#i haven't “checked in on” a lot of stuff because i want to avoid spoilers and have seen that the devs are handing those out as candy

[eilistraeees]

Honestly, Vei*gu*rd does not appeal to me at all. It gives off strong mmo "vibes" and I do find it off putting. And the characters remind me of sims 4 sims, which I am not a fan of either. The lack of abilities and the hotbar the previous 3 games had (even though inquisition cut out a lot of those), not being able to control companions.. I could go on.

It is truly sad to me, because DA is my favourite franchise. I am holding out hope that the story and characters are interesting but I don't play games for story and characters alone, if I only wanted that, I would read a book.

And no, this is not me being negative, this is me expressing my opinion which I am entitled to.

[halfpricedpages]

intro post (finally)

ive debated making an intro post because first off ive been on tumblr for two years and I never got around to it and secondly I am really really horrible at talking about myself because what is to much info and what it to little info and the cycle continues but im giving it a shot because I feel like my mutuals have no idea who I am lmao

HAI my name is Charlie im 15 (18+ I dont mind if you follow me but please dont dm me thank you :]) I use jasper as an online name kind of (at this point its just reserved for my best friend ace but I dont mind if other people call me jasper since I still love the name)

my pronouns are he/him but im also perfectly comfortable with common neopronouns (it/its xey/xem) if you wanna get funky with it.

im a self diagnosed autistic and ARFID (if you dont know what that is its an eating disorder where certain factors make you avoidant and restrictive of the food you eat and it has nothing to do with physical appearance. for me its linked to my autistic sensory issues(ALSO OCD NOW?!!? WHAT THE FUCK?!!?)) I have depression and anxiety and the only reason I mention this is because I relate my mental health to my fav characters in tv shows and books and stuff so if you see me posting about them like everything is connected lol

(my a03 is ghostwithfeet if you want to see me be silly and project my weird life onto fictional characters (I am the most inconsistent updater in the world please expect nothing from me if you even ask about a project it will scare me and like I turtle I will crawl into my shell never to see the light of day again))

my interests really vary about current hyperfixations but heres the master list

current hyperfixs

stranger things specifically Byler but mostly mike wheeler (this has turned into a special interest(I DO NOT support Noah schnapp or another of the other cast members who are in support of the inhumane actions the Israel government are doing. I am pro saving innocent civilians. I know that this can be controversial to be such a big fan of this show and honestly I have a lot of complex feelings on the matter but im autistic as previously mentioned and its my special interest and It won't leave my brain even if im not directly interacting with the media so im gonna yap about it on my blog thank you.))

also just Finn wolf hard for some reason (check out his band the Aubreys its awesome. also check out a recent movie he was in called when you finished Saving the world. it means a lot to me)

donna tarts the goldfinch book

old special interests/hyperfixs

the percy Jackson universe specifically nico di Angelo

the IT universe specifically reddie and Beverly marsh but more leaning towards richie tozier (see what I mean with the Finn wolf hard thing)

dead boy detectives !!

doctor who (I haven't even finished David tenants doctor yet so please no spoilers)

Alice oseman content (never read loveless or iwbft but ive read all of her other stuff)

paper girls graphic novel

other interests

the good place tv show

Kathleen Glasgows book girl in pieces

the walking dead comics including the clementine spin off graphic novels

um yeah thats all I can think of for now

my fav musicians/bands

florence and the machine

indigo de Souza

Kevin Atwater

searows

the Aubreys

sadurn

the cranberries

soccer mommy

runo plum

nep

lala lala

the smiths

hospital bracelet

Chappell roan

AURORA

Madilyn Mei!

Elliot smith

(my music taste is all over the place and is also very seasonal and I have a bunch of underground artists I dont listen to but I am here to give good recs I promise my playlists are fire)

we've gotten to the part of the intro post where im wondering if this is way to much information so sorry if I overshared idk but hope we can be silly mutuals or friends if you want (never be scared to shoot the friendship shot I would love to yap with y'all)

also since this is taking over my other pinned post I just want to put this as an honorary spot and let everyone know that my old pinned post was a quote from radio silence and that Aled last is me and I am him and the February Friday plot line is actually me and it makes me sick how much I resonate with that book

[grifff17]

Audiodrama Sunday 6/9/2024

I have so much to say this week! I usually take some very quick notes as to what I want to say in these as I listen to stuff, but this week I have a ton of notes. Also, I made a Tumblr Community for audiodramas. If you want an invite, please ask me! Also, if you can figure out how to reblog posts into a community, which is supposedly a thing you can do, please tell me.

To start off, season 16 of Lost Terminal started this week. It feels great to be back in this world, this show is so cozy. I love the little programming tidbits in this show, as a nerdy programmer into conlangs and hard scifi this show feels like it was made for me specifically. It looks like the premise for this season is an entire season that takes place over 10 seconds, which is such an incredibly cool idea. I love how they are leaning into the relative time different between humans and AIs due to processing speed.

@worldsbeyondpod had so many crazy moments I have to talk about. First off *music change* "roll a stealth check for the fox" out of nowhere was terrifying. I truly felt Erika's gasp when Brennan said the words "patchy corduroy witch hat". I haven't even gotten to the biggest moment in this episode. Holy shit poor Straw. This story has so much moral nuance, I'm obsessed with @quiddie's defense of Suvi on tumblr since the last episode. Speaking of Aabria, "fuck your scene" was so perfect. Finally, Glassheart moment spotted at the end of the episode. Even though it will never happen, I will forever be a Glassheart shipper.

@worldgonewrongpod this week was very fun. It is weird that I was picturing a specific tree at a small local park I walk through all the time whenever the tree was being described? I cannot unlink that tree and this episode in my mind. The reenacted council meeting was great, I'm excited for the update to this episode at the end of the season. Also, I'm not sure I've said this yes, but the theme song for this show is perfect. I've already added it to my playlist.

@wanderersjournalpod ended on a cliffhanger this week. Are we finally going to learn Pluto's whole deal next week? I can't wait to find out.

@midstpodcast that was a hell of an opening scene. This whole episode showed such an interesting side of Weep. I want to avoid spoilers for this show, but that ending god damn. That is not what I expected. We must be getting close to the end of the season, they resolved the opening scene and the episodes are getting much longer. Looking at the lengths of the previous season, there's probably 2 more episodes.

A very short update from my dear friend over at @re-dracula this week. Renfield is so unsettling. I don't actually know anything about Renfield, so I'm learning as I go. I think he's some sort of vampire spawn?

@breakerwhiskey I caught up and what the fuck. This show keeps twisting the knife. Hey, at least Birdie is finally talking in real time again. She confirmed Whiskey's theory, which is nice, and finally gave us her backstory. Then the second reveal in a later episode, holy shit Harry. This really explains the whole dynamic between Whiskey and Harry. This was the big fight Whiskey keeps referencing.

I listened to the first episode of season 2 of Skyjacks Courier's Call. The city that it's going to be set in is really cool, and I loved the Fun Money shenanigans. Going on a road trip tomorrow and I'm going to listen to a lot more of it.

Finally, there was a new SCP: Find Us Alive this week. This was a cool episode, I really liked the art show. But the big thing was the very end of this episode. My theory was right! Sometimes, when talking into the mic, Harley was subject to the memetic effect and forgot what he was talking about. But only sometimes. They've established that it only happens if someone can hear you. This meant that every time he forgot, someone was listening! Great foreshadowing!

Because of the aforementioned road trip, I'm going to post this a few hours early. This is at least better than my usual time of "forgetting it until the last moment."

[wrose-writes]

Greetings and salutations!

You can call me Rose, pleasure to meet you (probably)

My main blog's @theroseempress, I mostly live over there but I decided to make a side-blog for writing stuff in order to make it easier to find.

Also I have a Wordpress: carolinaauthor, if you want to read actual writing pieces that's where I put them.

oh yeah here's my Big WIP Intro Post go check that out!

current list of my main projects* with Quick Descriptions-

Mercy City- Currently my main WIP, probably still my main WIP as you're reading this. Probably. (mmkay so this isn't my main WIP now since I haven't worked on it in a while, but then again, I haven't worked proper on any of these for a while, so yeahhhh) Basic Quick Description- The world is made up of Resonance and we can manipulate that. Everyone is born with an affinity (can manipulate a certain bit of Resonance without needing to know the formula for it) except sometimes they aren't and even more sometimes they're born with Too Much Affinity. Too Much Affinity is bad because you blow up. Kiseki has so far avoided blowing up, and his sister Felice (who has No Affinity) would like to keep it that way. And then the plot happens. whoopsies. Main Cast**- Felice, Kiseki, Caden, and Sophie.

The Golden City- My oldest project! I recently discovered the plot to this thing is a lot longer than I'd previously thought, so right now all I'm doing with this WIP is rotating it at high speed in my head while trying to figure out what the next two thirds of the story is about. Basic Quick Description- Felix is just going about his normal life and definitely not being a criminal, except oops, he's been arrested now, oh dear, and how he has to go on a quest to Not Be In Jail >:(. Also people are blackmailing him to essentially cause a civil war. He's doing his best, guys, be nice to him. Main Cast**- Felix, Helen, Shannon, Florian, Tay (Taylor), Bricriu, Nikolai, Nerium, Iris, Raz.

WishWIP- which really needs a proper name, this is just the main character's name with WIP after it. Anyway I want to make this one into a comic because I apparently don't have enough to do already. The plot is currently going through intensive thought in a notes doc on my phone. Also this is the second fall in a row where I have become suddenly interested in this project so that's. odd. Basic Quick Description- Wish is just trying to find Someone for perfectly innocent reasons when she runs into an evil magic eating Creature, Song, who is a Very Normal and Not Being Chased By Assassins At All Girl, and the plot, in rapid succession. 'hey what if we went to the Library and you were my bodyguard?' Song suggests. 'no reason for that last part really just Girlish Worries.' she says, normally and casually. Wish looks very suspiciously at her but agrees nonetheless. Main Cast**- Wish, Song, Lyric, Rhythm, also a whole bunch more people who only show up in the second arc and might kind of be spoilers IDK so they're not here.

keyWIP- The most recent (fully fledged) WIP on this list, it's only a few months old! I pet it lovingly on the head and water it to make it grow. (update; I'm not currently working on this one, but I do still really like it, so it stays in this list) Basic Quick Description- There are keys that can open any door to any other door and also shapeshift! Conor gets harassed by the Scholars' Council into inviting all the people who have keys to come tell the Council that because [SECRET PLOT POINT]. To the surprise of both Conor and some other people, this actually works somehow. Things proceed to escalate rapidly from that point. Main Cast**- Melody, Kit, Conor, Shalom, Hope, Adora, Varian, Jasmin [redacted] (so yeah this cast list is just all the people with keys (excluding Conor)).

medievalWIP- lawdamighty this thing has gone through SO MANY ITERATIONS. Fun fact, TGC, you know, one of my most substantial projects, is actually a spinoff of one of this WIP's earlier forms! Seriously this thing's been around since like. 2020 and it keeps evolving. Help me. (yes I realize that's only four years but they have been a very hectic four years OK it feels longer) Basic Quick Description- The king is dead, long live the- oh alright then a revolution has instantly started and there are about five groups of people who want to be the king instead (or add this country to their empire, or invent democracy instead, or just not get murdered, or be the quee-). Alright. This is fine! (lying) People Who Want To Be The King- Eléna (Alastair, Morgana, Gabriel), Finnick, Julian, Hemlock, [a princess I haven't named yet], and the neighboring country's emperor (Toby, Isa).

New Project (s) That Doesn't Have A Name- this thing. this. thing. Seriously this 'WIP' is just a tangled mass of vibes and power systems and my desire to have a clock/steampunk setting and a heist story and the remnants of scrapped older projects. This entry is also a placeholder for two (or three) (i don't even know) smaller projects that are similar and formless enough that making seperate entries for them would be wrong, but they occupy my brain enough that not having any mention of them would also be wrong. sjkdbfasehbfddkgjsdg. Basic Quick Description- aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Main Cast**- due to the Tangled Vibes status of this concept i cannot answer this. instead may i offer you gamblers and mages, a one-shot (hypothetically) that is set in the universe of one of the three or so different ideas that make up this entry. i personally am very liking of it but that might just be because i want to put Raylen in a rock tumbler.

Elisian City- One of my old abandoned WIPs. I'm still not actually working on this and the plot is a mess, but it's cool, so I'm putting it on the list because why not? Basic Quick Description- IDK what the plot is so here's some relevant worldbuilding; people in this universe figured out genetic modification and proceeded to create Extraordinaires; AKA people with super-human abilities. There's also Purple-Eyes, people who have super-human abilities and ...purple eyes, nobody's quite sure how that happened anymore. 'wait what if we combined Extraordinaires and Purple-Eyes would that make even more powerful people' said some scientists, creating Red-Eyes, who while indeed being Very Powerful (yay!) are also unfortunately homicidal (oh no). Main Cast**- Vann, Ash, Cass, Kyrre, Nera, Drake, Nyla, Neo, Axis (I'm probably renaming some of these guys, there's too many 'N' names)

If any of these project descriptions catch your interest, please feel free to ask to be on the taglist, which will mean I'll tag you in the once in a blue moon posts I make about my WIPs!

Or just send an ask about something you're curious about, I don't bite and I love talking about my little fictional guys :)

(*what I'm currently working on changes very suddenly and frequently so I can't really tell you that, but this should at least give you an idea of what I'm doing).

(**trust me, there's very probably more, I just listed the main people)

[artsycloudysleepy]

Dyspraxia representation in fiction

As someone who is dyspraxic, I just wanted to list a few characters who are either canonically dyspraxic, or are basically canon but somehow not! We don't get much rep at all, so I love it when I can relate to others like me. I'll add more if I can find anything!

Ramya Knox, 'Like A Charm' and 'Like A Curse' (books, by Elle McNicoll). Canon. The books describe struggles with DCD really well, and how frustrating it can be (but not something that controls your life) in a way I really resonated with. The whole message of the book is beautifully delivered, and what I love so much about it is that Ramya has personality outside of her neurodivergency - not everything is linked back to it. There's good plot outside 'ow, why is that wall there'. It's definitely not a 'throw it in there, why not' situation. The books also contain a strong autistic rep from a supporting character. Ryan Sinclair, 'Doctor Who'. Canon. I haven't really watched his seasons and I've heard it's not the best rep ever, but it's... there. Make your own judgement on it; I've heard the writing's not as good as some other seasons, and that his DCD feels like a 'throw it in' situation (like he has little personality outside of being dyspraxic), but it's still some form of representation. Besides, Doctor Who is amazing most other seasons anyway, even with no dyspraxic characters, so check it out if you haven't! Marcy Wu, 'Amphibia'. Non-canon. She is 100% autistic already (am also autistic), and really is dyspraxic despite not being canonically so. I would LOVE to do an in-depth analysis after I've finished watching for the first time. She's clumsy, moves lots, forgetful, hyperfixates, forgets surroundings, gets injured a LOT, is unbalanced, creative, ingenuitive, and thinks outside the box. In Amphibia, the first thing she did was fall down a flight of stairs and break her leg bc she wasn't watching where she was going. Every time she's on screen, I instantly think 'that's me', in a way I've never felt before. I'm actually really sad that not many ppl seem to notice this in her (although the autism traits are talked about a bunch, which I love). Also SPOILERS: ...........................She has an amazing moment which shows just how outcast she feels from society due to her neurodivergency, and how she finds comfort in fantasy instead. Made me cry. Robin Buckley, 'Stranger Things'. Non-canon. Again, I haven't seen this (yet), but I'm planning on it purely for her. I don't know how much this is shown, but my mum (also dyspraxic) watched it and said it was definitely the case; she apparently is uncoordinated, unbalanced, and avoids sport/running. I can't really make a judgement yet, but from what I've heard, yup. I like her already.

In terms of characters who I have no reason to headcanon as dyspraxic but do anyway because I can (ALL NON-CANON): HorrorTale!Sans (head injury, acquired DCD), most of the pink Precure cast, Frisk from UT, Edric from TOH. They are not canonically dyspraxic and have little to no evidence of it, I just personally headcanon it bc of no rep.

I really wish there was more representation for dyspraxic people. It would make me feel more confident if there was more 'this person is dyspraxic and that's okay' talks inside or outside of media. It's not the type of thing I enjoy being non-canon - there are so many cases of stuff, especially in anime (no hate against anime at all), where it romanticises or laughs at people who can't catch, throw, or run. It's also mainly girls who get the clumsy treatment, at least in what I've seen. I would love it if people talked more about DCD in general.

Representation goes a long way :)

[piracytheorist]

Okay I gotta admit it, I logged in today just to check my notifications and messages because I was curious. Seems like cold turkey isn't something I can do, but I feel like I've found things to occupy the time I'm not spending on tumblr anymore, so I feel distancing myself from the site is possible. Not having the app on my phone anymore helps.

Anyway, I took a quick look on twitter today, and while I didn't see any sxf spoilers, I did see a post about a thematic week that I won't be able to take part in, not even as an audience, because it will be centered around stuff I haven't seen yet.

And damn me, I want to read further into the story so bad. It's been almost six full months since the last episode aired, and I'm finding myself wondering what is happening next based on the vague spoilers I've gotten. And there's at least three and a half more months left. I just know, I know it, that I will enjoy the story three times as much seeing it animated - and like, if I'm truly honest, my main drawback from manga reading isn't that it's not animated, or acted, or even coloured. It's that my way of reading it is not how it's intended to be read. Like, if I could have the chapters printed out for me, that would be ideal. Like:

Reading the story like this? Feeling the pages in my hands, seeing the wide and two-page panels in all their glory? Terrific. Perfect. 10/10.

Reading it like this? Having to scroll up and down for long panels, zoom in for small speech bubbles and out for wide panels, pixels getting distorted based on how zoomed in I am? No, thank you, immersion go bye bye. If I had a vertical monitor I probably could have worked it out, but I don't have a vertical monitor nor can I afford one right now.

And you'll tell me, well, a lot of further chapters are available in the next volumes. And I'll say, I'll probably work only for half of July, my contract ends after that, and in August I may need to move out to a different city so I won't even be able to get a steady job that won't work me to the bone. And I'm on a tight budget, so even the forty euros (being generous here, cause volume 10 isn't easily available to me yet so 10 euros for it is a generous offer) I would spend on the next four volumes are money I cannot afford right now. Plus, I know they don't reach to the current chapters so I would still have a ton of spoilers to avoid.

I don't know why I'm explaining all this lmao. I just feel like I don't want people to think I'm an anime snob. Because by god with every week I feel my resolve break. If I actually make it to October without having read one single manga chapter it will be a miracle. It's such a weird challenge I'm putting myself through, I don't even know if y'all can understand it. It's not like it's a challenge I can "win", or a challenge I can award myself for passing. Maybe a bit of venting can help, idk. It's not like I'm asking for recognition or pity or something, I am aware of how weird my choice may seem. I just had some feelings and thought, "well, fuck, what do I have my tumblr blog for".

Idk. I just feel like I love this story so much and in such a way that I also want to properly enjoy it. If I lived in Japan and spoke the language, you know I'd be running to whatever stores sell the magazine where the new chapters are posted in every two weeks and sit outside the very store and read the new chapter before even getting back home (wait, are individual chapters even printed out in Shonen Jump? I'm not sure I've understood the whole thing completely). But since that isn't happening, my choices are a) waiting for a long time and not interacting with fans, but enjoying the story animated, with colour, voice acting, soundtrack and on wide screen (and yeah yeah it's an adaptation not the original but listen it's a good adaptation and this is why it's drawn me in) and b) getting the full story and interacting with fans now but seeing the story in broken-down panels and messed up pixels, while having to fix the zoom-in and -out on every page. And I know me. I know choice a will make me immersed in the story, while choice b will just give me the details of the story. Maybe I am a snob after all, idk. I'm not making any effort to explain or apologize for myself. I'm just venting, lol. It's been weird and lonely and IT'S BEEN TOO LONG AND OCTOBER IS TOO FAR AWAY T_T

Anyway. Been doing good other than that. I will probably revert to logging out every day in order to try and keep my distance from the site, but coming back every other day or so. We'll see. I have a few messages to respond to (and a few more spoiler-free manga panels to react to! yay!) so I'll get to those today.

[purplekoop]

Hey! So uh! Update on what's been going on and why I've been relatively inactive for longer than I implied I would.

So around this time last year, I realized my laptop's battery was uh. Very warped and big. A state it'd been in for several months at that point actually. It wasn't until I mentioned it to my partner and they said "hey uh. that's extremely dangerous" that I realized the big swelling in my electronic device was not good. So for a period of about 2 months, I had to not use my laptop while I was waiting for a new battery.

Luck of the holidays, while I was using it during some downtime while staying at my partner's place last week, the fans started to make a jarring new noise during intense operation (as in. Playing Minecraft). It was fine only two days prior, so I don't know what broke the camel's back.

Being cautious after last year's fun times, I don't want to push it much further than bare minimum operations to avoid any potential major damage. I haven't got it checked out by a professional (or any more tech-savvy family friends who I trust more and don't charge extra), so I don't know what the exact issue is, or if it's a serious risk and not just a sign of this laptop being old. Opening just about any game will cause the loud fans to go off, as does using my second monitor while running even just discord and a couple chrome tabs. While typing this post using my laptop, the fans made the jarring noise very briefly before calming back down.

So... am I just gonna be without a computer capable of safely doing anything until I get a replacement part again? No, because I don't think this laptop is worth maintaining when it's liable to just have another problem next december, if not sooner. It's a hell of a machine, don't get me wrong. It's handled a lot more than most laptops have, running every game I've thrown at it pretty damn well, but the tendency for some new problem to happen every now and then makes me wary of trying to keep it going for everything I need out of it for much longer.

Does that mean I need a brand new computer then? Well as a wise rat once said: Yes. and, No.

Good news: my dad had another PC lying around, this one a desktop tower that my mom swears is a beast on par with the laptop, and because my dad isn't uh... up to much these days, I'm free to take this one too.

Bad news: it doesn't work. My mom and I tested it the other day, and we can't get it to power on.

Still, it's certainly gonna be a lot cheaper to get that operational than to get a brand new PC, with aforementioned family friends likely able to help. Unfortunately (for me specifically at least), it's still the holiday break, so my mom will be in and out of town until the second week of the new year, and I imagine those friends have things they'd rather be doing as well in their time off.

What does that mean for me here? Well, if my laptop can behave like it has been since I started writing this, I think I can manage to type out more long stuff like this. I can't do the same on my phone, since while I'm a rather speedy typer on my keyboard, phone typing is pretty cumbersome for me, so I imagine a long post there might be grating. That means I can likely do a few more Role Requeues in the coming days, get back to work on my War Bots notes, and maybe even some other long-form posts I've been wanting to do. Things I Love #3 may be a multi-parter with a... somewhat similar premise to someone else's ongoing series. I'm not sure if I wanna totally rip off this unnamed mutual's format of going episode by episode, or if I wanna make it a spoiler-free overview more like the Brave and the Bold and Doremi posts. With those shows I tried to make the posts a more open-ended general pitch and go over the overall high points, which felt appropriate for those shows. With Batman the show is simple and relatively formulaic, so going over the broad strokes was more efficient than going "And then Batman teams up with this goofy obscure character" 60 times. Doremi meanwhile is the opposite, that show has so much I could talk about but I really really enjoyed going into the show blind and so I tried to convince people to watch it accordingly. If I get a chance I'd love to do a full video series going over the whole show, but considering that's a 200 episode deal, on top of me never doing a video of any scope grander than an on-stream Terraria playthrough... don't expect that soon.

On the note of videos though, that's the main thing that's gonna be on hiatus: streams. If this laptop wheezes once or twice when it's running a chrome tab with discord in the background, then I don't think you'd be able to hear my voice over the chainsaw fans with a full stream setup. A few more personal things might be on hold too, or at least will require alternate setups, but those are private discussions to be had.

In the meantime, don't worry too much about me being bored. It sucks I won't be able to do much on my laptop and thus don't have access to any games on there, but on the bright side this is a great time for me to be doing just about anything else. Got 4 switch games (between me and my sibling anyways, and they don't mind sharing) and over 100 episodes of neetle teetles (2012) from the holidays to keep me busy, plus I can use the time to do art or something if I need another option for variety.

But yeah, that's the update explaining things. I've been restricted to tumblr on my phone and if I had to type a whole real post on that thing I think I'd rather use the phone to bludgeon myself with, so I've just been reblogging stuff. Not sure when I'll be back to full-steam activity again, hoping it's soon but not expecting much for another week minimum.

But that said, I hope y'all have enjoyed the holiday times, and if I don't say it again later, that you have a happy start to the new year!

[starlight-phantom]

If it's not rude to ask...

Since I noticed the Danganronpa reblogs may I ask if you looked into Raincode? The Danganronpa spiritual successor that came out recently?

Just noticed the surge in DR reblogs and thought maybe you got some sudden brainworms (/pos)

Personally I liked Raincode, which to be honest I wasn't expecting to, so that was neat :0

Kind of? I can't play Rain Code myself because I don't have a switch but I'm watching NicoB play it. He's still in chapter 1 but from what I've seen, I'm really enjoying it so far.

I love how the elements of Danganronpa are in there but twisted into a new style to match this game's world and more supernatural methods.

And haven't really seen a whole lot of the new characters yet because, y'know, still in chapter 1 but they seem cool, I love their designs. But I do really, really Yuma and Shinigami. Their banter kinda reminds me of Ryuki and Tama from AI Nirvana Initiative, just y'know... Shinigami's a little more murder-y. Also, I've been avoiding fandom stuff because I don't want spoilers but I'm sure others probably agree with me that Yuma looks like he could be a Naegiri kid. Like he genuinely looks like they took Naegi and Kirigiri and smashed them together.

Also, Chapter 0???? Did not see that shit coming at all. Like I thought "Oh Kodaka will save the craziest twists for later in the game, the beginning's just a kinda warm up." ... And then the warm up was that, so ngl I am a little scared to see what comes next. But excited tho.

But it's funny you mentioned the brainworms because that's pretty much what happened: Nico started playing Rain Code, the art style and mechanics made me think "wow, I miss Danganronpa... I should replay them" and then I did and yep they're still great and yep they still make me cry.

And speaking of spiritual successors to Danganronpa - I keep hearing about the thing called Project: Eden's Garden but I know absolutely nothing about it. Is it worth checking out?

[alexjcrowley]

your tsn/banshees post from a couple days ago, especially the tags...

okay I haven't seen banshees yet, though it's high on my list, but with 20 years of facebook coming up, I have been thinking about what a fic like what you describe might entail, and now I am even more intrigued to watch banshees of inisherin.

First of all, I'll gladly read your fic, so if when you write it you could send me a link you'd make me very happy.

Second, I really loved The Banshees of Inisherin, I'll tell everybody to go see it. So obviously, my advice is the same for you.

It's a story about friendship, mortality of man, immortality of art, and niceness, hope, kindness. It's not the same vibes as The Social Network, but, as I said in my post, I would love to see Mark and Eduardo stuck on an Irish island in the middle of nowhere. Maybe they'll kill eachothers, who knows?

So yeah basically:

If it's fine with you link me the fic

The Banshees Of Inisherin is an incredible movie

Consider watching The Banshees of Inisherin before writing the fic, if this is okay for your writing method, because I think it gives a lot of interesting ideas and concepts!

Final warning, at the cost of spoilers, if you know you have some triggers you want to avoid in movies, I suggest you check the website DoesTheDogDies, which is basically an archive for any sort of triggers you could ever find in a movie, from "minor" things to huge stuff. I just thought I'd include this because personally I am impressed by very few things, but I've got a friend with a specific trigger and finding this website helped our movie nights a lot. Maybe you're like me and you can stomach everything, maybe you're not and this is actually useful.

Have a wonderful day!

[teddybeartoji]

AAAAAAA SO EXCITED FOR YOU TO WATCH PAPRIKA AAAAAAAAA ITS SOOO GOOODDD!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU DO

isle of dogs omg.. waterfalls from my eyes that movie made me cry especially the ‘idk why i bite’ scene ohh good heavens what did u think of it?

OMGGG I ALSO LOVE REWATCHING STUFF INSTEAD OF WATCHING NEW ONES two film bros but on the other ends of the spectrum… (we’re both little nerds)

david flincher ahh he’s so good omg i never watched fight club because i was sooo full of my self and swore i wasn’t “like other film fans” (ummm i was lying i love all the classics) but i secretly wanted to watch it right? but since i never watched it on time the plot twist of the movie was spoiled to me by a video from a comedy youtuber LOLLL i was so annoyed at myself

SOCIAL NETWORKK YESS i loved that movie idk i like jesse eisenberg he’s a silly awkward lil guy he did a good job!!

OH GUY RITCHIE!! dont kill me but i havent seen many of his films aaaa will make sure to check out his stuff aaaaa

TARANTINO LOL no i get it he’s good he has great films i have a pulp fiction poster in my rolm (never beating the film bro allegations) his films are very well done

INDIANA JONES YIPPEEE my first introduction to the franchise was through a lego game my mom got me for christmas… changed the trajectory of my life im afraid…. which indiana jones film is your favorite? mine has to be the last crusade its such a fun movie to me!!!!

i saw u also like video games :333 im a huge video game nerd ehehehe do you have any favorites?

HI HELLO MY FELLOW FILM BRO HIII:333333333333 I HOPE YOU'VE BEEN DOING WELL!!!!!! OKE BUT THE "I DON'T KNOW WHY I BITE" SCENE WAS SOOOO WAHHHH THAT HIS TO HARD:(((((((((((((((((((((((((( i loved that film so fucking much

NOOOO NOT THE SPOILED FIGHT CLUB PLOTT THAT'S SO UNFORTUNATE!!!!!!!!!!!! i actually only saw it like two years back and i truly don't even know how i managed to avoid the spoilers.. or maybe i just like blurred them out in my head bc the plot twist was soo so delicious when i did finally watch it i liked it a lot!!!!!!!!!! but yeah it's one of my feel good films lmao i think it's so so funny and i love the soundtrack too!!! OH AND JESSE EISENBERGG!!!!! HE'S FUCKING AMAZING IN THE SOCIAL NETWORK he scratches my brain so good

AAA DON'T YOU EVEN WORRY ABT GUY RITCHIE!!!!!!!!!!! i really don't judge others for what they have seen and for what they haven't bc like.. ppl have lives and stuff to do and also i feel like people's experiences with films can be so different purely based on their childhoods and their parents. liiike i've always been a big movie Watcher bc of my dad!!!! he took me to the cinema a lot a lot when i was younger so obviously it's like second nature to me in a way. sorry i'm like rambling abt it now but i just remember how at my last workplace i tended to talk abt films a lot too and then my coworkers were constantly apologizing for not having seen most of them and i was just always trying to reassure them that i really don't judge them for it. i was just trying to recommend them stuff in a sense of . i hope you'll remember that i once said it was good and not in like a Oh i hope you go home and watch it right away and report back to me . LIKE NOOO😭😭😭 everybody should watch what they want and when they want. there are like a million billion different films out there it's not really a competition of who gets to watch all of them first lmao

oh this also reminded me of smth that irked me off so bad,, i was talking to this other coworker and i was telling her that i'm gonna go and see babylon. they said that the name doesn't ring a bell and i was just like ohh!! it's by damien chazelle but that didn't ring any bells either WHICH I THINK IS VERY OKAY ppl aren't good with names and i get that, so i brought up whiplash bc yk that's his most known film right and then she was like OHHHH and told me that she's heard abt it but she hasn't seen it. which is again. very normal😭😭😭 i definitely know some ppl who would make a bit of a scene like OH WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SEEN WHIPLASH IT'S SUCH A BIG FILM WDYM WDYM but i genuinely do not care i just said that ok and that i recommend it to her bc it is good.

and then i remembered that oH la la land also exists lmao and then she just beamed at me like OOOMG I LOVE LA LA LAND IT'S SO GOOD I LOVE IT SO MUCH aaaand then it was my turn to be like. oh i actually haven't seen that one yet lmao

and.

THEN SHE MADE A SCENE ABT IT. ALL HUFFING AND PUFFING WITH HER JAW ON THE FLOOR LIKE😱😱😱😱😱MICKEY THE MOVIE WATCHER HASN'T SEEN LA LA LAND WHAT IS THIS MADNESS HOW CAN THIS BE like can you be fucking serious lmao this made me so mad i would argue that whiplash is bigger than la la land but i didn't say anything abt you not having seen it but now here you are jumping in my face abt la la land............ HHHHHHHHHhh anyway yeah. i think everybody should be a little more calm abt what some ppl have seen and what they haven't thank you for coming to my ted talk hgasghdaghdghashdha

HAHAHHAAH PLSS I WANT THAT PULP FICTION POSTER TOOO that's so cool i would be the proudest film bro ever lmao

ALSO. HELLO. I ALSO PLAYED THE LEGO INDIANA JONES GAME😭😭😭 IT WAS MY FIRST FIRST GAME EVER!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVED IT SO MUCH i think i still have it somewhere too lmao but yeah indiana jones is my childhood i love the films so much,, mmmmmm if i had to pick my favourite one though........................... HARDEST QUESTION EVER BTWWWWWW god the third one is so fucking good i love the dynamic between indy and his dad sm i adore them buuuut hmmm i think it's either that or the first one for me!!!!! i really can't pick one i'm sorry lmao the second one is amazing too but I LOVEEE MARION SOOOSO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE MEANS SM TO MEEE SHE'S SOO FUCKING COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

now now noww... video games.... ohhhhh broooother lmao i could talk abt my faves for hours on end i think but since this reply has gotten so long already i'm just gonna say what they are in an attempt to keep it normal😭😭😭 MY ALLLL TIME FAVOURITE GAME IS THE LAST OF US PART TWOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! genuinely could make like a 12h presentation abt it without any prep lmao i am very obsessed with it. but i also love rdr2, the last two god of war games, tlou1 ofc!!!! UNTIL DAWN!!!!!!!! uncharted!!!!!!! ghost of tsushima!!!!!!!!!!! resident evil but esp the second one and mmmm i recently played the newest dead space remake and i really fucking liked that too that shit was scary as hell wtf...........

I'M SURE THERE ARE MORE GAMES ACTUALLY BUT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH OK NOW IT'S YOUR TIME TO SPEAK😭😭😭😭😭😭 so please please pretty please tell me abt the video games you like!!!!!!! aand any other movies that come into your head okay i wanna hear all abt them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lovelypurplefox]

Updates.

Sorry guys if I have been quiet.

I'm not on social media much like I used to. College is important to me and I've made some nice friends irl. I'm actually getting close to graduating which is exciting! I might graduate next year. I have an Anthropology midterm coming up and I'm so not ready for it. I recently typed up a 3-page paper early before the due date in February. Anthropology has a lot of reading... jeez... but I'm taking it for my Natural Science credit.

Besides college, I'm so behind on the games I've been playing. Like, I am way behind on part 2 of the Pokémon Scarlet DLC (I'm at the part where I have to battle the Elite four and when I saw that they were all double battle I couldn't do it; I'm currently making my team stronger and changing Pokémon in my team). And also, Detective Pikachu Returns. I think I'm on Chapter 5 (?) and haven't played since October, I believe. I just don't want to see spoilers on those games because I want to be surprised. I rarely play video games now; It feels like I'm tired of modern Pokémon games now. It's hard for me to get into stuff like that.

Even getting into newer anime is hard too. I've been watching old anime, some which are currently getting fansubs including Magical Taruruuto-kun and Dr. Slump. I don't hate modern anime, I still watch them such as Demon Slayer & the recently released Shaman King Flowers (it's good so far).

I'm super excited (and worried?) about Dragon Ball Daima. I really hope this time, Launch returns. I wonder if they will make her into a kid like the others. It would be so funny seeing kid Blonde Launch with a gun and using it so well. I think we're supposed to get new info this week. Fingers crossed for my girl returning! She already made a cameo in Super Dragon Ball Heroes last year. And I hope she appears as a playable character in the new fighting game. She's playable... in 2 mobile games: Dokkan and Legends but she needs to be in a REAL fighting game.

I know I haven't been interacting and checking my timeline because I'm just busy now and I want to avoid spoilers on stuff I love. I just post my art on my sideblog and reblog it here and leave. But if I ever get the chance, I will come back to checking my timeline and reblogging other's posts. I miss you guys though.

My ask box is currently closed, but check back again if I ever open it; I love reading your asks!

Take care! :)

[infranscia]

Everything Wrong with Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet (almost)

So not too long ago, Steam alerted me that a number of Sherlock Holmes games were on sale. Realizing that I wasn't really familiar with this classic, beloved icon, I figured it was about time to change that and - for now - started by buying a low-price, little bundle.

I also decided to check if the books were public domain yet, and was glad to find out that they just became public domain this year.

Turns out, Doyle had a tendency to include a lot of foreign cultures, and/or foreign persons of note, in the Holmes stories. And I'm guessing there's a fairly strong tendency to get details wrong, or at least for them to be fantasized - based on whatever stereotypes and whatnot were most available at the time, if I had to guess.

At the very least... imagine the awkwardness when I found that in the very first book, it had a HIGHLY INACCURATE - and stereotypical - portrayal of early members of my religion. 😅

So... Yeah. Here I am to debunk as many inaccuracies as I can. 😂

Feel free to take things with a grain of salt - I know a lot of the stereotypes - and flaws of members - tend to lead to people disliking us, and you probably don't have much reason to take my word about things.

...Also, I'm not the most studied when it comes to history - including my religion - so I may have some details wrong. 😅 Still, I'll try my best.

Major spoilers for A Study in Scarlet below the line - especially the second half - including some content that some people may be sensitive to (it IS a murder mystery... among other things).

Also: don't expect this to be short. There's a lot to cover, I'm VERY detail oriented, and I ramble a LOT. ...This took me days to make. (I'm not even doing any more error-checking than a spell check, and such, because I just want to get this done. 😵)

(Note: This post also exists as a Skiff document.)

Okay, I guess I'm coming out more-strongly as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints here - essentially born and raised, actually (not so much a convert). As I mentioned, there's a lot of stereotypes, bad-blood, and such where we're involved, so I haven't exactly been in a habit of being public about it. 😂 I guess I'll see how this goes.

I'll note that Doyle actually got enough of the setting accurate that I was able to guess what he was leading up to before the reveal was dropped: the description of the desert in the middle of North America, with the wagon trails, and occasional bones of both people and oxen, was more than enough to ring familiar. The average Church member - especially those who have been raised in the Church, or are otherwise longtime members - will easily recognize these as being elements of stories of what we call early Church pioneers.

And while I had to look it up, I was able to confirm that there were at least some areas where the soil and/or water was alkali. However, it doesn't look like it was anywhere near as alkali as Doyle made it out to be. (Heck, I'm not sure it'd be possible.) I'm also not sure the alkali areas were as widespread as it seems like they're being portrayed, but as far as I'm concerned, this is a relatively minor detail.

...Anyhow, I looked back over the second part of the book and tried to go over things roughly in order... so what I'm starting with may seem a little odd. 😆

For a bit of context for anyone who might not have read, this part of the story starts with a flashback, focusing on a couple weary travelers in the desert - a man, John Ferrier, dying of thirst and hunger; and a young girl, Lucy, 5 years old. They're discovered by what appears to be a very large wagon company.

Travelers seem to have knowledge of nearby wells, possible dangerous areas to avoid, etc.

Okay, maybe my lack of historical knowledge is showing, but I do wonder how much of this they could've known. Maybe a lot of the stuff originally came from Sacajawea, or something, but I also wonder how wells could've already been found and built.

The verbiage of members is generally flowery, using fancy names for God, etc.

This is hard to pick-apart without going into even more detail than I'm already going to include. But basically, we prefer to keep things simple, easy-to-understand, etc.

Going into a specific example as I bring up something else...

“He who could draw it from the rocks will not now abandon His own chosen people.” “Amen! Amen!” responded the whole party."

We don't respond to random declarations like that, esp. with the double-amen. Yes, we'll say "amen" in unison - ONCE - after the end of things like prayers, talks (sort of our version of "sermons"), testimonies, and maybe a few other things, but that's about it. And it's not a shout (no exclamation point).

Honestly, at this point, I think most of us do it mostly just out of habit and tradition than much anything else. 😅 Something we're advised against, occasionally, but it's hard not to do stuff like that.

I'll touch on the "chosen people" thing later.

There appears to be absolutely no struggles of traveling members to hold onto faith

This appears to be a common misconception with religious groups, in general. But anyhow, our stories of Church pioneers are FULL of instances of people struggling to hold onto faith that things might work out, if not faith in their religion as a whole.

They're also full of stories of how they tried to hold onto faith. My favorite, so far, involves a woman noticing flowers growing in the desert (the desert rose, IIRC). She figured that if delicate flowers could make it in the harsh desert, then she could, too. 😊

"Brother" and "Sister" used, fairly strictly, as titles/honorifics for members.

While it is part of our culture to refer to each-other as "Brother/Sister such-and-such," something about the usage portrayed feels a little too strict and formal.

The honorific (if you can call it that?) is used most-often during church-related activities (meetings, asking for help in Church-related thing, etc.). We tend to use it fairly casually in such settings - if anything, we may see it as sort of a term of endearment. Still, it's not uncommon to drop it in casual settings, esp. with close friends, or children/younger members.

It's also one of those things where, if you grow up with it, it becomes so habit and routine that it's easy to forget the reason for it. 😅 So much, that I'm finding some conflicting information on the reasons when I try to look it up. 🤔

Some of the results I'm finding are articles that do mention the interpretation of us all being 'baptized as brothers and sisters in Christ.' However, I think the interpretation I was taught, that I prefer, and that's found in the Church manual (which I consider more official that articles, which are typically written by members, rather than leaders), is that it's based on the Gospel principle that we're all (everyone, not just members) LITERAL children of God - and thus a spiritual family. 😄

As such, sometimes members will refer to non-members as "Brother/Sister," especially if they're visiting (as we call it) in a Church meeting, or in another Church-based setting.

(And I'm gonna give a side-note because I'm sure some people are going to wonder: setting aside the politics of our views on gender, it is common for Church teachers to mention, without being asked, that they don't know how it's supposed to work for intersex people [even if they don't usually use that term, or similar ones]. Giving a quick search, there don't appear to be any specific rules - only a firm recommendation to be considerate. I wouldn't be surprised if some people use "Sibling," however. ...And NGL, I haven't heard it myself, but I suspect that a lot of debate crops up... esp. in the cases where it's really relevant... 😞)

"Elder" is used, multiple times, like a title of high status.

Actually, as far as priesthood titles go, "Elder" is the lowest-ranking. I know it's confusing, but a guy can become an Elder - and is generally expected to be, and encouraged to try to be worthy in advance - at the age of 12, well before he'd be considered an adult (at least nowadays).

(TBH, I'm not sure why they're called "elders" - maybe there's some linguistic drift going on? Might be worth looking into, but I'm not focusing on that right now - it's something that, I'll admit, the average member seems to have forgotten about. 😅)

But yeah, an Elder pretty much just has the most basic level of priesthood, which comes with the authority to bless and pass the sacrament, and to help with blessings (a sort of prayer) for health and such. Maybe a few other, simpler things. That said, one does need to be an Elder before he can be other things, like a High Priest, Bishop, Stake President, etc.

John adopting Lucy is taken totally in-stride.

Not that we're against adoption or anything - in fact, the Church has its own adoption services, which focuses on helping unmarried, expecting teens find parents to potentially raise their child; and for married couples, esp. (or solely?) those who can't have their own children, to find a child/children to take in and care for.

Anyhow, still: it's not a major issue, but it still seems odd. Like everyone else, we tend to find intrigue where adopted children and the like are involved, getting curious about the birth parents, etc.

Also, we have a strong emphasis on family and genealogy (or as we prefer to call it, family history), so there's an even stronger reason to wonder where Lucy came from.

No apparent help is offered in raising Lucy - there's relatively little talk of help, in-general.

Like I mentioned, we have a strong emphasis on family. (Esp. traditional families - not looking to get political or anything, and I'm not going to try to preach; I'm trying to just be honest here about our beliefs, culture, etc. I won't argue, even if you try to start an argument. So I'd prefer if you don't bother.)

Similarly, lot of church members absolutely adore children. And on top of that, there's a lot of emphasis on service (as in helping people out) - members are particularly encouraged to help families in need, and such.

Heck, one of our most-commonly-quoted scriptures states "when ye are in the service of you fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2:17)

As such, I find it VERY hard to believe that a lot of the members - especially the women - would NOT immediately start to talk about how adorable Lucy is, and offer to help take care of her.

Similarly, there would probably quickly be talk of sharing water and rations with John - maybe suggesting he ride in one of the carts, to regain his strength.

The group help up the castaways up at the start, and there are some onlookers showing shock and pity... but that's about it, as far as I can tell.

“[T]here seems to be a powerful lot of ye.” “Nigh upon ten thousand [saints]” (No mention of who's in charge of this group.)

I had to look up the numbers on this one, and it took me a little while to find the right articles and sort through the details, esp. with the order I ran into the info. 😅

This Church article/infographic probably gives a good balance of info, and readability. This other article also gives some good info, and goes into a little more detail.

As the second article puts it, "It is difficult to identify an exact number of individuals who came to Utah[...]because not all the company rosters were turned in to the Church." However, numbers are estimated from 60k-70k.

This said, it's pretty common knowledge among Church members that they didn't all travel as one group, even if we don't always know the details. This said, Church pioneers were organized into 250+ companies - mostly wagon companies, with 10 handcart companies making up about 3,000 members total. The exact size of companies varied, but it looks like they averaged somewhere around 250 people, give-or-take.

Each company had a captain - some companies were known by the name of their captain. E.g. the handcart company captained by Edward Martin - the biggest of the handcart companies, according to this wiki page - was also known as the Martin (Handcart) Company. And apparently, companies were further divided into smaller and smaller groups, each group with their own captains - presumably, captains of smaller groups reported to captains of larger groups (that's how we tend to do things).

Interestingly, Church members tend to focus on the handcart companies, and not the wagon companies, to the point where I didn't know there was a distinction until until I stumbled upon this other infographic. The first thing I found with my search was actually this Church lesson guide" with a lot of info, including a map of their route. From the looks of it, I'm thinking the handcart companies probably made their own journey - it might explain a few things. 🤔 But I'm rambling...

(Still... since the infographic mentions the transcontinental railroad, I'll throw in a tidbit I think is fun: Apparently, the handcarts and wagons left such deep impressions in the ground that they were actually used when first laying down railroads. Thus, the width of railroads and trains is based on the width of those carts and wagons. 😀)

But yeah, whether going by the total numbers, or the size of a company, Doyle got something off there. 😅

“[W]e are the persecuted children of God—the chosen of the Angel Merona.”

First off, I dunno if it's a typo or what, but it's technically the angel Moroni.

Secondly - and I'm just going from how I've heard things talked about - while it's true they were persecuted a lot, along with the other hardships, I don't think it's likely that they would've focused on the fact that they were persecuted to the point that they would introduce themselves that way. More likely, they'd introduce themselves by naming their religion from the getgo - either in full or by the (now defunct) nickname of "Mormons".

Third and most important... we don't do the "chosen people" thing, and especially not chosen by an angel.

While we believe in angels, they don't have the same level of importance as in other Christian sects - esp. Catholic, I think; correct me if I'm wrong.

(And you may debate terminology, but we do consider ourselves Christian, because we believe in the same Christ that's in the Bible. The Book of Mormon even includes another version of the Sermon on the Mount.)

While we're vaguely aware of how some Christians put a lot of focus on angels, saints (as they define them - to us, any member is technically a "saint," regardless of how "saintly" they might be 😅), and specific demons in their belief systems, that's about the extent that most of us know. The average member isn't likely to be able to name any of them, esp. the saints and demons. I'm taking a guess that the list of angels includes those in the Bible (e.g. Gabriel), but if you asked the average member, odds are you'd get a blank stare, and an answer of "Uh... I dunno."

Putting the metaphorical definition aside, we see angels more as messengers and servants of God - they do His work as He directs, and like with living Church members, they won't have any authority unless He gives it to them.

The authority to choose people like that is not one of those that would be given, even if we considered it a thing, in general.

The Book of Mormon has mentions God not being "a respecter of persons" - as does the Bible, come to do a search. Or for those who don't know the term, the idea is that He doesn't favor people based on age, race, gender, level of freedom, etc. 2 Nephi 26:33 is one verse with that includes the spiel on the latter part. (I'll touch on a scripture that mentions the first part later, because of the context.)

In fact, there's actually a story in the Book of Mormon that talks about ancient missionaries (on the American continent) being shocked to discover a religion basically centered around that belief: people taking turns standing on a tower, giving an identical prayer, thanking God for letting them know that they were chosen to be saved while everyone else should perish, then departing and not even mentioning their religion until they gather again the next week...

The religion in that story is VERY MUCH used by Church members as an example of what NOT to do. 😅

In any case, if there was any choosing going on, it would be done by God - or maybe Jesus - and it would basically be choosing people who give Him respect, and already follow his teachings. NOT that He would choose a people to give teachings to for some, arbitrary reason.

“We are of those who believe in those sacred writings, drawn in Egyptian letters on plates of beaten gold, which were handed unto the holy Joseph Smith at Palmyra["]

While not that far off, for the most part, it is definitely romanticized, and feels like a very weird way for us to talk about this.

For the nitpicks, the writing wasn't drawn so much as etched or engraved - we tend to just say "written." That's the most common word in the BoM.

I don't think there's info on how the plates were made - it's not mentioned in the BoM as far as I can remember, or find, and it's hard to find a detailed description. One description I heard made them sound kind of like thick pieces of foil, though our typical portrayal is something like golden pieces of sheet metal, with D-ring bindings. And we tend to just call them "the gold(en) plates." That said, "beaten" sounds more-right than one, mistaken voiceclip I heard that called them "tablets" (which sounds WAY more heavy and impractical).

I'm having trouble remembering, or finding, the scriptural reference, but as fancy as the fact that it's gold sounds, I understand there was a practical reason: materials like paper and parchment tend to rot, and other metals tend to rust or tarnish over time. (And, of course, stone is hard to use in a space-efficient way, and tends to crack.) I understand modern science vouches for this.

Speaking of, it's odd that the mention of the style of writing is mentioned first - we usually say things like "...from (the) golden plates, translated by Joseph Smith." The bit about the kind of writing usually has less emphasis.

Still, the writings are described as reformed Egyptian. I don't know why the writing is considered "reformed," but the reason given for using reformed Egyptian (and not Hebrew) was so they could fit more writing into less space. I imagine that the fact that it was difficult to engrave words on plates - as one writer in the BoM mentions - might've been a factor.

(Speaking of Hebrew, the primary people focused on in the BoM report themselves as decendants of Joseph of Egypt, son of Jacob - the one with the fancy coat who was sold into slavery by his brothers.)

The plates weren't handed to Joseph Smith - they were revealed to him. Basically, they were buried in a (stone?) box, with a biggol rock for a lid, with some other items inside. Moroni is the one who showed the location to him (being the one who hid them in the first place - he's the last author in the BoM).

Finally, I understand this is a common misconception, but like with angels and saints, we don't worship prophets.

...Or at least, we're not supposed to. Though the way a lot of members act, I think there's a tendency to effectively worship the prophets... 😅

But no, it's not part of our doctrine to do so. We never say "holy Joseph Smith." We're likely to say "the prophet, Joseph smith," but we never put the word "holy" in there. It gives the wrong kind of impression.

"We have come to seek a refuge from the violent man and from the god-less"

I'm generally inclined to agree with the "violent man" part. But a lot of the persecuters were members of other Christian sects. We would call them FAR from "godless" - maybe a little misguided, and with a different view on the details, but we essentially believe that we worship the same God.

“We are the Mormons,” answered his companions with one voice.

First off, we don't have a hive-mind. I don't see any real reason why they'd answer in unison. It's not something we recite, or anything.

Secondly, as mentioned, the term "Mormons" has always been, at best, a nickname. It's never been an official name of the Church. We've been asked to abandon that nickname (and while we've got the biggest changes made it looks like we're still in the process of adjusting some smaller things, e.g. things on the website that aren't talking about the past). The main reason stated for this is that we want to emphasize the fact that Jesus Christ is a key part of our faith - even when we were still using the nickname, we emphasized the words Jesus Christ on our nametags, on the sides of our buildings, etc.

(Note: I'm including the word "Mormons" as a tag only because I think it'll be more-widely recognized, to help with visibility of this post. Otherwise, I'd leave it out.)

I think another major reason for abandoning the nickname is because it led to some confusion as to whether "Mormons" meant the same group. I've heard a story where some group was getting humanitarian aid, and someone apparently reported "We're getting help from two groups: the Mormons, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." (Cue laughter.)

But yeah, the term "Mormons" actually started as an insult - presumably mostly by other Christians, on account of the fact that, besides the Bible, we had another book that we believed in (the Book of Mormon, of course).

IMO, the fact that members accepted the nickname at all is a pretty good indication of our tendency to be on the doormat-y side. 😅

And just to make sure: no, the Church was never named after the Book of Mormon. Nor was the Book of Mormon named after the church. It's named after the person who did most work compiling and condensing his people's records that later became the Book of Mormon. (Mormon, of course. ...Moroni's father.)

[...]and were surrounded by crowds of the pilgrims

Technically accurate (aside from the inferred size of the crowds), but like I sort of mentioned, we prefer the word "pioneers."

(This said, as a kid, I used to mix up Church Pioneers and "Thanksgiving" Pilgrims. 😅)

[...]until they reached a waggon, which was conspicuous for its great size and for the gaudiness and smartness of its appearance. Six horses were yoked to it, whereas the others were furnished with two, or, at most, four a-piece

No.

We don't really do flashy, and the companies had to be as practical as possible, and couldn't really pack much besides probably essentials. I'm pretty sure that a bunch of smaller, standard wagons would be more practical than one, big, fancy one.

Any fancy wagons like that would more-than-likely have been sold, to afford more, smaller wagons, or more food and other supplies.

Also, the text strongly infers that the big wagon is for the leader of the group. We don't give such deference. In fact, there's a lot of emphasis in our doctrine that the leaders have to work for a living as much as any other person. We don't pay our leaders with our tithing, or anything.

“If we take you with us [...] it can only be as believers in our own creed. We shall have no wolves in our fold. Better far that your bones should bleach in this wilderness than that you should prove to be that little speck of decay which in time corrupts the whole fruit

This is one struck me as wrong in so many ways...

As mentioned earlier, we have a very service-oriented culture. We believe VERY STRONGLY in helping others in need. We're not going to abandon someone to die in the wilderness just because they're not a member. Nor withhold food and water (as is done in this story until John Ferrier agrees to join).

Similarly, at this point, I'm pretty sure a lot of members would be converts, themselves. They don't have much reason to fear people just for being non-members because, at some point, most of them were non-members - they already know that one can very well come into the fold, of their own volition. (Also, it's already established that these two were Christians, already.)

If anything, members are more likely to be afraid of physical danger, especially after all they've been through. And a dying man and a small girl are NOT going to be a physical threat. (Not to mention that, again, there's no hive-mind: more likely, if anything different members might have different ideas. This said, as kind of a side-note intra-faith politics seem to be something rarely touched on outside of of the faith in question, regardless of the religion/sect/etc.)

ALSO! We have a VERY STRONG belief in freedom of religion. In fact, one of the things we try to have members memorize - the Articles of Faith, written by Joseph Smith as a summary of our beliefs, after being asked about it - talks about it. Specifically number 11, which states:

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege. Let them worship how, where, or what they may.

*checks* ...Only some spelling errors (corrected) and one punctuation difference (left in). Still got it! 😁

But yeah, the decision to join the Church is supposed to be a choice. Even little children aren't technically considered members - we're supposed to wait until they're old enough to decide for themselves (officially, eight years old - with possible exceptions for people with mental challenges needing more time; Lucy is actually too young at this time in the story). ...That said, I'll touch on some more stuff in the next segment...

But yeah, a more likely response would be something like giving an invitation to learn of our teachings while along the way. And even if they ended up declining in the end, the two probably be allowed to live alongside the members, or helped to find another place to live if they so chose.

I was going to go even longer with this, but I think I'll actually put those comments under the next point...

John Ferrier and Lucy appear to be considered members as soon as John agrees to it - or as soon as Brigham Young makes it official

The direct authority of the President of the Church is not required for membership. More on this, later.

Besides that, Doyle missed a very important step in the process of becoming a member:

BAPTISM!

(And the laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost, but that comes after baptism... which tends to get more focus, anyhow, to the point where I think the gift of the Spirit is underrated...)

But yeah, the importance of baptism as a part of becoming a member is VERY MUCH emphasized in the Church.

We also note the importance of baptism by immersion - i.e. after a priesthood holder gives a prayer, he briefly dips the person into the water and pulls them back out, like John the Baptist did with Jesus. A fairly common saying is "Don't sprinkle yourself with the Gospel! Immerse yourself in it!"

There's also another important thing with baptism (which I bet some people are wondering about)...

WE DON'T DO INFANT BAPTISMS!!

Aside from the obvious safety reasons and such, and the part I mentioned earlier about how it's meant to be a choice (John shouldn't be able to make the decision for Lucy), there's another important element: while we do consider baptism an important element that has to do with "washing away sin" (or remitting it, technically), our definition of sin is to knowingly, and willfully, act against what you already know to be true.

Naturally, it takes a while for children to get a real sense of right and wrong. As such, little children are considered incapable of sinning.

Heck... there's an entire chapter in the Book of Mormon (Moroni 8) that's dedicated to this.

But yeah, like I mentioned earlier, eight years old is basically when you're officially considered old enough to decide for yourself. It's also what's known as the age of accountability - i.e. when you're old enough to have a sense of right and wrong (barring some exceptions), and are considered responsible for your actions.

Kids who die before the age of eight are basically believed to get a free pass into heaven. (No, we don't encourage trying to make this happen...)

But yeah, like mentioned, Lucy is five years old at this part of the story. She wouldn't technically be eligible.

And technically, even kids who grow up in the Church, with their parents as members, aren't considered members, themselves. (Though if their parents already had a temple marriage, the children are considered born in the covenant - basically already connected to their parents so they can potentially stay together, eternally.)

Though yeah, along with the basic Gospel principles, a big part of Primary (children's) lessons - esp. the littler children - is helping them get ready for baptism.

...Or trying to...

I'm going to go on a tangent, but I think it's an important one: baptism is really supposed to be something that a person decides to do, for themselves. However, with the way lessons are taught - and particularly, with the way the songs we sing are worded - we end up not so much helping children understand that they decide whether they want to be baptized, as we try to get them excited for baptism... like, for "when" it happens. Not "if."

(And in a way, it's not just with baptism. This type of thing is something that never really sat well with me, even as a kid.)

I don't know the ratio/percentage/whatever, but I do know that part of the end result is that at least some children end up not realizing that they're supposed to choose whether to get baptized, or not. I know that was the case for me, and I've definitely heard that I'm not the only one.

Heck, I remember being taught baptism is "a choice." But the way my teachers talked about choice, I actually didn't realize that "to choose" and "to decide" were synonyms... if anything, I perceived them as antonyms - I didn't see baptism as MY choice: I heard it as a choice that was made FOR me.

As such, I never even realized that I was supposed to be able to say "No"...

...and at the time, I REALLY would've liked to have known that. 😓

So... yeah. It's sadly very possible for children to effectively be baptized unwillingly - which actually goes against our doctrine. (I'll note that I, personally, probably would've voluntarily gone through with it at age 12, but at eight? Yeah... no. 😅)

But yeah, I can hope that things have been shifting. However, since I haven't really been involved in Primary classes since I attended, myself, I can't say what the trends are, at least for my local Ward (congregation/small geographical area).

Still, the idea that even a SINGLE child might be put through that? That the parents and teachers might fail to realize the agency involved in the process? It REALLY troubles me...

It is DEFINITELY something that I think the Church - or at LEAST Church members - need to do better on. 😢

...anyway, continuing... (And no pun intended, because of what the next one is.)

["]Forward! On, on to Zion!”

It's hard to say with the context, but for starters, this seems to be portrayed less as a rallying cry, and more as a chant. We don't do chants. (Which I guess might be part of what I've been trying to say, already.)

Regardless, this phrasing includes a common misconception: While the word "Zion" can refer to geographical locations, it's defined more as "the pure in heart." (And one of the few geographical locations mentioned in that link is in Missouri, not Utah.)

Similarly, I vaguely remember being told in Church lessons that's less of a place and more of a people.

But yeah, the more common phrasing we use is about establishing or building Zion. Sometimes we might use the word "gathering," though it's noted that while it was more literal back then, it's more metaphorical these days.

...Kind of makes it hard for members to travel onward to - even back then. 😜

And I know how cult-ish this might sound, but to me, right after this is mentioned seems like an appropriate time for the traveling members to break out into a hymn. I understand that early Church members did sing hymns along the way - not for any strict, religious reason so much as to try and keep their spirits up on the long, hard, dangerous journey.

["...]remember that now and forever you are of our religion. Brigham Young has said it, and he has spoken with the voice of Joseph Smith, which is the voice of God.”

...Well, props to Doyle for getting the names right, at least.

Whether or not this is inaccurate depends on definition, intention, and interpretation. However, given the phrasing (which we would never use), it sounds like the idea that essentially anything and everything the President of the Church says is also the Word of God.

That's not accurate. While they're authorized to speak the Word of God, they are still their own people, separate from God, and still very prone to mistakes. Heck, I know that my mom and I, at least, still like observing the occasional moment that reminds us that our Church President is still human.

Examples include:

Saying we're now going to sing a hymn we've already sung, then looking confused for a moment while one of the other Church Leaders walks up and turns the page on the program he's reading from.

Saying something (I don't remember what) and having his wife correct him. Immediately turns to wife and says "Oh, is that it?"

There's a rather comical moment where President Monson (already Church President) wiggled his ears in front of a live congregation. (And here's a link to the talk in question in case the video stops working. Linked to the paragraph in question, though there's an non-shortened video at the top.)

Heck, I've even heard a story where Joseph Smith, reportedly, gave a talk during one congregation. The week afterward, he came back and said something to the effect of "Last week was Joseph Smith talking. This week is God talking."

And then he apparently said pretty much the opposite of what he'd said the week before.

(I couldn't find a record of this story with a search of the Church website - it could be the quote I heard isn't accurate enough. Or maybe, if there IS an actual record, then it hasn't been transcribed to digital format, yet. Or both.

Still, even if just as a metaphor/analogy/allegory, I think it gets the idea across. 😉)

The area is referred to as "Utah" - mentioned as being a state

There are a number of contradictions here. Church settlers actually called the area Deseret, which is a word which the Book of Mormon lists as meaning "honey bee."

We kind of took on honey bees (and beehives) as a not-super-official symbol (i.e. not part of the doctrine, but part of the culture). The honey bee is seen as a symbol of industry - e.g. hard work. Industry is still the state motto - similarly, we're known as the Industry state - and similarly, the state emblem is still the beehive, and the state insect is still the honeybee. (Reference link.) Heck, the state flag still has a beehive on it. (Though a few years ago, someone made a proposal to remove it... go figure... Doesn't seem to have gone through, though, AFAIK.)

This said, while Deseret (the region) could be said to have been established in 1947 (I think), it wasn't made an official state until 1896. (For reference, the later particular part of the story, after a timeskip, is listed as taking place in 1860.)

Heck, the term "Deseret" is still used in some Church-related things. Examples include Deseret Industries (a Church-based thrift store/charity shop), Deseret Book (a Church-based book store, of course), and hymns such as In Our Lovely Deseret (which, IMO, is not one of our better hymns - not for musical reasons so much as the way it talks about certain things, particularly in the 2nd verse, where it addresses the Word of Wisdom* in such a negative way that that it gets kinda... contentious and prideful... heck, these days, younger members tend to have trouble getting through that verse without going quiet and laughing awkwardly).

But yeah, when it came time to make the area an official state, people apparently didn't like the idea of it being a religious reference (again...). So they suggested the name "Utah," meaning "tops of the mountains."

...We willingly accepted. 🤣

That said, importantly, as part of of the conditions for letting our area become a state, we were also forced to give up polygamy - which, predictably, is a major part of the story. More on that later.

But yeah. Again, from a number of different angles, there are contradictions on that front.

I think the story also mentioned members making trade with neighboring areas, though I'm having trouble finding the reference, assuming I didn't misremember. In any case, Nevada is mentioned a few times - not explicitly as a state, but still, Nevada wasn't established as a state until 1864. California is also mentioned once, in passing - this said, California actually WAS established as a state in 1850.

Heck, I'm actually not sure what, if any, relations we might've had at the time. 🤔 I'm not sure if we even used a real currency, at the time... I'm not having any luck finding references with a search on the Church site, and I'm not sure how I'd refine my search. 😅

*Some advice, given through Joseph Smith, with recommendations regarding diet and using (or rather, NOT using) certain substances. The part regarding stuff like drinking, tea**, and coffee is probably taken TOO seriously by members (like, a straight-up commandment), while the dietary parts tend to be forgotten (I remember another member saying "How many of us actually eat meat sparingly?" ...Heck, how do you quantify "sparingly"? 🤔)

**Herbal tea is controversial. I'll note that this type of tea was only invented in 1969, WAY after the Word of Wisdom was established. Members tend to debate whether it's the caffeine, the heat (the original wording for "tea and coffee" is technically "hot drinks" - Joseph Smith apparently had to clarify), or other details that are the issue.

Just to be safe, many members avoid even herbal teas. I'd basically decided to do the same thing (aside from trying to do a homemade, makeshift lemon-ginger tea - my family didn't have fresh lemons, OR fresh ginger 😅).

That is... until after I got prompted/impressed (basically, told by God directly, via the Holy Ghost) that I needed to get into herbal tea - starting with chamomile, to help me sleep better, and help manage my anxiety, somewhat. (I do cool it down. I prefer most of my drinks about room-temp, anyhow.)

I won't make a definitive claim on what this means for members as a whole, but I suspect that if it's okay for me, it's probably okay for the average member - most exceptions would probably be in the cases of stuff like allergies. For any members reading this, I recommend you stop trying to reason it out, and pray about it. ("Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding." - Proverbs 3:5)

Anyhow, continuing with the point of this post...

All around farms were apportioned and allotted in proportion to the standing of each individual.

Again, no. We don't give deference to our leaders in that manner. Leaders aren't paid for their Church service (it's pretty much volunteer work).

If anything, farms would be allotted according to ability and/or need - e.g. bigger, and more-farm-handy families would get bigger farms, since they had the know-how, and more mouths to feed. Non-farmers would probably not get farms, instead getting something more in-line with what they already knew how to do. From what I understand, people would probably basically just do what they did best, and basically help each-other as needed.

From the great inland sea to the distant Wahsatch Mountains...

I don't know if this is a typo, but I know at least modernly, it's "Wasatch Mountains."

There's also a later mention of "Salt Lake Mountains." Personally, I never heard the term before reading this story. Looking at a few maps, it doesn't look like an official name: the character using the term is probably referring to the part of the Wasatch Mountains closest to Salt Lake City, or the Great Salt Lake, itself.

Actually, come to look, I think Doyle made another mistake, this one geographical: the story later talks about travelers heading through the mountains as they head for Nevada, but looking at it, there aren't very many mountains between Salt Lake and Nevada; definitely not as big or as dense to the ones east of Salt Lake (in the other direction). In fact, it's pretty much just desert.

Come to think, I've traveled to Nevada a few times, myself. This is pretty in-line with my own experiences: I can vouch that it's STILL mostly empty desert. 😅

Above all, the great temple which they had erected in the centre of the city grew ever taller and larger.

Even as I first read this, I felt like it gave the wrong impression: sure, the Salt Lake temple is fairly tall, and, in a way, kind of castle-like, but I consider it more wide or long. The use of "taller and larger" makes me think of the Tower of Babel (which, as you may or may not know, was supposed to be a shortcut into Heaven, which God punished people for - confounding their languages so they couldn't all communicate easily, breaking the tower down... I hear that was also when what's now known as Pangaea was separated into the different continents...).

Anyhow, I already knew there was at least one detail that probably put a kink in this description. And looking it up, I can give more detail:

In 1858, about five years into the initial construction of the Salt Lake Temple, the foundation of the temple was actually covered up, due to threat of war. (Which, I totally forgot about the war thing. And apparently, Doyle also either missed, or forgot about that detail. I think I remember the story saying something about basically having no outside threats... I either haven't found it yet, or I misremembered.)

But yeah, it wasn't until the next year that the foundation was uncovered again, and as this Primary lesson says...

After the problems with the government were resolved, President Young ordered the foundation uncovered. The workmen found that some of the mortar and small rocks used between the large foundation blocks had cracked and shifted. [...] The workers removed the small rocks and mortar and all of the sandstone blocks down to the first layer, replacing them with hard granite blocks.

In other words, starting in 1859 they had to completely dig up the foundation and start over.

A reminder that this part of the story takes place in 1860. Odds are that the temple hadn't even really reached above ground level, yet. 😅

This said, the temple also wasn't finished until 1892, over 30 years later. (The granite blocks they used had to be shipped in from distant mountains, carved out by hand... it was hard, slow work.)

So... yeah, the temple wouldn't grow tall(-ish) for some more years. And its original width was planned out from the beginning, so it wouldn't grow bigger on that front, either. 😅

Lucy remains motherless/John Ferrier remains unmarried/"celibate" (as Doyle put it)

Not inherently false, but I do think it fairly unlikely. Like I mentioned, there's a strong culture of helping each-other out, and I really do think that a lot of the members - esp. women - would've gushed over Lucy, offering to help with raising her. (It's not directly stated, but it's pretty strongly inferred that John didn't get ANY help on that front.) Women in particular are generally tasked with assisting those in need and offering relief - hence why the Church's organization of women is called the Relief Society.

So, yeah. I find it hard to believe that there wouldn't be other members visiting often, helping in her upbringing. I particularly find it hard to believe there wouldn't be any women to help out... and while not impossible, I find it unlikely that at least ONE wouldn't leave a strong enough impression on Ferrier that he'd want to marry her. 😉

Again, not inherently false... but I think it pretty unlikely. 😅

This said, while I think I should comment on the subject of marriage in general, I'll do it farther down.

He had always determined, deep down in his resolute heart, that nothing would ever induce him to allow his daughter to wed a Mormon./["]What is the thirteenth rule in the code of the sainted Joseph Smith? ‘Let every maiden of the true faith marry one of the elect; for if she wed a Gentile, she commits a grievous sin.’["]

I looked up this so-called quote and found nothing about it. (A search for an exact quote literally turns up 0 results.)

I've never heard of a "code of Joseph Smith" (and we wouldn't use the term "sainted"). My only guess on what he could mean is the Articles of Faith that I mentioned earlier, which, none of them mention marriage - not even the thirteenth and last one (which basically just talks about trying to be good people, and good to other people).

Farrier's opinion isn't inherently contradiction - given that opinions are, by nature, subjective, and this is a fictional character - it is supposed to give him a sort of conflict that sets the background of his story.

In any case, I think I should still touch on this at least briefly:

There isn't a hard-and-fast rule that says that you can't marry a non-member. It is generally seen as unwise, but not much more, I don't think. Heck, Idon't think it's technically even considered a sin. Sure, it would mean you couldn't be sealed in the temple - which basically means you'd be missing out on a number of blessings - but there's nothing that forbids it, AFAIK.

Well... maybe some parents forbid it, and people might treat you weirdly, but that's probably as close as it gets. 😅

...speaking of which...

[T]o express an unorthodox opinion was a dangerous matter in those days in the Land of the Saints.

I can't claim to have exact knowledge of what kind of tension might've been going on, by a longshot. I'll note that, yes, I wish I could say that this is 100% false. I've definitely heard of intra-Church conflicts as far back as before the Saints even traveled to Utah/Deseret, long before reading this Holmes story. 😔

Still, the story seemed largely and dramatically exaggerated. (Which, in my non-professional opinion and observation, it seems like non-members, particularly anti-Church groups, have a tendency to do. 😅 ...Heck, on a broader scale, people who are against something tend to make up false rumors about the thing that they hate. Why wouldn't the same apply with us? 😕) In any case, the story didn't fit with what I've been taught about Gospel doctrine, or Church history.

This said, I still tried to find a specific reference, and look it up. It took me a while, because I had trouble finding it again in the story - even when looking multiple times. 😅 I did find it, eventually, and have since looked it up... even if it meant rewriting this section. 😂 (Or at least part of it.)

The story basically describes members suddenly going missing if they express controversial viewpoints and whatnot. It mentions these appearances being done by a particular group, which is given a couple names - apparently the most common name for this group is the Danites.

I, personally, had never even heard of the Danites before reading this story. (And I think it would be pretty weird if non-members knew something that the average member doesn't. 😕) BUT! That said, apparently there's a bit of truth in that they were real.

Emphasis on "were." Very, very past-tense... and apparently short-lived, among other things.

I found a couple of particularly good pages on the subject: this one gives a little information. this one goes more in-depth on general violence in the days of early Saints... both received and, sadly, caused by some earlier members. (I linked specifically to the part on Danites, if you want to check it out, but keep it short.) The article doesn't make any attempt to condone such violence, but neither does it cover it up. If anything, I'd say it looks like it goes into pretty good balance of detail. Both pages link a number of references.

But yeah, looks like the story of the Danites is wildly exaggerated. To sum up, they didn't go to kill any member who had trouble with any little part of Church doctrine: their focus was on non-member an ex-member groups who posed a potential, physical threat to members as a whole.

Also - while I still won't claim this was appropriate - they mostly focused on burning, or stealing, property from these groups, with (apparently) only a few deaths caused... which, while not mentioned in the articles, it sounds to me like their primary goal was to deter and discourage groups who might attack the Church, with killing probably being a last resort. (Or possibly meant to be avoided, altogether, but there's no accounting for the actions of individuals in ANY group. 😑)

Third, they lasted less than half a year. They more-or-less stopped being a thing by the time Brigham Young became head of the Church (as he's supposed to be in this story).

There's more, but I think those would be the main points for the sake of this post (which is running VERY long as it is... and I'm not finished 😅).

I guess I'll note real quick that we also don't really do secret societies, though I'll touch more on that in another section.

As for what I'd already written, I decided to touch more on how things are these days, modernly. I'm including most of it, with some adjustments for the new context:

Sort of like I said earlier, I've never heard of a member suddenly vanishing, just because they weren't sure about one or two points of doctrine, or anything. There are PLENTY of members who will talk about this or that multiple times, across multiple weeks. 😅

As for doctrine in general. We do still believe that murder is a bad thing (we basically still use the Ten Commandments, among other things). Things like self-defense might be another story. Heck, there's a story in the Book of Mormon where it talks about some of the people - namely the Nephites - deciding to go to war for the sake of self-defense (they were attacked first). There's a couple verses back-to-back talking about how God told them when it's okay to defend themselves.

But still, outright murder? Just for not being 100% true to the Gospel? No. That would be horrendously hypocritical, and it would be very hard to justify it.

I've mentioned that, if anything, modern Church members tend to be more of doormats. 😅 A lot of us actually tend to avoid aggression, contention, etc. (At least... in public. 😂) It's to the point where lot of us have a lot of trouble being assertive, or standing up for ourselves and our beliefs, because (like many others) we're not sure how to be assertive without being aggressive... or prideful, which we're also warned against. 😅 (Though many still struggle with it. 😔)

This is not to say that we never do anything... not-so-kind when/if someone expresses a non-Gospel opinion, or anything. Like I inferred, a number of us may express our disapproval in-private, when the person(s) in question can't hear. 😅 In public, members are more likely to be avoidant than aggressive. (I've definitely heard stories of people being shunned for one reason or another... though typically not until they'd long already moved out or something. 😔)

But yeah, we have an emphasis on bringing people (back) to God. Leaving people in wickedness is more intimidating - we tend more toward a fear that comes from not wanting someone to be tormented for denying the Gospel, and not coming back to it. 😅 Put positively, as one of our scriptures puts it, "the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" - a common quote among members.

This said, one of our most-common mistakes is that we tend to try to follow that more out of fear than of love. 😂 Or even when trying to be loving, we tend to accidentally give bad advice, accidentally insult people instead of showing empathy, all the usual stuff that a lot of people are known for. 😅

Heck, I'm not sure I've heard heard of any modern stories of a member getting violent - particularly not in that sense. That said, I'm not going to claim that violence never happens. Heck, I think it would be insane to assume that it never does. We're still human, after all.

I actually remember a young guy losing his temper at a Ward barbecue, once. 🤔 He mostly just yelled and jumped on a table - maybe threw a few light punches. Thankfully, someone managed to talk him down. 😅

(This said, I have heard stories of sexual assault within the Church. 😬 So... I think that's a pretty good indicator that physical violence probably happens, at least occasionally... 😔)

But yeah, the Church doesn't condone aggression, and encourages members to work towards peace - something I, personally, would like to vy for. Any violence in members is more of an individual thing, not a group one.

And even then, again, when it comes to a member not being completely faithful, most of what I typically hear about is avoidance, less-than-empathetic comments (often meant with good intentions, but... yanno), shouting from other family members... and maybe the occasional case of someone getting disowned. 😬

I still don't think the first two are good - maybe at least the second I can sometimes find understandable, but still. I definitely don't condone the latter two... (And if Church articles including this one are any indication, neither does God. 😔)

So... no, that kind of violence is DEFINITELY not something that's advocated for. 😔

Polygamy...

Like said earlier, I am definitely NOT surprised that this is a major part of the story. Polygamy is one of the biggest points of misconception that non-members have about our Church, and we are VERY aware of the stereotypes... which this story fits to a T.

YES, early saints practiced polygamy. NO, as of this time I'm writing this, we don't currently practiced it (I've mentioned some of the reasons above). NO, we didn't practice it for the reasons, nor in the manner, that many people tend to think. (And NO, we don't try to skirt around laws regarding legal marriage age... at least, not in what I consider the real branch of the Church... some people have made offshoots that, as far as I can tell, are very much in line with the stereotypes. 😑 Not sure if they're still around - at least not the main one. Haven't heard anything in a long time. 🤔)

I mentioned before that the journey to Utah/Deseret was dangerous. Being as traditional as we are, especially back then, I understand that it was mostly the men that hunted for food, and generally worked to protect everyone from various dangers. Thus, apparently mostly men died, leaving the population a little skewed.

And when many women would be left without even the option to marry (or remarry, in many cases), what's left to do?

Near as I can tell, the whole polygamy-vs.-monogamy thing appears to be one of those things where it's less of there being only one, real way of doing things, and more of being about what's probably most appropriate for the circumstances. Jacob (father of Joseph of Egypt) is known for having multiple wives, and in his case - and some others - it appears to be appropriate, from what I can tell.

HOWEVER! The ancient Church members in the Book of Mormon (commonly known as the Nephites) were commanded by God to only have one wife per man. Also, thereas a mention that David and Solomon having many wives (and concubines) is something God considers abominable (His word).

So... it sounds like, even in cases where polygamy is considered okay, having an excessive amount of wives is still a no-no. Heck, in the Holmes story, it seems to suggest that having many wives was... typical.

I don't think the population was that skewed. And even if it was, it wouldn't be for very long. 😅

So no. I don't see how that would be possible. Even if, hypothetically, it were encouraged.

Heck, I'm kind of afraid to look it up (for numerous reasons - not sure what exactly I'd search for, for one), but I've heard that the husband needed permission from his existing wives - starting with the first/"main" wife, and working his way down - before he could take another wife. I've also heard that a common conversation was most likely something along the lines of "Sister XYZ lost her husband on our journey here. Do you mind if we take her in? Give her someplace to stay and raise her children?"

Quite a different image than the "harems" people tend to expect (and that Doyle called them), huh?

(And it's not mentioned in the story, but since I know some people will wonder about it, or have heard otherwise: no, the wives are not considered married to each-other.)

I'm not going to make any claims, nor denials, as to who had how many wives, or anything. (Other than I've heard a rumor - not a hard fact, but still - that Joseph Smith's wife wouldn't let him take in any other wives.) Those records will probably be a pain to sort through... I pretty much just take things with a grain of salt on that front, personally, regardless of the direction.

Still, just as an estimate, I'd venture that 2-3 was more common, with several happening occasionally... and just one still being very common.

But yeah, as of the time of writing this, I've basically heard only heard emphasis on the one-man-one-wife arrangement, as far as the Church goes. Heck, right now, the idea of polygamy still seems odd to most members, AFAIK.

That said... I've also heard rumors that Utah is considering making polygamy legal again. I would not be surprised if Church leaders say something about it.

(This said, there are some elements I, personally, can respect about polyamorous relationships. Namely, the idea of multiple people being in a relationship with another person - or maybe even each-other - and being open and honest about it with each-other. Less of that ridiculous drama of someone being "taken," just because they're dating.)

Related side-note... Non-members, ready to have your mind blown? The recommended guidelines for dating in the Church: first and foremost, it's recommended to hold off until the age of 16 - this is largely to help prevent early pregnancies. (Turning sweet 16 is something often looked forward to. 😂) Secondly, it's recommended to start off with "group dates" (basically hanging out, not even beginning to pair off), in order to get an idea of what kind of people you like. After a while of that, you can move into paired-up dating, but it's recommended to avoid dating one person steadily - the idea is to try and help prevent getting too attached to any one particular person until you're ready to pick someone to marry. Finally, once you are getting ready to marry, you can start steady-dating the person you're considering - basically, you can start courting at that point.

How much of that sounded weird - maybe even crazy? 😜

Not to say it always works out that way... Along with the fact that people have their agency and autonomy, and that temptation is still a thing... some of us still struggle to get dates. 😅

...or feel that the pressure makes it... more intimidating. Maybe even gets some people focused more on the social pressure - feeling a need to rush things - than on whether it's actually a good idea, in their specific, current circumstances.

(I know I've been impacted by that... indirectly... 😓)

...anyhow...

The President of the Church (too many details for a header)

TBH, the portrayal of Brigham Young is probably the part that bothers me the most.

It might not have been so bad if Doyle wasn't misrepresenting a specific, named, major figure in our history - and particularly if it wasn't so incredibly inaccurately. But nope! Doyle was probably trying to be "realistic." 😅

It'll be hard for me to get into every detail (both emotionally, and just because of what it would take to point out EVERYTHING), but basically, the portrayal includes aggression, intimidation, making a point to oversee basically everything seen as a potential issue, outright threats... The narration even explicitly mentions that getting a visit is unlikely a good sign (at least for the character in question).

Regardless of whether one believes one such as him to have actually been called of God, I'll note that I, personally, haven't really known any of our Church Presidents (and other high-ranking leaders) to be much anything other than gentle. And to me, this seems like one of the major reasons why they would end up being President of the Church in the first place. Any guidance and correction I've heard has been - again - gentle, and loving.

Since checking the thing about the Danites, I've heard that he read some warning verses from the Old Testiment with passion... but I suspect that was mostly meant as a stern warning or something, from what I can tell. Other than that, about the worst he did was make it official that war was going on - after members had been attacked - rallying militia for defensive reasons, from what I can find. 🤔 Some... fighting spirit, I suppose, but not really aggression. There's even a point where he warned against getting involved in the affairs of some others in the area, because he didn't want a fight. (Though his message was... too late... 😢)

The bit about a visit being something to be concerned about definitely struck me as odd. Normally the possibility of getting to meet a Church President is something that members are excited about. 😅 Sure, maybe if one was, well... very much a sinner. (Which, to be fair, part of the idea is that Ferrier hasn't done something that, according to the story, is considered critically important...) But even then, stories I've heard about Church Presidents talking with sinners and the like typically involve a very gentle love that really does remind me of stories of Jesus.

Speaking of which, opportunities to meet a Church President in person are fairly rare. Especially these days. But even back then, things would be organized so he wouldn't have to handle everything, himself. Like I mentioned before, things would probably be handled by a Bishop or Branch President first, then a Stake President, then maybe one or two other levels of authority (I'm unclear on the details, but maybe a member of Area 70s?), before making its way to the Church President.

Even back then - basically any time except maybe the very earlier parts with Joseph Smith - the head of the Church would've been a very busy guy. Fact is, I really doubt he'd have time to handle everything by himself.

(Fun fact: Even the President of the Church has to talk to his local Bishop for certain things. I'm uncertain on the details, but one thing I think would be a good guess would be verifying records of personal tithings and other donations. ...Yes, even our leaders pay tithing.)

One particular omission I noticed was that there was no reference to finding out what God might want for any given situation. (Even with the very cult-like portrayal, this seems odd to me - I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be a common form of coercion.) This said, I'm pretty sure an emphasis on prayer would be more likely. (Or at least, I believe that it should have been. 😅) Most likely in asking Ferrier and others to pray... though praying himself, on occasion, wouldn't necessarily be out-of-place.

But yeah, lots of portrayals of stuff that would NOT be appropriate for his station. 😅

Incidentally, here's a bonus detail that even members tend not to remember: Have you noticed that I've been using terms like "the President of the Church" instead of "the Prophet"?

Well it turns out, unlike how even most members talk about it, the President of the Church is technically not "the" p/Prophet! Not even the only living prophet.

He might be sort of the head prophet, and he definitely is granted more power and authority. BUT! At EVERY General Conference for the Church, and even in some other cases, members are asked to sustain the President of the Church, his two Counselors, AND the Quorum of the Twelve (sort of the next group of authority down - our apostles) as "prophets, seers, and revelators."

Heck, here's a link to a reference of this being done in the April 2023 General Conference - the most recent, as of this writing, though our next one is expected next week. So this is very much a current exercise in our Church.

Still, somehow, the average member seems to forget about this... 😕 ...I admit, it's kind of a pet peeve of mine. 😅 It's something I wish at least our members remembered more-clearly, if nothing else. 😑

Marriage, general; insane controversy over Lucy being unmarried

Along with the polygamy section getting too long as it was, it just seemed appropriate to touch on marriage, separately. 😅 Still, these two points seem to go well-enough together that I decided to combine them.

While there is a lot of emphasis on marriage in the Church, it's not to the degree portrayed in A Study in Scarlet. Like with basically everything else in the Church, the ability to choose who you marry and such is still pretty important - for the wives as well as the husbands.

And while I'm sure there's sometimes drama over multiple people liking the same person (not that I've been part of that, nor been part of any circles that talk about these kinds of things...), it definitely wouldn't be to the point of Church leaders giving a one-month deadline, complete with ominous death threats, hunting parties tracking down anyone who might try to escape... or anything like that. 😅

Heck, it's pretty rare for Church leaders - even as much as a local Bishop - to get involved with stuff like that. 😅 Maybe counseling for couples after marriage - that's pretty common. Maybe some advice about marriage, proposal, etc. But nah, not going to mandate anything, by a long shot.

About the worst staying single is likely to result in would be some some "encouragement" (pressure...) from other members, or members accidentally assuming all the adults in a Ward/Branch ((two types of small congregations)) are married... and accidentally making exclusionary choices, accordingly...

To quote that article:

Sometimes even those of us who think we practice inclusion can be unintentionally exclusionary. For example, when I served as a nursery leader, I often missed announcements that were shared during the second hour of Church meetings. When I told a leader about this concern, he said, “But doesn’t your wife hear the announcements in Relief Society?”

(I guess I should probably give a note that the definition I heard - likely the Church definition - of "single" is "not married." Even if you're engaged, that doesn't mean you're not single. 🤣)

But yeah, someone being single in the Church isn't going to evoke shock, gasps, or anything of the sort. Let alone ominous death threats... or people hunting you down if you try to escape... 😂 In general, it's mostly just seen as a bad idea. Or at most, maybe a "sin of omission."

This said, while non-marriage is not exactly seen as good, I'm inclined to point out that *ahem* intimacy outside of marriage is typically viewed as MUCH worse. 😅

(Side-note: Apparently this is to the point that some find it hard to wrap their heads around the idea that intimacy with their new spouse being okay. 😅)

Also, a member having been married in the Church, and then getting divorced, is more likely to bring scrutiny... 😅 One of those things where a lot of members tend to get a lot more judgmental than I believe they should be. 😑

...But yeah, it can still hard not to wonder what might've led to something like that. 😅

...Still, I've heard cases where I would say that it's completely justified. 😒 (Someone pretending to be someone they're not until the other person was "stuck with them"? Yeah. Apparently it's happened at least once. 😅)

Besides, people can change, and I prefer to reserve judgment - at least until I know more. 🙂

(That's "judgment" as in "to make an assessment" - the scripture before the semi-famous "man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" comes after Jesse assumed that Eliab, soon-king David's older brother, must be the one chosen by God to be King because, apparently, Eliab's big and buff. God basically goes 'Nope, don't judge him to be morally great just because he's a tough guy.'

Similarly, John 7:24 advises to judge righteous judgment - as does, actually, the Joseph Smith Translation of Matt 7:2.)

The most important figures in the Church are strongly implied to be the Holy Four

...Never heard of them. (Well, not outside of this story, at least.)

Honestly, given the context, it's hard to tell who this "Holy Four" is supposed to be. The Godhead* + Church President...? 🤔

...And honestly? Generally speaking, we're more likely to do things in sets of three. Three members of the Godhead*; three members of a Bishopric, or Stake Presidency, or the Church Presidency (all cases of one leader + two counselors); three witnesses of the Book of Mormon...

And when not three, other common numbers are eight, twelve, and seventy. Four isn't as big of a number.

But yeah, I'm not sure where this "Holy Four" thing came from. 😅

*The Godhead is sort of like our version of the Trinity, except instead of three beings in One, it's three separate beings, working as one unit (i.e. a team).

Ferrier is shown taking the Lord's name in vain

Not sure how relevant this is supposed to be to Ferrier's relationship to the Church, but I figured I'd touch on it.

Yeah, we don't encourage swearing. There's some debate as to whether things besides the Lord's name in vain is really considered swearing - or at least, many seem to agree that the Lord's name should, at least, be considered worse than other terms (not a teir-1 swear, or whatever that one word is considered).

But yeah, that's a no-no. ...And I'm only slightly surprised that there isn't an example of a practicing member breaking the Word of Wisdom (esp. the "no smoking, drinking, etc." part).

Secret groups are seen meeting, exchanging code-phrases, etc.

Like I was refering to with the Danites thing. This is another thing that the Church is against. Groups like this are what we call secret combinations. Secret combinations are one of those things that are described as "most abominable and wicked above all, in the sight of God."

Any secret societies and the like would not be sanctioned by the Church.

(Also, side-note, I have no idea what their code-phrases are supposed to mean.)

Endowment House - flags flown to indicate a marriage the day before

I actually hadn't heard of this, either, until reading this story. Turns out, it was a thing (again, past-tense). It was basically used as sort of a temporary temple, until the actual temple could be finished (something I'd guessed at). It doesn't seem to be much of a thing right now.

There's no mention in that page I linked of flags being part of an official ceremony, or anything (on the endowment house, or - apparently - in the streets). It's certainly not a modern thing - strikes me as way more showy and public than we tend to prefer things to be. Heck, marriage is one of those things that's considered more private. And if anything, one of the common comments about our wedding ceremonies is how simple they are.

And besides that, weddings are one of those things common enough, and with enough of them done in one day, that I really doubt there'd be any signals used for a single marriage the day after it was performed. 😅

I'm actually half-surprised there's no mention of endowments. I'm actually not sure if Doyle even heard of an endowment in our Church. It is something that's required before getting a temple marriage... or going on an official mission, though members can get one at other times. It's the thing that's related to the garments some of us wear (as some non-members called it some years ago, "Mormon underwear"). It's also something we consider sacred enough that it's done in a special room in our temples (basically hence the need for a temporary location while the temple was under construction for so long).

This said, a since only the first wife who's probably sealed to her husband, I'm pretty she'd be the only one that'd really need an endowment for her marriage, if she didn't have one already. 🤔

And I know I'm not being specific, but it's something that's also considered sacred enough that we're not really supposed to discuss it with others who haven't had it - if not just plain not outside the appropriate room in the temple.

I actually can't give details, even if I wanted, because I haven't had one, myself. But I remember that not that long ago, it was to the point that even members couldn't really find information about it by searching the Church website. (A point of frustration for me... And when bringing that up to a couple endowed girls, I remember them getting a little awkward and telling me "It's not secret, it's sacred." ...Which didn't help my frustrations, because I'd say it was at least both!)

A few details have been released publicly now. None of the sensitive stuff, but I've caught things about it once being called 'endowment of power from god,' and something about extra protection.

It's apparently also possible to put certain principles of it together if you know what kind of reasoning to use - even if you don't realize it's connected with the endowments, somehow.

But I'm not going into any more detail, nor look for more info on for the sake of this "dissertation." 😜 (Sorry not sorry.)

But yeah, an endowment house doesn't seem to be a thing now, marriages weren't forced, and I really doubt the flags were a thing. 😅

Wives observing custom of sitting up with someone the night before their burial

If this ever was a custom, it certainly isn't now. Sure, I'd say there's a tendency to stay by the side of someone who's dying, but it's not an outright custom.

...Nor have I ever heard of staying near an already-dead body the night before burial. 😬 Ew...

-----

So... yeah. Overall, while I was surprised to see the Church in one of these books in the first place, once I noticed it was there, I wasn't really surprised of the shape the portrayal took. Like I said, we're very aware of the common stereotypes... and we're painfully used to being seen as "the bad guys" - whether as a group... or individually... 😢

Heck, I'm betting that A Study in Scarlet contributed to a lot of it, directly or indirectly. 😑 We all know how popular Sherlock Holmes is, and this is the very first book. 😬

This said! Far be it from me to try and tell people to abandon Sherlock Holmes. (I think that would be folly, anyhow. 😅) We don't have to accept every aspect of the stories... And Holmes is known for his deductive reasoning, first and foremost, which I can very much get behind (even if it's a little fantastical/romanticized), and I think he shares a lot of nuggets of wisdom. 🙂

And if the principles of reasoning and getting to the truth used in the Holmes' stories are any indication - not to mention the strawman moments *coughLestradecough* - I think that Doyle was just trying to portray things as accurately as he could, wanting to be true to them - not to add to prejudice based on falsehoods. 😂 ...Sadly, a lot of what he had to work with would've probably been misinformation, or even disinformation. And communication technology would've been a LOT less advanced - worldwide websites weren't a thing yet. 😅

...I wouldn't hold availability of resources against Doyle. Yes, mis- and disinformation is harmful... but people, as a whole, are fallible. I do think he was probably trying his best, and I'm definitely not going to hold that against him. And in general, I prefer to give people the benefit of doubt. 😌

Also? ...This might seem like a side-note, but in my latest fanfic, I've written Holmes references into chapters that haven't been posted yet, starting with the next chapter. I considered removing them, but I keep feeling impressed through the Holy Ghost to leave them - heck, I keep feeling guided on how to include them, and such.

(And to reinforce this, I plan - and feel impressed - to still stream those Holmes games I bought, on my Twitch channel. No, I'm not giving you a direct link. 😉)

And heck... not trying to brag, but to be honest? The general way that Holmes works things out - his patterns of thinking, and a lot of the principles of reasoning he stands behind? ...I actually find them very relatable. 😄 A lot of the stuff Holmes suggest is stuff I figured out/decided to do on my own (if in different words and such... and even if I disagree on occasion 😉).

I'm not going to claim to be on the same level as Holmes (this is fiction), and my strengths in knowledge and such are in different areas... but the general style feels very familiar... and I think this actually is the strongest I've ever felt a character to be a kindred spirit of sorts. 😃

Heck... I'd say Doyle must be something of a kindred spirit, to even come up with Holmes' manner of reasoning.

...Call this a bold claim, but I think he'd like me trying to correct his mistakes. Try and repair a little of the damage. 😌

So... yeah. I'm not even trying to preach or anything, I just want people to be aware of the inaccuracies in portrayals like this one, at minimum. 😅

And... I want to share that I can still fondly appreciate something that started with such a big flaw. 😌

[the-hs-etaverse]

State of the whatever #I'm sorry women

Hi guys sorry about the (mostly) radio silence for the past couple months. I know I know I shouldn't be apologizing, I don't owe you guys anything (and don't youse be getting it into your heads that I do), but like, I still feel bad, and I feel bad about not getting Housesnared posting-ready in time. Admittedly some of my procrastination on that front was because MSPFA was down for maintenance for a couple months. But it was also procrastination-procrastination. I have some sort of deadline-avoidance syndrome or something.

Anyway. What was I going to say? Right. Progress on Housesnared. Not much of it since Ash Wednesday and my previous State of the Etaverse update. I finished another main character intro and fleshed out some of the others a bit more. Other than that? Nothin'.

Part of this was because other projects (Homestuck-based or non) suddenly looked a heck of a lot more appealing to me now that I had this stupid self-imposed deadline hanging over me. I finished another chapter of Meteor Science Theater 413000 over Lent, along with two (out of three) sections of this Kittyquest supplementary fic thing. (I think I've linked to both of these in this blog since their posting. If you're interested, go find 'em. They're both on my AO3 (u/n @meowloudly15).)

And also non-Homestuck nonsense, but check my main if you'd like to see all that.

I also did some other Homestuck stuff that I haven't completed/posted yet. More on that as it's completed. :3

Okay SO. uh. I have an idea but I would like your feedback on it. I could post more of my Housesnared stuff, like work-in-progress panels and things and scripts and stuff and character bios. While the idea intrigues me, I am also kind of worried about spoilering you guys if you don't want to be spoilered, if you just wanna see the finished product. That said, here are some pros:

I Wanna Talk About This Story With People !!!!!

Good way to get feedback or suggestions. I always envisioned Housesnared as being at least partly fan-driven. I could post a character profile and go "give me FAMILY MEMBER IDEAS" and maybe get a single comment?

A way for me to feel like I'm being at least a little productive, to show myself "hey look how far you've come up this enormous mountain you've concocted for yourself like seriously WHY did you decide to start writing a 48-player fansession without any support from friends or anything" it's because I'm insane, Jennifer. That's why.

I think I had another reason I just don't remember what it is

OH RIGHT a way to garner more interest in my story and characters. Kind of like Sovereignstuck has been doing

help me please

ANYWAY. Tell me what you think lads

[ukaiknowsbest]

Review: Tamayomi

[will contain spoilers]

Lately I have been pretty bored with the recent developments in Daiya no A and Oofuri. New Shonen anime stuff just don't appeal to me, so I bit the bullet and watched Tamayomi for at least one episode a day.

Like me, people would normally think "HOW TF ARE THEY GOING TO PLAY BASEBALL? AREN'T THEY WEARING SHORTS??? IS THIS JUST FANSERVICE?? OMYGOD"

But I did it. I watched the whole thing. 12 episodes.

And I enjoyed it.

THE SETUP/PLOT

pretty standard fare

Pitcher Yomi Takeda accidentally reunites with her childhood friend who's actually a nationals-level in middle school catcher when they both end up in the same highschool.

School: former powerhouse located in Saitama, now baseball club is almost non-existent. Yomi and a few other will try to revive the team from scratch.

Basically Shin Koshigaya is a brand new team where they struggle to look for new members and majority are first years.

They have to face other stronger teams even when they have a few members and some decent players.

Demographic is SEINEN (like oofuri, last inning, one outs, etc.)

CHARACTERS

Yomi Takeda as Main character and pitcher- skilled, resilient, funny, hardworking, does a lot of research which enabled her to perfect her form and hone her breaking ball. She keeps improving in a good pace too.

Tamaki Yamazaki former childhood friend of Yomi. Is a decent catcher in middle school. A bit well known. Good communicator.

Yoshino - team manager and coach. srsly she is a boss. She's not infallible but she tries her best.

and other decent players with adequate skill

For a sports anime they have decent cast. This is probably the closest we can currently get of a story where the girls are just focused on the sport, do their own strategizing/planning/training. All of them are cute but also serious about what they do.

There's no boys here so there's no talk about het-crushes and other distractions. It's a clamfest babyyyy.

I've seen a little of Major 2 (the one abt the son and his coed team) and I couldn't stand it because it was just slice of life in sportsy undertones.

There is also decent communication among all the players. It's pretty refreshing to watch. The catcher is well rounded and the pitcher is good. Everyone talk things out and there is not a lot of drama.

FANSERVICE

Wearing shorts to a sport that involves a lot of making contact with the ground is just illogical lmao.

Their school uniform skirt is pretty short

A little bit of their manager prodding the thighs of each person she meets but with good reason (she can tell how much muscle/exercise a person does just by a little prodding). It's a trope thing.

That's all. There are no panty shots, unnecessary locker room nudity, boob action, see through sweaty shirts. Most of the cringy things I've seen in other girls sports anime aren't present.

Eventually I even forget that they're wearing shorts or that it impedes their performance. It seems like it doesn't matter much to the characters so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don't know if like the hugging or holding hands is considered fanservice. In my experiece we ladies just act like that irl. What they do is nothing out of the ordinary.

REALISM

3/5. They wear shorts and dont tie their hair up. The baseball part seem pretty decent though. The pacing of the story and matches was like watching IRL Koshien. It's all very clinical and straightforward.

Plus they include a lot of interesting baseball stuff which I haven't seen happen in early stages of other shonen anime like: specifically training the pitcher in other positions, showing what fielders yell to each other, letting other relievers start to reserve their ace (ppl can yell DnA did this but remember Tanba was injury boy throughout Act 1).

COMPARISON TO OTHER BASEBALL MANGA

based on technicality Tamayomi is prolly one of the top among baseball anime/manga I have seen.

Last Inning

Oofuri

Tamayomi

Daiya no A

Now don't chase me with pitchforks because of this ranking just yet. The fact that Shin Koshigaya coach's decisions and reasonings for plays and lineups are discussed makes the show at par with Last Inning and Oofuri. (we dont see DnA kataoka talk abt this sht like..ever)

Moreover Tamayomi has similar vibes to Oofuri/Big Windup but less dramatic. I do not think it's good for beginners too (especially with just 12 episodes). You need to have prior baseball knowledge to understand what the characters were doing.

However, this show is probably the most no-fuss baseball anime/manga I have watched. It does not rely on hype like DnA and it also don't have heavy topics like Oofuri and Last Inning. It's not wacky like One Outs and it's not uber slice of life like Cross Game. It's just baseball.

My minor complaint is that they don't give numbers when talking about things like pitching speed tho. It would've been more realistic if actual numbers were dropped XD

ART/ DESIGN/ANIMATION

A.k.a the thing most viewers complain about.

Character design is subpar. Everyone's faces are almost the same. You can tell who's the character not by face but by hair and height. Personally I don't mind this. I don't really look for realism in most things I watch. And I think the hair designs are cool.

Lots of people drop this show because of bad animation. There are shots/scenes where it's like I'm watching fanmade AMV's in nicovideo/youtube from the early 2000's. Pitching motions and Batting motions look like character movements in rpg games.

It's not really a problem for me though. I think it's charming for some reason. I don't mind it. A lot of people do but I'm not them.

CONCLUSION

NGL I wanted more. 12 episodes is too short. I hope a better animation company picks this up. I'm rewatching the whole thing because I enjoyed it a lot. I'll even check out the manga if I have time.

If anyone's interested here's my tamayomi livetweet thread

This is one of the closest thing I could get to what a decent girl sports anime looks like. If the character designs, art, animation and the uniforms were just better this show would have gone pretty far.

Compared to Shonen types of manga this was relaxing to watch, especially before bed. I'd honestly recommend it you wanna watch smth that doesnt involve a lot of feelings and drama but still feel like watching an actual sport.

Girls are fun. Finally.

[personal notes under the cut]

I get that people reading this would think I'm being too optimistic about a show they considered shtty but I kid you not, I dropped Bakuten (boys gymnastic's anime) coz even with it's wonderful animation i thought it was boring af.

I have dropped so many prettily animated shows coz i just cant get into the characters nor the story.

I've also said before in my Two Car review that I am actively avoiding shows with popular VA's. Idk much abt female VA's in anime, therefore watching Tamayomi was the perfect solution for me.

The reason I like tamayomi so much is that it gave me the same feeling of watching Summer Koshien 2021. I just think an anime that made me remember that kind of feeling was cool.

I'll rewatch hanebado next. wish me luck.

[jasper-tarot-reader]

Hello, Jasper!

I checked recently that I couldn't send messages in any ask boxes. (Fortunately, everything is ok with this now. But it took a lot of effort) I guess my recent feedback wasn't received by you again. It's so sad, and I'm so sorry about it. On the other hand, I can tell you more about what resonates with me in your tarot reading, right? At least, I have a lot of things to tell.

First of all, I thank you for your reading. It was great and gave me something to think about. I hope you'll never forget your work is excellent. I appreciate it so much. Also, I'm thankful to you to let me know more about the LEOP!

Secondly, speaking of the reading, it made me rethink a lot of things. I'm not going to lie that process of rethinking was nice because it wasn't. But it was helpful, and I needed it. When I saw the Page of Cups and the phrase "dump him" in the reading, I realized who "him" was. (TW: having a crush on a toxic guy, mention of mental health issues) At first, I was crying about it (a six-year-old me would probably judge myself for crying about a dumb guy like him). At that moment, I knew the tarot told the truth, but I didn't want to believe in it. Spoiler: now I'm over this feeling and I don't have a crush on this guy anymore. When I decided to put myself first and leave this guy alone with his shit, I realized how happier I could be. But, unfortunately, number 87 is still appearing so often. And I even can assume why. I still deal with my mental health issues, and I still haven't found my vocation (I hope this word fits here). I'm on my way to being happy and successful, but I move so slowly now. However, I'm not going to give up!

I think that's all I wanted to tell you about the reading. You're an amazing tarot reader! I hope you're well.

Wishing you happiness,

Lilou💛

Hey Lilou, I'm so glad to hear from you again!

Things have a tendency of working out in the end and tarot has a way of telling us stuff that we don't want to hear. I'm glad that you managed to avoid a bad situation with that guy, and I really, really hope that you continue to heal and value yourself!

I wish you all the best going forward!

~Jasper

[omni-scient-pan-da]

Alright so I know a lot of you guys are also gifted burnt out kids that could not touch a book no matter how bad you wanted to, but I'd you're looking for something to read, I really truly do recommend Little Thieves by Margaret Owen and here's my reasoning why under the cut

Additionally, if you have read the book and are desparate for more content please go follow my new sideblog @little-thieves where I post about three Incorrect Quotes a day on a queued schedule, I could use more submissions, so even if you wanna type popular incorrect quotes out with character a and character b because you haven't read the book I can add the characters in and it would be much appreciated

The main reason I love this book so much and why I want everyone to read it is because it makes me feel seen in a way that most media fails to encompass

The main character Vanja and the love interest are both Demi, something I have never seen put into words

Vanja has... A lot of trauma, and while I've never had anything happen anywhere near as terrible as what she's experienced, her response to the trauma, feeling like you're never good enough and that you're terrified of letting people in because all people do is betray you is something that makes me feel seen in a way that edgy YA protagonists don't capture

They're busy being scarred and tougher because of it, but deep down, you really just feel scared

Three, this is minor spoilers but scroll past this paragraph if you'd like to avoid them, but Gisele was forced to put on the pearls because they'd make her "more attractive" and from the description of the book and the pictures Margaret Owen drew, the pearls made her skinny and blonder and as someone who is neither skinny nor blonde, and likes to eat food, the book made me feel seen, especially when Gisele talks about how she'd been treated by her parents for that chapter or so

This book is just wonderful in so many ways, and even not factoring in the way it made me feel seen, it's still a beautiful book about a feral gremlin child that has been forced to face the consequences of her actions and I love it so much, more than any other book I have ever read and I want other people to see how incredibly mind-blowingly amazing it is

So if you have the chance, please check the book out and if you live in the us or Canada you can get the preorder prints if you buy the book before Dec 13th, feel free to DM me or comment on this post or leave something in the ask box on anon even and I'll send you the link to the Google drive (it would be tagged #the all knowing panda answers questions as well as #little thieves if you're looking to find it since stuff tends to get buried in my blog)

But yeah, please read the book, buy it if you can and if you have read it please let me know what you think because I love it so much