidden from walking the land with his siblings and taking part in the wonders that was the growing race of men and their curiosity. Over time many believed him cold and incapable of sharing in what they had. The reality was that he felt everything so much more deeply than they. For it was to him all souls would eventually come. Even those of his brothers and his sisters. But there was one who saw in him the goodness. The kindness and the gentleness that had been hidden by the dark." "Persephone." "Yes. As you mortals are so fond of saying, history is written by the victors. And never has it been more true than in the case of my most beloved son and his wife. Persephone was ordered to wed Hermes, whom she loathed with all of her heart. The night before they were to wed, she fled and went to the only place she knew Zeus's omnopotent sight could never penetrate. She went to the underworld begging sanctuary of Hades, who readily gave it to her. In time they grew close, and eventually he allowed himself to open up to her affection. But rumours of Demeter's search for her daughter told them it would be only a matter of time before those on Olympus realized to where she had fled and Persephone, being posessed of imortality and not a mortal soul, could be removed from his realm and there was little he could do about it. Unless she were willing to bind herself to him in marriage - but because it meant she could no longer return to the world above, to the sunshine and the light, he would not force it upon her. She chose to wed Hades, for her love for him was so great that even the thought of being parted from him brought her great pain. They were wed, and he took her to bed as any husband would his wife. And after, she ate of the pommegranate that would seal her fate. Twelve seeds, she needed to consume.... but the gates of the Underworld buckled and gave way under the might of Zeus and his Olympians. Hermes stole Persephone away after she had eaten only six. The bond to her husband only partially fulfilled. Hades was punished by watching Persephone forced to marry Hermes. But rather than marry the brute she attacked him and took up his dagger, plunging it into her own heart.... For the weapons forged in the fires of Hephaestus were so powerful they could kill even a Titan. Denied the pleasure of watching Hades suffer as his wife was married to the suitor Zeus had chosen, Zeus forbade her soul from ever entering the realm of Hades and bound her soul to mortal bones to be reborn again and again. My beloved son still stands watch, though he grows weaker by the year, in the hopes that now his brothers are long since gone, her soul may be able to pass through his gates and she is returned to him."

Lily is given the choice near dawn to accept Rhea, one of the last of the old gods, as her patron goddess or to refuse and seek out another. Lily accepts Rhea, which causes the old woman to smile and gives her an amulet with strange runes upon it.

Lily wakes in her own bed in Gryffindor tower, finding a delicate locket around her neck. Upon closer inspection, the inside has an inscription - the same strange runes from the amulet Rhea had given to her in what she assumed was a dream... Only to realize when she pulls her covers aside that her feet are smudged in dirt as if she'd been walking outside.

Lily learns as much as she can of Rhea in the following years. When she marries James Potter, she insists that they buy a specific type of wine without telling him why. He believes it is her favorite because she tends to keep a bottle in the house "for special occasions". She plants a garden where every plant links back to her patron Titaness in some way or manner. The night of Halloween, after James has gone to sleep rather satisfied after their own "after party" once they'd come home from Sirius's wild Halloween party, Lily went out into her garden in the wee hours and made her offering to Rhea who, once again, appeared to her. This time Rhea was much more ancient in her appearance, much more haggard. But she was still very pleased to see Lily had done as she had promised and continued to worship her. "You are the last of my acolytes, I am afraid. And when you one day pass, so too shall I." Lily professes that won't be the case. That one day she and James will start a family, and she will make sure that her children honor Rhea just as Lily has done - even if they have to do it behind her husband's back (to many Light families, the "old ways" are seen as dark and are thus shunned and forbidden. Otherwise she would have happily included James in her worship of Rhea.) This amuses the Titaness, but she says that no, it is her time. The age of the gods has finally come to an end. But with the passage of the gods, something new must fill the void. Something new must give mankind the comfort and protection once offered by the old gods. "I have a gift for you, my dear child. As my last priestess, I wish to give you something your husband... unfortunately cannot." "What?" "Try as you might, your husband's seed will never swell your belly. But as my last act in this existence, I grant you a boon. Your loyalty and your love have kept me alive longer than my brothers and sisters. Your love has given me more time with my beloved son Hades, and as a mother who has seen all her other children perish before her, this is a gift that can only be matched by one of equal value." Rhea touches Lily's abdomen and Lily feels a warmth flood her starting from there. Rhea visibly weakens as she is doing this, and the brightness in her eyes fades from brilliant emerald to a dull moss. "What have you done to me?" "My body fails me, but my power will remain so long as you live. I have given you the only thing of value to me left. Treat him kindly, my priestess. He has known so much sorrow and so much pain and yet he remains so pure and full of love." Lily, in disbelief, puts a hand to her adbomen. "How... what...." "Word of advice from one mother to another. If your husband tries to eat him, just paint a face on a rock  and shove it down his throat. My only regret was letting Cronus eat Hades instead of Zeus. If i knew then that boy would be such a hatefull jackass like his father, I'd have thrown him into the abyss myself and been done with him. Hera, too. And Poseidon was on pretty thin fucking ice there by the end."

Lily wakes the next morning in her bed with James, and once more her feet are smudged with dirt. This isn't the first time, so she tells James that she woke in the night for some water and wanted to take a stroll in the garden to look at some of her night blooms. The moment she is alone, she casts a charm and finds that she is, indeed, pregnant. After James has gone to work for the day, Lily prepares a special offering and leaves it in the garden tucked in a little altar disguised as a muggle garden decoration. She thanks Rhea for her gift and promises to show him all of the love and affection she possibly can - for both his mothers.

Lily does not see Rhea again, but she can feel her patron's presence from time to time and finds it comforting.

When Harry Potter is born, Lily silently praises Rhea, thanking her again for her gift and for her patronage and protection, and promises to do the best she can to raise the reborn Hades in a way she would hopefully approve.

They go into hiding, and Lily invokes Rhea's power and protection - not for herself, but for the son the Titaness had given her.

The entire day of October 31, 1981 Lily Potter feels powerful. She feels the energies surrounding her and her family intensify and a feeling of dread settles into her gut. She is reminded of the last time she and Rhea spoke face to face. The titaness had said that her body was failing her, and that so long as Lily lived, so too would the power of Rhea. During the day when she set Harry down for a nap, she prayed fervently over the boy, chanting ancient prayers of protection she had learned over the years. James comes upon her, but does not interrupt and instead waits outside Harry's nursery and listens to his wife's chanting. He slips away when she finishes and hurries downstairs. When they are both in the kitchen later, standing side by side at the counter as Lily prepares Harry's after nap snack and James is fixing himself some tea he quietly says, "I know Harry isn't mine." "What? Where the hell is this coming from? I did not cheat on you if that's what you think." "You got pregnant pretty quickly after Sirus's costume party-" "I did not cheat on you." "then who's the father?" "YOU are you dolt! I... Harry was a blessing! A gift to us for my unfaltering devotion o a dying goddess!" "you're mad." "Call me what you want, James. But I tell you if you were to pull an inheritence test on him right now you'll see he's your son. The night Harry was conceived we had just made love and she came to me and blessed me with our son. Go upstairs and look at him, James. He looks just like you, but with his mother's eyes. That's no glamour. That's no illusion or spell or-" "I know it's dark. I know it's illegal. I saw you chanting over him like some madwoman." "It was a protection chant James! In case you've forgotten we've got a madman after us who wants to kill our son because some drunken blithering idiot said so!"

The the argue a bit more and Lily storms out of the kitchen. After Harry wakes up, James realizes he's been an idiot after watching Lily playing with Harry and goes to apologize. Lily's annoyed with him, but forgives him with a "Besides, you know the wards on this place would have kicked him right out if he wasn't really a Potter you dunderhead."

That night Voldemort attacks, just as in canon. Lily is wearing her special locket that was given to her from Rhea when she accepted the Titaness as her patron. When Lily died, the remnants of Rhea's power was called forth and protected Harry in response to the muggleborn priestess's willing self sacrifice. But it was not enough to stop the horcrux that was drawn to the reincarnation of the god of the dead.

[kitsoa]

The Heart of Stories Pt. 3

Masterpost / Part 1  / Part 2 / Supplementary Analysis / Part 3 (here)

Question: What is Kingdom Hearts?

Kingdom Hearts: The supreme heart. A source of immeasurable power capable of re-writing the universe and all it contains.

It is notable that we have never truly received a proper in-universe explanation for what the force of Kingdom Hearts is. We know that lesser variations of the thing have been summoned, illuminating more so the nature of its components than the actual definition of its model. The first lesser-Kingdom Hearts was the Heart of Worlds, composited in the realm of Darkness where the fallen world’s hearts amassed. The second was the Heart of Men, captured from the Heartless slain by the keyblade. Being an amalgamation of Hearts— which by this definition is the essence of people and things— makes it so that Kingdom Hearts is some kind of collective existence. As lesser iterations, these Kingdom Hearts’ do not hold nearly the magnitude of influence or power that Xehanort was wishing to attain in his final attempt. So it must be assumed the quintessential example is a force that is the collective Heart of everything.

1. A Story about Stories is a Story

In the previous section we discussed how Worlds are vessels for lesser existences. Existences whom require connection and feelings to be real. As vessels to emotions, Worlds satisfy that process of asserting existence in the Kingdom Hearts universe by functioning as Stories. The Heart of Worlds is formed by the stories it tells. Tales created by the denizens of that world. A symbiotic relationship that produces a greater, collective Heart.  

So if stories are made up of the characters they hold. The even greater Kingdom Hearts— a collective Heart of everything— is made up of the Stories that it holds.

And ultimately that would conclude irrefutably that Kingdom Hearts is the Heart of the greater multiverse. And by the logic present in the previous section, that would make that supreme Heart the story of the multiverse. Fiction. Like the Worlds within it. So where is the line drawn? And what non-fiction lies behind it?

If Kingdom Hearts was about a kid jumping into his favorite Disney movies and saving the day, this would not nearly be as hard to parse. From that perspective, the concepts of emotional existence would be exclusively contained within the fictional worlds as some ground of non-fiction would exist within this hypothetical protagonist. But that isn’t the case as Sora— a denizen of his own World, is placed on the same plane of existence as his Disney and Original World contemporaries. The only thing elevating him from his World is the contrivance of a greater universe and a story empowering that traversal.

The story of a Keyblade giving a responsibility to defend these worlds. The conflict of a force looking to tarnish the status quo in some manner.

The Story of Kingdom Hearts.

The Heart of Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts is Kingdom Hearts (2002), like Land of Dragons is Mulan (1998). Toy Box is Toy Story(1995). Olympus Coliseum is Hercules (1997). Atlantica is The Little Mermaid (1989). etc.etc.

A very obvious answer indeed. By living in a realm where emotional connection is paramount to existence, and where narratives are the vessels that contain those emotions, the Kingdom Hearts universe establishes itself as a fictional construct.

2. The Fourth Realm of Thought

This final layer of context allows for the very function of the universe to bow to the rules and whims of fiction. What was originally phenomenon functioning independently and in isolation is now completely constructed by intelligent design. A creator and author of the story—  someone who exists in a newly revealed Fourth Realm of thought (Heart<World<Kingdom Hearts<Fourth Realm). The realm holding this story is ambiguous because it exists beyond the scope of the already immeasurably large Kingdom Hearts multiverse. But by virtue of containing the final bastion of narrative purity, this Fourth Realm is most certainly a World of Non-fiction.  

Reality. The ‘real’ world. 

Now whether this can be considered our world is an exercise in futility, especially as the literal story begins to encompass a new scope of ‘Non-fiction.’ By bringing attention to it, the story makes it fictional. So while it can parallel our reality to a science, it ultimately cannot literally make real the fictional constructs of our imaginations. It is here that I am reminded of a familiar tagline. 

Take the further implications of this phrases source to heart, especially in regards to the Secret Ending, but also do note the substance. Reality and Fantasy. Non-Fiction and Fiction. This World of Non-Fiction can function as reality but is just as fake as a fantasy. That’s just the facts. Even so, the intention and conversation remains close enough to speak synonymously of our world and this Fourth Realm the Story of Kingdom Hearts expands toward.

And that’s where we can bring in the Fourth Wall. 

3. The Fourth Wall 

The Fourth Wall is a performance construct used in theater to denote the audience. It is an invisible, imaginary wall that divides the story from its observers and contains the narrative by force of thought and the willing suspension of disbelief. This wall manifests in variations of strength depending on medium, the weakest being live theater with a wealth of permutations below that. But ultimately, anything can break this wall and shatter the foundation of a functioning story. 

Addressing the audience in some form is the sure fire way to break the Fourth Wall, but simply alluding to the existence of the barrier in the first place is enough to ‘weaken’ the Fourth Wall for lack of a better word. What we see in Kingdom Hearts is the premise of an emotionally dependent existence ballooning into an innate recognition of its fictional status. A fragile relationship with the barrier that will inevitably break should the story continue. 

4. Putting it Together

Kingdom Hearts creates for itself a sort of existential terrarium. Fostering an ecosystem of self-sustaining narratives that are independent of each other, but subservient to the larger whole. It re-contextualized every aspect of the lesser story from there, functioning not as a selfish sequence of events, but as a small part to something much bigger. 

Sora, as the existences transcending all stories in this multiverse narrative, is not only an average, unremarkable boy— but is the Main Character. He functions a role outside himself that makes him a driving force behind the Story of Kingdom Hearts. The leader not by action, but by existence. Or to put it in a theatrically pleasing way— the King of a Kingdom. 

Light becomes the means by which a Story is seen. It is literally what illuminates existence so that hearts can connect. Gathering Light expands a story and when Light expires, the story ends. Darkness by that contrast is the process of ending stories. Destroying their relevance and meaning with with emotions unbefitting the childlike hearts that yearn to connect and resonate with them in the first place. But it is also the reason for a story’s being. From it’s consuming irrelevancy, light persists to combat it with more stories to replace what’s been lost. The original light of Kingdom Hearts that Xehanort wished to attain would be the Kingdom Hearts story in its purest, most earnest form.

Then the process of ‘dictating Destiny’ which Kingdom Hearts would supposedly grant, brings in the conversation of authorial intention and narrative flexibility. All the while speaking to a larger conversation about our place in our universe. 

So when asked what is Kingdom Hearts, I think @invigoraide observed it at its most simplistic in their analysis. Kingdom Hearts is the very force that gives birth to the primary conflict of this multiverse— that which drives the story of Kingdom Hearts. The plot device. The Plot made manifest. The heart in the sky and the disc in our gaming system.

Afterward

The importance of bonds, the feelings that people share, and the ways we leave our mark on others. Kingdom Hearts has a lot to say on what it means to exist. Pain, joy, sadness, wonder— life is all about those emotions and often times we get so consumed in the day to day that we never let ourselves feel and experience and connect. The stories that captured our imagination as children gave us models on how to do just that.

The quest to define a Heart in Kingdom Hearts seems strangely arbitrary because it’s just a lore glossary term. But the earnest manner in which the games try to do so sheds light on what it really means for the audience and the people who care. At the conclusion, if my thinking is right, we learn that the heart is what binds us to each other. It is what tells the world that we existed and that we mattered. Because we are just stories in the end. And we can only be as real as our feelings reach wide.

[acaipsychelife]

Neptune: the Highest Benefic and Ultimate Malefic. Divine Transcendence and Enchanting Deception.

Pisces gets carried away in their love life, with intoxication, or with aspiring for unrealistic dreams. They could enact the archetype of the guru who spends all day meditating and neglects the physical body.

The house of Neptune could be the area of life where you don’t set boundaries. You end up idealizing whatever that house symbolizes, to the point where it becomes a self-undoing because you can get carried away with that area of life. The house of Neptune is where you reach your highest highs and deepest lows.

You find intoxicating bliss in the house of Neptune. Once it’s over, you feel like you have a rude awakening. Sobering truths reveal themselves after you allowed yourself to be vulnerable to a fault. 

By reflecting on the difficulties of our placements, you can choose to make the best of them. Being aware of which area of life you are manipulated can lead you to cultivating greater strength to protect yourself.

You can also consider this for whichever house has Pisces.

Neptune in the 1st house has a weak physical body, you are susceptible to viruses and catch others’ illnesses easily. A lightweight to intoxication, you easily tap into other worlds with substances. Your presence can be so mystifying that you can influence and inspire others. You can entrance others with your insightful nature. Your dreamy personality creates difficulty focusing and impractical behavior. You identify with living for escapism, seeing yourself a fantasy character. Your identity is so indefinite that others misperceive you. People can project their ideals onto you, and you feel like few see the true you. Others make assumptions about who you are and what you do and project that onto you, thinking they have you figured out. You are perceived as impressionable and hazy even if you’re actually strong minded. Often feeling misunderstood, others distort the things you said to mean something different than what you meant. Once you cut thru the fog of how you orient yourself with the world and the impressions you set on other people, you can own your power with a divine sense of self. Your enchanting ways can make you a very influential person.

Neptune in the 2nd house gets carried away in splurging their finances, particularly spending money on alcohol or whatever substances of their choice. There is a tendency to be unwise with managing their assets, they miss out on opportunities to profit from their talents or selling their valuables. Escapism is sought by accumulating beautiful possessions, deceiving yourself into thinking that it grounds you in the material world. Shopping addiction is possible, as well as an attachment to the idea of “I have and addiction”, whatever it may be. Years of not being cautious about money lead to bankruptcy and not having enough when you need it. Others can take advantage of the times that you are wealthy, as you can sacrifice the assets you’ll need later on out of your sympathy for those who have less than you. your self-worth is dissolved as you feel a haze about owning your power. Uncertain of what you truly value, you may be influenced by what others care about. You can find your divinity by connecting with the earth. Indulging in simple pleasures is your transcendence.

Neptune in the 3rd house uses your words to entrance others, enchanted by ideas, getting carried away with opinions, your dialogues can be unclear. Idealizing topics leads to disillusionment. A fog can infuse your logic, you may not focus to listen or truly grasp what is being said. The way you perceive concepts and topics is sometimes not grounded or fully thought thru. You may not realize that what you say is misunderstood, others may claim you said something you didn’t. You can guard yourself from being deceived by your siblings. You have been disheartened in the academic learning process. Legal paperwork floods your life to the point of overwhelm. Thru seeking knowledge, you can transcend mundane reality. By sharing information, you find your divinity, raising consciousness by spreading awareness.

Neptune in the 4th house is deceived by your own family. Your parents may have been flaky in taking care of you, or they just weren’t aware of what was going on. Haziness is embedded in your soul, which is the underlying cause of uncertainty in other areas of your life. A neglectful upbringing is possible, a parent may have had an addiction, or they weren’t fully present for you for whatever reason. Indulging in fantasy during childhood leads you to feeling disheartened in adulthood. Your psyche is entrenched in profound mysticism that you can use to reach up to heights of spiritualism. You can cultivate prophetic abilities, as the taproot of your soul comes from a lineage of divinity. You can nurture others with your connection to higher realms.

Neptune in the 5th house is enchanted by having children but may not be responsible in dealing with them. Sacrificing your goals to care for your children leaves you feeling like you cannot live to enjoy yourself. Loss of a child brings you to the depths of sorrow. Getting carried away in romance leads to disillusionment. Idealizing pleasure leads to various kinds of addiction. Your self expression can be unclear. Your ego is hazy as you could get swept away in admirable confidence, but others may misperceive it as conceit. You can potentially transcend your ego to reach the heights of your spirit. Mystifying creativity endows you with exceptional talent. In a trance of creation, you find your divinity in a whirlwind of paint and music.

Neptune in the 6th house receives misdiagnoses, your health is probably weakened. Yet you can also create a spiritual connection to your diet and routines. Rising above big pharma and a toxic lifestyle could bring you to your divine purpose. Cultivating sensitivity to what’s going on with your own health, as well as being intuitive about others’ ailments is how your find your divinity. You raise vibration by transcending the drag of work and illness once you cut thru the fog of receiving ineffective medical advice. You can find enchantment in the daily grind, if you choose not to be hazy about getting chores done. Your dreamy nature can neglect necessary tasks. You can be very intuitive with animals. You’ll likely experience losses with jobs but once you find the right path you’ll find transcendence.

Neptune in the 7th or 8th house means you can get brutally hurt in relationships because you blind yourself to the red flags. However, you can also reach spiritual peaks in relationships with those placements.

Neptune in the 7th house, other people in general (business partners, lovers, friends) will mislead you, you may see them as kinder than they are. Hypnotized by putting others on a pedestal, you may be easily enchanted by other people. With the attitude of “some day my prince will come”, you get carried away in romance later to be disillusioned by being mistreated. Addicted to your connections with people, you may end up sacrificing yourself for others, which becomes sorrows. On the converse, you may attempt to manipulate others, or they manipulate you. You can use this tendency for good with your potential guide others to salvation. Relationships dissolve leading you to feeling alone. Legal battles lead you to losses. If you choose to rise above social norms and the corruption of legalities, you can raise the consciousness of other people. You have the ability to find the loopholes in laws, making them work for you, yet, others can also use loopholes with laws against you.

Neptune in the 8th house, others try to leech off your resources, you may lose money due to your compassionate nature. Because of getting overly enchanted with intimacy, you allow yourself to be vulnerable to manipulation. Swept away by intense pleasure, you can be addicted to the bonds you create with others. Even when you know they’re not what’s best for you, your rose colored glasses cause you to stay connected to someone. Sacrificing yourself for those you feel a deep connection leads to feeling disillusioned. There is a tendency to be under a spell of the intense feelings that you’re addicted to. You can be more in love with the excitement of obsession than the actual person.  To dissolve the karma you’ve built up over lifetimes, you run into people who impacted you in previous incarnations, and they lead you to salvation at best and deception at worst. You may receive money and resources from those who are karmicly indebted to. Getting carried away in esotericism leads you to the heights of your spirit, yet you don’t shy away from darker topics. Black magic could become your self-undoing so it is advised to use your profound mystic powers for good.

Neptune in the 9th house, you can be harmed by gurus or teachers, but also have transcendental experiences where your soul becomes one with the universe. Foreigners can sweep you off your feet, and you can neglect practicality by fantasizing your desire for exploration. It is possible for you to be addicted to thrills and risk taking, being carried away in daredevil tendencies. Your intuition is hazy but you can potentially be prophetic. Academia can become a self-undoing, if you get carried away in your quest for knowledge. Being enchanted by spirituality can cause you to be manipulated into a belief system that clouds your mind if you are not careful. After realizing flaws of a religion, you find yourself disillusioned, feeling a loss in your meaning of life. You long for a divine path that gives you hope, but find yourself disheartened until you find your own truth amongst the deception. The passion of your soul can lead you to an extraordinary life. Opening yourself to various religious practices gives you salvation even if you choose not to take any belief system as gospel. You can dissolve the corruption of organized religion.

Neptune in the 10th house can get taken advantage of in your career. Yet you can also reach lofty peaks with your ambitions. Enchanted by your aspirations, you become disillusioned when you realize that your goals aren’t what they were cracked up to be. You aren’t given credit for your hard work and you experience deep losses in your career. Your position in the world is so hazy that you may not find direction in life unless you utilize the more grounded parts of your natal chart. Achieving high status doesn’t truly make you fulfilled, and you can potentially transcend the structure of the world, creating your position in the world to be an ideal. Reaching up to the heavens, you can make it your mission to give hope and raise the vibration of the planet. You can inspire others on a grand level and become a very influential public figure. If you tap into your universal compassion, it can lead you to success.

Neptune in the 11th house can have manipulative friends, but also be part of groups that bring you salvation. You idealize the groups and communities you are part of, even to the point of being easily persuaded. Yet, you can also have grand influence on the people you’re in contact with. Being addicted to your friends can become a self-undoing. Loss of friends leads you to sorrow and you feel a haze of wondering, who is genuine? Your theme song is, “I get by with a little help from my friends, I get high with a little help from my friends”. The groups you’re part of lead you into intoxicating situations, as well as the mystifying heights of your spirit. You can be overly idealistic in striving to be part of something greater than yourself. You are enchanted by being part of a revolution, your spirit propels you to make a difference in humanity. By being compassionate with people, you raise them to their divine potential. You can raise the collective consciousness by radiating your divinity.

Neptune in the 12th house can wallow in solitude while taking on collective suffering. Compassion can be too much to bear, as your ability to feel for others can become a self-undoing. The culmination of the world’s sorrows within you gives you a depth like no other. Any addictions or self-undoings from previous lives are being processed in you current incarnation. Solitude is of great importance to you, as the exploration of your subconscious mind provides you with a fantasy of bliss. As long as you choose to remain realistic, you won’t get carried away in the fog of escapism. Isolation only leads to addiction if you let it. Disenchanted by the world, you retreat on your own so that others cannot take advantage of you. Dream work leads you to your destiny, as you take note of intuitive messages you receive from dreams. You have a universal understanding in your spirit that transcends the mundane. You have the unique gift to touch the divine creator (whatever higher power you believe in) in a way that others cannot. Your spirit dissolves into the collective, as your high vibrations heal the world.

@transcendicalprosperity claims that Neptune is the ultimate malefic because whatever house it sits is the area of life where you have losses. After all, Neptune’s symbol looks like a devil’s pitchfork. Lord Shiva (the destroyer) carries what appears to be a pitchfork as well. Yet, the Neptune symbol has three arrows reaching up to the heavens. Neptune aids you in finding your divinity. Poseidon holds the trident as he rules the ocean. The seas hold the darkest depths of the scariest creatures, as well as the most wondrous schools of colorful fish and spectacular coral formations. (This goes to show that the collective consciousness is channeled as religious stories are created, we find the same themes throughout various faiths. How interesting is it that the same symbol appears in three different religions?!)

Neptune dissolves whatever it touches, keep that in mind for the house placement and aspects that Neptune creates in both your transits and natal chart. Sometimes we have to experience something dissolving into nothingness for evolutionary growth even if it hurts. The house of Neptune is where you find yourself disillusioned. Your Neptune transits can be used to predict what events could happen to you that will leave you feeling disillusioned.

I personally believe Neptune to be both a benefic and a malefic; getting caught up in divine bliss leads you to seemingly unbearable difficulties. Like an ecstasy trip that leads to “suicide Tuesday” as they call it, releasing all the serotonin leaves you with none left; heightened excitement becomes a loss of happiness chemicals. Mutable signs explain one’s brain chemistry. Those with strong Neptune, an accentuated 12th house, or prominent Pisces in their natal chart are more prone to mental illness because psychic abilities are interpreted as delusion in modern society.

In The Art of Predictive Astrology by Carol Rushman (a book I recommend to budding astrologers) she mentions that people with lots of mutable signs or many planets in the cadent houses (3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th) experience most of their anguish on a mental level. Since mutable signs have the virtue of being open to other perspectives, they also bend to others’ will, impressionable to the words of others. Misperceiving what has been said causes mutable people to think someone was being critical when they weren’t, or to idealize people to the point of not realizing their ulterior motives. Wherever Pisces and Neptune sit in your chart describes how you absorb the collective. This can be the area of life where you have a loss of stability. It can be overwhelming for the rational mind to bear.

Recommended reading: What a Shaman sees in a Mental Institute. https://themindsjournal.com/shaman-sees-mental-hospital/ 

Deranged behavior can signify the birth of a healer, as Pisces, Neptune, and the 12th house symbolize ultimate transcendence, spiritual visions, mystifying abilities, and a mind that reaches past reality, which can appear psycho to those who do not understand. The house of your Neptune is where you can reach beyond the mundane.

--Sellieve

[fernikart57]

My review for every Season 2 Gravity Falls episode.

Now I’ll start with this season! I’ll give my opinions!

Scary-Oke: My second-favourite episode of the season! I loved it from the beginning to the end! Stan’s Knuckledusters were awesome. 15/10.

In The Bunker: I liked it! It’s awesome this episode! 10/10

The Golf War: My third-favourite episode of the season! I simply loved Pacifica’s redemtion here! 13/10.

Sock Opera: I simply didn’t liked it, Dipper’s threatment was poor in this episode, Bill is an asshole, and what he did is unforgivable. Mabel doesn’t help, she was an asshole to Dipper too, luckily, this is the last time, she’ll do that. Luckly Stan saved this episode. 5/10.

Soos And The Real Girl: My fifth favourite episode! I loved it so much! 11/10.

Little Shop Of Horrors: Every tale, Stan told was awesome! I simply liked this episode! 10/10

The Society Of Blind Eye: I liked this episode! It’s awesome! 10/10.

Blendin’s Game: Dipper’s and Mabel’s efforts to cheer-up Soos, were splendid, I simply loved this episode! 10/10.

The Love God: Another of my favourite episodes! This one was great! I love Tambry and Robbie’s relationship! 10/10.

Northwest Mansion Mystery: I simply loved this episode! It’s very good. I like how Pacifica rebelled againist her parents! 10/10.

Not What He Seems: The last episode I liked, before the salt. Awesome and amazing! I simply loved it! 10/10.

A Tale Of Two Stans: Ford caused me first bad impression and I’m still unable to forgive him, util today, I still cannot forgive how his pride leave him to do that kind of things and he never care what Stan was doing, when his dad kicked him. Honestly if Ford would have defended Stan, the things, should be different. And as I mentioned before, I don’t like this kind of episodes. 6/10.

Dungeons, Dungeons And More Dungeons: There a lot of things in this episode I didn’t liked. Dipper thinking EVERYTHING in the 90′s is bad (when some good things were the Internet, Technologic advances, Pokémon, Digimon and the Videogame Wars), Ford asking Dipper to keep in secret the Rift from Mabel and Stan, Stan and Ford ARGUED AGAIN and... argh! I simply didn’t liked this episode, this episode dissapointed me, probably I could loved it, if Probabilitor have turned Stan and Mabel in game characters too. The only good scenes for me were the joke of Stan playing dices in the Vegas and Stan and Mabel bonding! 6/10.

The Stanchurian Candidate: Honestly... I expected more of this episode, again, was another dissapointment. Stan has a bad day and wants to be Mayor to impress Dipper and Mabel, Ford then borrows Dipper a Fucking Mind-Control Tie and lets he and Mabel use it to manipulate Stan, honestly I always loved Dipper and Mabel, but I HATED THEM in this episode! This is the only time that happens, It’s very hard to me hate a main character, even if they’re assholes, but this something that has never happened in my life! I still can’t forgive Dipper and Mabel for using that tie on Stan! The only good things from this episode were... Stan’s fancy Outfit! I loved it! That Gideon gave Dipper and Mabel a taste of their own medicine and how this episode ends. 6/10

The Last Mabelcorn: Again, this was another dissapointment, I expected more from this episode. I know many love this episode, but I didn’t liked it for the next reasons: Ford made a Family Meeting, and he didn’t even wait for Stan, he lives in the Shack too! Not even Dipper and Mabel and subsequently Stan wasn’t involved in the duty of protecting the Shack, Ford if you want to protect your family, you should wait for everyone! Another reason, it’s because for this, it started the hype of what Stan did when he was homeless and what is his middle name? also I want to see Stan with obscured glasses like Ford. It’s not fair only Ford have this effect on him. Honestly I expected more... the episode only was likeable for me just for Mabel trying to be good and then punching Unicorns and every scene featuring Stan, just for that. 6/10.

Roadside Attraction: After a long time, we got again a episode I loved it from the beginning to the end! I like this episode! 10/10.

Dipper And Mabel vs. The Future: I simply didn’t liked the episode. This is the 5th time, I got dissapointed, I know many loved this episode, but I simply didn’t liked it. I wished that Stan were more present in this episode, but again, they didn’t knew to give him a place in this episode! At least Stan, could be with Mabel helping her along Soos to invite her friends. Ford returned to be again the asshole from episode 12, he wanted Dipper to be his apprentice and dismissed Dipper’s dreams, instead of encouraging him to be a director. It’s a good episode I don’t doubt about it, but I didn’t liked it. 6/10

Weirdmageddon I: Honestly, I’m tired of being dissapointed! Here starts Weirdmageddon, and this first part I liked Dipper, Wendy and Soos surviving to Weirdmageddon, but again, it could be nice, that Stan had a major role again, just they again, wasted that chance. I need to say, that the second half of the episode was pretty good! 8/10.

Weirdmageddon II: Escape From Reality. I loved this episode so much! It was awesome! Mabeland is a good place! 10/10

Weirdmageddon III: Take Back The Falls: Another dissapointment! Despite many loved it, I simply didn’t liked this episode. Everybody apparently give a fuck to Stan in this episode and simply they ignored him. Altought it was good watching every character of Gravity Falls, fighting to recover their town. But I simply didn’t like this part, I still feel bad for Stan in this episode, heck! they didn’t even mentioned the name of Stan’s Symbol. The only good things were: When everybody got angry at Stan for refusing to enter to the Zodiac, Bill defeating the Resistance and Ford and Stan ruining the Zodiac and Bill’s song. 6/10.

Weirdmageddon IV: Somewhere In The Woods: What I can say? This episode is a masterpiece! And really ammended the mistakes the previous part did, this episode is pure perfection! It made me cry and is the best episode of the series! I loved everything, how Ford and Stan were the ones that defeat Bill, how Ford and Stan were jailed by Bill and Stan having an idea to defeat Bill, which ends in Stan’s Sacrifice, I need to say that what Ford got in other dimentions doesn’t helped him in nothing againist Bill. Honestly I can’t get over this episode every time I watch it! I can’t get over Bill attempting to murder Dipper and Mabel, starting with Mabel, I can’t get over, when Stan takes Ford’s place, I can’t get over Dipper’s and Mabel’s confused faces when they realize the switcheroo, I can’t get over when Ford is forced to erase the mind of his brother, I can’t get over when Bill realizes he was tricked and since he’s losing his powers, he can’t escape from Stan’s mind and now he’s a total whimp without his powers, I can’t get over how Bill smug become into a terrifyed face being totally afraid of what Stan could do to him, since he harmed Dipper, Mabel and Ford previously, I can’t get over of how Bill tries to bargain with Stan proposing everything Stan has always wanted since he was kicked from his house, evern going further of creating Stan’s own galaxy and making him more powerful, just so he realize that unlike Dipper, Mabel and Ford, he’s not interested, even if he were proposed make Stan a god, Stan would have declined, I can’t get over Bill’s distressed/scared face when he’s unable to fool Stan, I think Stan is the only person that Bill has been unable to fool and this make him upset, because no one had declined his deals and also Stan was Bill ticket to continuing existing, I can’t get over Bill’s face, when he realizes Stan doesn’t care about his own life, thinking he was never worth, I can’t get over Bill attempting to murder Stan, but he heavily glitches in a painful way, taking many deformed, grotesque and bizarre forms, until he is weakened, I can’t get over when Bill’s last word before being erased of existed were a backwards spell and “STANLEY!!” while being totally manipulated by his fear, I can’t get over Stan punching Bill directly in the eye, I can’t get over Stan’s last words “Guess I was good for some after all!” while he holds a photo of him, Dipper, Mabel and Waddles, I can’t get over seeing Ford’s hearbroken face when he finishes to erase Stan’s mind and is totally in shock, while Dipper and Mabel were in shock too, I can’t get over how when the Nightmare Realm inhabitants are violently sucked by the rift and Gravity Falls returns to normal, being greener than before and sadly every character that came alive for the Weirdness waves dissapeared, everything returned to it’s normal (if you can say it) self, almost... I can’t get over Dipper, Mabel and Ford looking for Stan and finding him unconcious, when he returns to concious, he no longer remembers Dipper, Mabel and Ford. I can’t get over, how Mabel attempts to congratulate Stan and hug him, but Stan doesn’t let her to hug him and ask her name and who’s talking she, I can’t get over Mabel trying to think, this is a prank but sadly isn’t a prank, when Stan doesn’t show signs of pulling Mabel’s leg and instead is more confused, I can’t get over Ford kneeling at Stan and calling “You’re our hero, Stanley” and gives him, his first hug in 40 years, turning this moment from to a happy one, to a sad one, I can’t get over Ford’s face about, how despite everything, Stan sacrifyed again for Ford, this time, he gave his memories, personallity and identity to save Ford, probably Ford was thinking “This shouldn’t end like this!” while that was happening, I can’t get over Dipper, Mabel, Soos, Stan and Ford seeing the Shack destroyed by Bill, I can’t get over Ford helping Stan to dress and he along Soos, Dipper and Mabel take him to the Shack (holding his hands), I can’t get over everybody thinking Stan will remember the Shack, but he doesn’t, I can’t get over Stan sitting in his favourite couch and then watching Dipper’s, Mabel’s, Soos’ and Ford’s long faces in front of him, I can’t get over how, for the first time in years, Ford doesn’t know what to do to solve this problem and trying to accept that his brother has gone, I can’t get over how Mabel finds her Scrapbook and she sits with Stan and she shows Stan every moment they spent together, she took pictures, I can’t get over how everybody is around Stan and Ford’s surprised face of knowing how Dipper’s and Mabel’s summer started, I can’t get over Stan getting mad at Waddles and he keeps licking Stan, much for his annoy, Stan also remembers Waddles, I can’t get over everybody smiling in disbelief when Stan remembers Waddles, Soos and his pay (I can imagine Soos was so happy he was the second person Stan remembers), I can’t get over Mabel telling what happened in their first week and then everybody laughs and I can’t get over how at the end everybody got what they wanted in the end. I simply, this episode is so beautiful! Soos is Mr. Mystery, Ford decides to make Stan finally accomplish his childhood dream and it’s beautiful! 1000/1000

What do you think?

Remember this what I think!