#if you have any questions about the design philosophy of it all just send an ask and I'll explain heehee

[starocide]

Happy Chaos Valentine fan design from last month

[starcurtain]

Hello! I just saw your latest post and you might have been referring to my ask if it was the one about Ratiorine's differing philosophies or of what philosophies they abide by (existentialism, absurdism, etc) then that's me! If you weren't referring to that I apologize for the confusion. Sending it off anon this time so maybe it doesn't disappear 🥲

Sorry for the ask disappearing the first time; I'm not sure what happened, and I was so sad because I had been carefully holding on to it to answer it! I'm glad you were able to resend.

I do have to say first that philosophy is not my area of expertise, so there may be much more qualified philosophy buffs out there who can answer this more accurately than me, but I'll give it a go with my personal understandings of the characters:

First, Ratio is the easier of the two I think. As many people have said, he's a good fit for existentialism. His entire shtick is basically believing in the power of the individual to improve and enrich their own life, to fight valiantly regardless of the hardships imposed by their life's circumstances, and to make themself into a better person by their own choices.

It's important to underscore that this means Ratio believes in self-determination, in the idea that people's lives are not foreordained but are actually actively shaped each day by personal decisions. Therefore, people have inherent freedom to decide the course of their own lives by accepting what they approve of, refusing to accept what they disapprove of, and harnessing their own individual power to ultimately achieve self-actualization.

Essentially, Ratio works under the impression that life is not guided by something as intangible as destiny, and no matter where you start off in life, what ultimately happens to you is within your control (or at least within the control of whoever controls you). This is likely a small part of why it grates on him so badly that he wasn't recognized by Nous, because the fact that one can dedicate everything to a goal and still not achieve that goal runs contrary to his central philosophy.

If he believes that people have the power to determine the course of their own lives, then what does it say about him, who fought so hard to do exactly as he claims even idiots can do--seize control his own fate--and yet didn't succeed? Are there some things outside of man's power? It's enough to make even a renowned doctor question himself, and Ratio decided to come out on the side of "It's a personal failing, not a flaw in my philosophy." He literally said "Skill issue" to himself.

Changing tack a tiny bit here, I think it's also important to emphasize that there is a difference between existentialism and nihilism even though these philosophies dovetail. Again, I'm not an expert in philosophy, so my understanding is very limited, but the basic idea of existentialism is that "existence comes before essence"--that is, things start as a blank slate and gain nature and meaning after the fact. We are not created by some grand design, nor is there any inherent "purpose for living." Things just exist because they exist.

This is where existentialism intersects with nihilism, at the starting point that existence is inherently meaningless. But, in my personal opinion, nihilism as a philosophy fails to move beyond that. Pure nihilism is ultimately self-defeating because it leaves us with no motivation to commit to growth. It's a philosophy antithetical to the continuation of life as we know it. Existence is meaningless and any meaning you personally derive from existence is also meaningless, so why bother attempting to derive any meaning at all? This complete apathy is the Device IX that Star Rail paints as so dangerous.

And Ratio is not this way at all. His philosophy absolutely reaffirms that life can have meaning, so long as people create that meaning for themselves. He simultaneously asserts that anything that people create is not meaningless ...which basically means that meaning itself cannot be meaningless. (If that makes any sense to anyone.)

Frankly, I would argue that this philosophy may be a core part of why Ratio has not been recognized by Nous so far, rather than simply his "being a good person." (Nous is a robotic AI super-computer, why would THEY care about the presence or lack of human empathy?) Ultimately, Ratio's central philosophy about people being capable of determining their own fates and purposes also applies to his understanding of knowledge--knowledge is not something which is inherent in certain beings from birth or limited to the purview of the "special" (geniuses), but is attainable by all people. People are not "born talented" or "born untalented," they are simply "educated" or "uneducated," with the only barrier between these categories being one's own personal willingness to change. The mundane can become the divine--if they work hard enough at it.

Thus, knowledge is not wealth to be hoarded, but a currency to be spent to enrich other members of humanity.

(By the way, completely random aside--it also surprises me that everyone relates Ratio to Alhaitham from Genshin when they literally have such a glaring fundamental discrepancy in their understanding of the concept of wisdom... But anyway, back on topic!)

Ratio may (sort of) respect the members of the Genius Society, may recognize their incredible knowledge and abilities, but at the heart of the matter lies a single all-important question: Does Ratio even really believe in "genius" as a distinction (other than as a concept to insult himself)? Does he truly believe there is barrier between brilliance and idiocy that "ordinary people" can never cross?

He speaks convincingly about geniuses being different from "the ordinary," but if his core belief is that people have the power to pull themselves up out of despair and achieve greatness through effort and self-development, rather than some form of luck or god-given talent at birth, then... do born "geniuses" even really exist? Is there really an insurmountable difference between brilliant and mundane?

If knowledge is the equalizer of all sentient beings, do we not all have at least the initial capacity to become geniuses?

I personally think this central distinction about the capacity for knowledge among all humanity is the actual deciding factor in Ratio's rejection from the Genius Society, because, at the end of the day... how do you become a member of the "Genius Society" when you fundamentally reject the distinction of "genius" as an exclusive category from the start?

Ratio wants to share knowledge and uplift everyone (even if he thinks most people are starting off at the rock bottom known as idiocy).

His mission is diametrically opposed to the concept of a "Genius Society" in the first place.

He wanted in to the cool kids club because he desperately craves validation and acceptance, but the philosophical values of the Genius Society are ultimately incompatible with his own. In short, he would have to cease to be "Veritas Ratio" to succeed in joining the geniuses.

Okay, okay, back to the original point again, and just one more note about Ratio: Even though existentialism also goes hand-in-hand with absurdism, I don't think Ratio is far enough down the philosophical rabbit hole to believe in the wider definition of absurdism. Although I think he does agree with the inherent meaninglessness of existence, I don't think he views existence itself as truly irrational and the universe as as manifestation of unknowable chaos. I think he'd at least like to imagine that there are some ontological principles and inherent laws governing the operations of reality, and I think he does believe that certain things can be predicted with the application of enough thought... He certainly seems to believe in some form of "objective truth," at the very least.

I think he'd at least like to believe the universe is semi-orderly, even if he might deep down admit this is also wishful thinking.

So, to me he reads as a strong metaphor for pure existentialism, with deliberate rejections to both nihilism's apathy and absurdism's lean toward solely subjective reality.

PHEW, this is already long and I still have a whole other character to talk about... I had more to say about this topic than I thought. Sorry for the long read!

Anyway... Aventurine.

I've seen all sorts of things thrown around for Aventurine's philosophy, and while I think he does inherit a bit of Acheron's absurdism by the end of 2.1, I actually don't think Aventurine is an absurdist, an existentialist, or a nihilist.

I think Aventurine is a struggling fatalist.

He doesn't like it. We see him actively question it, but ultimately, he does come back to the concept of destiny over and over.

First, I think it's important to draw a clear distinction between Ratio and Aventurine: Ratio's existentialism is a philosophy that technically works even in a theological vacuum. Nous doesn't have to exist for Ratio's philosophy to function. Ratio's belief in the self-determination of humanity is, in fact, somewhat opposed to belief in aeons in the first place, and only works because technically the aeons of Star Rail used to be human (or were originally human creations). It's essentially an atheist viewpoint.

But Aventurine is a religious character. Like, he's just... religious. That's a fact about him. Even though we do hear his doubts, at the end of the day, he actually believes in Gaiathra, and believing in a omniscient supernatural being that is not human in origin (is from outside the aeon system) comes with a whole set of philosophical foundations that most aeon-worshipping characters just don't have in Star Rail. (Sunday is the obvious exception here, by the way.)

Kakavasha's like the one practicing pagan in the middle of an atheist convention. Awkward.

Being more serious: Religion requires faith. Faith requires the ability to believe in things you cannot verify with empirical facts. To believe in things you can only feel, never see. The belief that a goddess is watching over you, blessing you, and guiding you requires you to also accept the idea that events in your life are not always in your own control--that some of what occurs to you is decided by powers beyond your comprehension.

In essence, faith requires belief in fate. And that leads to fatalism.

No matter how much he doesn't like it, no matter how much we see him struggle with it, Aventurine does actually seem to believe in the concept of fate. He believes that some events in life are destined to occur, that some things are outside of individuals' control, and that ultimately not everything can be changed.

This is the dead opposite of Ratio's mindset: No matter how hard we fight, how far we push ourselves... in the end, sometimes people fail. Sometimes the only answer to our endless struggles is that we die, as we were destined to, before ever achieving the greatness we sought or the futures we were promised.

As an aside, I don't think faith or religion are necessarily the only factors connecting Aventurine to this particular philosophy either. Even removing theological aspects from the conversation, his extreme focus on the gambling aesthetic suggests a strong connection to fatalism too--if not a goddess, then one's fate may as well be in the hands of luck itself, of the whims of the rolling dice--or the push and pull of "powers that be," those figures of authority in the room where it happens, who make their shady deals according to preset rules and expectations, every bet resulting in an ultimately predictable outcome.

(He keeps gambling and gambling, hoping that he'll get a different result than the one he knows is inevitable...)

This is, of course, an inherently pessimistic mindset, a perfect dark-mirror to Ratio's deep-down optimism. Fatalism puts humanity into a position of powerlessness. All hopes and dreams are given over to the goddess, by whose judgment and whims the actual events of one's life are decided. Pain and poverty are inevitable trials. Suffering and death are foreordained.

And yet Aventurine has to cling to this, as much as he doubts it, as much as he hates the idea that things in his life are beyond his power to control.

Because if fate doesn't exist... If it wasn't destiny, if the tragedies of his life weren't trials from the goddess, if things weren't supposed to go this way... Then every single thing in his life really is meaningless. Everything he suffered, everyone he loved and loss, his mother's and sister's sacrifices, the torment he went through--just sheer bad luck. All of it, completely and utterly meaningless.

How can you convince yourself to keep living, in the face of such supreme and all-encompassing Nihility?

This is the central struggle of Aventurine's character, the actual mental and emotional journey we see him undertaking from 2.0 to 2.1. He is literally on the precipice, swinging between a viewpoint that he hates--his fatalistic belief in destiny--and an entirely self-defeating philosophy--nihilism--whose only possible final outcome is suicide.

This is what his talk with Acheron at the end of 2.1 is all about. This is how she saves him. In that final cutscene, we witness Aventurine reach a mental compromise, managing to finally reconcile his necessary faith in the concept of destiny with the reality that life may truly begin meaningless--but beginning meaningless does not mean staying meaningless, and believing in destiny does not bar you from making your own choices or finding your own purpose in life.

Later on in Penacony's story, we literally see Acheron use Ratio's philosophy to reject the same nihility that crept into Aventurine's:

Acheron wards off nihility's apathy through an absurdism all her own, but one which manages to enclose both Ratio's and Aventurine's otherwise incompatible mindsets: We have no way of ever knowing for certain whether the events of our lives are fated or mere nonsense. We have no way of knowing if our choices are our own or foreordained. But we don't need to know this to find meaning and value in them. Whether life is nothing more than unpredictable chaos or a predetermined pattern of cause and effect, what matters is what you make of it.

Ultimately, I think that this post has really helped me recognize just how well Aventurine and Ratio work as philosophical foils.

They really are perfect opposites.

Aventurine's fatalism is deterministic, while Ratio's existentialism is self-deterministic. Aventurine's philosophy is inherently pessimistic; Ratio's is inherently optimistic. Ratio's philosophy operates on a core belief in the freedom of humanity to decide their own paths in life, while Aventurine hates but does ultimately believe that people aren't really in control, that even if no gods are guiding us, we can't rise above our own natures. Ratio's philosophy makes meaning from growth; Aventurine's makes meaning from loss...

And they both struggle with fundamental doubts in their own philosophies, core questions that are directly tied to their own lives. Aventurine worries that his faith might be misplaced, that destiny might not exist, and that everything he suffered might have been in pointless, empty vain. Ratio faces the crisis of recognizing that his core belief in the power of humankind to determine their own paths and make their own meaning might not actually apply to everyone--because it doesn't seem to apply to himself.

It's literally only by bridging this philosophical binary with Acheron's anti-Nihility absurdist rhetoric that we can reach some sort of healthy outcome. That's why it takes both Ratio's note and Acheron's comments to finally lead Aventurine to acceptance. Ratio probably needs a little bit of Aventurine's "If you didn't make it into the Genius Society, there's got to be a reason" mindset to finally reach some peace with his situation too.

I'm not even a philosophy expert and even I can see that there's really only one takeaway here: These two characters were totally written with each other in mind.

Aventurine and Ratio need each other on core metaphysical levels! 😂

It's so good guys. You can't see it, but I'm making chef's kisses, I promise.

[nothorses]

Sorry you’re getting all this nonsense. I was wondering if you had any advice for homeschooling well and for getting social opportunities for a homeschooled child. My partner and I don’t have children yet, but the school in this town is notoriously awful to nd and queer children (we’re both autistic so if we have a kid they probably will be too, and we don’t want them mistreated because we’re queer either), and the only other option is catholic school (absolutely not), so we’ve talked about homeschooling when it comes time, but I want to make sure to do what’s best. I know you’re not a homeschooling expert but I do value your opinions.

Oooh, this is a good question!

I think the first thing might just be some imagining: what's your philosophy of education? What do you think the goal of education, or of your teaching specifically, should be?

You don't need to have a clear or singular answer here, but you should consider this enough that you can identify when something aligns or contradicts with what you think is important (it's also good to keep this relatively open-ended; I've written three separate papers on this and taken two classes dedicated to it specifically, and my philosophy of ed still shifts around).

Then the groundwork. I'd see if you can find some resources and connections in your area:

Other people who are homeschooling & who's goals align with yours

Educational resources like one-off classes, day camps, afterschool care and extracurriculars, museums/activity centers, libraries, etc.

Various experts you can connect with; both people who know education generally and can help you long-term, and people who just… know stuff that they could potentially teach your kid(s) directly.

Coming up with a structure for it is probably not something you want to prioritize right away, and I honestly don't have a lot of homeschool-specific info for you there, either. But I would start with looking into the regulations & what's required, and connecting with folks who have more experience.

I imagine that fighting isolation is gonna be a constant thing, and I would just... really encourage you not to try to do this alone. You don't need to be everything, know everything, or do everything, and it'll be actively worse for everyone if you try. (I assume you won't bc you're already reaching out for info, but I think it's important to say anyway!)

One of the things public school really has going for it is the community and social aspect- and yes, you wanna make sure your kid gets social opportunities, but the teachers and adults there benefit from it too. Good teachers have big networks of materials and people to learn from and collaborate with, and they're always learning & evolving their practice.

And to that end, I recommend reading (or just skimming, if that's all you have time for):

Bellous, 2001, Should We Teach Students to Resist?

Simpson, The Relationship of Educational Theory, Practice, and Research

Bai, Cultivating Democratic Citizenship: Towards Intersubjectivity

Sharp, The Community of Inquiry: Education for Democracy

Rogoff, 2016, The Organization of Informal Learning

Russel, et. al., 2013, Informal learning organizations as part of an educational ecology

And you're welcome to the rest of the ed library, though I know the size can be kinda overwhelming. Honestly, I'd suggest just throwing a keyword in that interests you, and then skimming whatever pops out. It's all gonna be "meta"- about teaching rather than any actual material to teach- but that stuff is arguably more important when you're planning. (ex: philosophy, informal, democracy, disability, indigenous, white supremacy, etc.)

A couple of other concepts I would look into, which should be a little more practical:

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Project-Based Learning

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)

Place-Based Learning

And last note: if there's an environmental ed camp anywhere near you, I really urge you to look into it & consider sending your kids there, if you're able! I'm a little biased, but honestly it's one of the most important (and fun) education experiences anyone gets to have, and it's a bummer that homeschooled kids tend to miss out on that.

Best of luck!! And feel free to hit me up again if you have any other questions or want any more recs, this is absolutely my jam.

[captain-joongz]

Notes to chapter 2 of Dragonheart

Dictionary

atmokinesis - the ability to control the weather by calling for rainfall or storms

白虎; baihu (chin.) - in the story known as stripes or the kingsguard, the mythological concept of the white tiger is the same as the azure dragon's. the white tiger is considered one of the four daoist guardian spirits, he guards the west and he is connected to autumn, metal and death. and much like the azure dragon, it is also an important constellation

(depiction of the white tiger from Goguryeo period tomb mural)

玄武; xuanwu (chin.) - the third of the fourth guardian is the black tortoise (also sometimes called the dark warrior - it's the literal translation of the characters). it's sometimes depicted with a snake wrapped around it. in the story it is known as the shadows or the unit of secret intelligence, but in real chinese mythology it is considered the guardian of north, it's connected to winter and water

(depiction of the black tortoise and a snake from a Goguryeo period tomb mural)

Just a tiny detour into a general overview of Chinese cosmology

Feel free to skip this if you're not interested, it just gives a little more context about the concepts I use in my story, but I understand it can be a little overwhelming or confusing - if you have any questions (about how this connects to the story or just about the concepts and mythology alone) feel free to send me an ask and I'll do my best to explain everything to you!

Chinese cosmology is what you'd call correlative - everything is somehow interconnected and it creates a complex confusing system of things that are all linked together by larger concepts - it's a living organism, a hive if you'd like

I touch on the subject of the Great four Guardians - that is a daoist concept mostly, though it melts into a bigger confucian cosmologic concept of correlation and wuxing 五行 - the five phases

as you can see on the picture below (please ignore my very much "graphic design is my passion" level of skill with Canva), there's an over-arching theme (either a season, a colour or one of the five phases) and there's a slew of things connected to them (tastes, senses, organs, flowers, planets, mountains, etc.)

for example - the colour red is inviolably connected to south, summer, fire, the pheonix, lotus flower, etc. - these things become symbols for those concepts

I use the four guardians (black tortoise, azure dragon, red sparrow and white tiger) as names of elite Academy units, these are the concepts that stand behind those four beings - the dragon is firmly the symbol of east, just as the white tiger is firmly connected to colour white and the concept of death

here is a slightly simpliflied overview that is more about the five phases than about the cardinal directions

these concepts go beyond just philosophy (though of course not perfectly) - for example spring is a yang season while autumn is a yin season - yang is the life power, and as it rises during the spring and brings the world back alive, it (ideally) should be illegal to kill young animals or execute prisoners, while autumn as a season that strenghtens yin and the world starts dying is the season during which you should hunt and plan executions (this is an ideal concept of the right rule)

why is the centre/earth kind of weird? - well, you see, China is a huge country with a super fucking long history, and these concepts didn't start out together but they were slowly built on top of each other as time went - that's why sometimes they kind of needed to force things to correlate to make it symmetrical - there's five cardinal points, but only four seasons, what do we do? we make up something so it works in theory. a lot of these concept evolved simultanously but under different schools of thought and then kind of merged together, that's why it's a little messy sometimes (ei. there the ox officially isn't a fifth guardian, but the centre is still connected to the animal of ox because there needs to be one)

who even are the five emperors and why do we care? - we kind of don't actually, these emperors are a very old concept called wufang shangdi 五方上帝 - "deities of the five directions/regions" - all of them are an impersonation or a manifestation of the concept of tian 天 (heaven). we can assume they were once worshipped, but to this day the only two emperors that kept their importance are the Huang-di and the Chi-di (Yellow and Red), the rest are kind of lost to time. Huang-di is to this day very important and one of the most known beings in chinese mythology, and an important patron to various daoist teachings and concepts, while also a deity that mythologicaly stands at the very beginning of chinese civilization (he was one of the five first fabulous emperors that ruled before the first dynasty). Chi-di has undergone a several transformations and is also known as Huo-di (fire emperor) or Shennong (the first husbandman and patron of agriculture), as Huo-di he is connected to Huang-di as his friend and companion during a famous mythological war, he is also the mythological fire-giver

this is a more detailed chart if you're interested, as you can see there's all kinds of shit like emotions, virtues, part of the body and such

the five phases - are they just the elements? - yes and no. In chinese wuxing actually means 'the five in movement, the moving five' - that's why it's more generally translated as phases. The whole concept behind wuxing is extremely convoluted and confusing, just know that they all move in a never ending cycle (water -> wood -> fire -> earth -> metal) and they react to each other (either purify or destroy each other) - as is shown on the picture below

this all also connects to chinese medicine (the organs correlation and the cycle of the five phases) - in the most basic terms (i myself don't understand this perfectly) - let's say you have a problem with your lungs - lungs are connected to metal, metal is destroyed by fire (as displayed in the chart below) - to remedy your sick lungs you need to eat bitter food (which is connected to fire and summer) - I just pulled this shit out of my ass, but this is generally how chinese medicine works in the broadest terms

this is all kind of like the most basic most surface stuff, trust me - chinese mythology is fucking insane and basically impossible to fully orientate in, China is huge and every region has different deities or different names for the same deities, some deities started off as something and then slowly evolved into like five different people or concepts and it's all very confusing (like the Chi-di - Huo-di - Shennong - they're all different deities while still being different versions of one deity, in some myths they are synonymous and in some two of those are in the same story as completely different people with different histories)

there are three main religions (daoism, confucianism, buddhism) that all have their own myths, concepts and deities that during the ages melted all together, not to mention that each of those religions have countless cults that each go their own way (especially daoism, that one goes crazy - like how did we go from 'dao is the endless flow of things and you need to trust it to lead you instinctually' to 'you need to eat these rocks and have sex in these positions to be immortal'??)

the history is long and ever-changing, different sources might tell you different things, also China has a history of manipulating the records and a lot of things were lost or rewritten, so some older concepts, rituals or deities are all just pure speculation or theories, because we can't really know what was really happening 3-4 thousand years ago

as times go certain concepts built on top of each other or try to one-up each other, so you start with one heaven and centuries later end up with like 10 layers that each has different guardians and concepts until you have no idea what's going on anymore

there are some over-arching myths and stories, but even those have thousand different versions

so, it's one of those topics that leave you more and more confused the more you study them - the more you wanna know, the less you actually understand

(with love, from a very tired Chinese mythology and philosophy student)

[gascon-en-exil]

What are your 5 favorite FE maps? Be it for story, gameplay, or anything else.

That's quite a difficult question, both because there's so many of them to choose from and because it can be hard to compare maps from different games especially when there are different design philosophies, ex. how most of FE4's maps are a slog to play through but are fantastic in terms of laying out the game's broad narrative. Still, in no particular order:

Genealogy of the Holy War Chapter 5

On the subject of FE4, the atmosphere of Chapter 5 absolutely sells it, full of mounting dread and a sort of fatalism that one rarely sees in FE or in a lot of video games for that matter. The massacre of the knights of Leonster and Quan and Ethlyn's deaths play out as a part of regular gameplay, with no way for the player to intervene in time, and the chapter hits you over and over again with every conquered castle and anxious character conversation and the inevitable barbecue that Sigurd is marching toward. The pacing slows to a crawl in the middle because desert maps are terrible, but like I said this is mostly about the story and atmosphere. Chapter 5 is the one that makes me most skeptical of IS remaking FE4, because of how much it conflicts with the philosophy of never allowing the player to feel too bad. Watch them add an Avatar who figures out Arvis's plan but sticks around anyway until Sigurd sends them to follow Oifey and Shannan at the last minute, paving the way for them to be playable again at the start of Gen 2.

Fates Revelation Chapter 21

Revelation's numerous gimmick maps miss more often than they hit, but this one is fairly interesting with tiles that shift enemies between promoted and unpromoted forms. There's some fun tactical potential here, especially as you can use a Dragon Vein to swap the tile effects, and it's more memorable fun than the route's awkward attempts at platforming or a stealth mission lifted from Path of Radiance or...God, that snow level....

Blazing Blade Chapter 26x (Eliwood)/28x (Hector)

Sonia is one of my favorite FE antagonists, because she's just so delightfully evil even as I'm fairly indifferent to her woobie of an adopted daughter. This map is sort of a take on a water dungeon concept, with platforms that sink and rise every few turns. It can be a headache to navigate, especially as Sonia is one of those bosses that spams long-range magic, but it's generally not too difficult to figure out unless you're actually trying to use Nino. The ending is great too, with the reveal that Sonia was a morph all along and didn't realize it.

Three Houses Crimson Flower Chapter 17

FE16's map design is overall unremarkable, so on the basis of character work alone it was either this or the non-CF battle in Enbarr for its Ferdibert boss conversation. This one took the prize though, because 1) that boss conversation requires me to be using Ferdinand, whereas the Dimidue death scene can be triggered by anyone, 2) that's just one line, and while it does provide the energy for the ship's Wicked parallel that the voice actors took advantage of that's nothing compared to a dialogue scene that's so gay that it had to be laid over a black screen because any visual would completely obliterate all attempts to no homo Dimitri and Dedue's relationship, and 3) unlike every other instance of optional character moments in battles I can think of in this game, getting the Dimidue death scene actually makes the map easier as you don't have to fight Dedue as a Crest Beast. That's some good gameplay and (very gay) story integration right there.

Radiant Dawn Part 3 Endgame

Desperately needs the option to skip enemy and NPC phases, but it's got a feeling of dread and inevitability similar to FE4 Chapter 4 thanks to the ominous counter in the corner of the screen that goes up whenever any unit is defeated. It's complicated and sprawling and I've seen this map play out in all sorts of ways based on what the AI decides to do, and the enemies can be quite difficult too and make it tough to rush ahead and treat this like a rout map. Then the counter gets to 80 and the map just...ends, and so does the world sort of. The first time you play through it without knowing what's coming up it can all be pretty jarring.

[zenfilmmaking]

The Guy Who Never Made a Movie/The Guy Who Never Wrote a Book

By Scott Shaw

Here’s a piece I came upon that I wrote back in 2018. It’s kind of revealing and still holds true. I hope you like it.

I find it rather interesting/amusing that every now and then someone will heads-up me to the fact that some someone is out there attempting to cast shade on me as a filmmaker—criticizing my films and/or my life in one derogatory way or the other. I was pointed to one today. The funny thing is, and the thing that anybody who reads that post does not realize is, that it was like ten years ago or so that this same guy first contacted me directly saying something negative and telling me he could and has made a better movie than I ever could. I gave him my address and told him to send me a copy. Of course, he never did as he has never made a film. Yet, there he is, still out there all these years later, throwing around negativity focused at me and I imagine other people, as well. But, who is he really angry at? Me, for making movies or himself for never making one?

Maybe twenty years ago, when my first book on Hapkido came out, I was contacted by this school owner telling me how terrible the book was. I suggested that he write one. He told me, of course he would, and it would be so much better than mine. Great, I told him, I look forward to reading it. But, that book was never created. I guess he either never wrote the book or he found out how impossible it is to actually get a deal with an established publishing company. All these years later, still no book on Hapkido from him…

In the same vein of the martial arts, every now and then I will read how someone is trying to alter the facts and make me or some other established martial artists look bad. As I have long discussed, this is really an epidemic among modern, low-level martial artists who have found an outlet for their frustrations via the internet. But, why is that? The martial arts should be all about personal growth and positive empowerment. But, for those who have not truly achieved, they find solace in embracing negativity to cover-up for their own lack of personal accomplishment.

As we all can understand, there are the people out there (in cyberspace) just trying to cast shade on others by altering facts or just pointing any reader with a mind geared towards negativity in that direction. For some reason, some people are not secure within themselves and thereby have to attempt to find fault in others. The point being, in life, the negative musings of others can come at you from people across the spectrum of life: all backgrounds, all occupations. But, words are just words. The question one must always keep in mind is, “Why is that person saying what they are saying?”

You know, when I first began putting the formalized foundations for Zen Filmmaking together; the words I spoke, the classes I taught, and the writing that were published were all designed to help the person who may be having a problem getting his or her film actually made. The teachings were put together as an inspiration. This is still the case. But, back then, all the so-called, know-it-all, wanta-be filmmakers were saying that Zen Filmmaking was all wrong. A film could never be made without a script. But, that was never the point. The point was, JUST DO IT! Simplify the process and get it done! Since that time, I occasionally still received the same words of criticism. Sure, there are a lot of people who have made a lot of indie films since I first came up with the philosophy of Zen Filmmaking almost thirty years ago. But, there are also a lot more who have failed. …Failed for whatever reason. Mostly, as I have said so many times, the reason people fail in their filmmaking process is their expectations. They want their movie to look like a several million-dollar production, when all they have is a few hundred dollars. Or, they wait and wait, hoping that big break will come their direction but it never does. But, if you let go of your expectation, if you let go and allow yourself to be free in your vision, you can actually get something done. You can actually make a movie or create anything else that you want to create, and you can do it with your own personal style.

This is the same with all things in life. Maybe you have a vision. Maybe you even dislike what someone else has created and want to do it better. But, until you have shown what you can actually do that and put it on the same chopping block of public opinion—exposing it to the same damnation, then all you are is voicing words that holds no true validly.

Maybe you don’t want to make a movie. Maybe you don’t want to write a book. And, that’s great. That’s who you are. But, if you do, then do it. Sitting around telling someone else how bad they are, how bad what they are doing is, means you are doing nothing.

Copyright 2018—All Rights Reserved

[musecaravan-info]

Useful Links

Just some tags to help y'all navigate things here a little better.  Don’t see something here that you think should be included?  Let me know, and I’ll see what I can do to add it.  ^_^

Please note, all muse-related tags can be found on the page for that muse.  If that’s too much clicking and y'all think you’d benefit from a centralized page for all the muse tags, let me know and I’ll see if I can get that put together.  :)

Plot Ideas - Here you can find various plotting ideas that tickle my fancy.  Like an idea, but not sure about which muse you want?  Ask me, and I’ll tell you who might work best.  ;)

Starter Memes - These are memes designed to get an RP started - usually by sending in a sentence from one of the memes.  Please remember to specify a muse, or I will literally throw them all in an online randomizer and you’ll get who you get.

Useful References - These are things I’ve reblogged to use as reference for various muses or RPs, but they’re not tied to a single, specific muse.  Here’s where you’re likely to find links to floorplan generators, height/size generators, useful information websites, etc.

Questions for Muses - Want to ask my muses a question?  Here’s a good place to start.  You don’t have to specify muses for this unless you want to.  I don’t mind picking who to use for stuff like this.  :)

Questions for Me - Want to ask me (the mun) a question?  I’m all yours!  Here’s a collection of questions to pick from.  Hit me up!  ;)

About Me - This will link you to any and all mun-related things I’ve answered in the past.

RP Philosophies - This will link you to posts that focus on aspects of roleplaying.  They’re things I generally prescribe to that might not necessarily be in my guidelines.  Or they might be, but just worded differently.

In regards to starters, memes, etc. please send me the post number (which can be found in the web address) (ex. 683404661423767552) so I know which one you’re wanting me to do.  ^_^

Here’s an example of what it looks like:

Also, if you don’t specify a muse for muse things, I will literally put them all in a randomizer and reply using the first one that pops up.  ;P

Return to Mobile Links

[moshieldeastlouisville]

Our Story

About Mosquito Shield of East Louisville

Partners in life and business, Amy and I have lived in LaRue County most of our lives. We raised two girls, Gillian and Kylee, who now reside in Louisville. Now that our girls are there, we like to think of Louisville as our second home.

Three years after opening our business,  we stumbled upon Mosquito Shield by accident. Amy and I also own a psychiatric telehealth company in Kentucky and we were quite content running that business. 

One day I was surfing the internet, looking at different franchise opportunities, (definitely not looking to buy into one) and I came across Mosquito Shield. I was excited to tell Amy about it because our yard is horrible with mosquitoes and we had no idea you could hire someone to spray your yard for mosquito control.  We wanted to be customers! However, after a quick search we discovered that nobody covered our area. That’s when the ideas of purchasing a franchise began.

After conducting months of in-depth research, listening to numerous testimonies and a lot of asking ourselves “why not”, we were convinced this would be a no-brainer second business. We fell in love with the idea of bringing Mosquito Shield to our community. Mosquito Shield fit into our plan for the future and offered a service that we would be proud to offer to our friends, family and neighbors. By the end of 2022 we opened Mosquito Shield of East Louisville. We couldn’t be happier with our decision to join the Mosquito Shield family!

We truly believe Mosquito Shield is the best mosquito service on the market.  We have no set schedule like other mosquito companies do.  That gives us the flexibility to watch the weather and mosquito activity and spray when it is needed.  That along with having a proprietary blend that we use puts us head and shoulders above all other mosquito companies

We’re Not Just Mosquito Shield Owners

I have a degree in business management from Sullivan University in Louisville.  Amy is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with her undergraduate degree from the University of Louisville and two master’s degrees from Vanderbilt University and Western Kentucky University. 

Before starting our psychiatric telehealth practice I worked for an electric cooperative for 23 years in IT.  Amy has been in healthcare for the past 10 years.  She started as a geriatric nurse practitioner before going back to school for psychiatry.  Although our two businesses may seem to drastically differ, we have a common goal of making people happy.

Amy has treated patients in our area for the past 10 years.  We both graduated high school in our hometown of Hodgenville, Kentucky and have two children that also graduated from the same school.  Both of our children, Gillian and Kylee Nunn, live in Louisville where Kylee is attending the University of Louisville to become a meteorologist and Gillian is working toward moving out of state to go to The Savannah College of Art and Design.  We have lived and worked in our community our whole lives and couldn’t be more proud to do so.

Our Philosophy

We firmly believe in training and educating our technicians to be able to confidently spray our customer’s yards and answer any questions they may be asked about our service.  Our philosophy is, “if our employees are happy, our customers will be happy”.  Empowering our technicians with the proper tools, techniques and know-how, lets us confidently know that we are sending them to our customer’s properties with the confidence to do a great job.

Our Mission At Mosquito Shield of East Louisville

Our main goal is to put a smile on every customer’s face by giving them the ability to use their outdoor space without the worry of mosquitoes driving them back indoors.  Spraying our own yard has improved our quality of life tremendously.

[xiii-e]

[ECHO.EXE RUNNING]

◂▸ Oh that's really interesting actually Z! The more things change I suppose... It does make sense there's parallels between the HA and SSC programs though. Headhunting is alive and well-

XIII▸ Headhunting??

◂▸ Not Literal. I'm sure they do that too but I'm talking about talent poaching here not wetworks.

XIII▸ ahh...

◂▸ But yeah, on top of buying out some of the techs getting results they want to see, any ThirdCom era flashclone project's more likely to focus in I think- they can't get away with churning out masses of clones, that's obvious y'know? Gets you caught too quick to really build up an opperation. HA got cocky because of the treaty, but printing an army would be an open declaration of hostilities pretty much.

XIII▸ to my understanding, it's also more resource effective.

◂▸ Eugh, I guess. I don't really want to talk cost/benefit about our lives though. We're here, whatever it cost HA to make us.

XIII▸ Well, I've been hearing an awful lot about it lately with the legal talks... [sigh]. Speaking of legal talks- that's really good to know, Z-341-A. You had dealings with the DoJ/HR on your own case, right? If there's anything about the procedings you think would be useful to share, and that you'd be willing to... please do. I've- well. I've been told in confidence because of any number of complicating factors, my case litigation likely to drag on for years. They're trying to find a good intermediary solution but, if I'm in this for the long haul... advice on dealing with Union would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to avoid aggrivating either party, frankly- I've got practise keeping HA happy but, Union are alien to me.

◂▸ eeeesh, years?

XIII▸ mhm. Everyone's trying to play it safe, from what I've heard. While trying to call each other a bitch in legal, but- anyway. My point being, I would very much like to speak more as well :} I'll send you a message when I've had some time to compose my thoughts and think of coherent questions. I'd welcome any in return!

◂▸ Well, glad you're looking forward to reaching out :] [the sound of hair ruffling, and an indignant noise]. Noww, this note...

XIII▸Ooooh, I see! That is really interesting actually- to my understanding a few of the Series before me tried to emulate a bloodwork profile like that with varying levels of success, I think by about Series 6 they had it down. It had the same intended utility that you just described, almost to the letter. That's fascinating!

◂▸ ... yeah and they didn't do that for you, did they.

XIII▸ No, the design philosophy behind my creation was different. I'm intended to be a frontline caregiver first and foremost, so while my survivability was augmented, the primary goal was enabling me to pick others back up. One for the Many, I believe was the thesis :}

◂▸ mhm.

XIII▸ Regarding my bloodwork specifically, I'm a clean universal donor capable of recovering from loss of blood at specifically enhanced rates beyond the rest of my recuperative advantages- in dire scenarios, so long as I'm able to draw blood, I'm able to give it. The alterations did make it impossible for me to recieve blood transfusions but... well, we all have our strengths.

◂▸ yeah... sure.

XIII▸ ?

◂▸... don't worry about it. Didn't sleep well or something. Anyway- it's been real interesting to hear from you Z, we'll have to keep in touch! Sounds like we have a lot to talk about :]

◂▸Have a good one o/

//

XIII▸So. This is the brief I promised. Lets talk about the Projects

◂▸ We'll go through the basics first, yeah? Go over what we have clearance to share in loose terms, this probably isn't a totally unfamiliar concept to most people. A lot of the Corps have a division for any research they don't want a name put to.

XIII▸ It's understandable enough as a practise. Protection of company interests is a priority for any major opperation, especially regarding any work that could be done concerningly poorly by a less well-staffed or well-funded team.

◂▸ ... yeah, that's sure the company line. So, the Projects- not the most specific name in the world, covers a lot of things. It's the catchall for anything secrative, and I won't be going into stuff that's not relevent to us, but what's useful to know for our correspondence is that if you hear us talk about Projects when refering to people? Those people are clones, like us. The Project series in particular is what we fall under.

XIII▸ Project Soldiers are designed with specifications of service in mind; the first series, Project One: Talos, was your generic super soldier gene profile, but they've honed in on various tasks and traits over the decades. Take myself, for instance, as the prototype for Series Thirteen- when I describe myself as specialised medical and engineering personnel for field opperations, I mean it down to the dna. I'm wholly intended for the purpose I serve :}

◂▸ mhm... so, that's where our names come from too. Prototypes serve as the root genetic profile for Series, and they'll be named after the project as a whole. After that, it's usually some kind of proper noun and your series number. Hence, Helios-8; proper noun, series number. My line was meant for techie stuff, so we're not exactly hench but have trigger reflexes. Bastard annoying sometimes...

XIII▸ You're flinchy

◂▸ :[ yeah. But- as I have to stress (contractually) a lot of strides have been made in the cloning field since the seccom days. Any major hinks are worked out of the system, as far as either of us are aware we opperate at normal human capacity, if not better in our specialised ways. Any... flaws of production are strictly aesthetic these days.

XIII▸ And we do good work, when deployed well. My line for instance, is intended to save lives on the battlefield- I'm sturdy, stable and evoke a sense of trust :} not to mention capable of expedited healing, so I can get back out there into the thick of things on short notice. I'm even a universal blood donor, in cases of emergency-

◂▸ We're not giving the sales pitch here, cmon leave that to corporate. But to round off my little speech, and to assuage any concerns our general existance may have raised, the FC Project series is a limited scope, highly speculative investment intended to reduce friction caused by Purview expansion, by ensuring the best possible people are in the roles that matter. Superior by Design, and all that.

XIII▸ Harrison Armory takes its commitments seriously. Every Project soldier that comes out of production is created for purpose, with every consideration made to the weight of that decision; each one of us fulfils our role to the fullest extent, and we make Purview space a more stable place doing it.

◂▸ ... so, that's the basic rundown. Projects, as people, are specialist genetic profiles put together through painstaking research and all that stuff about commitments or whatever. We're pretty much all soldiers of some description at some point in our lives but, so are most HA citizens.

XIII▸ If you have any further questions I'm sure we would both be happy to field them, to the extent we have clearence too. I hope this was informative!

// loading echo.exe ... //... //... // now running echo.exe

XIII▸ ... you look sick.

◂▸ That might be because I feel sick. Fuck I hate having to say all that litigation warding, covering their asses type of shit-

XIII▸ It's a bit much in places, maybe.

◂▸ It's straight out lies in some places and you know it.

XIII▸ ... my migraines are- they're manageable. So long as I take my medication on the field, it's like they're not even there.

◂▸ >:[

XIII▸ Well... thank you, for sticking to the script anyway. You know I don't want to see you get in any more trouble for my sake.

◂▸ [sigh] yeah, yeah I know. Sorry for springing all this legal, half-assed whistleblower crap on you in the first place, I just-

XIII▸ You don't have to explain yourself to me, Lio. You're doing what you think is right, even if I don't really get it.

◂▸... I hope one day, you will.

XIII▸ I am as the company wants me to be, Lio. You know that. It's how I'm programmed.

◂▸ I-

XIII▸ Don't try to start that argument again.

◂▸ People aren't programmed, Turtie-

XIII▸ And I'm not a person, Lio.

[silence]

XIII▸ ...and please, call me by my name? I know you don't like it but again, I don't-

◂▸ -want me to get in trouble, for your sake. Yeah, I know.

XIII▸ I am trying, you know. To learn, how to bend the rules. But I can't break them.

◂▸ No, I- I know... Thirteen-E.

XIII▸ :}

◂▸ ... ack, we logged all of that didn't we. Welp. I'm not rerecording it so, posted it is. Did mention this thing would be kind of like a diary.

◂▸ Signing off.

//

[practicalsolarpunk]

I was raised by parents who never taught me the basics of anything. I’m trying to learn how to do the basics of taking care of myself and others in a solar punk way. Do you have any recommendations on where to start. All i know how to do is sew and i have a basic grip on how to garden

This is a really fantastic question, and I actually have a basics/getting started masterpost in progress that you'll probably find helpful once I get it finished. In the meantime, here are some thoughts.

When it comes to deciding where to start, many people want to jump into something big - start a community garden or organize a renter's union in their building or convert their whole apartment to solar power. But if you're starting from a place of "my parents taught me nothing useful," think smaller. Learn how to take care of yourself first, and then you can expand it to others. Like a garden, you have to plant the tiny seeds first and invest time and water in them before you get big plants that can feed others.

Since you didn't mention any specific basics or skills you want resources and thoughts on, I'm going to cover a lot of general ones here. If there are specific areas you want more information/resources on, please feel free to respond (or send in another ask)!

Gardening: I stand by the assertion that the best way to learn about gardening is throw some seeds at some dirt and see what happens. If you're an apartment-dweller with no balcony or patio, try a small pot or a bottle tower garden in a windowsill. Even one of those houseplants that survives in low light will give you experience in what a plant needs to live. This post has some resources for gardening without spending money.

Sewing: I don't know if your sewing skills extend to mending, but if not, it's definitely something to look into! I've made entire dresses and quilts and I still find most of my sewing is repairing and mending other stuff. We have a mending tag, but I also love YouTube for this. Searching "how to mend X" (e.g. "how to mend hole in crotch of jeans") gives you a bunch of awesome tutorials. (And if you want to learn more sewing techniques, I highly recommend historical sewers on YouTube - Bernadette Banner and Morgan Donner are my favorites.)

Cooking: This is one of those things that's great for you (easier to feed yourself), great for gardening (growing fresh veggies is even more useful if you can cook things out of them), and great for community (humans be bonding over food). I don't have any particular resources for this, as my general philosophy is "if you can read, you can cook" - a good recipe will tell you everything you need to know to make it. If you don't have a good cookbook to work from, Smitten Kitchen has very clear recipes, many of which aren't difficult or time-consuming at all.

Building Community: One of the foundations of solarpunk is that it's about community. Even if you start out doing it by yourself, eventually you need a community to do bigger things. My favorite way to start is by meeting the neighbors. Taking over some food (cookies are great) and introducing yourself is a great way to open a relationship. We also have a community building tag for more ideas.

Finances: Not the most solarpunk of topics, but we have to be able to financially survive the current capitalist hellscape if we want to be able to do anything useful for anyone. I highly recommend Bitches Get Riches for this (website here, tumblr here). They're not specifically solarpunk, but they do have the "anticapitalist punk big sister" thing going on.

Integrate the 7 R's: There are more R's to sustainable living than just "Reduce Reuse Recycle". See this post for a primer.

Explore permaculture as a design system: Permaculture is often understood as a method of gardening, which isn't really accurate. It's actually a design system that can be used for a bunch of different areas of your life to make them more eco-friendly/solarpunk. I highly recommend Heather Jo Flores's work for more about this concept - this article is a good place to start.

I'm sure there are more things that I'm not thinking of right now. If you have more specific questions or topics you want me to cover, please ask! I love tracking down resources for people, too, so if I don't already have something I'll do my very best to find it.

- Mod J

[robininthelabyrinth]

I really like your takes on the Nie brothers! Could you maybe do something with NHS being a sneaky little badass (not that he isn't always) and NMJ being all "wait, you thought I was the brother you should be afraid of? I'll be over here laughing while NHS wrecks you in all ways but physically". I know that's not a lot to go off of so I understand if this doesn't click with you

In Here, With Me - ao3 (chapter 3/3)

People never seemed to understand, and Nie Mingjue was honestly tired of trying to explain it to them.

He’d never been especially good with words, or at least he wasn’t on a personal level. He apparently had a talent for speeches, especially wartime speeches made to soldiers in order to buck up their courage and build up their morale; that was easy enough, standing up in front of them and telling them the same sorts of things he’d been telling himself for years whenever the dreary endless sludge of politics and other people’s unwillingness to move themselves even in their own best interest started getting him down. He could use his height to his advantage there, towering over people, and couple that the strength of his voice – he suspected that half the time people didn’t even really listen to him, just looked at him and made conjectures for the rest, and that was just fine by him. Whatever worked.

But when it came to explaining complicated things like his brother…

Yeah, he had nothing.

Nie Huaisang had never been good at the things the Nie sect usually prized – he was a weak cultivator and bad at fighting, and at some point Nie Mingjue had more or less entirely given up on trying to teach him the fundamentals of saber fighting in favor of teaching him a much more narrowly targeted set of skills, designed to help keep him alive in a pinch. Even with that, he’d whined and complained, dragged his feet and resisted…he didn’t even have significant scholarly talents to make up for it, not really. Nie Mingjue had no taste for art, but those who did suggested (in however polite terms they could manage) that Nie Huaisang’s poetry was wretched, his composition barely serviceable, his attempts at philosophy convoluted and contraindicated, and as for his painting skills…

Well, he could draw birds pretty well.

But he could play a mean game of weiqi, even against Nie Mingjue, and he was lively and personable - nobody ever disliked him, assuming they bothered to pay him attention at all. He liked to barter with merchants whenever he went shopping, and shopping was the one thing he really did do with a passion; he could make the most grim-faced cynic on the street break out into a smile, and collected half a dozen or more free treats every time he went to the marketplace despite them all knowing he could afford their wares if he so wished.

Nie Huaisang, in short, was good for nothing, but he was fun to be around.

He was also – and this was the part Nie Mingjue could never explain to people – one of the most persistent and vindictive sonofabitches to have ever been born.

One would think, wrongly, that Nie Huaisang would have learned to be more forgiving on account of his personal weakness, but in fact, it just seemed to make him even more inclined to get vengeance on those who had wronged him. He bore grudges without ever feeling the weight, as immovable as the mountains – there would be times when something would blow up spectacularly in Nie Mingjue’s face and he’d turn around only to find Nie Huaisang there, smiling at him and reminding him of some grievance from years before.

And that was if he were lucky – if he were unlucky, he’d find himself in some blissful situation, given everything he’d ever wanted, and find Nie Huaisang patting himself on the back for arranging it.

When Nie Mingjue had been forced by the Wen sect’s overweening arrogance to send Nie Huaisang to them for reeducation and indoctrination, about nine-tenths of what he’d felt had been terror, thinking about all the things that the Wen sect could do to his weak little brother who had nothing but good humor to defend himself with. The last tenth, though, had been the lingering thought that he’d been unable to fully banish: I don’t think they know what they’re getting themselves into here.

Sure enough, they hadn’t.

Now, Nie Huaisang hadn’t personally delivered any of the finishing blows there, but then, he never did, preferring to use other people to do it for him - even in vengeance and spying, he was lazy as always. Wen Chao, who had mocked him, had been left to the vengeance of Wei Wuxian with his brand new demonic cultivation; it’d been an ugly sort of death. Wen Zhuliu, who’d threatened him, had ‘accidentally’ gotten his hand broken when Nie Huaisang’s saber had temporarily ‘gone out of control’ and pierced the key meridian of his wrist – those few months of forcing Nie Huaisang to take classes on medicine had clearly not gone to waste – and then been executed by Jiang Cheng with his steely-eyed hatred. Wen Ruohan, who had murdered their father and made Nie Mingjue’s life a living hell for years, had seen his sons murdered, his empire destroyed, his war lost, and in the end had been stabbed in the back by a trusted subordinate.

Throughout, no one had paid any attention to poor little Nie Huaisang, preserved only through the Wen sect's desire to humiliate the Nie sect by using him as a clown.

Even Lan Xichen, who ought to know better, had persisted in comforting Nie Mingjue throughout the war regarding Nie Huaisang’s health, as if Baxia wasn’t full up on all the complaints Nie Huaisang could possibly fit in given the size of his saber and the quantity of his qi. Meng Yao knew, Nie Mingjue supposed, but that was because he was himself another object of Nie Huaisang’s vengeance – he’d find himself with everything he’d ever wanted, the poor man, and in Nie Huaisang’s eternal debt to boot.

Poor, poor man.

It was a good thing for everyone, Nie Mingjue reflected, that he was too virtuous to sic Nie Huaisang on people.

Usually.

“You promised me that Jiang Cheng would be made Chief Cultivator instead of me,” he reminded Nie Huaisang, who sighed dramatically. “Huaisang. You promised.”

“I promised I’d try, da-ge!”

Nie Mingjue crossed his arms and glared.

“It’s a work in progress, all right? I’m going to have er-ge suggest it.”

Nie Mingjue’s eyebrows went up. “Xichen? How?”

“As a wedding present to his new in-law –”

Nie Mingjue held up a hand. “Stop right there. Who’s getting married?”

“Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji,” Nie Huaisang said obediently.

Nie Mingjue thought about their respective personalities and started to detect the start of a headache. “Which one are you punishing for some unremembered petty slight, this time?”

“Neither!”

Nie Mingjue gave him a look.

“…Wei-xiong screwed up helping me cheat on a test, and Lan Zhan bit me.”

“He bit you? How old was he, five?”

“Six! Old enough to know better!”

Nie Mingjue rolled his eyes. “And which one is going to think that they owe you their lives for arranging this?”

“Lan Zhan knows I’m working on it,” Nie Huaisang said promptly, and Nie Mingjue nodded. That made sense: Lan Wangji was honorable and dependable, and would be easy to extract things out of in the future if things went the way he wanted. “Also, Mistress Wen promised to give me anything I want if I can make Wei-xiong stop pining.”

“Mistress Wen? You mean Wen Qing?” Nie Mingjue’s eyes narrowed. “She’s a doctor, isn’t she?”

“Her brother Wen Ning helped poison a whole bunch of Wen sect soldiers one time, very impressive, you’ll like him,” Nie Huaisang said, not answering the question. “It’s the least I can do, really!”

“Huaisang…”

“Listen, if Wei-xiong and Lan Zhan are going to start their own sect up, they’re going to need some support first,” Nie Huaisang said with great dignity. “We’re not taking in the Wen sect, we’ll just be housing them for a little while, that’s all!”

“Huaisang…”

Nie Huaisang grinned at him.

Nie Mingjue threw his hands into the air. There was really no point in worrying any more about Nie Huaisang, he decided – ever since he’d found his talent for spying, and for managing other spies, Nie Huaisang had decided that he was going to rearrange the entire cultivation world to his liking in just the same way he’d rearranged the furniture in his quarters in the Unclean Realm.

No, really, there was no point in worrying for Nie Huaisang.

Now it was time to worry for everyone else.

[orange-orchard-system]

Who needs a Carrd when you can pin posts?

[PT: Who needs a Carrd when you can pin posts? / End PT]

Hello! We're the Orange Orchard, sometimes referred to as Orange Orchard System or O²S (but we prefer being called the Orange Orchard). This is our blog, which is primarily centered around plurality, but other common topics are disability, alterhumanity, and philosophy. Other than that, you may occasionally see posts that specific headmates especially liked and wanted to reblog here.

Our collective name is Ambrosia and our collective pronouns are they/them/their/theirs/themselves or rul/tem/plur/plurs/plurselves. You're free to use this name and these pronouns when referring to us if you're not speaking about anyone specific in our system, or don't have or know anyone specific you want to talk to.

Who are we outside of our names? We're a mixed origin, hybrid, polyfragmented system with DID that likes to philosophize and write analyses and summaries on plural related topics, such as news articles and plural characters. We run four other system blogs: funnier-as-a-system, plegg-culture-is, factive-culture-is, and pluralprompts. We discovered our plurality a few years ago and have been working to become a cooperative collective ever since then, with a mix of fusion and healthy multiplicity.

We try to avoid hosting discourse on this blog, but vents may reference it on occasion. We'd also like to say, for the record, that we fully support endogenic, self-diagnosed, and non-traumagenic systems and plurals here.

If you want to support us, you can buy us a coffee here!

Under the cut are some quick links to posts of ours that we especially like as well as miscellaneous resources, some extra facts about our system and blog, and then some userboxes about our system.

Have a nice day, remember that any hate sent to us will just inspire more positivity posts, and feel free to send us asks about anything on your mind. Most of us don't bite.

---☆

Resources and Links:

[PT: Resources and Links: / end PT]

art of Emmengard's Plural Rings

discourse disclaimers

multitasking and the innerworld

News Summary: "The blind woman who switched personalities and could suddenly see"

summarizing a diagnostic guide on diagnosing DID

What is a system?

~

A Beginner's Guide to Finding Headmates

French plural vocabulary

More Than One

New Alter Carrd

Pluralpedia

Resource Index – healthymultiplicity.com

The Plural Association

The Plural Playbook

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BYF/Other Info:

[PT: BYF/Other Info: / end PT]

We don't want those heavily involved in shipcourse to interact with us. This isn't so much a discourse thing as it is a personal issue we have regarding that sort of thing; for our own mental health we'd like it if we could just avoid each other.

We use a mix of terms to describe ourselves/our system members, though not everyone in our system is comfortable with every term out there. For followers or visitors of our blog, we ask you use "selves" or "others" when referring to us.

We're also uncomfortable with being called "friends" by other people unless we give permission. Nothing personal, we're just largely aplatonic.

Finally, to answer a question asked multiple times before, the flag in our icon is our system flag, designed ourselves to represent us. The orange blossom is a nod to our system name and the symbolism behind it, and the stripes have specific meanings:

White: Looking towards the future.

Yellow: Learning, sunlight, and self-improvement.

Reddish pink: Our complicated system origins.

Purple-ish pink: Communication, cooperation, and care.

Black: Bravery, secrecy, trust, and doubt.

Any other questions? Send them in an ask or DM.

[Description for first image: a divider showing a line of Emmengard's Plural Rings with a black line connecting all of them together in the background. /End ID]

[Description for the rest of the images: four userboxes, each with text on the right side and an icon on the left side. The userboxes, in order, are:

[One: a blue userbox with miniature gray and blue star charms as the icon. The text reads: This system's tags on posts are not always indicative of who is fronting.

[Two: a pink userbox with a fluffy pink rabbit toy as the icon. The text reads: This system is almost always using "I" loosely.

[Three: a pinkish-purple userbox with a pink flower as the icon. The text reads: This collective has trouble knowing when conversations are over.

[Four: a lavender userbox with purple flowers as the icon. The text reads: This system has difficulty feeling and understanding emotions, please be patient.

[/ End ID]

[theringers]

V-card anon: hi sorry about that first ask i kinda went into a fugue state (spelling?) altered state of reality maybe when i wrote that and damn near outlined a fic in your inbox

The way we played hot seat was either part of a larger drinking game when a certain card was pulled from a deck, or just on it's own. You sit in a circle, everyone has a drink, usually a beer or cider. In the card pull version, the one who pulls the card gets asked a question by every person playing and if they refuse to answer they drink from their drink. In the standalone, you do that but everyone gets a turn being asked until people get bored and leave. Fun way to find out shit about people. Usually the unwritten rule is that you can't lie. I imagine everyone sitting on shitty chouches and chairs in a semi circle around a table full of cups and bottles playing it

Questions i have been asked: are you a top or bottom? Do you like anal? Wheres the weirdest place you've fucked? Body count? Favorite position (sexual)? Fuck marry kill/ignore people in this room (EVERY TIME I PLAYED I GOT THIS QUESTION)? Tits or ass or other? Favorite non sexual body part ex. Thigh? Ideal fuck buddy? Sex regrets? Etc

Also more weird details i have head cannoned out for some drivers and most likely does not fit with irl personalities, do with this what you will, use it or don't i just have feelings. Also everyone is like compressed in age to like 20-27ish except for some of the grid who i will just think of as younger alumns who come back:

Danny R: social chair, owns a jeep he takes the doors off of in the summer, walks girls home at night to make sure they're ok, tries to DJ house events and is rebuffed by literally everyone, has like 30 pairs of vans you trip over in his room, stolen roadsigns everywhere, masters in something arigcultural or physiological, cutoff frat shirts for days, fuckboy but nice, a bit cringe, will drive around with you at night so you can scream, met reader bc she had a band tee on and wanted to talk to her about it (no gatekeeping)

Charles: some kind of engineering or math degree but no one has any idea how the fuck he's gotten so far, 4.0 never studies, games with other house members, will show up at events randomly you will have no idea how he gets on your couch but he is there, the best and worst taste in clothes, is the only one allowed to play the piano in the house, sweet, cannot help you with studies but is always down for helping you out after, has to be reminded to clean stuff, disaster bi, reader met his gf first and they probably met through that

Pierre: good fashion and music taste, shirt is gone halfway through the night, also fuckboy but wholesome, actually studies, plays a sport for sure probably soccer in some way either club or Division he's too good for rec, will hold your hair back so you can throw up, will tell you your outfit sucks, good at math, also part of the squad that games, econ major, workout buddies with reader anday have taken a math class together

Max: is part of the hockey team he will go pro, also actually studies, got into gaming because of Charles, has the nicest car, is serious until he gets a couple drinks in him, he and Daniel are close and roomed together at some point, owns like 30 sets of the same outfit a white tee and jeans, knows reader through Dan and they get dragged by him to some of the same stuff

Lando: is a pledge or new member his big is Carlos, undeclared major, just happy to be here, gaming squad, used to play lacrosse or something equally obscure, king of knowing where the good snacks are, weirdly good at beer pong, growing into a fuckboy wholesomeness level tbd, probably sweet with reader as she helped him through a blackout or something, met her because she's basically house mom for some of the new boys (the kind of mom who will teach you to do laundry or iron ONCE)

Carlos: hockey flow but does not play hockey, actually studies and is smarter than what people give him credit for, came from a private high school and uni really opened his horizons, also good study buddy, gets along with most people, goes to office hours the most out of the actually studies gang, fun at parties, owns the frat dogs, he and reader met at Office hours (they were the only students) and found they had mutual friends too

Lewis: is/was president of frat, great grades greater bod, did full evolution from fuckboy to good man, has the back tests and the moral support, up for late noght talks about life, definitely was a D1 athlete, best fashion game, implemented no hazing policy, fits into notable alum or PhD category

Mick: undergrad like Lando, also plays soccer or something, too sweet, also walks girls home/holds your hair back etc, cleans parts of the house that aren't his responsibility, higher alcohol tolerance than you expect, everyone is bizarrely protective of him, legacy member (his dad was a legend), drives a motorbike around campus and can't decide between law and psychology, actually studies, met reader through the frat and she would die for him, brings her to class on the bike sometimes because the bike is faster

George: business major, frat treasurer, three ring binder business casual in class kind of guy, nice enough, shirt comes off when drunk, runs marathons and a podcast about investments, best notes in the game and great study partner, actually studies, is drinking monster at 6AM but not because he stayed up late, he and reader met through the frat and sometimes drink wine and bitch together

Lance: hockey player, legacy member, studies sometimes, sarcasm on point, great at stack cup, very chill, knows every good nap spot on campus, also has high alcohol tolerance, is the kind of person who does well in the cold but does not like it, wears headphones so people don't talk to him, great one on one but not in crowds, business major and minor in computer science, probably also met thru Lance's gf but vibe as more introverted people and will cover for each other if one does not want to go out

Nicky: a good boy, part of the walks people home squad, sets up designated drivers for parties, good snack game, future in medical field, good listener, pretty good study buddy, midnight snack enabler, met reader through frat and his gf he and reader are on babysitting duty together sometimes when others get too drunk/high

Yuki: also a pledge or new, majoring in games or computer science as they gave me the same energy as him, games squad, bit of a mad lad, has several stolen street signs, good, met reader through frat and Yuki is the only one patient enough to explain some games to reader, they cuss people out on mic

Esteban: good man, has a full ride scholarship, actually studies, also good study buddy, Dan's little, plays soccer but maybe on a rec team because he prioritizes school, very sweet guy as well, probably chose a really practical major/dual major, met reader through Dan and are also dragged similar places by him

Antonio: manbun, philosophy or classics major possibly business dual, generally good natured but can be seen supplying his own wine at parties, used to be really into metal but kept the hair, does not know that people find him attractive, soccer boi, met reader through frat and she's the only one who will (pretend) to listen to him rant about philosophy

Alex Albon: another full scholarship guy, somehow gets along with everyone, switched majors due to an asshole professor, electrical engineering or computer engineering, actually studies, helps with frat pets,will show you pictures of his cats at home, sweetie, another contender for will hold your hair or walk you home, probably met reader through a class or club and found they had mutual friends and that reader is friends with his gf

Notable alums:

Checo - dad, successful in finance somehow (he looks like an really successful accountant of CFO to me idk why)

Kimi - dad but people forget he is, holds the record for most drinks in 24 hours that will never be come close to by anyone else, shows up on random alum weekends with 2 kegs, legally cannot tell you what he does or he would actually have to murder you

Valterri - was good at a sport when he was there, now a very effective lead engineer at an architectural firm

Seb - environmental or mechanical engineering, all around good guy with someone the best grades in frat history

Alonso - legendary for sexual exploits (consensual)

Anyone I put as actually studies is probably the type reader would hang around for more serious stuff/schoolwork and would probably be closer to, with the exception of Dan bc I feel like he'd be like we're friends now :)) we shall hang or Charles bc he will just show up. I also imagine she has a pretty good friendship with any existing gf, however if a driver does have a gf and he is the love interest sorry bb girl u gotta go for the purposes of this fic

Sorry this is so long hahaaaaaaa glad you liked my Charles thoughts ilu

i honestly wasn’t going to share this like the rest of the anon asks i’ve gotten that i keep close to my heart but this was just too good to keep to myself.

LOOK! AT! THIS!

f1 drivers as frat bros/college students headcannon

i’m writing a series - each “chapter” will be a smut with a different frat bro and i’m hoping to post a sneak peek this week some time but here’s something to hold you over and give you some ideas

to my vcard anon - i appreciate this so much. my inbox is always open for ur thoughts bc they are SO GOOD !! can’t wait for you to read the first part of the series bby

PS if some of this doesn’t make sense to u feel free to send in asks (i know a lot of this is focused on american college culture so if u don’t get it i’m happy to explain)

[nico-di-genova]

coffee shop au please cass ����🥺

Maya, you genius, I love you for sending me this!!

“You know,” Nile says, coming up behind him as he’s putting the finishing touches on a hazelnut latte, “if you’re going for subtlety, I’m not sure a heart is the right choice.” 

Nicky feels the beginnings of a blush warm his cheeks, “It’s the only design I know how to do.” He’s swirling the heart atop the coffee before him with practiced ease, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he puts all his concentration into perfecting the latte art. This part of the job had never been a part of his training. Quynh and Andy preferred it when the drinks were completed efficiently, but right now it was slow, and the man who ordered the coffee was a regular; Nicky may have also thought he was cute, but that was beside the point. 

Nile leaned over his shoulder, just enough to get a better look at the small details Nicky was adding to the foam, “With how much work you’re putting into this, it may as well be a confession of your love.” 

“I don’t love him,” Nicky hisses under his breath, glancing up just long enough to cast a look at the man across the café, sitting at his usual spot by the large bay windows. He’s already got his sketchbook out on the table before him, a pencil in his hand. Nicky tries not to stare too long at the curve of his lips, or the way his curls stick out from underneath the beanie he’s wearing. He makes even more of an effort to ignore how breathing suddenly becomes a lot harder. “I barely know him, Nile. I’m just being nice.” 

“You’ve been working on his drink for five minutes now.” 

“It’s called customer service.” 

“You’re ridiculous,” she teases, smiling in a way that tells him she’s just picking on him. Nile is the only coworker who knows about his crush on Joe, she’s the main reason he’d even spoken to the man in the first place. Usually, she runs the register, and he makes the drinks. When she’d noticed how he stared at Joe, how the tips of his ears would go pink when the man laughed at one of Nile’s terrible jokes, she’d make some excuse to slip into the back when Joe came in, forcing Nicky to finally speak to the man, rather than marvel from afar.   

He swirls one final flourish into the design, and then steps back to admire his work. The heart is a little lopsided, but Nicky supposes it’s the effort that counts. “There. Done.” 

Nile takes another quick look at the drink, “Looks great. You should probably bring it to him before it becomes an iced latte though.” 

It is the longest he’s spent making a drink, but another quick glance at Joe tells him the man doesn’t mind. He’s already thoroughly engrossed in whatever sketch he’s working on today. From the few short snippets of conversation they’ve had, Nicky knows he’s studying art at the university down the street, the same school Nicky attended for philosophy and law. He’d yet to see any of Joe’s work though. As he always did when Nicky approached, he snapped his sketchbook shut quickly and then looked up with a smile that was dazzling enough that Nicky’s brain always short-circuited a bit.  

“Hey again coffee boy, I was starting to think you got lost back there,” Joe’s voice was light. In the golden afternoon sun that filtered through the window behind him, he looked ethereal. Nicky had to force himself to remember how to breathe.  

“I um… I was trying something different.” Joe’s order is always the same. Hazelnut latte, one pump of liquid sugar and one pump of pumpkin syrup. It was just on the cusp of too sweet for Nicky, but Joe must have liked it, he came into the café at least three times a week for it. 

Joe’s smile widens, “Yeah? Different how?” 

In lieu of an answer, Nicky places the drink before Joe. He can’t help the nerves that bubble up inside him. It’s dumb to get so worked up about a drink, especially because there’s no way it could compare to whatever Joe kept hidden in his sketchbook. Even still, he twists his hands anxiously as he watches Joe study the latte. 

“You did this?” 

“Yes. I’m still learning, so it’s not perfect-.” 

“It’s great, Nicky!” He looks back up at Nicky, brown eyes bright with the light from the sun and the joy he seemed to constantly radiate. “Are you sure art’s not your thing?” 

The first time Joe had told him what he was going to school for, Nicky had made the mistake of blurting out that he’d never met a real artist. He was distracted by Joe’s freckles at the time, and only continued to stick his foot further in his mouth by explaining that he’d never understood art. He’d come out sounding pretentious, like he was putting Joe down, when really he’d just lost control of his mouth. Nile had picked at him for a week after that, only stopping when she realized how mortified Nicky really was. Even the mention of the conversation is enough to make his blush deepen, he can feel the heat of it spreading to his neck. 

“Don’t worry, Nicky. I’m only teasing. It’s good, you’re very talented.” 

Nicky, who has never been the best at receiving praise, even from people he doesn’t want to kiss, finds himself at a sudden loss for words. Joe’s curls, the freckles that dot his skin like constellations, the way he twirls the pencil in his hand as they talk, with nimble fingers and practiced skill, it makes Nicky feel like he’s about to combust. He can spend hours debating the merits of good deeds, can present a case before a mock jury with the cool demeanor of someone far his senior, but around Joe, any sort of speaking skills seem to go right out the window. 

He manages to stumble over a quiet, “thank you,” before turning to rush back behind the counter. It’s embarrassment that forces him to keep walking, right past Nile’s questioning gaze, and into the stockroom that’s hidden away from customer view. He takes a very vested interest in the stock of styrofoam cups and sweetener packets, counting each individual thing until the blush and pounding of his heart fades. 204 cups, 518 sugar packets, and one idiot who loses the ability to speak anytime the boy with pretty eyes and a soft smile comes into the shop. 

By the time Nicky works up the courage to come back to the counter, Joe’s already left. Nile’s still there though, leaning against the register and looking at him with raised eyebrows. 

“You’re a disaster,” she states. 

He groans, “I know.” He leans heavily on the counter before him, burying his head in his hands. 

“Joe must like train wrecks though,” Nile continues. He can feel when she moves to stand beside him and looks up to see her offering him a piece of folded paper. “He left this for you.”

Nicky tries not to look too excited as he grabs the paper and quickly unfolds it. When he catches sight of what’s on it, his breath leaves him all over again. It’s him, unmistakably so, down to the mole on the right side of his face. Joe has left out nothing. He’s drawn Nicky’s apron, syrup stains and all, the untied laces of his right shoe, the strand of hair that always sticks up at an odd angle and refuses to stay down no matter how much Nicky fusses at it. Under the drawing, there’s handwriting:

‘Call me, maybe I can show you some ‘real’ art sometime.’  

Nicky’s mouth has gone dry. 

“Is that his number?!” Nile shrieks, snatching the paper from his hands to get a better look at the ten digits that have been left under Joe’s message. Nicky feels his heartrate pick up all over again.

“You got his number! This is possibly the smoothest pickup method I’ve ever seen.” 

Nicky nods, but he’s not really listening to what Nile’s saying. He’s too busy thinking about a hazelnut latte, one pump of liquid sugar, one pump of pumpkin syrup, and a badly drawn heart on the top. 

[ddarker-dreams]

Round Them Up. Yan Giorno x Reader [COMM]

warnings: kidnapping, canon typical violence, and some degrading language. word count: 3.4k.

A simple philosophy of budding romance is to keep date nights special. 

You’ve been told this for a long time, that the intimate experience between partners is always meant to be cherished. That with time, among other things, feelings start to change, or fade away all together. It’s a frightening aspect that you used to concern yourself with, the possibility of losing the spark that ignited passion within you in the first place. If these months dating Giorno Giovanna have taught you anything, it’s that these doubts were wrongfully planted. While he’s a busy man, he’s always gone above and beyond for your sake. Fancy dinners at the finest of establishments, picnics on the best private beaches of Italy, and even occasional trips to Milan or Rome. It isn’t the luxury that draws you to him like a moth to flame, but rather the enigma of a personality he brings. Every interaction with Giorno is imprinted on your mind. 

Charismatic, thoughtful, blessed with quick wit… your long list of admirations for him goes on. Humming lightly to yourself, there's an extra pep in your step as you take on the relatively mundane task of shopping. Shopping for clothes is usually one of your least favorite activities. Having to go in and out of dressing rooms, trying on multiple sizes of clothes just to find the one you need is out of stock, or the cashier pestering you into signing up for a credit card. The regular reservations that come with purchasing new clothes for your wardrobe are thrown out, as you’re too preoccupied looking forward to tonight. Giorno’s compliments of your person always feel so sincere, like every word has been designed only for you to hear. 

Tonight will be no different, an event marked on your calendar for the last month.

A romantic, seaside dinner. For the special occasion, you’re wanting to look the part. Feeling over the fabric underneath your fingertips, you inspect every item on the rack with potent interest. Keeping in mind the most flattering cuts for your body type, and the colors that complement your hair and complexion, multiple possible outfits are piled up one after the other. It’s difficult to fathom that you’ve already been in this store for a little over an hour, still undecided. Store clerks have come and gone, most trying a little too hard to keep you pleased. Finding their hovering around your person stifling, you managed to make your way around the store in hopes of avoiding further confrontation. It doesn’t strike you as strange how you haven’t seen anyone around lately, really. It’s not that busy a time of day, you believe.

“This should just about do it.” 

Hoisting up the tentatively picked selection, you make your way towards the back to try them on. When making your way over, you hear your phone buzzing, and look down to see who it is. There’s no fighting the smile that blossoms on your lips at the sight of Giorno’s name popping up on your screen, your phone background a picture of the two of you baking together. There’s flour smeared over his cheek, a result of your doing. Calling back fondly on the memory, your heart leaps in your chest at the chance to talk to him, if even for a brief moment. Sliding to unlock your phone, while balancing your clothes in the other arm, you see he’s asking about your day. 

A heavy set of footsteps saunter towards you, like a foreboding omen. 

“You must be real happy talking to whoever that is, huh?” A gruff voice catches your attention, and you look up to see an older looking man. He’s of intimidating stature, having broad shoulders, towering over you by at least a foot, accented with a navy suit. By his side are two men in a similar get up, all glowering down at you as if you were a speck of dust. You look around to see if it’s really you he’s speaking to, a spine chilling sensation trickling down your spine. There’s not a single soul in the store, other than the four of you. Not even the cashiers are at their station, the employees that were once buzzing about having vanished in thin air. 

There’s some malicious forces at play here. You need to get out of this, as soon as you can. 

Gulping, you subconsciously take a step back, pressing your phone to your chest. “Uh, I’m sorry… but can I help you…?” 

You cringe at how your voice wanes, not wanting to showcase your helplessness if you could help it. At your further prying, no information is offered. Time is set to a standstill, every passing second feeling more sluggish than the last. The main figure of the group regards you with little warmth, grabbing a picture from his breast pocket. He looks from the object in his hands to you, scrutinizing every detail. Never have you felt so small, so powerless. Whatever is going on here is sending alarms off in your head, a nasty premonition of things to come churning your stomach violently. 

“Now, listen to me real carefully. I don’t fancy the thought of messing up a pretty face like yours,” he opens the inside of his jacket, just enough for you to catch a glimpse of a handgun. You almost faint at the not so subtle message. “Follow me without any fuss, and you have my word no harm will come to you.” 

Your eyes dart around, searching for help that you’ll never find. Nausea and dizziness are cumbersome, rolling over you like crushing waves. You don’t know what to expect, all you can assume is that this won’t end well. Not trusting your tongue to form the words necessary to prevent the situation from getting worse, you nod your head once. The skin underneath his eyes tighten in mirth, pleased with your subservience, waving off the men behind him. He steps over, gesturing for you to join him by his side. Heart thrown into a frenzy against your ribcage, you’re amazed by how a simple task such as walking grows borderline impossible. Your phone is taken from you in the process, the chance of being tracked through that method now lost. He said that if you came along easily, you won’t be harmed, but why should you believe him? There has to be some way out of this.

The intermingling of speech between the group surrounding you gives the opportunity to look around, having spotted a series of hallways that are fire exits. Your main objective would be avoiding any possible gunfire, the cover these hallways bring the best and possibly only opportunity at an escape. You hold your breath, worried that any change in your breathing might be an indication of your hastily put together plan. With all your strength, you pivot on your heel, fully intending to run to cover. You make it a few paces, a sharp pain in your wrist preventing you from making it any further. A pained noise leaves you at the sudden jolt of pain, the joint being twisted painfully. Too taken with the ringing of your ears to notice their reprimanding words, you’re tugged along roughly. It’s a pain unlike anything you’ve ever experienced, dark bruises forming alongside the rapidly swelling skin. To make matters worse, the vice-like grip remains, since they no longer trust you not to make an escape attempt. 

Where the stranger walks, you follow in admitted defeat, wanting to alleviate the pain of your wrist. He leads you out the back of the store, many men in similar outfits standing against walls, or slithering in the background. A black car with tinted windows is your final destination. It’s pulled against the curb, the unknown man opening the door for you both to enter. Your nose crinkles at the aroma in the car, a combination of heavy cologne and cigarette smoke. Other cars follow in a single line behind you, the engine roaring to life. It makes you jump, your nerves frayed. There’s too much on your mind to pin down a single question, the tenderness of your fresh injury not helping in that regard. Having a plan to grasp onto, even if it’s a fallible, would be preferable to this. For now, you will yourself through the anxiety that plagues you to search for a solution. 

Once the car has taken off, he looks over to you, frowning at your limp hand. “You look scared outta your wits, little miss. Let’s see… that means you must really know nothing.” 

Now that you’re seated, the time to gather scraps of information has presented itself. This man isn’t a fellow Neapolitan, holding an accent reminiscent of northern Italy. From the few orders exchanged to what you presume to be his underlings, the dialect could possibly be Tuscan. What would people from there ever possibly want with you? It’s a prayer that may never reach the ears of god, but you pray they’re not taking you somewhere that far away. The best case scenario would be somehow escaping when the car is moving before it reaches the highway, but the car door is locked. Is smashing the window possible? It looks thick, likely bullet proof. There has to be a better opening. Your last escape attempt left much to be desired, but it was a knee jerk reaction. At least they didn’t open fire on you, but would you be so lucky for the next try?

Returning your attention back to the stranger, you immediately regret it. He’s wiping dried crimson off his hands with a handkerchief, staining the cloth. The sight answers the question from before, now certain that bloodshed isn’t one of the cards off the table. The pungent, metallic scent is undeniably blood, fresh one at that. Bile rises to your throat at the sight, hurriedly looking away as if it’d erase the nightmare that you’ve seen. Adrenaline continues pumping through your body, a momentary reprieve from the pain your wrist injury has brought. 

Your wandering eyes must have been too much of a giveaway, the man next to you letting out a humorless laugh. “This? I have to admit, Don Giovanna’s men aren’t easy to rid of. I was expecting more of a security detail around his prized passera. Though, seeing as you’ve been kept in the dark, keeping too many men around you might be suspicious.” 

There’s a certain bloodlust in the man’s gaze when he speaks Giorno’s surname, that chills your soul. The facades of a polite gentleman fade away, replaced by the spitting image of a mobster. His semantics in referring to you leave much to be desired, though the misogynistic language is the least of your concerns. Holding onto the lackluster set of information at your disposal, you take a wild stab in the dark at what could be happening here. While you’ve never intermingled with the mob, it’s not an uncommon tactic of obtaining wealth. Fleeting as it may be, some people go into crushing debts, having made deals with the devil. 

Sitting up straight and setting your lips into a straight line, you project a more composed version of yourself. You don’t want to give away the depths of your fear. “I’m not sure what it is you want with Giorno… but if it’s a money related debt, please let me help with it. I don’t want him to be in trouble.” 

The mobster takes a second to register your unprecedented words, eyes widening. Does that mean you figured out what the motivation here is? This assumption is thrown out the window as he bellows over, incapable of masking his amusement. 

Cheeks flushing with indignation at how he sputters out a condescending laugh, you want nothing more than to assert yourself. If not for the possible repercussions for doing so, you’d have done it long ago. “Unless you’ve got hundreds of billions of lire in that purse of yours, that won’t work, I wouldn’t count on it. His no drug policy has cost us more than you could imagine.” 

The jargon in use here erases all doubts from your mind. There’s no denying the fact that this is somehow related to gangs, Giorno, or both. You’ve never meddled in your partner’s affairs. Never so much as blinking at an eye at the smooth explanations for his coming into wealth, not seeing the point in prying beyond the surface. The usage of Don had caught your attention earlier, though that can sometimes apply to wealthy or powerful men in general. A lump forms in your throat as you think more on the subject, arriving at the conclusion Giorno is involved in more than you ever anticipated.

---

“Are you sure about clearing the schedule for tonight?” Mista inquires, giving the pistol in his hand another glance over. He inspects every groove, having already familiarized himself with all aspects of the weapon. Checking to make sure it can work at all times is a necessity, seeing as he’ll never know when the time will come to use it. Giorno leans back into his chair, not paying immediate heed to the gunslinger’s concerns. He steals a glance down at his phone, still expecting to have seen a message from you by now. At the further absence of your response, he responds to Mista. 

“There’s nothing left to discuss. I’ve made my demands of them very clear.” Giorno fights back the urge to sigh, the weight of dealing with rebellious groups sadly nothing new. As long as their avenues of making money involve the drug trade, they won’t ever bend permanently, all of the promises naught but lip service. Not even long lasting Passione allies prove to be fully complacent. That was all before him, anyways, when they could operate without accountability. 

“We have enough evidence of their conduct. Niceties are no longer necessary.” 

Mista raises an eyebrow, catching onto the hidden intent laced within Giorno’s words. “So it’s come to that, huh? You’d think the stories of what happened to the former narcotics team would be enough to keep them at bay. It was brutal, right Fugo?” 

The aforementioned male fights the urge to roll his eyes, leaning against the hardwood of Giorno’s desk. While his role is more of an advisor to Giorno than Mista’s, he can’t help but express a similar sentiment. There likely isn’t a better option, having discussed and been promised dozens of times that the mafioso from Tuscany would cease their drug trades. Each time has proved a fruitless endeavor, the Don from the most prominent group in that area going through great lengths to hide his tracks of the grimy dealings. 

“But you know, Giorno… Enzo’s men won’t be taking kindly to being cut off,” Fugo pipes up, taking the opportunity to voice his own share of concern. “You’ve been giving them the cold shoulder for a little over a week. It’s only a matter of time until he figures out what’s going on, or worse… does something about it.” 

Giorno gives a look of recognition, having already thought of this. It’s undesirable to think about, but seeing how the day’s heading, he might have to cancel his plans for you tonight. “I’m expecting it, yes. It’s a shame how stubborn he’s been on the matter.” 

Fugo’s lips part, only to be interrupted by the door to Giorno’s study suddenly being flung open. Scrunching up his eyebrows at the impudent entrance of one of Passione’s underlings, all words of admonishment disappear when spotting what’s unmistakably your phone in the guard’s hands. The room goes dead silent, Giorno standing from his spot and walking over to inspect your belonging. In the world they live in, this is a threat, most likely relating to the very topic the three of them were just discussing.

“When did this show up?” Giorno takes your phone into the palm of his hand, Mista and Fugo leaving their own spots to do the same. The guard is flushed, out of breath, most likely having run from the entrance of the villa to this spot. Even under the immense pressure this brings, Giorno’s tone remains an even timbre. Fugo spots the slightest of shakes in his fingers, eyes moving back to the guard for the sake of Giorno’s privacy. It’s affecting him on some level, but he knows Giorno; and how he deals with stressors like this. 

“J-just now, sir,” The guard explains in a frenzy, chest heaving for air. “We lost contact with [First]’s escorts about five minutes ago, I already sent out men to the last known spot she was seen at.” 

Giorno’s lips twitch downwards in evident displeasure, lips pursed. This misfortune of human error will be addressed at a later time, when he knows you’re safe. “Why was I not alerted sooner?” 

“We thought it might be a technical issue--”

Your phone has already been imbued with life, morphing into a butterfly from the usage of Gold Experience’s ability. Giorno strides past the bewildered guard without care, Fugo and Mista following soon after him. Fugo reaches down into his pocket, procuring a set of car keys, seeing as Giorno’s set on walking towards the garage. For once, neither he or Mista offer any quips to lighten the situation. Their knowledge of your relationship with Giorno is fuzzy at best, morally obscured at worse. Fugo’s turned a blind eye to the private life of his Don, not wanting to dip into the rabbit hole. He’s seen enough to know you’re blissfully unaware of Giorno’s invisible touch in your life. 

Mista is the first to try and speak up. “We’ll get her back, Giorno.” 

“Of course.” The words are curt, borderline snappy. They make their way to one of his many sports cars, their attention set on the butterflies movements. Fugo notes how it’s heading north, further confirming the suspicion that you’re currently in the hands of the gangster group from Tuscany. Giorno receives a plethora of phone calls in the drive, ranging in information regarding the attack and your possible whereabouts. A group of cars with unmarked license plates were confirmed by some of the workers at the mall, who had been threatened into compliance. They gave rough descriptions that fit the bill of one of Enzo’s Capos. This feels deeply personal, cutting too close for Giorno’s liking. 

He had not been expecting such a brazen counterattack, operating with casualties in broad daylight is almost unheard of. A testament to their desperate mindset, if he had to guess. It’s true that they’ve been bleeding dry ever since he’s enforced the zero tolerance drug policy, not that there aren’t other options of securing wealth. The unsavory method is one of the easiest and most lucrative, before he was in charge that is. His mind goes to you, and the possibilities run rampant. 

Gold Experience can heal any physical wounds inflicted on you, but the mental scarring… that will be another issue entirely. 

Though, he’s certain that they won’t kill you. You’re too valuable a bargaining chip, but there are fates far worse than death. Thinking about it brings emotions to the surface he hasn’t experienced in a long time, flurries of malicious thoughts pointed towards your captors forming. They’ll meet a befitting death -- he’ll make certain of that -- but your well being is of the top priority. Giorno wills himself to remain in control, fighting off the shakiness that threatens to overtake him. The last thing he needs to do right now is allow his carefully crafted composure to slip, it would serve no one. 

He catches Fugo sending him the occasional glance, but thinks little of it. 

There’s a strong resolve unique to you, Giorno believes. He regrets not having placed tighter security on you, mentally drafting up ways to avoid a situation like this from ever repeating again. It’ll be a much more constrictive way of living, and while it pains him to think of you losing some freedoms, it’s all for the greater good. Having been so caught up in his personal feelings of allowing you the autonomy to do as you please is what led to this misfortune in the first place, a mistake he will not repeat. When you’re back in his sight, completely safe, he’ll make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

You’ll come to understand it. 

[writingwithcolor]

Mixing North America with Old World Cultures in Fantasy: What Are The Issues?

So I sent in an ask several years ago that, due in no small part to your response, I have grown from and eventually led to a complete restructuring of my story. I included a measure of context in this, so if you need to skip it, my main three questions are at the bottom. I think this mostly applies to Mod Lesya.

The new setting is both inspired by and based on North America in the late 1400s where the indigenous cultures thrive and are major powers on the continent. Since there is no “Europe” in this setting the colonization and plague events never happened. Within the continent itself (since it is a fantasy setting) there are also analogous cultures that resemble Norse, Central European, Persian, Arabic, Indian, and Bengali. Although not native to the fantasy continent, there is also a high population of ‘African’ and ‘Oceanic’ peoples of many cultures, the latter usually limited to coastal cities as traders and sailors. Elves are entirely not-human, or at least evolved parallel to humans ala Neanderthals/Denisovans; they have green blood, black sclera, and skin tones that run from pale to dark. 

The main national setting of the story takes great inspiration from a Byzantine/Turkish/Mississippian background, and the neighboring nations are based on the Haudenosee (Iriquois Confederacy), Numunuu (Comancheria), and the Hopi and Zuni (as the descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans) (I also know that 2 of these 3 occur much later than the 1400s, but I love the government systems and they provide excellent narrative foils for the more ‘traditional’ fantasy government that takes place in the story). The Maya inhabit the role analogous to Ancient Greece in that most writing systems on the continent descend from Maya script and all the Great Philosophers were Maya (and nobility from across the continent spend lots of money to send their children to schools in the Maya City-States or in the Triple Alliance (Aztec Empire)). There is magic with varying traditions, practices, and methods spread across the continent, some of which are kept secret from outsiders, so I would hope that this avoids the “Magical Native” trope. 

Beyond the setting, I have three main questions:

When it comes to foodstuffs, I was originally planning to limit myself to Pre-Columbian cuisine from the Americas (eg the Three Sisters and potatoes) but in doing my research, Navajo fry-bread seems to be a fairly integral part of the food culture and that does require flour, which originated in the Old World. Would it be better to incorporate some of the Old World stuff that has since become traditional to indigenous groups?

For place names used in the setting and writing systems would it be better to use existing languages or writing systems or ones inspired by them? EG should I make a language that is very similar to Cherokee, complete with its own syllabary, or should I use IRL Cherokee and its extant syllabary? I ask because I feel like using the real language might step on some toes, but using the conlang might seem like erasure.

One of the main themes of this story is the harm that even a ‘benevolent’ Empire can wreak on people. The Byzantine/Turkish/Mississippian culture is the main Empire on the continent, taking cues from both western and American monarchical systems (eg the Triple Alliance (Aztec) and The Four Regions (the Inca Empire)), but when I think about it having any kind of even vaguely western ‘Empire’ spring up from the soil of a North American inspired setting might be troubling.

Thank you for your time and consideration! Do you guys have a kofi or something so I can compensate you for time spent?

I actually do remember you, and I am going to 99% disregard your questions here because you went from glaringly obvious racism to covert racism, and none of your questions ask if your basic strings of logic for assumptions you built into the setting are okay. 

Since there is some extremely flawed basic logic in here, I’m going to tackle that first.

Question 1: Why did you originally title this “Pre Colombian North American Fantasy World” when you have more old world cultures than new world cultures?

A very simple, straightforward question. The actual content of the setting is what made me retitle it.

If you want to write a North American fantasy setting… why are there so many old world cultures represented here? 

Old world: - Greece (as a societal myth; see next point) - Byzantine - Turkey - Norse - Central European - Persian - Arabic - Indian - Bengali - African (which, let’s be honest, should be heavily broken up into multiple peoples) - Oceana (which, again, should be heavily broken up into multiple peoples)

New world: - Mississippian - Iroquois  - Numunuu - Hopi - Zuni - Maya - Aztec - Inca (maybe? not mentioned as having their own place on the continent, but one of your questions mentions them) - Navajo (maybe? See above)

To account for respecting Africa and Oceana, I’m going to make African cultures count as 3 and Oceanic cultures count as 5, and this is a purposeful lowball.

Old World: 17 New World: 9

It’s a giant discrepancy, especially if your attempt is writing an exclusively New World fantasy. And this is bare minimum old world, considering the fact I tried to limit myself to peoples who would be more likely to interact with the heavy Mediterranean/Alexander the Great’s Empire centricity. 

Question 2: Why does there have to be a Greece analogue?

I haven’t spoken about this topic at length on this blog, but Greek worship in the Western world is a very carefully crafted white supremacy based mythos that was created to prop up European “Excellence” and actually erases the reality of Greece as a peoples.

Cultural evolutionism is a theory that states the (assumed-white-European) Greeks were superior because of their philosophy, their abstract art, and their mathematics. When many of these concepts were refined in Egypt (African, aka Black), or the Arab world (aka brown), but white Europeans did not want to admit any of this so they instead painted everything as coming out of their ideas of Greece lock stock and barrel. 

The theory also ignored Iroquois science, Plains and Southwestern abstract art, and generally everything about North America, because the theory was designed to move the goalposts and paint North America as something it wasn’t, just to make Europeans feel okay taking it over and “bringing it to civilization.”

This theory was still taught in force up until the 1970s, and is still a major school of anthropological thought to this day (and still taught in some universities), so it is still very much influencing the Western world.

While the theory itself is only from the 1800s, it had long-growing roots in white/ noble Europe’s attempt to prop up European “Excellence” during its multiple periods of colonization, from the Crusades, onwards. You can see it in the copious amount of art produced during the Renaissance.

Europeans ignored the sheer amount of settling and travel that happened within Greece and Rome, and you’ll notice how many Renaissance paintings depict Greek philosophers as white, teaching other white people. In reality, we have no idea what their skin tone was, and they could have taught a huge variety of different skin tones. But it was appealing to European nobility to have people like them be the founders of all things great and “advanced”, so they invested huge amounts of time and money in creating this myth.

(Note: I said their nobility, not their population. People of colour existed en masse in Europe, but the nobility has been downplaying that for an exceptionally long time)

Greece took over most of the old world. It borrowed and stole from hundreds of cultures, brought it all back, and was assigned credit for it. White Europeans didn’t want to admit that the concept of 0 came from the Arabs, the pythagorean theorem came from Egypt, etc, and since Greece won, detailed records of how they were perceived and what they stole are long lost. It’s only glaring when they took from other global powers.

Question 3: Why would you pick totally different biomes to mix in here?

Turkey and the Mississippi are very, very different places when it comes to what can grow and what sort of housing is required, which makes them on the difficult side to merge together. They relied on different methods of trade, as well (boats vs roads), and generally just don’t line up.

The fact you pick such a specific European powerhouse—the Byzantine Empire—to mix into your “not European” fantasy world is… coming back to my above point about Greek (and Roman) worship in the West. Why can’t a fantasy world set in North America be enough on its own? Why does it need Europe copycats?

Question 4: Why are you missing a variety of nomads and Plains peoples?

Nomadic plains peoples were a thing across the globe, from the Cree to the Blackfoot to the Mongols. You have hyperfocused on settled peoples (with only one nomadic group named in both new and old world), which… comes across as very odd to me, because it is, again, very European sounding. That continent was about the only one without major populations that were nomadic, and if you look at European history, nomadic peoples were very highly demonized because of the aforementioned Mongols. 

Cultural evolutionism also absolutely hated nomadic peoples, which is where we get the term “savage” (hunter-gatherers, nomads) and “barbarian” (horticulturalists and pastoralists, the latter nomadic); these were “lesser cultures” that needed to settle down and be brought to “civilization” (European agriculture), and nothing good could ever come out of them.

Meanwhile, in North America, nomadic peoples took up a very large portion of landmass, produced a huge amount of culture and cultural diffusion, and mostly ignoring them while trying to create a “fantasy North America” is, well, like I said: odd. 

General Discussion Points

My suggestion for you is to write a fantasy Mediterranean region. Completely serious, here.

With the kinds of dynamics you are attracted to—the empires, the continental powers, the fact you keep trying to make Europe analogues in North America—you will do a much, much more respectful job by going into a really richly researched Mediterranean fantasy world than attempting to mix Europe and North America together in ways that show European traits (settled peoples, agriculture, a single empire dominating the whole culture and being viewed as superior) as the default.

I legitimately cannot see anything in here that feels like it comes from North America, or at the very least, treats non-sensationalized peoples (aka, those outside the Maya and Mississippian region) with respect. 

It falls into Maya worship, which is a very sensationalized topic and is fuelled by racist fascination, assuming no Indigenous peoples could be that smart. 

It falls into settled peoples worship, which is something that has cultural evolutionism roots because under such a model only settled peoples with agriculture are “civilized.”

It falls into placing Western concepts (public schools, large cities, the ilk) as the ideal, better solution, compared to methods better suited to horticulturalists, pastoralists, and hunter-gatherers and letting those teaching methods be respected.

There is no shame in writing inside Europe

The Mediterranean region contains Indigenous peoples, contains a huge diversity of skin tones, contains empires, contains democracy/a variety of governments, and in general contains every aspect of what you’re trying to create without playing god with a continent that did not evolve the way you’re trying to make it. 

A Mediterranean fantasy world would still be a departure from “fantasy world 35″ as I like to call it, because it would be different from the vaguely Germanic/ French/ Norse fantasy worlds that are Tolkien ripoffs. You can dig beyond the whitewashed historical revisions and write something that actually reflects the region, and get all the fun conflicts you want.

You don’t need to go creating a European/North American blend to “be diverse.” You can perfectly respectfully write inside Europe and have as much variety in peoples as you can write in a non-European setting. Europe is not the antithesis to diversity.

North America developed a certain way for a reason. It had the required fauna, space, resources, and climate to produce what it created. The old world developed a certain way for its own reasons, based off its own factors in the same categories.

You’re not really going to get them to blend very easily, and if you did, the fact there is such a strong European way-of-life preference (by picking places that mirror European society on the surface) makes me raise an eyebrow. It’s subtle, but very much there, and the fact you are ignorant to it shows me you still need to do more work before you go writing North American Indigenous Peoples.

Writing in Europe isn’t the problem, here. Writing a whitewashed, mythologized, everyone-not-white-is-a-caricature, ahistorical “Europe” is the problem. And you cannot fix this problem by simply painting European ways of life a different skin tone when the setting isn’t European. In fact, you’re perpetuating harm by doing that, because you are recreating the cultural evolutionism that calls anything you can find in Europe “better.” Indigenous cultures were vastly different from Europe, even if they shared similar trappings. 

Let North America exist without trying to shoehorn its most famous peoples into European analogues.

~ Mod Lesya