#it also seems like there may be different systems of belief when it comes to the angels and there titles

[waywardskychaser]

Not to ask obvious questions that may not be worth asking, but, in Good Omens Season 2, when we see Michael’s trial someone (can’t recall who) says something about how one prince (I think prince is what they say) being sent to hell is fine but two shows an institutional issue and Michael (being a prince) won’t be demoted to hell because of this. Is Satan/Lucifer (because from what I googled they seem to be the same in the Bible) the prince they are referring to as the first one to be cast out?

[under-lok-n-ki]

Captain Ava & Captain Lizzie

literally cannot wait until we get more development on this plot bc it’s so so good

also I got around to listening to the Black Rose One-shot and Lizzie was originally blonde??? ik her design was changed a lot during the campaign in general but I’m deciding to play around with that info—I’m thinking she started dying it after joining Shadowbeard’s crew

anyways thoughts I had about Ava/the Ferin’s while designing her (possible spoilers or maybe just incoherent rambling):

gave her a rifle bc I feel like she’d have sharpshooting capabilities on par with Drey, but a pistol just didn’t seem appropriate for her. but I also see her favoring close-range attacks so she also gets a big knife as a treat

I think it’s mentioned in an episode how Jay looks more like their mother, May, so personally I think Ava resembles Jayson much more with certain aspects (specifically height, nose shape, eye color, hair ‘style’— Jay got his more square-ish face shape and broad build; they both have the same eye shape)

expanding on that fiery hair ‘style’ thing— I’m thinking that’s smthn that just kinda comes with the Ferin abilities and I’m thinking those powers need to be unlocked in a way?? there’s no other reason I can think of as to why Jayson has the flaming hair and specific magic skills while Jay doesn’t, so I’m thinking Ava may have been more in-tune with/naturally drawn towards the Ferin magic (esp since we see her using that golden form during the animatic sequence in ep101) while Jay become more influenced by May’s magic (since I think she spent the most time with her esp after Ava’s death). maybe Jay and Drey suppress their Ferin abilities (Drey def intentionally, Jay maybe a bit unintentionally?) and it could kinda explain why Jay has special blood: she’s a mix of two [supposedly] powerful magical heritages

I also have this thought that Ava may have unlocked these powers earlier than most of the Ferin’s, resulting in a fate similar to Gillion’s where she was regarded with pride for this yet constantly pressured and trained into becoming a weapon for the Navy (perhaps by request of Grandma Fey, who seems to be a very controlling character and could be the reason Jayson acts so cold and ruthless). and when she failed to uphold their beliefs that’s when The Order was given (maybe they found out about her & Lizzie???)

BUT in comparison to Jayson who absorbed himself in his work, and Gillion who was forcibly separated from his family, Ava was able to visit home often and had May and Jay to lean on as a support system. that connection alone could’ve helped separate the brutality and violence of her work in the Navy from her actual personality—the one that she became admired for and the one Lizzie was drawn to. it could also be speculated that she had the same ideas as Kira and Jay: that she could make the Navy better from the inside (obv this would be more difficult if she was held to high expectations, but she could’ve been on her way to making it work)

speaking of Jay—I think I remember a moment where someone explains how Jayson didn’t want her to join the Navy at all, and I always thought this was odd considering how it was moreso pointed towards her rather than Ava (as well as the fact that the Ferin’s ostracize those who don’t join, like Drey). this would coincide with my theory that Ava was expected to join bc of ‘unlocking’ her powers early, so maybe Jayson didn’t want Jay joining due to the fact that she hadn’t tapped into her Ferin powers yet, but Jay being Jay decided to enlist anyways and eventually gained a different motivation for her involvement than the rest of the clan [thanks to Kira & Ava]. or there was another thing at play. idk kinda just throwing smthn at the wall with this one bc that little comment stood out to me and I can’t remember if it even happened lol

also do we think the whole ‘sun nightmare’ is like,,, a test to unlock those abilities?? we know Jay and Drey opted to jump into it which kinda resulted in some magic golden eye phenomena (which we’ve seen in action once by Drey), but the issue here is when Jay rejected the heat the first time it just resulted in pain. so what would’ve been the option that leads the Ferin bloodline to become so powerful? do they choose to combat the sun?? do they conjure up heat of their own until they overpower it??? so many questions

gaaahhh I can’t wait until they’re out of the Black Sea so we can delve into this more bc I’m tired of feelin like this:

[treasure-mimic]

Psychopomp and What Things Mean When They Don't Mean Anything

So if you haven't noticed or you don't follow me, I recently became interested in a small, one-man dev team indie game by name of Psychopomp. As a brief synopsis and pitch, Psychopomp is a game about a woman who seemingly suffers from paranoid delusions, through the lens of this narrator she tells us that there's a labyrinth of catacombs hidden underneath every public building and sets out to explore them to uncover the world's secrets, armed with nothing but a store bought hammer.

The game's intro puts it in words better than I could and more influential than any pitch is just seeing the protagonist's design.

As one commentator states, she looks like a skateboard mascot from the mid-2000s. Like she should be on those posters with a snarky quip just fucked up enough to catch those pearl clutching puritans off guard. I love the style and I love the tone and I love the premise.

This might be the best time to note that if you're interested in playing this game, you should stop reading here, as this discussion will contain spoilers. It's a short game, took me about 3 hours on my first playthrough, and it's pretty cheap, even has a free demo in the form of the base version with Psychopomp Gold serving as the expanded, completed experience.

Anyways.

I've always found conspiracy theories fascinating but in the modern age it can be hard to immerse yourself in these reality-detached belief systems without acknowledging, you know, the racist dogwhistling and tangible physical harm it's causing to society at the present moment. Psychopomp is able to pretty gracefully sidestep this issue by setting its anarchic anti-government sentiments against its protagonist's paranoid delusions rather than adherence to a faith or belief system.

Indeed, the game seems to take systemic beliefs as its central enemy. The entities that are necessary to kill to progress through its levels are defined by the systems they interact in, historical figures of elevated status, keystone positions in industrial manufacturing, even abstract systems like urbanism and DNA composition are posed as societal and oppressive. I'm not saying that there's no way to interpret the game in bad faith and make it directed at marginalized social, political, or ethnic groups, but I also struggle to imagine the person who takes the game literally on its face value?

Which I guess leads me to the main topic I wanted to discuss. The game very obviously has an unreliable narrator (for the record, the protagonist remains nameless for the bulk of the game, I will be referring to her as Venus as it's the closest she has to a name that's explicitly stated within the text itself) with the flavor of one whose intake of reality may be different from what's actually occurring. The game uses a combination of conspiratorial rambling and dream logic to stage its unreal tone; for example, one level delves into the "biology" of buildings, stating that they use graffiti to communicate and that black mold is a pheromone used to evacuate its inhabitants to allow for mating. Loading screens come with "Gameplay Tips" and "Real World Tips", both of which are often dense and inscrutable; for example you might get a pair like "Not all enemies are friends" and "Viruses do not exist. Illness is simply your body punishing you for what you've done wrong."

Surrealism and unreality as stylistic choices can be a bit of a tightrope walk to get right. On the one hand, if you make it explicit that a story takes place in a state that did not happen even within the story's universe, a dream or a hallucination, it can rob the narrative of its stakes, regardless of how well executed the internal metaphors are. Psychopomp very explicitly does not do this, regardless of what it is that Venus is experiencing, the game makes it clear through scientific logs and communications (as well as a brief epilogue set outside of her perspective) that something abnormal is happening, the question is just where in between normality and Venus's experiences does the truth of the game's narrative actually lie.

The other side of the tight rope is literal interpretation, presenting a setting that's absurd to our sensibilities but tangibly explainable, where meaning is supplanted by lore and the cosmology begins to solidify into a set of Calvinball rules that don't make sense, but are still adhered to, and this is the side Psychopomp threatens to lose me on. There is a credible argument to be made that there is no difference, that what Venus is experiencing is her reality without warping and distortion, it's a more credible argument than saying she completely fabricated all of it, and it's an argument I was starting to wonder wasn't the intended interpretation. Until I got the game's second, secret ending.

Psychopomp has one collectible that doesn't serve a direct gameplay purpose, but each catacomb has a key hidden away, often behind false mimic walls that bleed and scream when you hit them with your hammer, and which unlock new rooms in the only permanent location "Home". Initially a gray, cubical, concrete room with a single mattress and a small table with a radio on it, collecting keys allows you to further explore outside(?)/within(?) the home with a unique camera perspective and limited interaction. In the first layer there's a blob man who cries out in torment, demanding to know why you specifically made the world like this, giving some credence to the deification of Venus implied by the game's ending. In the last layer, Venus traverses underneath and past her own brain to unlock a repressed memory.

I take this as confirmation that there's some level of abstraction at play here. Under scrutiny it feels as though there must be some level of abstraction at play here because when taken as a whole, the conspiracies start becoming outright contradictory, even if you try to take the cosmology at play as fact, which are the closest thing to objective facts that we have.

See, Venus's perspective takes place an alternate Earth, one that both seemingly was broken off from the planet and now orbits it like a new moon but also has always existed. One of the locations is a natural history museum which explains the history of sentience on this counter-earth, humans rose, went extinct, were supplanted by a species called the thrait, then humans returned in a mutated form and retook the surface and forced the thrait back underground (though the museum also refers to the thrait as extinct despite being the most common friendly NPC you will encounter). Another location seems to imply that the humans of this world, or maybe only some of them, are artificial clay creatures, reinforced by the arbiters of the DNA factory too being clay alleles. The Human Seedbed even has the game's most effective jumpscare in it, where Venus cannot leave the area without being confronted with a jittering clay facsimile of herself.

But with that in mind, what the hell is Venus then? By no account is she one of these artificial clay people but then how did she get here? The game's introduction implies that she used to be a normal person, or at least closer to, with lived experiences inclusive of complete ignorance to this underworld, the game's endings imply that she's an immortal god-being who has been intentionally working towards her own reawakening, and that is actually one of the least ambiguous plot points within the narrative. None of the pieces of this world lock together to form a cohesive vision of a setting that operates on even the barest of internal rules, and yet the game in the same step refuses to be a character study or subconscious examination, I mean the epilogue is a damn sequel hook that involves assembling the damn Avengers to combat the ramifications of the events of the game.

So, I come to realize, I'm the problem. I might, in fact, be thinking about this too hard.

One of the locations in the game is called "Daddy's Bad Place". It is a single, tiny room of a house or apartment, frozen in a moment of tearing itself apart, that only contains a dusty old TV set with a small, pointless ornament sitting on top. In any other surrealist game, this isolated circle of clarity, a compact orb of recognizable terrain, would be a moment to deliver one single jolt of reality into the metaphor of the protagonist's journey through their own subconscious.

In Psychopomp the TV turns on and delivers a distorted warning about a giant insect which is deadly, deceitful, and above all, not real.

In Daddy's Bad Place I come to realize something. The lore is fake, the characterization is fake, the dichotomy of truth and delusion is fake, the insect is not real. Let's think about what I'm doing here for a moment, right? I'm trying to discern the truth from within a work of fiction. None of its true, none of it happened, what difference does it actually make?

The thing about conspiracy theories is that they don't make logical sense. It's a known phenomenon that conspiracy theorists love to debate, but cannot be reasoned out of their beliefs by facts or logic. There is never a counter, but always a failsafe argument that can be retreated to for safety. What conspiracy theories do make is emotional sense, they make narrative sense. The line that initially sold me on Psychopomp was one of the aforementioned loading screen tips, "All the food you've ever eaten is rotten. You have never tasted fresh food."

Patently false statement, does not hold under scrutiny, but I, as someone who lives in America and lives in a city center and has to get all my food through corporations, can look at a statement like that and say yeah. Checks out. I believe you. We would know if children were being smelted into egg slicers underneath public schools, but it resonates with our emotions about the systems of education we enforce upon children, so it could be true. We would know if buildings were a living, reproducing organism, but it resonates with the feelings of being born into a world where urbanism exists, has existed as permanent fixtures of the world, and is continuously encroaching upon the face of the world, so it could be true.

Anyone who understands the fundamentals of incentives and human psychology does not need to believe that there is a coordinated group of ontologically evil individuals driving the world to ruin for ruin's sake, but that narrative still feels true, it becomes validating in the ways that it plays off of the emotions of believers until it becomes a foundational pillar of belief that cannot be destroyed by logical contradiction.

Psychopomp, in the same way, presents information about its internal systems that cannot be true logically but form self-justification anyways through emotional resonance. It doesn't matter if the lore works because its stated, it isn't wrong, so it must be a truth. This is the way that Psychopomp emulates the unreality of the conspiracy theory in a way that can avoid the disturbing implications of the real world practice. I've made comparison to surrealism by dream logic and surrealism by internal self-reflection, but this is a different mode entirely and the game simply refuses to operate by those tropes at its core. Conspiracy is itself contradiction, not the soft contradiction of two halves of a dream that don't lock together, but the hard contradiction of attempting to apply emotion and narrative to a waking world that rejects either premise. Psychopomp, then, is surrealism by way of conspiracy.

[savaralyn2]

Regarding the topic of monsters outside dungeons, there is a good deal of evidence to suggest that they are not outlandish or exceptional, but also not super common. For example (some spoilers below):

There is a notable amount of culture, beliefs etc surrounding monsters (they exist in suitable numbers to have implications for the lives of people semi-regularly).

Senshi discusses the taste difference of monsters in the dungeon and outside (seeming to suggest that various monsters exist both in dungeons and in the outside world).

Melini has monsters along its border in such numbers that they present a kind of unintentional defense against outside aggressions (seemingly because Laios' influence pushes them out of Melini itself, but they have no reason to wander farther than that), seeming to indicate that monsters can survive in the outside world rather decently, and exist in non-trivial numbers. Laios also notes that monsters, specifically, seem to be able to survive in environments unlivable for normal animals (for example in a salted wasteland with no sources of food).

There's other stuff too, but that comes to mind quickly. My rough estimation would be that a normal person in a settled area might not expect to see monsters with regularity, but most people likely have encountered a monster, or know about someone in their sphere who did (and in certain places this is likely much more common).

Sometimes in fan circles, there's a kind of assumption that the supernatural elements in DunMeshi are almost solely in the dungeons, but there's plenty of magic and supernatural elements depicted as part of the various cultures that clearly aren't just for dungeons (for example, a trained mage might become a graveyard keeper due to the restless dead, and the Eastern Archipelago has magic systems, despite explicitly being very poor in dungeons and monsters).

I would also, like you, assume it has to do with mana density between areas, in large parts. Since dungeons are what tends to generate mana (due to the ecosystem inside it allowing a lot of mana sprites to spawn and all that, essentially), we may assume that a dungeon "leaks" mana into the world. Natural dungeons likely form when a suitably sheltered location attracts monsters that form an ecosystem inside, stabilizing into a kind of new mana sprite breeding ground.

Good takes, honestly.

Only thing I'd say is that modern Melini may be something of an outlier due to the fact that the dungeon implosion flooding basically that whole area with magic power would presumably having a lasting effect (as we see with the fact that Yaad and the GK residents are still alive a year past the end of the manga), even if it slowly ebbs back to normal over time. Laios's monster repelling aura keeps monsters out of the kingdom/main city itself, but them gathering around the outskirts definitely shows that the land steeped with magic is drawing them in like a magnet anyways. I'd guess once enough time passes the country won't really NEED Laios's power to keep monsters away since the magic will have reached a point where the monsters go back to regular numbers along with the regular magic levels.

[sunderingstars]

hello~ I really like reading your theories on Sampo because I also have been deep diving the strangeness of his (and Aha's) existence. I'm not done reading all your theories but here are some random thoughs I wanted to drop

As a little note - I find it interesting that he has themes of love while Aha is one of the only aeons to have an explicit romantic interest (Xipe/Ena).

i also have a hard time believing the interpretations about Aha. Much of what we know about the Aeon's is second-hand. Simulations in themself are from recorded pieces of information. The records of the XL are very biased imo just due to the nature of interpretting divinity as well as the bias shown towards some dieties and against others. From what it seems like, Aha likes jokes, but almost all of his actions and the actions of his followers in the down-stream have prevent atrocities -

Rubert -

For example, during Emperor Rubert's campaign, Aha's believers kicked off another riot after the Philosopher Union was reduced to the domain of inorganic life, infecting the conqueror's computer systems with another troll virus called the "Philosopher's Poison" and overthrowing the local robot army.

Aha laughing at his death. Literally a riot, which may not have had huge impact but overthrew a whole army at a point in time when it was most important.

Soul Glad & Penacony

-Masked fools at one point released soul glad to wake up members of penacony. was said to be a joke but we all know how penacony ended. Sparkle was also in penacony with aventurine to help uncover what was going on with the family.

The Worm

-People claim aha is nonsensical because of the worm but this was in response to a spider being in the genius society.

there is also an SU occurrence that comes up every so often and when SU!Aha helps against polka where you adopt a sentient worm and try to take care of it.

I swear I saw something else about this darned worm and the genius society member #29 i believe.

-The Unshackled ( i don't remeber this event but dlkfjsd)

Another person on the XL who was a masked fool was messing with individuals who released creatures of abundance into the wild.

even the masked fools have a lot of strange details about them from outside sources, but their actions have been helpful it seems? Not to mention Sampo's eerie premonition about something horrible about to happen with Jarilo-IV.

idk to me Aha doesn't seem as nonsensical as the records make him out to be. it's like his "pranks" are taken at surface level but it's even acknowledge that he works in a butterfly-effect type of way.

hi !! 🪐 thank you for taking interest in my theories — i always love when i can encourage sampo / aha brainrot!

i definitely agree with the weird quality of how aha is perceived by others; back when i had more aha!sampo theories, one of the things i thought about the most was how… different aha!sampo seemed to be than how aha is usually depicted by groups like the masked fools!

even though my theories have shifted a bit, i still think the way “mortals” in hsr view “immortals” (aeons) may not be entirely accurate unless you’re talking to an emanator or an aeon themself. (for example, i���m not super inclined to assume the parable of aha’s rise to aeonhood is based on fact since it was created and spread by the masked fools, and seems to confirm their pre-existing beliefs!)

while it’s entirely possible that aha acts exactly like others expect them to, i think it’s also just as likely that they don’t. like you said at the end, aha very much seems to operate in a “butterfly effect” way, meaning their plans may seem incomprehensible or “surface-level” to others, when in reality they are operating with the higher machinations of a god! i feel like the only way to know for sure is to actually meet them — or at least speak to an emanator, which i’m hoping sampo is / was.

i also agree that the masked fools (and especially sampo) have helped us out quite a bit, despite their proclivity for fanaticism. as with aha, i think it can be easy to assume they are only invested in surface-level chaos, but with penacony shaking out the way it did, i think they aren’t quite as bad as a lot of people in-universe make them out to be. they’re chaotic, sure, and i absolutely believe they are capable of doing messed up things in the name of their cause, but they’re also just as likely to end up helping someone in the process.

basically, wild cards are wild cards — they can be good and bad, and just as capable of planning things out meticulously as not!

also, i haven’t run across that worm occurrence but man i really want to now !! it sounds super interesting — especially the adoption part! honestly, i think the worm is a great example of how complex aha as a character and aeon is. it’s difficult to wade through the different perspectives of aha (as mentioned earlier) to reach an objective course of events, but it seems that aha had both intent and knowledge when creating the worm.

for a while, i too considered the worm to be completely random and surface-level, probably because of how absurd the idea is. however, me being me and analyzing literally everything into pieces, i eventually realized that it was different than i’d originally thought.

i feel like there’s a layer of plausible deniability when thinking of the worm as a random, chaotic joke; aha isn’t really seen as an aeon so much as a glorified cosmic child, unaware of the consequences of their actions. but again, as we’ve been talking about, that’s not really how they operate. it’s a lot more unsettling to think about the fact that the worm was premeditated — aha created a sentient being knowing it couldn’t survive without them, and once that being failed to accomplish what they wanted, they tossed it aside to die. they knew, and they did it anyways.

to me, aha seems to have a striking amount of thought put into some of the “jokes” they do. i have no doubt they do things on impulse as well, but especially considering doll!sampo and how the elation seems to be “guiding” the trailblazer in a way, it also seems like aha has a complex understanding of how events will play out. very interesting stuff !!

anyways, thanks for theorizing with me & thanks for letting me ramble LOL, i have a lot of thoughts about mr. sampo and aha !!

[discourse-by-candlelight]

This may be a controversial post, but it's something we think plural tumblr has not really grasped for quite a while so we may as well comment on it.

Fellow Endos, if you are not a tulpamantic/created system, you should probably not speak with any authority when it comes to what can/should be done or not relating to it, or the potential risks/benefits. Much like how some DID systems point out that their plurality is quite different from the majority of endogenic plurals, tulpamancy formed systems also function differently than other plural types you'll see on this platform. This might not seem obvious at first, but it does become more clear once you look past tumblr, where the majority of tulpamancers are mixed origin systems, and instead peer into the dedicated tulpamancy community. The norms are different, the discussions on system morality and philosophical perspectives are different, they are not 1 to 1 with average endo community beliefs and ideals. Also, no Sophie is not the average template for what a tulpamantic system looks like. Even she would probably say as much if you asked her. Neither are we. The tulpamancy community is not a monolith, but even then, Sophie and us are outliers for even being on this platform and in this community. The average tulpamancer doesn't interact much with other plurals.

We would never tell a protogenic system what their experiences should or should not be like, or what they should or should not do with any authority. Please give tulpas and tulpamancers, or any flavor of created system for that matter, the same respect.

[chaoticace2005]

I’ve seen a lot of people talking about how the exorcists look like demons, and while I do understand where the complaint is coming from I also wanted to talk about how them looking like that kind of supports the narrative.

I’m going to start this off by staying this is from a perspective looking at the narrative presented to us in the Hellaverse, not any specific religion because 1) I am an atheist who doesn’t have the knowledge or background for making any calls on that and 2) the canon hasn’t confirmed this adheres to a specific belief system. There’s Adam and Eve and Hell and Heaven and yes, but this show arguably works as a parody of all of that.

Now that that’s established, I want to bring up one of the main points in the show: the idea that those in Heaven and Hell aren’t that different. In Helluva we’re shown the experiences of hell-born, and we even see cherubs later on who seem to fulfill the parallel role of them in Heaven (with the IMP vs CHERUB fight.) We also know that Lucifer was an angel in this canon. So some of the characters with the most authority in those domains are from the same stock.

The main difference seems to be punishment. Lucifer was punished for his actions and was given those who were deemed “Sinners.” The Hell born seem to be just natives living there and many seem to be products of their environment. So while Sinners may be “bad” and Winners “good”, all those born in Heaven or Hell have no reason for being there.

Whether exorcists are brought to heaven or made there, there is still that view of superiority. The way Lute talks makes it clear she’d be willing to kill the hellborn if she could, despite them not having done anything to be there like the Sinners. It’s similar to how some people born into high economic status view those born into lower. It’s just luck of the draw but now you have access to different opportunities and that influences the way you view others. Those born in Heaven probably look at those born in Hell and argue that if hellborn aren’t bad, then why does Hell suck? Ignoring the fact that Hell is established for the purpose of containing Sinners, who often end up being more powerful that the majority of hellborn.

Even some of the Sinners likely fall into that issue where people who gave to endure harsher environments may have to resort to more extreme measures to get by, and then punishment for it just causes them to need to do even more because their conditions worsened. As seen with the rate of people who keep returning to prison. With Hell some may have fallen down this path (think of Angel, who was born into a crime family, it’s likely a lot easier to fall into drug addiction then when you have access and more things you’d like to forget, but drug addiction can be a slippery slope and the other stuff he needed to do to survive basically condemned him.) Obviously not all Sinners fall into this category and are just monstrous pieces of shit, but they likely isn’t the case for everyone.

Then, once you get to Hell it’s essentially a larger prison, except you aren’t separated and are given powers, causing some of the more malicious individuals to rise up and acquire power, making it even more of a nightmare for everyone else. This continues that cycle of having to do certain things to survive. Similar to have in jail that fear of getting hurt by some violent people make you align yourself with slightly less violent people. Except now in Hell there’s that added issue: there’s no escape.

(Also, Hell is a prison but you STILL have to pay rent and work to survive, so you really get the added stress of both worlds.)

Anyway, this whole cycle causes a similar effect to the growing class disparity we see in many countries. Those on top (Heaven) continue to have power while those lower have to deal with most of the burden. Reinforcing that belief in exorcists that Heaven is “good” and Hell is “bad” because they are unable to see the full picture. They just see it as “they blew their shot” without thinking of why that may be or considering the people who didn’t even have a choice being there— like how some people blame others in poverty for being that way because “they are lazy.” That’s not even remotely the full picture. But because certain things come easy for you it’s hard to understand why it can’t come easy for others.

Exorcists are then given the excuse and opportunity to kill others, people who they believe are lesser than them. And some take genuine joy out of it, yet they continue to see themselves as the “good guys” because that’s what they are and the others “deserve it.” And this shows how when some people are given the opportunity and reason to be assholes they’ll take it- millionaires don’t HAVE to exploit their employees, but they view it as being to their benefit and helping the bottom line.

So now, both exorcists and those in hell have reason and excuse to be violent, albeit for very different reasons. Yet because of this exorcists are still “good” and those in hell are “bad.” And this is largely because of the lack of consequences for their actions. Heaven reinforces their behavior, before episode 8 there was no push back from Hell, so they could continue to use their reasoning as an excuse to kill others.

They’re blind and don’t see it though. They only see the world from one perspective, which is ironic given the exorcist mask is missing an eye. They can put masks on and hurt others and then take them off without dealing with the consequences. They “go down” to the level of the very people they despise and then write it all off, because they have the comfort of taking their masks off at the end. Of having a choice.

It’s also interesting how their masks don’t resemble sinners but Hellborn. Which almost reminds me of mocking another’s culture while actively hurting them. They may not be able to physically hurt hellborn, but they’re still viewed through the same lens as Sinners. They’re still “bad.” So exorcists can don caricatures of their appearances, go around “pretending” to be them by committing violent acts, and when they’re done they can take it off. As I’m writing this I’m now thinking about how in the past black-face has been used to reinforce racist stereotypes, making racist caricatures.

This also camouflage in a way, maybe they were previously asked to “fit in” before things got all crazy, and when told to look for “demon disguises” they all fall back onto the stereotype and dressed up like that.

The usage of exorcists wearing demon-looking masks could be them both “playing bad” while also clearly showing the fact that at the core people aren’t so different. For as much as they hate those in hell, they’re just as likely to fall into the same traps and patterns as them.

Having written this all now, I wanted to bring up Vaggie. Vaggie who took her exorcist mask off to show sympathy for someone only to be punished and marked with an “X” that mirrors her mask. Vaggie who previously was part of the “elite”, where she could forgo consequences until she couldn’t for not following them and was cast out, being permanently marked. Vaggie, who was previously allowed given the gift to “play bad” due to being in Heaven, but when she was cast out “playing bad” wasn’t an option anymore. Taking off her mask can’t get rid of mistakes anymore, and now she has to display them for the world to see.

I don’t know if the “X” was intentional on her part or irony, but if she did choose it it could also be her recognizing her role in the system. Her realizing she can’t go back and using the “X” to remind her of what she’s done. Because she doesn’t have the luxury of pretending she’s a good person anymore— she doesn’t want to forget.

[moirindeclermont]

Daily thread about BridgertonS3 and are we ready to talk about trauma?? A short disclaimer, I'm not a mental health provider nor I want to diagnose them. My following observation is just my theories about them and how about certain things may affect their relationship. Also, this is only based on the show, so if in the books it is different I would not know.

The thing is Colin has obviously a big trauma, which is Edmund's death. That's the biggest one for sure, but he is also a very passionate person and, through the seasons, no one listen to him when it talks about his travels. It's not as big as a parent's d3ath, but it does something to one self esteem to have the people lost close to you brushing aside your passion. And then there is the Marina scheme, which also left a mark. The guy is deeply scared someone is going to fool him again.

Pen, on the other hand, has a life of microagression. Yes, being ignored is part of that. But also the whole behavior of the Ton, her sisters and her mother, Cressida. Feeling that alone all the time leaves a sign. There is an episode of Buffy in which the girl who is feeling alone actually turns invisible... That might have happen to Pen too is Bridgerton was another show.

So, when they enter in their relationship, they are both deeply insecure about the other feeling. Pen asks esplicitly "are you sure?" to Colin's declaration because, for her, that someone stand up to her and declare their love is absolutely impossible, up until that moment. Colin is also insecure, continuously asking if she returns his feelings, that it's okay if she doesn't, because for him that a person might actually listen to him is also out of this world.

They cope in different ways. Pen has learn to do everything on her own, never asking for help, being hyper independent. When you learn that you need to do thing alone because no one will come for your help, trusting people back into your life, asking for help, it seems impossible. You may feel like a burden, a weak person who cat stand up to themselves. Relearning to trust is a process. She needs to learn that she can count on Colin, she is not alone anymore.

Colin copes by trying to feel useful all the time. Also, by trying to appeal to people by changing his persona. He needs to feel like he can do something, like he can't possibly believe that someone might love him for all the things people always judge him for. He also have trust issues, but he copes by trying to make himself indispensable. He needs to learn that Pen loves him because of all the things all the other people made fun of him for.

In that sense, their deep friendship allows them both to get over some of their trauma, at least for a bit. But, after the first real conflict comes on (LW), the both return to their own coping system. The resolution can only happen the moment they both do the work and incorporate into their belief system that theirs is a true partnership. Only then Colin can let go of the envy and the anger and Pen can learn to accept its support and take accountability.

In this sense, this is perhaps the most healthy dynamic on the show, one I'm so grateful to be witness to. And it's healthy not because there is no conflict - that s not what healthy is - but because conflict is used to make the work and grow, that is what makes this healthy.

And I can't help to fall in love with their love a bit more, knowing that now they are both secure in their partnership.

[sophieinwonderland]

At best plurality is akin to a philosophy, or way of life. No way of life is “truth” necessarily, though people tend to believe that their own way is The way. It’s an alternative explanation for natural brain phenomenon. Internal dialogue is normal; however, one can choose to decipher the “other” as separate if that so pleases them. As social beings, having internal dialogues is incredibly useful. They can help broaden one’s perspective of a situation, to see another side. It can also be helpful for brainstorming, in the creative process. And of course, it’s useful from a mental health perspective, such as managing depression or anxiety. I have “voices” in my head all the time. If I’m overly anxious about something, I might tell myself to chill in a manner that isn’t my typical tone or manner, and yes it can appear to come from “outside” me. What my brain is doing is borrowing from its environment. I could of course decide to focus on this “voice” and draw it out as its own separate entity. However, I don’t see the usefulness of that. That’s then living inside my own head, rather than being present in the here and now. I spent my whole youth living inside my head and all that did was isolate me. I find living in the here and working to forge connections with my environment and the people around me brings me a much higher quality of life. Again though, that is me and what makes sense for where I am in this current stage of my life.

It can be dangerous to spread this kind of rhetoric, that plurality is an objective reality, when you have a platform that may attract younger minds not yet fully developed. This way of thinking can create a hinderance in their development. It’s one thing to talk about it as something you experience that helps you. It’s an entirely other to encourage it in hopes of propagating it. The most current research shows, for example, that encouraging the idea of separate identities to clients actually hurts their progress.

First, before we get into the bulk of what you're saying, this blog is a fact first zone. If there is a study out there that has shown empirically that encouraging the idea of separate identities is harmful then I would like to see it and know what methods they used to come to such a conclusion.

So far, internal family systems has been shown to help people. Tulpamancy is shown to help people. And while DID specialists do tend to recommend treating them as parts of one whole person, they also paradoxically want to approach each alter as a separate individual to build up communication between the system.

Many spiritual beliefs that involve speaking to some invisible other have shown positive results as well.

So if you have research showing that people treating different identities as separate is harmful then it's up to you to show it. As of right now I have no reason to take your word for it.

With that out of the way, I really find this whole argument you're making to be pretty... basic.

Despite what you say, I don't think a majority of people actually have multiple autonomous voices in their head. Aside from, perhaps, when they're sleeping. (Whole other can of worms there.)

Having these separate agents with their own memories and senses of self is not nearly a philosophy. It is a psychological phenomenon, and one that occurs cross-culturally. Yes, some cultures will say that it is a spiritual possession, just like an earlier anon mentioned that they used to consider the people they communicate with ghosts. But if you look deeper and get past people's own personal explanations for what they experience, what you will find is a lot of commonality between these phenomena, regardless of whether somebody gives a spiritual or psychological explanation.

At the same time though, this does not seem to apply to everybody. There are singlets out there who are just one person. They may be different in different circumstances as people are. But they don't experience the type of experiences that are described by plurals and wouldn't relate to them.

To reduce plurality to just being a philosophical concept does a disservice to it. Because plurality isn't merely philosophical but has very distinct psychological characteristics and understanding how plurality works might help to solve some of the greatest mysteries about how human brains in general function.

[justadeadreaper]

CW: Gore, Death, Puke, Decaying flesh, Buboes, Blood, Description of the symptoms of the different plagues in The Black Death, Gruesome description of how the representation would look like, Please tell me if anything that should be put as a warning was not, thanks.

The most feared plague in history, The Black Death.

Mainly the bubonic plague mixed with its two more deadly brothers the pneumonic plague and septicemic plague. It was the deadliest plague of the time as it ran through Europe, Africa, and Asia and conquered any village, town, and city it found itself in, flooding the streets with blood, mucus, and rotted flesh as once healthy humans dropped dead from the plague that seemed to come from nowhere before it dragged everyone to the Hell it had seemed to have spawned from. It did not care who you were, it did not discriminate, rich or poor, loved or hated, known or not, it would blow out the little life that you had. It thrived off the fear and only seemed to grow stronger as another soul joined the long chain of victims that had already succumbed to the disease. Anywhere from twenty to sixty percent of the population of the time was taken by it.

The perpetrator? Yersinia pestis. The carriers? Fleas. The spreader? Rats but some say it could have actually been hamsters that were stowaways. But how were the rats able to spread? Trading ships that jumped from town to town leaving a deadly gift as it sailed away that would lead to the death of all that were unfortunate enough to live there.

Now you may ask what would happen if you were to catch it and let me tell you it was living torture. It would start with a simple flea bite but that flea was infected with Yersinia pestis causing it to build a barrier in its stomach so no blood could be digested or go into its stomach causing it to build up and be infected by the bacteria, and this blood would be thrown back up by the flea onto the wound infecting it as it would be absorbed into the bloodstream. From entering the bloodstream it could take one of three routes: the lymphatic system, continuing through the bloodstream, or directly to the lungs. If you were lucky enough for it to infect your lymphatic system then you had a sixty percent chance of dying meaning you had a forty percent chance of surviving. Even though you had more chances of surviving it did not mean that you were saved from not suffering, from one to seven, or if you were lucky eight, days of contracting the disease was when it would show symptoms. At first it would trick you into the false belief that you only had the flu. You would have a general feeling of being ill, lethargic and weak which only grew into worse fatigue as the days went on, followed by chills and a high fever which anyone would know just seems to be like a normal cold but then that soon developed into muscle cramps in your aching limbs as seizures overtook the body. Then it would present the symptom that gave it the name the bubonic plague, buboes. These were when the lymph nodes would balloon to become large, painful, smoothe swellings which would occur near the original area of infection alongside the groin, neck, and armpits which would continue to grow until they burst. You also had the issue of your skin slowly beginning to necrotise as it died alongside the lenticulae which were small black dots that would be scattered across your body and gangrene took over your lips, nose, toes, and fingers which all caused severe pain to the point you would rather die there and then instead of waiting it out to see if you had the lucky chance of surviving. Of course there were other symptoms like heavy breathing as your lungs felt like they were being held down by rocks, your own body becoming like the flea as it would start to vomit gallons of infected blood, coughing, gastrointestinal problems, and spleen inflammation, but in some cases even the sleep would be disturbed to the point of insomnia where sleep would be impossible to get as your were forced to stay awake to feel all the pain that riddled your body. But then the worst of the systems came at the final stage as delirium came and took over any rational thought as all organs began to fail from the disease overcoming them and causing them to shut down which only led to a coma, but it all ended the same way, death.

If you were unlucky enough for it to infect your lungs first or just infect your lungs before the other systems became worse then you had a ninety-five percent chance of dying meaning you had a five percent chance of surviving. To make the pneumonic plague even worse you could develop it even after being infected by either the bubonic plague or the septicemic plague; it could also be caught from not just it infecting your lungs after a bite which infected the bloodstream but by also breathing in air borne droplets of the bacteria from another thing that was riddled with the plague. As it would normally be caught after having bubonic or septicemic plague it meant that at first you would present all the symptoms from the other plagues before experiencing the specifics of the pneumonic plague. At first you would think you have a fever but a severe one as headaches, nausea, and weakness run rampant as if it was trying to warn you that this would be no normal bubonic or septicemic plague. Luckily compared to the bubonic plague the time you would suffer with this plague was a great short, even though it would take around three to seven days before the symptoms showed as soon as the symptoms worsened or even showed you could guarantee that you would be dead within thirty-six hours, most likely less. You would be constantly vomiting for three days straight as your lungs slowly began to feel as if they were being sewn shut at each bronchus, only leading to each breath becoming shorter and shorter as you seemed to constantly be coughing and rasping for the tiniest bit of unrestrained air. Then soon enough your lungs would spew out a bloody and watery mess that would stain your tongue with its mercury taste which you would continue to cough out in between the vomiting until you went into shock as your full respiratory tract went into failure and just stopped, finally leading to death.

But if you were the most unfortunate person alive on Earth at the time that every God seemed to hate since it stayed in your bloodstream and completely infected your blood it meant you had no chance of surviving as you had a hundred percent chance of dying. It made the other two diseases seem like child’s play as it normally only took around fourteen hours before it shut down the body, worse of all it could even kill you without showing any of the symptoms. Like the others you would think it was a common cold due to the fever, chills, and low blood pressure but soon enough severe abdominal pain would set in as it felt like you were dying due to the extreme amount of diarrhea which would be accompanied by nausea that only led to severe vomiting. But soon enough the vomit and diarrhea would be filled with blood until it was fully red as the body lost most of its clotting resources from the tiny blood clots that had formed throughout the body so it could no longer control the blood which started to bleed into the skin and organs creating red or black patches of rashes or bumps which could be seen on the skin. The blood clotting also caused necrosis as tissue and organs would die from the lack of blood flow as it all leaked into where it should not, the most obvious spots of the decay were the gangrene in the fingers, nose, and toes. Then the bleeding would extend from not just bleeding in the body but blood coming out from the rectum but most noticeably the mouth and nose where it would come out like a waterfall. Obviously due to the blood leaking into everything it would cause difficulty breathing as it would fill the lungs and deprive it of the blood outside the lungs that was needed to exchange the carbon dioxide for oxygen. And with no blood to deliver the oxygen needed for the organs to live they all would go into organ failure causing the body to go into shock before the final moments where everything went back as it was taken over by death.

As it can be seen all of them had the same outcome, death.

Luckily nowadays the plagues are a simple pest if the person has access to treatment to stop it from progressing further but at the time that The Black Death ran rampant no one had the luxury of those treatments leading most to die who caught it. Masses upon masses of bodies continued to build up only attracting more of the rats then the ones that had already been attracted to the large towns by the excrement and rotting butcher’s meat that made a river through the streets. With more rats that withered away from the disease it just meant more fleas would jump to more human hosts to use which only led to more living corpses to roam the streets as the disease turned people into skeletons while still living before turning them into an actual corpse.

It was understandable as to why humans of the time would be so scared of such a thing as to them it just seemed like their fellow mortals were dropping like lowly flies that would eat away at the flyblown flesh that continued to pile away in mass graves to create more nests for their larvae and eggs to incubate inside. Imagine the terror and fear that must have filled their minds as they did not understand pathogens at the time, to them it would have seemed like divine wrath but no one could think of a reason as to why their Almighty would betray them like this as everyone appeared to be on their best behaviour. They needed something to blame. They found something to blame. 

Simple rumours turned into truths.

Somewhere in England there was said to be a village. Small, nothing of concern as it was like every other village of the time. Like every other village it had a butcher, a silent man who was rumoured to once be a knight but no one knew why he was not anymore. He tended to be quiet, avoiding others who were not his friends and family. It was said that he loved his nephew and that if he had enough swigs of barley that you could get him singing and dancing on the roof or you could convince him to give you his primest cuts of meat. He was deemed as normal, he was like everyone else, until one day.

No one knew what happened. It was supposed to be a joyous day to celebrate the coming of winter but it was far from that. Nearly the whole family was found butchered with a precision only expected to be known by a trained killer. The lower left leg and most of the fingers of the right hand of the older brother laid in a puddle of blood but they could not find the rest of his body; the mutilated body of the brother’s wife was spread around slightly from each different part as if when she was being attacked the culprit had went after another member while still holding onto the part it was hacking off; the body of their son was curled into the corner clutching onto the leg of his mother while out of the stab holes that covered his body in ten folds nearly making him unidentifiable oozed out blood into a bloody puddle that collected around his body; and finally the grandmother of the family who was found decapitated in her rocking chair with her head being found outside within the well. The only one not found dead was the butcher and when he returned, covered in blood, everyone turned their suspicions to him. When he tried to explain that he had been out hunting but had been attacked by a large grey man no one believed him, especially when they saw the crazed look within his eyes that could only be produced by when they had let Beelzebub into their soul. Everyone agreed to grab their pitchforks and chase him out so no more could be hurt.

It was only a few months before the figure started to appear across the world. People from the village murmured to other villages and beyond when they heard what the figure looked like in its earlier stage that they believed it to be the same butcher infected with the plague of Beelzebub to infect the world with their sin to bring more to Hell. Everyone believed him to be the reason for the spread of the plague. It was said that if you were to see him within the fields outside of any town, village, or city that all the inside were destined to die. 

The Ghost of The Black Death.

A figure that would strike the fear into the hearts of all.

A horde of rats followed behind him in trails as flies buzzed around his head, if he was near you would always see a Black Shuck which commanded a storm alongside it as if they were his hounds of doom brought along to give the townsfolk warning of their dire fates and to pray to the Almighty while they were still apart.

A black coat hid the majority of his body as bloodied rags of old hunting gear of a peasant hung off of skeletal remains with a jaw hanging off his neck as if it was a necklace as it was tied there with rope. Messy blonde hair spread out in all directions as blood leaked out from the tear ducts in a false mockery of the tears that millions had split in their last moments. No nose or bottom jaw could be found, decayed off long ago. The face looked skeletal as teeth, gums, and a tongue were exposed to the bitter air that reeked of death and loss as the cheeks were tattered in form as more skin continued to flake off as it continued to decays; once blue eyes so full of life were left sunken, dead as if they were another victim that had succumb to the plague that the Ghost was said to bring alongside him. A trail of buboes surrounded his neck as if it was a noose to which he could hang himself with as the tail was marked by a diversion of buboes that wrapped around and under his arms to around his groyne. His spine and ribs jutted out for all to see underneath the greyed skin which was littered with blackened patches of decay as branches of red veins leaked and bleed out to leave a path of blood in his wake for all to track him by. Still, as he rotted away, vague faints of the muscular body that had been far gone from its prime lingered where it once remained. The bottom of his calves with his feet and the bottom of his forearms with his hands had turned black and mummified from the decay and gangrene that had taken them over, leaving no remaining sensations within the hands to feel the warmth of a human ever again for the rest of eternity.

If you were to see him late at night, staring into your soul you better pray that The Ghost does not turn you into another soul like him.

[mariacallous]

It’s now well understood that generative AI will increase the spread of disinformation on the internet. From deepfakes to fake news articles to bots, AI will generate not only more disinformation, but more convincing disinformation. But what people are only starting to understand is how disinformation will become more targeted and better able to engage with people and sway their opinions.

When Russia tried to influence the 2016 US presidential election via the now disbanded Internet Research Agency, the operation was run by humans who often had little cultural fluency or even fluency in the English language and so were not always able to relate to the groups they were targeting. With generative AI tools, those waging disinformation campaigns will be able to finely tune their approach by profiling individuals and groups. These operatives can produce content that seems legitimate and relatable to the people on the other end and even target individuals with personalized disinformation based on data they’ve collected. Generative AI will also make it much easier to produce disinformation and will thus increase the amount of disinformation that’s freely flowing on the internet, experts say.

“Generative AI lowers the financial barrier for creating content that’s tailored to certain audiences,” says Kate Starbird, an associate professor in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington. “You can tailor it to audiences and make sure the narrative hits on the values and beliefs of those audiences, as well as the strategic part of the narrative.”

Rather than producing just a handful of articles a day,  Starbird adds, “You can actually write one article and tailor it to 12 different audiences. It takes five minutes for each one of them.”

Considering how much content people post to social media and other platforms, it’s very easy to collect data to build a disinformation campaign. Once operatives are able to profile different groups of people throughout a country, they can teach the generative AI system they’re using to create content that manipulates those targets in highly sophisticated ways.

“You’re going to see that capacity to fine-tune. You’re going to see that precision increase. You’re going to see the relevancy increase,” says Renee Diresta, the technical research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory.

Hany Farid, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, says this kind of customized disinformation is going to be “everywhere.” Though bad actors will probably target people by groups when waging a large-scale disinformation campaign, they could also use generative AI to target individuals.

“You could say something like, ‘Here’s a bunch of tweets from this user. Please write me something that will be engaging to them.’ That’ll get automated. I think that’s probably coming,” Farid says.

Purveyors of disinformation will try all sorts of tactics until they find what works best, Farid says, and much of what’s happening with these disinformation campaigns likely won’t be fully understood until after they’ve been in operation for some time. Plus, they only need to be somewhat effective to achieve their aims.

“If I want to launch a disinformation campaign, I can fail 99 percent of the time. You fail all the time, but it doesn’t matter,” Farid says. “Every once in a while, the QAnon gets through. Most of your campaigns can fail, but the ones that don’t can wreak havoc.”

Farid says we saw during the 2016 election cycle how the recommendation algorithms on platforms like Facebook radicalized people and helped spread disinformation and conspiracy theories. In the lead-up to the 2024 US election, Facebook’s algorithm—itself a form of AI—will likely be recommending some AI-generated posts instead of only pushing content created entirely by human actors. We’ve reached the point where AI will be used to create disinformation that another AI then recommends to you.

“We’ve been pretty well tricked by very low-quality content. We are entering a period where we’re going to get higher-quality disinformation and propaganda,” Starbird says. “It’s going to be much easier to produce content that’s tailored for specific audiences than it ever was before. I think we’re just going to have to be aware that that’s here now.”

What can be done about this problem? Unfortunately, only so much. Diresta says people need to be made aware of these potential threats and be more careful about what content they engage with. She says you’ll want to check whether your source is a website or social media profile that was created very recently, for example. Farid says AI companies also need to be pressured to implement safeguards so there’s less disinformation being created overall.

The Biden administration recently struck a deal with some of the largest AI companies—ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta—that encourages them to create specific guardrails for their AI tools, including external testing of AI tools and watermarking of content created by AI. These AI companies have also created a group focused on developing safety standards for AI tools, and Congress is debating how to regulate AI.

Despite such efforts, AI is accelerating faster than it’s being reined in, and Silicon Valley often fails to keep promises to only release safe, tested products. And even if some companies behave responsibly, that doesn’t mean all of the players in this space will act accordingly.

“This is the classic story of the last 20 years: Unleash technology, invade everybody’s privacy, wreak havoc, become trillion-dollar-valuation companies, and then say, ‘Well, yeah, some bad stuff happened,’” Farid says. “We’re sort of repeating the same mistakes, but now it’s supercharged because we’re releasing this stuff on the back of mobile devices, social media, and a mess that already exists.”

[miixz]

Okay this will be rambly as it's been too long since I've tried to put my thoughts in a coherent meta sort of thing, but I've come to the conclusion I might like how the whipping is treated in erha.

(for anyone following the official english release, beware of spoilers ahead)

It was something that threw me off at first and made me doubt I'd ever really like Chu Wanning, I even compared him to Shen Jiu around that time, but looking back at it having read erha in its entirety I can look at it with a different perspective.

While I do like how having Chu Wanning whip Mo Ran so early on helps present him as the terrible teacher of Mo Ran's altered memories and deceive the reader, I think it's also an interesting side of him as a character that he did that in the first place. To me, it seems that Chu Wanning is one of the people who have bought into the myth of physical punishment which seems to exist in his society. It's not a belief shared by everyone, Mo Ran certainly doesn't buy into it, but it isn't a belief Chu Wanning seems to have taken from within himself or even one that he fully agrees with. 

There are rules on Sisheng Peak which include whipping as a punishment, we see this as the system Chu Wanning uses as a guideline to base his decisions on, not only for Mo Ran but himself as well. His punishments aren't chosen entirely on a whim. 

Chu Wanning looked up to shoot him a glare. The Jielü Elder shut up. “In accordance with the rules, the punishment for this transgression is two hundred strikes, three days of protracted kneeling in Yanluo Hall, and three months of confinement,” Chu Wanning stated. “I do not dispute the transgression, and I am prepared to receive the punishment.” Dumbfounded, the Jielü Elder glanced left and right, then curled his finger. The doors to the Discipline Court closed with a thud, leaving only the two of them standing face-to-face in the silence. “What is the meaning of this?” said Chu Wanning. “How do I say this… Yuheng Elder, it’s not like you don’t know—the rules may be rules, but they don’t really apply to you. The doors are closed; this stays between you and I. What say we just let it slide? If I actually strike you and the sect leader finds out, he’ll have my old hide.” Chu Wanning didn’t feel like wasting his breath, so he simply said, “I hold others to the rules, and I will hold myself to the same.”

Now, that doesn't excuse him, I wouldn't say that's what the story is trying to say and I'm not either. It's more that to me that's part of what makes it forgivable when to other characters it isn't.

There are characters like Madam Yu from MDZS who are clearly using that punishment excessively and unnecessarily, out of cruelty, which I can't forgive. Chu Wanning, however, I'd say is more misguided, which earns him a different approach.

Although he doesn't look remorseful when we first see him whip Mo Ran, we learn later that he was and tried to make up for it in his own awkward way. One of Chu Wanning's most defining traits is his immaturity (in my interpretation anyhow), he is a man that was raised not to be his own person and hasn't been living with others for all that long and it shows.

Huaizui seems to only have taught Chu Wanning shallowly, to the point of lying about the state of the world outside, because he was never meant to be his own person who has complex relationships with others. It makes sense though, why would he do that when Chu Wanning was only a vessel for someone else's soul?

So when it comes to making those difficult decisions, like how to discipline his disciples, he is sometimes lacking and refers to the guidelines that he has. With whipping being an acceptable punishment in his sect and his own issues with anger, I see how he arrived at that punishment at times.

It's an awful thing to do, but I like how it's a mistake that humanizes him and explores his upbringing and the places where he falls short.

And Chu Wanning himself knows, on some level, that this is the wrong way to go. That's why he feels guilty and makes Mo Ran wontons to apologize, but he lacks the ability to choose another course of action, most likely because he's never been taught how.

(And this is something that he does improve on somewhat throughout the book, especially in regards to how he treats Mo Ran, who challenges him to think about these difficult questions and to work on his emotions the most.)

In the end, I think Chu Wanning is someone who truly wants to be a good teacher and a good person that help others, which he does often achieve, but sometimes he is held back from that by his own shortcomings which themselves are connected with the ways in which he's been failed by others (especially those who were meant to care for him).

[sometimesiwanna-disappear]

I'm not done thinking about the apparent Sanji/Mr Pink parallel because now that I Know that's his inspiration, at least initially, Sanji as a whole becomes 100x funnier.

It makes it pretty clear Oda became enamored of the Vibes of Reservoir Dogs and wanted to create his own suave, determined solo professional criminal to play around with in his story. The look and style also played into it, but if i may defend the physical Look for a second, Oda himself comments that the actual physicality of Steve Buscemi isn't the main inspiration for his character- it was a vibe he hoped the audience picked up on. (There's a reason many audience members assumed he was a Leonardo DiCaprio. I much prefer THIS as an inspiration over Romeo- this character that apparently Tarantino himself was determined to play before he heard Buscemi read for it and realized it had to be him, according to Imdb.)

Anyway, this serves to corobborate my gut feeling of Sanji being a character who's been plucked up from a different genre entirely and plopped into a silly pirate show.

However, i had the feeling it was more than just mafia aesthetics, code names, & smoking that inspired/influenced this character.

......so I rewatched Reservoir Dogs just to do a quick analysis & just jot down some similarities that stick out to me (&some differences).

First thing that sticks out as a difference on the surface is Pink's refusal to tip. His inconsideration is something that seems like it'd be inconceivable to Sanji, but the core of the conflict reveals a similarity rather than a difference. In the opening scene Buscemi's character refuses to pitch in a dollar because he doesn't believe in tipping culture (first of all. King.) He blames the establishment for not paying the waitresses enough and calmly states that he won't play the game the system expects him to play. Everyone else at the table argues with him and tries to convince him to pitch in his dollar for the tip (including the complete psychopath who's about an hour away from trying to light a cop on fire) but Pink's ideals are more important to him than peer pressure. Until he is told to put a dollar in on behalf of the gentleman (the Boss) who paid for breakfast, he doesn't do it.

The trait I think appealed to Oda here (and that appeals to the viewer in general) is the type of character who is incredibly ideal-driven. While Sanji's extremely compassionate and his policies come from both his idealization, experience with women (read: lack thereof) and his respect for food, that which brings/maintains human life -- Buscemi's character's ideals are extremely practical. He doesn't like to kill people, but he recognizes the need to - he doesn't want to kill "real people", but cops are okay. It's interesting to see a character stick to his guns as much as Buscemi's character does, in this scene and the remainder of the film. Mr. Pink is a true professional. While Sanji is driven very, very much by compassion, this practicality is actually a trait he exhibits as well. He knows not to trust untrustworthy people. He's aware when his ideals are going to get him into a lot of trouble. He knows when to get the fuck out of a situation. Mr. Pink is the only reasonable person in Reservoir Dogs, escaping, stashing the diamonds, trying to convince the others to escape while they can. Sanji is often the responsible person making uncomfortable calls for the people he's decided to protect- the most unfortunate (cough. And common) of which being his extreme willingness to toss his life on the line if it means his loved ones get five extra minutes.

So already we've got a very interesting core. A character who's extremely stubborn about his beliefs, somebody somebody who's likely to hold his tongue in an unsure situation.

Mr. Pink also has a ridiculous sense of pride. This is a great scene, the codenames bit, especially with how much of a fight he puts up before eventually accepting it and acting like he doesn't really care to save face. Lol

This is a great humanizing trait for an otherwise cool and collected character. It's entertaining to us to see somebody act like a petulant child, especially in a full suit. There's a disconnect. Grown men planning a heist can be pretty damn immature. This is a side to Sanji that I particularly love, because it's something he really should be above. Sanji has pride in his appearance; he needs things to be just so. He keeps himself very clean, aside from the smoking. Usopp will yell a bit if you embarass him; Zoro will pout; Sanji is just as likely to kick you in the face about it lmao. As long as you're a man, of course.

At the end of the day, Shonen writers love to write what they think is entertaining and cool. A guy who fights with three swords. A man made of rubber. Anyways , here are some totally unrelated clips/images next to each other.

At the climax of the film, the dramatic end of the movie, all the remaining surviving teammates are pointing guns at one another and fighting amongst themselves, tensions running high. What is Mr. Pink's decision?

It really does remind me of the conflict in Water 7 with Usopp. Throughout the entire movie, Buscemi's character is the one trying to keep the peace. Even when he recognizes there was a rat on the team and suspects Mr. Orange, he backs down at the demand of Mr. White regardless of his own suspicions, just to keep the peace. He was the first to finger the true culprit! If Pink had been more emotionally invested in his team, rather than a cold-hearted businessman, he might've done more in the end than hide under the steps and run out with the rocks, only to be arrested when the car wouldn't start. Totally tragic and unforseen. It had just been working not 10 minutes before- if not for that, I feel pretty confident Mr. Pink would've been the only survivor and he would've gotten away with the money. If only he'd taken the money and run much earlier, like he had Said he wanted to, instead of sticking around to wait for the teammates and listening to Mr White.

(Psst. A few pages after this, he kicks the shit out of Luffy for beginning to tell a member of the team to fuck off and screams at him for letting his temper take over lest he say something he regrets..... hm.)

Sanji is known (esp. Pre timeskip) for running off and doing solo missions. He offers Mr. Prince as his alias in Alabasta. He plans ahead more than any other character, even in the midst of battle he's planning the next move and is more often than not the final reason the Strawhats survive a LOT of encounters. Sanji is also incredibly emotional though he acts cool and collected, and he's often annoyed with himself for being so easily swayed by the people around him. For heavens sakes he couldn't bring himself to leave Baratie without being bullied out of the building (read: reassured that he was allowed to go and his found family would pretend they wouldn't miss him so Sanji wouldn't have to feel so guilty).

So what do we have? Well, we don't have the essence of Mr. Prince in Mr. Pink. I have a strong feeling that his powerful compassion came along with the decision for him being a cook. Mr. Pink may have had enough decency not to want to kill "real people", but he did shoot some folks & tossed a woman out of her car window. You can't make a Shonen supporting character out of that (unless they're Nami). Whether you hate it or not, Sanji's love of women softens his edges off and makes him unthreatening to the audience, just like Zoro's sense of direction (and occasional goofiness) gives his edgelord Chad energy a break.

Oda didn't just lift a Tarantino character and call it a day. Look, I have my criticisms about how Oda writes sometimes, but one thing I admire is his scientific approach to character. The man hasn't written a damn character I dislike. He's mastered the moe gap lol, and he knows exactly what to add to a character to make the audience care about them (or truly despise them). And, hell, as a writer, i can relate HARD to falling in love with a different story in the middle of writing my own and having to resist the urge to drop my fave into my own story, lol, so more power to Oda that he was able to do it and create a character that grew into himself and created a unique identity over time.

So this is why this whole thing is so funny to me. Sanji's role was dreamed up for and because of those solo missions we love so much. That seems to be the inspiring factor. His being the most compassionate Strawhat simply came along with the decision to center his ideals around something simpler and more Shonen audience friendly than whether or not people should be tipped-- people need to be fed, food is precious and not to be wasted, and those who cannot protect themselves must be protected. (No matter how much he rambles about women specifically, his actions speak louder than words.) While Sanji's aesthetics were inspired by Tarantino, Sanji himself became a character that transcends the cool smoking sunglasses guy who's visually appealing and became an iconic love-cook with a temper and a flair for dramatics. That's the reason I and many others love him so much- not because of one particular element of his character, but how they all fit together.

What a fascinating blend of characteristics. Thanks for nailing that audition, Steve Buscemi.

[misscammiedawn]

Hi, I hope this is okay to ask. There seems to be so much misinformation and I am kind of… profoundly confused. Can someone have headmates and/or be a system without having DID? Are they the same or do these all mean different things?

Hello, anon.

DID is just a diagnosis based on clinical observation. It's not observable in any scans and will not show a stripe on a saliva test. It just means that a doctor who is qualified to do so has given you a diagnostic screening and believes that it is your diagnosis.

It's also a remarkably weird one as it's simultaneously a lifelong affliction born in childhood which never goes away, but the diagnostic criteria for it is no longer satisfied when treatment has reached a point of which the symptoms are managed.

I truly wish there were better advice for you than to explore what you need to explore in your own life and assess your access to mental health care and whether or not you feel it would benefit you. When we received our diagnosis it was in association with our ongoing care for emotional breakdowns that were crippling us and erratic life destroying issues with maintaining relationships and a stable sense of personal identity.

The question should be less "do I need DID to have a system" and more "do I benefit from being diagnosed and treated?" and I can't answer that for you. The best I am able to speak on this question is to say not to think about it. It's an unimportant question in the grand scheme of things.

My personal experience with dissociative disorders is that my condition was hidden from me for much of my life and diagnosed and treated as CPTSD for most of my life, BPD after my transition and finally recognized and treated as DID in recent years. I think coming out as transgender and realizing that persistent feeling of "I feel like I am playing the role of [legal name]" did not go away was a good signal. We had a reason to feel like that prior to transition. We did not afterwards.

My personal belief on the formation of my condition is that in early childhood our environment was not safe and stable and we were unable to create a stable personality based on applied patterns that a child between the ages of 0-6 use to achieve their needs (attention, nourishment, protection etc) and so with no stable "core" personality state we developed a number of personality states that we shifted through to meet our general survival needs based on environment and those in turn became the foundation for a system of "parts" who make up the whole of me.

What I described there is an understanding that was reached in therapy based on The Theory of Structural Dissociation, itself a controversial piece of text (one of the authors disbarred for mistreatment of patients).

That all in to say I can only speak to my personal experience and my personal understanding of DID, which is based on our evolving understanding of the topic both as a system ourselves, as students of the medical dogma being released and as a patient of our current therapist.

These views, opinions and perspectives may and can change on a dime. There are a disturbing number of clinicians who do not believe chronic dissociative disorders lead to plurality in any regard. There are those in support communities who believe the number of people who are undiagnosed but experience plurality is as high as 15% of the global population.

Frankly. I'm not qualified to speak to anyone's experience beyond my own. All I can do is put out what we see and hear and feel and hope that it provides comfort for anyone out there who is as lost to themselves as we were to ourselves.

So can a person experience plurality without it being DID? Does every person who experiences plurality without trauma actually have a repressed and unacknowledged backstory?

It's none of my damned business.

Every person has their own story and their own baggage, much of which lays beneath the surface. We cannot fully know the depths of The Other and that is a scary thing because it means that someone could look at a person's lived truth and reject it...

And so the answer is simply "I do not know."

I can't possibly know.

I just care about people and believe them when they say things.

[the-alarm-system]

Hey, I'm psych critical leaning anti psych, and I agree with a lot of anti psych arguments and beliefs, but there's one thing I worry about that I was hoping you'd be able to offer some answers for, since you seem to know a lot about anti psych stuff

So like, there are obviously a ton of problems with medication in the current psych system. I have personal experience with that; my psychiatrist refused to listen when I told him my meds were causing more harm than good and said the horrible side effects were "proof they're working" (even though they weren't really helping). But I know there are a lot of folks who do see improvements and good things from medication, and I was wondering how this might get handled in a future without the psychiatric system? Since medication seems pretty solidly a part of the current psych system, and I'm just kind of lost on how we'd get people that sort of help without any sort of psych system.

Do you think there'd be more like. An open source market for it, or something? Like, people can do their own research and then just go try what might work for them? Would we have scientists there to give advice but not make the calls for the person seeking medication? (Sorry if this idea doesn't make sense, it's the first thing that popped into my mind.) I see people pushing for similar with HRT; a future where you can just walk in and get all you need to get started (or at least, more information on it), so would it just be like that with all medications? In that case, would it be moreso part of a new healthcare system rather than a psych system specifically?

Thanks for hearing out my question

My ideal world is that every medication/drug is able to be accessed without having to get a prescription, I want full autonomy with all these things. I do think it would be stuck more into the medical/healthcare system or internal psychotic communities to help inform of these resources if people with psychosis may not desire it for any reason. The psychiatric system however labels all differences of the mind as a disease and forces the idea of cure and brokenness. Like HRT I would prefer there to be the liberation to choose to do whatever you want with your body when it comes to meds and also that different forms of the mind is alright to have and up to the individuals themselves to see it as negative/positive/neutral. Sorry if this was confusing, I'm tired lol if u need clarification u can always ask!- Ardyn

[multiplicity-positivity]

Hi! I was looking for advice and you seem pretty knowledgeable about plurality so I’d thought I’d ask you.

I’ve started to wonder if maybe I’m plural, but don’t know if my experiences are similar to something someone is neurotypical might experience. I think of myself as only having one headmate, but when it comes to interacting with people I express one of two manifestations of said headmate.

I figure it’s relatively common in people who aren’t plural to show different parts of themselves to differently people, but these two manifestations are so dramatically different to the point of being polar opposites that I’ve started to wonder.

(Some clarifying notes: While I don’t have names for these separate manifestations as they are both parts of the same individual in my head, I will refer to them as 🌟 and 🪐 respectively. I will refer to me presenting either 🌟 or 🪐 as fronting, and the version that exists in my head as the headspace version. I’m using this language just to be clear with what I mean, not to appropriate language used by systems/say I am one)

It hasn’t always been like this. When I was little, I was just 🌟. I was extremely extroverted, energetic, argumentative, and struggled with emotional regulation. I display these traits whenever I am fronting 🌟. 🪐 has always been around in my headspace as well, and sometimes 🪐 would front, but this didn’t happen in any meaningful capacity until I was around 9. My behavior shifted drastically, because 🪐 is very quiet, observant, and logical. My mother has told me multiple times that she felt like I got jaded in the 4th grade. Now, unless I’ve gotten to know someone well or am incredibly comfortable in the environment I’m in, I front 🪐. Around my very close friends 🌟 will front, and 🌟 will also front when I get very giddy or excited. Sometimes when 🌟 fronts I catch myself regretting it, scared I annoyed people or if people hate me, because I can’t control which manifestation of myself people talk to.

But the thing is, I don’t have any trauma that I know of, and they exist together as one identity in my headspace. My worldview, beliefs, and memories remain the same across the board. I think of myself as one person, even if someone’s experiences with me can vary drastically (this ask would be very different if you were talking to 🌟)

I figured since you interact with a fair amount of systems and are one yourself, you could maybe point me in the right direction.

Thanks for your time!

Hi! We won’t be able to confirm or deny whether or not you’re plural, sorry about that! It’s true that even singlets are multifaceted, with different sides of themselves that they show to different people at different times. And many singlets may find that they feel more extroverted and bubbly with people they’re comfortable with, and more introverted and reserved with people they don’t know that well. To us, this is pretty normal, and even some of our parts experience socialization in this way!

What we truly believe, is that if the plural framework is beneficial for you, if you are helped or comforted by the idea of being a system, then you are more than welcome to identify as such! Not all systems form from trauma - while trauma is necessary in order for someone to develop a dissociative disorder like DID, there are plenty of other ways to exist as multiple or more than one!

We have a post we wrote in the past with a ton of resources for questioning systems. We’d like to share it with you in case one of the resources there could be useful!

For anyone questioning whether or not they’re plural, the process can be difficult, confusing, and may take a long time (we know it certainly did for us!). It’s okay to go slowly and not rush to any conclusions about yourself! That being said, it’s definitely okay to try out some labels while you’re questioning to see if anything feels right or sticks out to you. There’s no harm in trying out plural labels while you’re questioning - you’re not invading any spaces or appropriating plural language by experimenting with the terms you use to describe yourself!

Finally, we’d like to recommend learning more about median systems specifically. Plurality is a spectrum, and not every system will have fully developed, unique, and separate individual headmates! We understand median systems as those who exist in between a singlet and fully separated multiple on the plural spectrum. It may be worth learning more about if you’re wondering whether or not you’re “plural enough” to call yourself a system! (Note that we’re not saying for sure that you are a median system! Rather, we’re just suggesting it as a potential research option or direction for you.)

We hope this helps! Good luck to you with navigating the waters of questioning plurality. And feel free to reach out if you have any further questions on your journey! Know that even if it turns out that you’re not plural after all, that’s okay! Hopefully the questioning process will still be insightful for you. And plural or not, you’ll always be welcome here on this blog!