#might not be the exact quote but essentially that

[blueyheeler]

Hello on this second day of autism why the fuckity fuck didn’t my parents at least try to get me tested

[tanadrin]

I liked this video from Jamelle Bouie a lot, and I liked it even more because he delivered it as a floating eyes and mouth over an apple.

I'm going to respond to this comment as an apple because I kind of like doing it. It's fun. And I'm gonna respond to this comment by way of a story.

So, all Americans know about the anti-slavery movement, the abolitionist movement. And the way we're taught about the abolitionist movement or the anti-slavery movement, whatever you want to call it, is kind of that this was inevitable--that obviously slavery is terrible and obviously there are people against it and it was gonna end. We teach it as a thing that was bound to happen. So the Civil War comes and slavery is ended, and it's sort of a very neat story.

But I'm gonna ask you to put yourself in the perspective of an abolitionist or an anti-slavery politician in, say, 1840 or 1848; and if you are one of these people, you have a deep-seated opposition to slavery. If you're an abolitionist, you may have spent the previous 10 or 20 years traveling the country, giving speeches, rallying people, doing everything you can to stir up moral outrage at slavery. If you're a politician, you have been working, doing a grind of politics--somewhat dangerous, because people may not like slavery, but they're not super thrilled about black people either--but you are in legislatures, you are filing petitions, you are building coalitions, you are trying to make whatever headway you can to, if not challenge slavery, then at least challenge some of the racist and anti-black laws that are on the books. Both--whether you're an anti-slavery politician or ablitionist--you do not think in 1848 that slavery is gonna be over in your lifetime. You hope that it might be; but you have no particular expectation that it will be. You are not optimistic about the end of slavery. You may not even be optimistic about the world as it exists, because you look around and you see human bondage and horrible brutality that's been there for hundreds of years, and for all you know will be there when you're long dead.

So the question to ask is, why do these things? Why did these people bother? Why did they continue struggling against slavery, despite not really having any optimism about the end of the institution? And the answer--beyond a deep-seated sense of moral commitment--is that these people didn't need to be optimistic in the ultimate outcome, they just needed to be optimistic in the ability of humans, of people to make change; they needed to be hopeful about human agency. That's what they needed, and that's what they had. And so they did not know how far they would be able to take the baton, but they worked and hoped that when the end of their lives came, they'd be able to hand it off to people who could take it even further than they could.

The abolitionists and the anti-slavery politicians were essentially living out what Antonio Gramsci called the pessimism of the intellect and the optimism of the will. I think the exact quote is, "I'm a pessimist because of my intelligence, but I am an optimist because of my will." What this is is recognizing the reality of the world around you, not looking at the world as if it's any better--or any worse--but any better than it is; but not pinning your hopes for a better world on some sort of linear change, linear move towards something better; but pinning your hopes on one of the true constants of human society, which is the ability of human beings to work their will on the world, and the ability of humans to push and persevere.

So, this is all to say that I am not asking anyone to be optimistic about the world. That's very silly; the world's a very terrible place right now--not the worst it could be, but pretty bad--and I do not contest that. But I do think that people should have a bit of this optimism of the will, and this optimism about human agency, and our ability to build a better world. And this is sort of where my very strong distaste for doomerism comes from, because the sense that it is the worst, and nothing can be better, is just fundamentally incompatible with any kind of optimism of the will, any kind of belief in human agency and belief in our ability to change the world around us. And it's also why you will find me on this account often pushing back against the most negative renderings of what is happening in our society, for example. Not because I think everything is great--I do not--but because I do think that the path towards change requires one to have clear eyes about the situation in which you find yourself; and clear eyes both means recognizing the bad, but it also means recognizing those areas where you can make gains, and where you can find success; and where you can win minor victories.

And you may say, well, what's the point of a minor victory? But I think what the anti-slavery struggle demonstrates, what the civil rights struggle demonstrates, what the labor struggle demonstrates in this country, is that minor victories become fuel for modest victories, become fuel for major victories, and major victories can be the things that fundamentally change the entire field of play. So. Pessimism of the intellect, my friend, optimism of the will.

[headspace-hotel]

Just spent a couple hours digging into this book. I'm not even sure what has worse environmental impacts, the paper the book is made of or the opinions printed within.

Is "post-colonial" literary theory a joke? It's distressing that a book printed in 2021 by a reputable academic press can be so painfully Eurocentric, and I mean PAINFULLY. The philosophical and literary frameworks drawn upon in most chapters are like what some British guy in 1802 would come up with. In most of the chapters, every framework, terminology, and example is inseparably fused to Latin, Greek, and/or Christian philosophers, myths and texts, even down to the specific turns of phrase. You would think only Europeans had history or ideas until the 20th century.

Don't get me wrong, non-european and even specifically anti-colonial sources are used, and I don't think all the writers are white people, but...that's what's so weird and off-putting about it, most of the book as a whole utterly fails to absorb anything from non-European and in particular anti-colonial points of view. The chapters will quote those points of view but not incorporate them or really give their ideas the time of day, just go right back to acting like Plato and Aristotle and Romantic poets are the gold standard for defining what it means to be human.

In brief, the book is trying to examine how literature can shed light on the climate crisis, which is funny because it completely fails to demonstrate that literature is good or helpful for the climate crisis. Like that is for sure one major issue with it, it shows that people *have* written stuff about climate change, but it sure doesn't convince you that this stuff is good.

Most of the works quoted are rather doomerist, and a lot of the narrative works specifically are apocalypse tales where most of Earth's population dies. The most coherent function the authors can propose that literature fulfills is to essentially help people understand how bad things are. One of the essays even argues that poetry and other creative work that simply appreciates nature is basically outdated, because:

“One could no longer imagine wandering lonely as a cloud, because clouds now jostle in our imaginations with an awareness of atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other atmospheric pollutants” (Mandy Bloomfield, pg. 72)

Skill issue, Mandy.

The menace of doomerism in fiction and poetry is addressed, by Byron Caminero-Santangelo, on page 127 when he references,

the literary non-fiction of a growing number of authors who explicitly assert, some might even say embrace, the equation between fatalistic apocalyptic narrative and enlightenment…they are authoritative in their rejection of any hope and in their representation of mitigatory action as the cliched moving of deckchairs on a sinking ship

He quotes an essay “Elegy for a country’s seasons” by Zadie Smith, who says: “The fatalists have the luxury of focusing on an eschatological apocalyptic narrative and on the nostalgia of elegy, as well as of escape from uncertainty and responsibility to act." Which is spot-on and accurate, but these observations aren't recognized as a menace to positive action, nor is the parallel to Christian thought that eagerly looks forward to Earth's destruction as a cathartic release from its pain made fully explicit and analyzed. Most of the creative works referenced and quoted in the book ARE this exact type of fatalistic, elegiac performance of mourning.

I basically quit reading after Chapter 11, "Animals," by Eileen Crist, which begins:

The humanization of the world began unfolding when agricultural humans separated themselves from wild nature, and started to tame landscapes, subjugate and domesticate animals and plants, treat wild animals as enemies of flocks and fields, engineer freshwater ecologies, and open their psyches to the meme of the ‘the human’ as world conquerer, ruler and owner.

This is what I'm talking about when I say it's dripping Eurocentrism; these ideas are NOT universal, and it's adding nothing to the world to write them because they fall perfectly in line with what the European colonizing culture already believes, complete with the lingering ghost of a reference to the Fall of Man and banishment from the Garden of Eden. It keeps going:

“Over time, the new human elaborated a view of the animal that ruptured from the totemic, shamanic and relational past.”

Okay so now she's introducing the idea of progression from shamanic nature-worshipping religions of our primitive past...hmm I'm sure this isn't going anywhere bad

“While humanity has largely rejected the colonizing project with respect to fellow humans, the occupation of non-human nature constitutes civilization’s last bastion of ‘normal’ colonialism. A new humanity is bound sooner or later to recognize and overthrow a colonialism of ‘nature,’ embracing a universal norm of interspecies justice.” (pg. 206) 

OKAY????

Not only denying that colonialism still exists, but also saying that humans' relationship with nature constitutes colonialism??

Embracing limitations means scaling down the human presence on demographic and economic fronts…(pg.207)

ope, there's the "we have to reduce the human population"

Embracing limitations further mandates pulling back from vast expanses of the natural world, thus letting the lavishness of wild (free) nature rule Earth again” (pg. 207) 

aaaaaaand there's the "we have to remove humans from wild nature so it can be freeeeeee"

don't get me wrong like I am a random white person with no particular expertise in anti-colonialist thought but I think this is an easy one. I'm pretty sure if your view of nature is that colonialism involving subjugating humans doesn't exist any more and actually humans existing in and altering nature is the real colonialism so we should remove humans from vast tracts of earth, your opinion is just bad.

Anyways y'all know I have an axe to grind against doomerism so it was probably obvious where this was going but good grief.

[haru-dipthong]

Did you know that the english word “star” and the japanese word 星（ほし）don’t actually mean the same thing?

Language does not simply name pre-existing categories; categories do not exist in 'the world'

— Daniel Chandler, Semiotics for Beginners

I read this quote a few years ago, but I don’t think I truly understood it until one day, when I was looking at the wikipedia article for “star” and I thought to check the Japanese article, see if I could get some Japanese reading practice in. I was surprised to find that the article was not titled 「星」, but 「恒星」, a word I’d never seen before. I’d always learnt that 星 was the direct translation for “star” (I knew the japanese also contained meanings the english didn’t, like “dot” or “bullseye”, but I thought these were just auxiliary definitions in addition to the direct translation of “star” as in "a celestial body made of hydrogen and helium plasma").

To try and clear things up for myself, I searched japanese wikipedia for 星. It was a disambiguation page, with the main links pointing to the articles for 天体 (astronomical object) and スター（記号）(star symbol). There was no article just called 「星」.

It’s an easy difference to miss, because in everyday conversation, 星 and star are equivalent. They both describe the shining lights in the night sky. They both describe this symbol: ★. They even both describe those enormous celestial objects made of plasma.

But they are different - different enough to not share a wikipedia article. 星 is used to describe any kind of celestial body, especially if it appears shiny and bright in the night sky. “Star” can be used this way too (like Venus being called the “morning star”), but it’s generally considered inaccurate to use the word like this, whereas there is no such inaccuracy with 星. You can say “oh that’s not actually a star, it’s a planet”, but you CAN’T say 「実はそれは星ではなく惑星だよ」 (TL: that’s not actually a hoshi, it’s a planet). A planet IS a 星.

星 is a very common word, essentially equivalent to “star”, but its meaning is closer to “celestial body”. I haven’t looked into the etymology/history but it’s almost like both english and japanese started out with a simple, common word for the lights in the sky - star/星 , but as we found out more about what these lights actually were, english doubled down on using the common word for the specific scientific concept, while japanese kept the common word generic and instead came up with a new word for the more specific concept. If this is actually what happened, I’d guess that kanji probably had something to do with it - 星 as a component kanji exists inside the word for planet, 惑星, and in the word for comet, 彗星, and in the scientific word for “star”, 恒星, so it makes sense that it would indicate a more general concept when used standalone.

This discovery helped me understand that quote - categories don’t exist in the world, we are the ones who create them. I thought that the concept of “star” was something that would be consistent across all languages, but it’s not, because the concept of “star” is not pre-existing. Each language had to decide how to name each of those similar star-like concepts (the ★ symbol, hot balls of gas, twinkling lights in the sky, planets, comets, etc), and obviously not every language is going to group those concepts under the same words with the same nuance.

Knowing this, one might be tempted to say that 恒星（こうせい） is the direct translation for “star”. But this isn’t true either. In most of the contexts that the word “star” is used in english, the equivalent japanese will be simply 星. Despite the meanings not lining up exactly, 星 will still be the best translation for “star” most of the time. This is the art of translation - knowing when the particulars are less important than the vibe or feel of a word. For any word, there will never be an exact perfect translation with all the same nuances and meanings. Translation is about finding the best solution to an unsolvable problem. That's why I love it.

[thefirstknife]

Bro.....

You know, when they said they'll bring back "one of the most storied locations very briefly" I did think of Saint's grave. Speculated about this with the besties quite a bit as well, that we might go back there for some reason. And now. Yeah.

But my question when I was cooking about this and my question now that Ikora said this remains the same: how? How is that accessible? The grave is in the Infinite Forest. Infinite Forest is on Mercury. Mercury is still in a Darkness anomaly. And the Forest was sealed from the inside. That shit is behind seven proxies.

Obviously we've seen the Infinite Forest gate in the trailer, on Nessus, so I'm assuming the door can be opened from Nessus... somehow? Osiris can probably do it with his cubes or something, but the details of how this will be done and how it will be handled are eating me alive. I'm losing it, but for real this time. I don't have words to describe how much I am compelled.

Anyway, radio message!

Saint-14: Since you found me, I have only doubted who I was once... When Misraaks recounted how his people - their children - feared me... it shook me. Osiris says, that I am Saint-14, my hands raised the wall, I walked with the Pilgrim Guard. How can I be a shadow of the Saint who truly walked this City, when I remember the smells of the streets, and the faces that smile? I met you on Mercury, as I speak to you now. We fought together. I shattered the Vex for centuries, but I lived, where he died. Because we showed the Vex that our fate could not be calculated. Even in simulation, we surprised them, you and I. That, is true. The Conductor claims, I am a man out of time, an approximation of reality. Huh, was I not this already? Hard metal, and brittle memory. Spark, and code, fourteen times over. Only my heart carried through. I know what it means to find myself again. But... The Conductor claims, had Osiris not created the Sundial, had I remained forgotten, Sagira would live still. How could these things be connected? If it is true... I will not take my love from him as well. For it is strong, and he will need it. You would not be afraid. You would know what to do... I am... still trying. But I will find myself again.

He's doing better!!! He's figuring it out!!! I'm assuming now that the main point of conflict for him is the Saint that died. It was never quite clear what happened when we saved Saint; did the timeline diverge at that point or was it always two different timelines? Would the body still be there in the grave if we went there after we saved him? Is there any divergence at all and does it matter?

Because again, the Saint we saved is the same Saint that he's been for most of his life. He clearly remembers meeting us on Mercury which was for him the Dark Age. Before Six Fronts. His story and his legend essentially starts only after meeting us. The Saint that we know exists as he does because we saved his life on Mercury in the Dark Age and gave him the shotgun and he has been trying to live up to this potential ever since. He even quotes it: "I am still trying." He said that in the letter on Perfect Paradox and also when we opened the Forest for him after he was freed. And as I also noted, on week 1, we got a message between Saint and Osiris where they're recalling the exact same memory.

But as I said before, if he has access to any other timeline Saints, there might be differences that the Conductor used to mess with him. I suppose one of those is the Saint that died. And since the shotgun is a paradox, I can't really track it's origin point anywhere. Saint that died had remains of the gun which means that the Saint that died also met us, presumably. But if he'd met us, then he wouldn't have died. Or that's the timeline in which Osiris doesn't make the Sundial and we pick up the shotgun and then with the Sundial we can find the right Saint at the right time and give it to him and then stop him from dying. My brain is dissolving.

Anyway. So. Saint's grave huh. They're killing me with this. I need to think about it for 5 hours or maybe 5 thousand years.

And also the lore page. I assume it's talking about how the Vex Network with its various "denizens" reacted to the Echo.

A fractal cluster of nested realities unfurled like a frond. Two-hundred-and-twenty-odd instances of consciousness reaching in unison. A controlled frenzy of cooperation as the minds within piled Ishtar-branded office furniture to the skies, then lifted one another up to be closer, ones and zeroes stacked perilously, finding swaying purchase with their sensible flats on each other's thin shoulders.

Ishtar scientists!

An irascible trace of a signal sneered at the sincerity of the call but still willed itself to move, reaching up two thin spindles of data in a way that felt somehow familiar.

Asher :) :( T_T

The Great Quiet Thing, the Not-Worm, kept its eyes closed and ignored the call. It was still too soon, it decided. It shivered, the motion forming cascading bubbles of new hypothetical simulations in which it did not shiver. These contradictions soured and burst, scattering nutrients into the network.

What the fuck.

A man in tattered robes, feathers long since worn from his headdress, streaked through the shifting plasmic haze on golden wings, urged on by the tiny starburst at his side. His eyes were furious flame.

Osiris :) And Sagira. :) They're still in the network. Okay! I will just explode.

And of course:

"We need to warn them—" "There's still a chance—" "SAINT—" "Hold on to me—" "I AM OWED THIS—" "Hurry, get Shim—" "There isn't enough of me left—" "TELL ELSIE PRAEDYTH STILL—" "Please, please wait—" "Warn them—" "I have to warn them—"

Welp. We wanted Praedyth to be mentioned. Here he is. I guess I will jump off the cliff now.

Anyway, many thoughts. Genuinely what the fuck is the "Great Quiet Thing" in the Vex Network??? Where is this going. I have so much to think about, brb.

[littlesparklight]

What are the specific sources that say Helen went willingly with Paris? Was discussing with a friend but all I could remember was Sappho fragment 16? Ty!!

Let me start with a quote from the preface to Ruby Blondell's Helen of Troy: Beauty, Myth, Devastation:

"Though her [Helen's] departure is typically referred to as an "abduction", none of our sources claims that Paris took Helen by force against her will. Her complicity is essential to her story."

I could, in short, give you almost any and all sources possible, anon! Even the late sources like Dictys and Dares include mutual attraction and desire, even when Helen is, actually forcibly taken. And sure, some might protest about Aphrodite's (implied, usually) forcible meddling in Helen's psychology, but that is never what we really see and that is, secondly, not really how personal responsibility, even in the face of potential/actual divine interference, works. (In that case you'd have to absolve Zeus of a lot of his escapades.)

Anyway, I'll try to give you a selection, vaguely arranged in chronological order.

The Iliad - I could pick several different lines from here, and they'd all be from Helen herself. Sure, if one's interpretation is that she is not honest about what she's saying, you might not agree, but I'm going to insist on allowing Helen the agency she is claiming for herself. So, here, from Helen's conversation with Priam in Book 3:

"Honored are you to me, dear father in law, and revered, and would that evil death had pleased me at that time when I followed your son here, abandoning [...]" (trans. Caroline Alexander)

Elsewhere Helen uses "I went". But for this the pertinent thing is that "had pleased me" because the clear implication is that what pleased her back then was Paris, not death.

The Kypria; fragmentary, here's a quote from Proclus' summary: "Aphrodite brings Helen and Alexandros together. After their intercourse, they load up a great many valuables and sail away by night."

That "brings [them] together" isn't a language of force in the terminology used, and it's clearly both Helen and Paris who takes the valuables, not Paris alone. In fact, lets compare a directly comparable sentence from the (much) later Bibliotheke, Epitome 3.3: "Alexander persuaded Helen to go off with him. And she abandoned Hermione, then nine years old, and putting most of the property on board, she set sail with him by night."

'Persuasion', 'she abandoned', '[she] put most of the property on board', 'she set sail'. You see the point here. Helen is not baggage that Paris has picked up like an inanimate object and left with, no matter what its will. She is doing things.

You already mentioned Sappho 16 yourself, so let's turn to her contemporary Alkaios, fr. 283 (taking the translation of the quote of this from Blondell's book): "... and [Eros?] excited in her breast, the heart of Argive Helen; and driven mad by the Trojan man, the host-deceiver, she followed him over the sea in his ship."

The rest basically reiterates these opening lines, and you can see some of the similarity to Sappho 16, but Alkaios is a lot more condemnatory. Of Helen and Paris both.

Euripides next. Iphigenia in Aulis: "[...]and he, finding Menelaus gone from home, carried Helen off, in mutual desire, to his steading on Ida." (Agamemnon speaking.) and "[...]that Hellas might exact vengeance on the one who had fled her home to wed a foreigner." (The chorus speaking.) Trojan Women: "Their captain too, whom men call wise, has lost for what he hated most what most he prized, yielding to his brother for a woman's sake—and she was willing and not taken by force—the joy he had of his own children in his home." (Kassandra speaking.) I'm not going to quote all of Hecuba's speech in the agon against Helen, but her whole argument is that Helen went willingly... and some of Helen's own arguments are less to deny this idea of mutual desire/having left willingly and more to say Aphrodite is impossible to resist (but then we have to absolve Zeus, for Helen uses his vulnerability to Aphrodite as her thrust for as to why she should be excused).

Herodotus in his Histories is another that speak of abduction out of one side of the mouth and implies something far more willingly/mutual with the other (from 2.115):

"gave wings to and were gone with her"; the phrase really is that, quite literally, and I haven't been able to find anything that actually discusses this. (Another translations goes with "did stir her to desire" which, while that isn't what the text literally says, does, like, get the idea of something mutual happening/the usual focus on Helen's desire for Paris across to us better.)

And for something a little later, Gorgias' Encomium of Helen: like Blondell points out in her book, Gorgias' suggestion of actual force/violence as a potential factor in Helen leaving Sparta is quite singular. (In fact, all of his arguments turns into force/violence against Helen and make her basically an object who doesn't so much have no agency as no will or personhood that might react independently at all.)

And Ovid's Heroides certainly has Helen inviting Paris' attentions, even if she does so in a circuitous manner, circling up on saying "yes, come here, now that Menelaos has left".

Anyway, I could probably have gone on, but there's a couple sources, at least!

And I'd like to point out that whether one wants to insist that Aphrodite's potential direct influence means any "willingness" of Helen's is meaningless or not, there's a whole galaxy between "Helen went off with literally no thought to what this would cause or to her daughter and Menelaos and her family, and didn't care about the consequences/intentionally meant to cause all this destruction to both sides" and "she cares about this, and is/will be conflicted over it, yet is also attracted to and leaves with Paris".

Like, just because she wasn't violently kidnapped against her will, and was/is actually attracted to Paris (which she is still in the Iliad! That is part of the point of her confrontation with Aphrodite!) and so on, doesn't mean there aren't a lot of nuances (as the Iliad itself shows) that can be put into Helen being attracted to Paris and leaving willingly in some manner.

[sgiandubh]

Good morning to you...as always, this person is very indignant and enraged.

https://www.tumblr.com/maximumwobblerbanditdonut/748583730081333248/the-unexpected-guests?source=share

Dear (returning) Mythomaniac Anon,

Sorry for the delay and see below why. Well, then: how was that, at their end of the rope, across the street?

I know, I am quoting BIF (that petty, nasty, condescending woman), their Main Intellectual Luminary (LOL for years), but see how easy it is to boomerang anything?

And I will even suit myself and quote her some more, lookie here:

I am not even sorry. Karma is a bitch, like that and it seems to have backfired badly on BIF's comadre, 'Max'. You see, I can immediately tell when people who have NO idea about what LAW really is, start talking about it. They will always be oh so damn literal and oh so damn mechanical in their 'reasonings'. I mean, if law were to be read as is, why would we even bother going to law school, right? Why not have AI sort it out, literally and mechanically, too (and boy does 'Max' sound like an android when she starts droning her maximum wobbling bullshit)? You see, in law, it's never enough to copy/paste something, because this is about people, money and interests, being those individual or collective. Timelines are important (and indispensable in any legal approach), but never enough: what makes the difference is always the particular context and the interpretation of facts - that is, by the way, called jurisprudence, when it becomes a legally binding precedent (not our modest case, here), in common law system countries (the UK, the US) or a complementary source of law, like in Roman/Civil law systems, such as the French and Romanian ones, which I know best. There is a technical distinction between those two concepts (legally binding precedent and complementary source of law) and I once passed a whole year written exam in Public French Law with honors, picking this exact topic, but I won't bother you with it, Anon. In a nutshell, tread carefully when you open that droning mouth and leave no stone unturned, if possible. Otherwise, you'd make a fool out of yourself, with bullshit like this:

There is no Midhope Distillery Company Ltd, you fool. There once was the Midhope Castle Distillery Ltd, as I have abundantly shown in not one, but two posts. It did not 'change its name' in 2023, it was dissolved by voluntary write-off (third time might be a charm, across the street, maybe the coin would drop?). And one more time, for you Mordor people in the back: there is no way to know who the shareholders of a given company are, based on the Company House records, nor the amount of their participation. This is confidential information, as shown also in the Planning Proposal - once more, I repost the screenshot:

' The Business Plan, submitted (...) under Private and Confidential cover, provides background information on the applicant'. Including, but not limited to, the existing investors/shareholders - it is essential to show the local authorities your business project is not a whim or a dream.

She also writes confidently stuff like:

That is simply not true. As I have also shown in my last post, Outlander is explicitly mentioned in both the first and the revised Planning Proposals, as a strong argument for the entire business project. It may serve to remember that one of the elements justifying it was to provide the 20k seasonal visitors of the Midhope Castle Grounds an opportunity to access the (vastly) improved interior of the castle, along with a whisky related experience/discovery activity, accommodation and high-end dining opportunity. Again, I repost the screenshot, because those people are mendacious by nature and it is perhaps the only way to show them some facts (not useless factoids):

That being said, we can speculate and deduct a simple correlation between a company actively looking for investors to support their now vastly revised, ten-year project and an actor-cum-entrepreneur who might be interested/already involved in that project. Unless he'd make a formal announcement himself, at some point in time, there is no way to confirm. 'Max' should perhaps learn to water down her confident tone, sometimes, especially when it is obvious she did not look at the documents herself, used only Google in the arrogant and foolish hope 'those tinhat shippers are stupid' and has 0 (zero) legal expertise.

This whole thing might be pending approval, but let's not forget the first Planning Statement was approved back in 2020 (which is a good starting point), that they have secured a business partnership with the owner of the land, Lord Hope (the 4th Marquess of Linlithgow) and that as far as I could read during those past two days, all the reports seem ok, at least up until this point in time. I see no reason why they wouldn't meet and talk about it: on which planet is that such a big deal and on which planet could that be construed as 'conflict of interest' (another one of 'Max's' arguments), given the organic link between OL and Midhope, since 2013?

I also have made a hasty mistake, in my previous post, when dealing with Ken Robertson's participation to the project. He continued to be involved, as my penned timeline shows, in both Hopetoun Estate Distillery Ltd and Hopetoun Estate Whiskies Ltd, as a Director, continuously from May 2017 until their dissolution, in December 2022. Again, it's all on the timeline - see what I just did, here? LOL for a century and a half.

And for Marple's 'Sorry' clip, I have the perfect reply. Especially the chorus, of course - ignore the rest, it's about some Seventies playboy, quite an Alternate Universe from hers:

I will stop now, Anon. With the MPC Gala just round the corner, all the eyes will be on that one. This drama will probably draw to a fizzled denouement, as they always do, in this fandom. But I will follow that business project and report from time to time. I bet the farm we'll have news, rather sooner than later.

[whineandcheese24]

I am a sucker for puns and I will make them whenever I can, but I have never seen a better pun than the title of the Good Place Season 4 Episode 7 “Help is Other People”. For those who may not understand, this a play on the quote “Hell is other people” from the play No Exit by Sartre. the idea in No Exit was that 3 people were sent to Hell and as punishment, they had to live with each other for eternity. at first they thought they got off easily, but they soon realized that their specific personalities, flaws, and idiosyncrasies played off each other in such away that they would never be able to live together peacefully. because as soon as 2 of them reached an agreement, the other one would ruin it, and so on, and so on.

and that idea, of a group of people playing off each others flaws in order to create the worst situation for everyone involved, was the exact idea behind Michael’s first experiment. he gathered Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason specifically because their specific traits created the worst possible outcome for all of them. but it backfired, because instead of hurting and ruining each other, they consistently helped each other to grow and mature time after time, even on earth, essentially turning “Hell is other people” into “Help is other people”

but that’s not it, because remember, that’s all seasons 1-3 and this title is in season 4. you see, in season 4 they tried to recreate the experiment with new people to see if it work the same (despite being a fundamentally different experiment, but that’s another post). the participants-Simone, Chidi, John, and Brent-were supposed to help each other grow the way the original participants had. and in this episode, the new experiment is coming to a close, and the Soul Squad is desperately trying to rack up a few last points and get these people to help each other. to put aside their problems with each other and just help each other to grow and mature and change. and it almost works. if there had just been a few more seconds, it might have.

anyway to recap the reason I love this so much is because the phrase “Help is other people” is essentially the show’s entire thesis and statement on human interactions, and it is a play on the phrase “Hell is other people” which was the thought behind Michael’s original experiment, and the episode for which it’s the title, is the episode in which the Eleanor, Michael, and the others are most desperate for it to be true.

[not-so-mundane-after-all]

Listen

I'll tell you how it's possibly going to end (because I've seen enough catastrophising and worst case scenario thoughts on here to last me a lifetime)

Dee Bradley Baker teased that the ending is "bittersweet", didn't he? And that the way the epilogue plays out is "affecting and beautiful". That "the emotions that are in play are real, human emotions, not just one of being a family member or a friend, but also of being a father, a father to a daughter."

Bittersweet means not everything is good but not everything is bad either. Which means that the finale doesn't have to end in only tragedy. Yes, there will be hurt, we might lose someone. But the end might actually be full of hope.

And isn't Star Wars all about hope?

They're going to bring it full circle. In episode 2 of season 1 - the very beginning of the show - the Batch visits Cut and Suu and the whole episode is essentially about them teaching Hunter how to be a parent and forcing him to look at his new responsibility from a different angle. They recognize his paternal instincts immediately, they see how he is with Omega and give him a lot of advice, saying things that stay with Hunter for the entirety of the show moving forward and affect his choices and reasoning. Cut is the one who makes Hunter realize that he has to do what's best for the kid. Cut is the one who gives him the idea of leaving the soldier life behind and finding, and I quote, "a remote piece of land on a distant planet." Like Pabu! Suu warns him that kids have a tendency to find trouble. They tell him he has no idea what he's in for but they also show him how to do it right.

Hunter's only priority since then has been keeping Omega safe and away from the war, away from the Empire, settling down and giving her the normal life she deserves. A thought instilled in him by Cut, who did the exact same thing - left the war behind, settled down and put his family first. It became Hunter's sole purpose, his main character arc, becoming a father and embracing the role is pretty much all he is about.

The finale will remind us of that.

Now, we won't avoid tragedy. That's granted at this point. There will be death, there will heartbreak. Nothing will ever be the same again. But every end is a new beginning.

Maybe we'll lose Crosshair, Maybe we'll lose Wrecker. Maybe both, hopefully neither. But no matter the final outcome, the very end is going to be about Hunter and Omega. The hunt for her will be over, the target on her back might be gone but they can't go back to Pabu, they won't risk it. So Rex and Echo track down Cut. Find him on a remote piece of land on distant planet, just like he said. And they arrange everything.

I can see them landing. Hunter stepping out in civil clothes, with a bag over his shoulder. He shakes hands with Cut, Omega runs to hug the kids. The atmosphere is sad and melancholic but everyone knows it's for the best.

Maybe they move to a house next door, maybe they live nearby. Hunter puts Omega to bed, lets Batcher lay down at her feet. He sits by her side until she's asleep and then steps out onto the porch where Cut is already waiting. They share a drink and a conversation, calling back to everything they've been talking about in 1x02 and how Hunter's view of things has changed since then. Now he understands his role in Omega's life. Understands the sacrifices he had to make and knows with full certainty he would make them again.

We haven't seen or heard about Cut since his episode, so a whole show ago. To bring him back in the finale and tie it all together? End it like that, in a full circle moment? It would be perfect.

And it fits to what Dee was saying, because this kind of ending is affecting, is beautiful, and most of all, it is bittersweet. Because at last Hunter gets his wish. He gets to raise Omega away from the war, give her a normal life and a happy childhood - but at the cost of losing everything else.

This might just be wishful thinking but I really hope this is where we're headed.

[aha-chuu]

Kaveh's Drip Marketing

I have a lot to say about the connections between the Kaveh info that released today and Alhaitham (and what we know about their relationship with each other). I'm not looking at this in a romantic way necessarily, but just in how tightly knotted their characters are with one another.

First, Kaveh's title and description:

"Empyrean Reflection", or more simply, 'Heavenly Reflection'. This ties to his constellation, "Paeadisaea", which is the genus for the birds of paradise. 'Paradise' is a more general term for Heaven, but neither of these are particularly divine in nature in a deity sense. Personally, I think they might be denoting a reference to the Golden Ratio, AKA: Divine Proportion. It's a mathematic concept often used in artistry, which matches well with Kaveh's archectural design profession and his education from the Ksharewar Darshan, which is the Sumeru school of technology.

So that's what it means for Kaveh's own characterisation/lore imo, but it also links to Alhaitham. Firstly, Alhaitham's constellation is also a bird (Vultur Volans, or essentially 'vulture' even though his name means hawk), which is a nice match to Kaveh's birds of paradise. But more interestingly, this is what Alhaitham's Character Story 4 has to say about why he lets Kaveh live with him:

He views Kaveh as a "mirror". What is Kaveh's title again? "Empyrean Reflection".

And the mirroring is all over the place. Here's a section from Alhaitham's drip marketing from December:

He is

Largely unknown

Only puts in the minimum effort required to do his job

People don't pay attention to him

In contrast, here is a corresponding section that came out with Kaveh's drip today:

He is

Extremely well known

Incredibly hardworking

People pay attention to him even when he isn't asking for it, as a by-product of his career

Basically exact opposites; complete mirrors. Here's something else, first from the end of Alhaitham's description and then second from the end of Kaveh's:

Alhaitham's life is super comfortable, ideal in every way he desires. Meanwhile Kaveh is practically crippled by anxiety, made uncomfortable by his life circumstances. The wording itself is mirrored!

Ofc, Kaveh and Alhaitham provide one another's corresponding quotes in the drip marketing. Here is what Kaveh has to say about Alhaitham:

This is an amusing quote, basically a backhanded compliment of "oh he's very smart but he's too self-centred so his talents are made worthless since he never uses them to help others". Alhaitham's quote about Kaveh goes like this:

Alhaitham is a little more wordy so I'll simplify -

Talented people have a lot of outside pressure on them, which can be a burden

However, letting other people get you down is a character flaw, not an inherent part of being talented

Kaveh disagrees

Once again talking about an individual's talents and how worthwhile they are in the context of a society. Where Kaveh complains that Alhaitham can never accomplish anything worthwhile with his skills because he doesn't take other people into account, Alhaitham argues that Kaveh gets nothing done as a consequence of listening too much to other people's expectations. It's not surprising, then, that Kaveh is bankrupt but successful and Alhaitham is comfortable but unknown.

It's like - can these two stop talking about each other for five minutes? Anyway, this post turned out to be more of a collection of Kavetham quotes, but I think it's hard not to draw comparisons. I'm looking forward to seeing Kaveh's actual voicelines if there's this much material just from one marketing post lol

[myboyherodotus]

BSD Chapter 113 Historical Analysis

Basically, I can put my History and Religious Studies Degree and put that shit to use and do some good for society

Essentially, I think chapter 113 left us clues for hinting at the bigger themes of Bungo Stray Dogs and possibly some insight into Fyodor's motivation for being caught by Bram. This might get long so buckle up bitch.

OH AND I THINK I FIGURED OUT THE EXACT YEAR THE DUNGEON MEMORY TAKES PLACE

Okay, so the first thing to understand is the contemporary events mentioned in Chapter 113. The guards and Bram mention King Matthias, the Sultan, and the Holy Crusaders.

The Crusades, for those of you who don't know, are a series of so-called Holy Wars whose main objective was the "reclamation" of the Holy Land. However, not all crusades had this objective. There were several crusades within Europe itself. These wars, like the Cathar Crusade, were aimed at driving out paganism or "heretical” sects of Christianity. While the main Crusades happened centuries before the Dungeon scene took place (the first official Crusade happening in 1095) there existed later Crusades that often sought to limit the authority and scope of the Ottoman Empire. Which is also mentioned in the chapter with "Sultan"

Now the Sultan mentioned is Mehemed II, often referred to as the Father of Conquest. He was in power when King Matthias (Matthias was the King of Hungary and Croatia) ruled and often fought to expand Ottoman territory into the lands Matthias ruled.

Now, you know who else was a contemporary ruler? Our boy Vlad Dracul, the inspiration behind Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Now, Vlad Dracul was the ruler of Wallachia, which is basically Romania today. Now it is my belief that Bram Stoker. like a lot of characters in BSD, is inspired by the tale of Dracula and not the actual Bram Stoker. But, I think instead of using the character of Dracula, Asagiri is using Vlad Dracul (also known as Vlad Tepes) as Bram's inspiration. This is for two reasons. 1. The castle depicted in the manga is the same castle Vlad ruled from 2. Bram states that he wants Fyodor skewed like a little shrimpy on the grill. Vlad Dracul got his bloodthirsty reputation by impaling his enemies and leaving their heads on pikes outside his castle for several months at a time. In fact, I forget the exact quote, but a visitor of the castle during Vlad's reign said you could smell the decaying rotten flesh for miles before arriving at the castle. This is why Bram Stoker wrote Dracula based on Vlad Dracul.

Now as for the specific year the memory takes place, I personally believe it takes place in the year 1462, either summer or early fall. Once again this is based on the textual evidence given in the manga... The guards are clearly nervous about the sultan, who we have established is Mehemed II. This guy is responsible for the downfall of the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman Empire) and founded the Ottoman Empire. He also has beef with Vlad since Vlad brutally killed Ottoman envoys sent to Wallachia in an attempt to make Wallachia a vassal state for the Ottomans. Moreover, 1462 was the year that Vlad was imprisoned by King Matthias till his release in 1475. During this time Wallachia was essentially conquered. Vlad died between 1476 and 1477 (the sources don't have a specific date).

Now historically speaking there is reason as to why King Matthias imprisoned Vlad. A letter, which a lot of scholars think was made up, allegedly claimed Vlad pledged his allegiance to the Ottomans to help them conquer Hungary and Croatia. Now, strictly speaking for the events of the manga, having Bram imprisoned and/or taken out of power sounds like something Fyodor would do. So it makes sense that in the manga he would have something to do with Bram being imprisoned. If Bram is imprisoned that is to say since we still don't have clear motives for that.

It should also be noted that Fyodor warns Bram that the "Gods of Warfare come from the West”. historically speaking it was the Ottoman Empire that caused Wallachia problems and not the Holy Roman Empire aka the Romans mentioned in the chapter. The only reason I can think of the guards and Bram suspecting "holy crusaders" and "Romans" is because of their differing religious beliefs. Now Wallachia followed Orthodox Christianity while Romans obviously followed Roman Catholic traditions. Protestantism wasn't a thing yet, but these two groups were already tense and there have been several major conflicts (like the Crusades I mentioned earlier) and schisms within the church.

So, this is the only thing I could think of, but I'm not sure of what Fyodor's play is at here. Maybe he's an immortal being wanting to rid the world of abilities and having Bram Stoker in chaos would help in advance that goal. Maybe he can take people's life forces away like I've seen a lot of people suggest. I don't know. And the whole "come from the West" quote is the one thing throwing me off. Overall, I would love to know if Asagiri used any sources from the period to influence this memory scene, and if so...I wanna know which one's bestie!!

Please let me know what you think! If I just rambled or if my sleep-deprived thoughts and research make any semblance of sense. I would also love to know any fun theories and/or facts you have about this chapter or BSD in general. Also, would pictures be helpful?

[eriellelynx]

Don't Look Away / Just Look My Way (Blitzø's Version) by ErielleLynx

…Is what I would have wanted Blitzø to have said to Stolas if he didn’t have the emotional intelligence of a pebble.

Anyways! Rant / Explanation incoming haha.

First and foremost, none of the following is to somehow invalidate your love for any characters, ships, or dynamics. This is just one interpretation in a sea of different interpretations that might just not be suited to you. If this ain’t your cup of tea, that’s perfectly fine! Just please be respectful if you disagree haha.

So, I am by no means a songwriter, nor am I an experienced singer, but… I just couldn’t let this one go. I kept looking for something like this through YouTube, but I could only find AI covers. :,) I feel like there are so many things that just aren’t really being brought up yet and Stolas REALLY needs to hear them. I tried my best to add actual quotes (mostly Stolas’) and scenes from the episodes to show just how toxic their situationship had been up until this point.

Essentially, the original song would have been the romanticized perspective that Stolas had on their relationship, whereas Blitz’ version would be more… grounded in reality? Of course, it’s still from his perspective, so he doesn’t have the full story (i.e. “You lived the ideal!” Brother, no-), but it at least shows his side in a more… cohesive way? Thus, instead of asking for Stolas to “look his way”, Blitz does a reversal and is actually demanding he don’t look away from him, whether it be due to shame or guilt (Ya’ll remember Ozzies?), or because he literally can’t stand to look at him after the initial confrontation.

Some lyrics I wanted to point out:

“Your impish plaything” -> A call back to when Stolas LITERALLY calls him that to his face, and in front of his employees / daughter. Also, remember when he literally puts out a cigarette in his horns? (While also ignoring the fact that his body has burn marks and the implications of that action was seriously messed up? Like-) And then told him in that same scene that the Grimoire was much too important for such an “itty-bitty imp” to handle? ALSO, remember how in the original version of the song, Stolas even calls Blitz this exact same thing? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

“I’d play along that you were my king / And I was your shining knight” -> When they were in the amusement park at the start of the series, Stolas literally calls him this and is then upset that the M&Ms were the ones to rescue him. His full quote: “Where is Blitzy? He’s my knight in shining armor, not you littler ones”. You know, cause he doesn’t look down on imps.

“You’re not a friend, more like a patron” -> Ya'll, Blitz and Stolas were not friends when they were kids. The first and only time they interacted as children was because Stolas’ father literally bought Blitz for a day to spend time with his son, and he could because of their difference in status. From the very moment they met, their relationship was transactional; Blitz’ literal being was up for sale because it benefited his own father. In the present day, nothing had changed. You want my book? Give me your body. I saved you from the humans, didn’t I? Well, I expect you to give me something in return. Why was Blitz supposed to hope, let alone expect, that the dynamic would change? And so, is he really any different from any other imp servant he employs?

“I feel free from your chains” -> There is a literal scene that shows the audience that Blitz feels like he’s chained to Stolas, and that he can be pushed and pulled in any way because he’s beneath him. He knows he doesn’t really have any power in the dynamic, and so whether or not Stolas intended to so, he is still looking down on him based on the amount of control he has. Like… regardless of any serious feelings being developed further down the line, the fact that at some point that was his actual interpretation of the relationship is just… no. Of course, it’s in that same episode that Stolas then calls him his “Impish plaything”. Which, you know, probably doesn't help his view on the relationship and his lack of control of it, as well as his own self-worth.

“In the end, you made me plead” -> I absolutely hated that Stolas literally made Blitz grovel at his feet before presenting him with the Asmodean Crystal. He says he understands that Blitz has walls to protect himself with, but why did he think that this was the way to get him to be vulnerable? He can kneel down and be as soft-spoken as he wants to, he still threaten his livelihood, which would put himself, his daughter and the M&M’s, (whom are the only two constants in Blitz’ life) with no income, without an immediate explanation. So many ways that he could have done that interaction, and he chooses the absolute worst way possible.

“Your praise was merely noise” -> A callback to his rant with Fizz haha. Given all of the above, why would compliments and the occasional laugh be enough to change his mind about him?

“A lovely lie” -> Just him repeating Stolas’ own words in Stolas’ Song. It was all just a “comfortable lie”. Again, throwing his words back at him.

“A game of pretend” -> Much like the game of pirates they would play as children.

“Time to face / your mistakes” -> I’d like to think that he says that both metaphorically and literally. He’s telling Stolas that he needs to accept all the ways he did him wrong, but he’s also literally telling Stolas to look at him, the biggest mistake he has ever made.

Finally, I decided to end it with the original lyrics, not only as a callback to the original song, but to, again, throw those words back at Stolas. Yes, Blitz did in fact ask him to look his way, just like he wanted, but not for the reasons that he thought he would. It’s Blitz’ way of shattering that romanticized image of their relationship, of what it actually meant to be seen by him.

In conclusion, I’m upset at this bird haha. I hope these things get brought up somehow… Stolas giving him the crystal does not make up for any of these things, but it’s a start. Even so, it still feels like a transaction. The first genuine act of affection is still a material good. Accompanied by pretty words, yes, but he was still giving him something and hoped that would make it right and he would have his affection- or at the very least, his attention- in return. Oof…

Again, even if you don’t necessarily agree with this interpretation, I hope that ya’ll can still enjoy the song? ^^

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Just Look My Way” is from the show Helluva Boss, performed by Bryce Pinkham. The original song was composed and performed by ParanoidDJ. Links to these videos follow.

Official Music Video: https://youtu.be/rATbtwj1qls?si=ogkY16dCkl7mrjAk

Original Song: https://youtu.be/XrZ2vqVPTFM?si=QYW1oc3nEhFD0YDi

The instrumentals are not mine! They were provided by ‪sleeplessginger on YouTube. Check out the instrumental here: https://youtu.be/uB5xhmM4jTU?si=udHIkHoak4nXhAhX

Images were taken from episode 8, season 2 of Helluva Boss. Additionally, images from the trailer of the second half of season 2 were used.

Only the vocals (and the modified lyrics) are mine.

[motocorsas]

since we're officially 1 race into the championship, i thought i'd put together some assorted wwcr thoughts.

the bike

the Yamaha YZF-R7s provided to each team are, to my knowledge, all standardized. the bike is a 689cc inline twin that despite its larger displacement hits about the same top speeds as a Moto3 bike, but weighs twice as much. the most interesting aspect of the machine is its use of a crossplane crankshaft, where the crank throws are angled at 90 degrees from each other instead of 180 degrees. wikipedia offers this visualization to explain the tech:

if we were to condense this down from three dimensions to two, then it could be explained like this: there's one crankshaft angled at twelve o'clock, one at three o'clock, one at nine o'clock and one at six o'clock. however, since the bike is a V2, we can ignore those last two throws, since they don't exist in this engine.

this design is based off of the current Yamaha build in MotoGP, and is meant to improve torque at higher RPMs. its horsepower peaks at 72.4 hp around 9,000 RPM, but the maximum torque outputs at 6,500 RPM. that means it accelerates quickest in the middle(ish) area of its RPM range. this means it can run out of a turn pretty well under the right rider.

look, it's no secret that the bikes are slow. i'm not going to argue against that. this is a $9,000 motorcycle for a series with a $25,000 entry fee, while Moto3 boasts a fee more than twice that. it's a cheap series, but it's getting off the ground -- which brings us to our second point of focus:

the teams

i was impressed to see the diversity in teams and sponsors. some riders, like Tayla Relph, are essentially financing their ride entirely on their own. her team, TAYCO Motorsports, is named after her own social media and brand strategy company. her day job funds her racing career. other riders, like Mia Rusthen, are self-funded without being bolstered by a secondary income.

on the other end of the spectrum, Pata Prometeon Yamaha is running a WWCR team much like it runs its WSBK team. though they don't have their own custom livery to show off their fancy sponsors (unlike close competitors Forward Racing), they can obviously afford to invest in top talent. their star Beatriz Neila is coming directly from the Copa R7, a Spanish racing series also limited to the Yamaha model. she might be the most experienced with the machine out of anyone on the grid.

there are plenty of teams that are firmly in the middle, budget-wise. Sekhmet Racing team is owned/operated by Maddi Patterson -- yeah, Simon Patterson's wife -- and boasts a wide range of midlevel sponsors and partners, even if they also lack a custom livery to advertise them. Sekhmet for sure has the best social media management and brand strategy of any team, with its own website with articles, rider bios, and a mailing list. they are pursuing legitimacy in every way, and it's obvious by how they present themselves that they do not want to be a small-time team in a small-time series.

the riders

we're one race in and i've already started to find my favorites. there were riders i was aware of before WWCR; i think any dedicated racing fan could at least name Maria Herrera and Ana Carrasco, but i'd heard of Beatriz Neila and Sara Sanchez as well. in the run-up to the season's start, i've read lots of interviews with various competitors on Paddock Sorority, a site dedicated to covering women in racing.

off the bat i really like Luna Hirano, both for her extensive endurance career and her fantastic quotes:

her love of video games is relatable, but i'm more interested in her mention of an injury impeding her ability to train. this seems fairly common among competitors, with British rider Lissy Whitmore relaying the exact same thing.

i understand that it's completely normalized for riders to participate while injured or recovering. but so many of this women are entering this class -- a potential career high -- with their performance already permanently hampered by injury. it speaks to, for one, just how much work these women have to do to be recognized, and how little of it pays off. to be nearly incapable of running after an injury and continue racing anyway is nothing short of Herculean to me. not to mention Ana's remarkable recovery from her catastrophic back injury a few years ago. and contrast this with other supposedly "entry-level" series. how many Moto3 riders are coming in already debilitated? it doesn't feel fair.

i've been making these comparisons to Moto3 due largely to the similarity in speed. but i also would prefer WWCR to be considered a feeder series on par with Moto3, instead of what it has already been pigeonholed to be: a place where women can be cloistered off, riding inferior machinery with their supposedly inferior skills. the fact of the matter is that so many of these women came up riding at the exact same tracks as current MotoGP stars, but were never offered the same opportunities, and thus never developed at the same caliber. Maria Herrera, one of the top contenders for the championship, came in second in the 2014 CEV Moto3 season, behind Fabio Quartararo. she describes the shift in her career:

all of this is to say: WWCR's existence is not a victory against sexism. still, i celebrate it for platforming female racers. in a fair world, Moto3 and Moto2 teams would be looking at the current WWCR roster for future talent; but we do not live in a fair world. nevertheless i hold out hope that this series casts ripples throughout international classes, and maybe in ten or twenty or fifty years, female riders will be competing against men all the way to the top.

[esthermika]

So as part of a deal with @cheriepleasantries I promised that if she posted about hacking I would post about some advanced Celeste movement tech. She did, so here's that post.

Minor spoilers for Celeste here. Nothing about the story will be discussed but I will go over some more complex movement from chapters 8 (specifically the C Side) and 9 (Farewell) which are technically optional content.

Also I used a screenshot from AverageImposter's amazing Mechanics YOU Need to Speedrun Celeste (Beginner's Guide) video. Check him out if you are serious about speedrunning this game, his videos are some of the best on this subject! Also the Celeste fandom wiki is great resource to check out as well!

Basics of Celeste

Celeste is a precision platformer where you control Madeline over a series of 9 chapters in a journey of self-discovery, anxiety attacks, pink hair and a lot of strawberries.

Madeline is your typical platformer protagonist. She can jump and climb walls, but she also has a special ability to dash in all 8 directions, regardless of whether she's in the air or on the ground.

These are your basic movement options and are the foundational building blocks for more advanced techniques. In this particular post we will take an in-depth look at how exactly dashes work, down to the frames.

The Stuff You Learn Normally

Now let's get into the good stuff. Specifically hypers and wavedashes. You learn about these in chapter 8 The Core's C Side and in chapter 9 Farewell.

Hypers

Hypers (also called hyper dashes) are introduced at the beginning of chapter 9's C-Side and are preformed by dashing down-diagonally while on the ground and pressing jump soon after. This technique gives you the vertical momentum of the jump and the horizontal momentum of the dash at the cost of consuming your dash. On top of all that Madeline gets a 1.25x speed boost when she hypers.

Hypers are super useful for moving horizontal distances quickly and crossing gaps efficiently.

There's also supers (aka super dashes) which are the exact same concept as a hyper (dash + jump) but you instead dash horizontally instead of down-diagonally. This gives you less distance, but earns you more height.

Wavedashes

So remember hypers? You should, you literally just read about them. I'm concerned for you. Well here is a very similar technique. Introducing wavedashes!!!! The game straight up has a pointpoint explaining this so here:

Now you might notice that this very similar to a hyper! It's just done in mid air. Why is that important? Well, it let's you regain your dash. (notice the red hair meaning Madeline can still dash)

THIS IS A MASSIVE DEAL!!!

This essentially gives you 2 dashes and let's go super fast! Crucial technique for speedrunners.

The game also explains why you can't seem to do it. The actual explanation is more complex than this... but we'll get into that later on...

And that's basically it... or rather it would be... if we played by the rules >:3.

Extending On What We've Learned

Now we are getting into the stuff the game doesn't teach you. We've officially entered the world of dark Celeste speed tech. I promise it's not as intimidating as it seems ;p

So you know how hypers/supers don't give Madeline her dash back? Well... what if they did?

Extending hypers and supers

Back when we learned about wavedashes, I said the reason you got your dash back is because the wavedash is preformed midair while hypers/supers are done on the ground. I lied. That's not the real reason why. To understand what is really happening we need to delve deeper into how Madeline's dash really works.

Here's a quote from the developers:

The way it works is pretty straightforward. When you hit the dash button, she flips into a separate ‘dash’ state. A timer is set, her hair turns blue, and she’s given a set velocity in the direction you were holding when you hit the button. The timer then starts counting. For .15 seconds you have no control over Madeline, but then the game gradually gives control back while also decreasing her velocity until you have full control again and her normal state is reinstated. It’s all over in well under a second.

Let's break this down. They mention a timer is set when Madeline dashes. This timer has several functions but the most important one is that it prevents you from regaining your dash if less then 5 frames have passed since it started. 5 frames is about 0.08 seconds since Celeste runs at a constant 60 fps. This is the real reason hypers/supers don't give you your dash back but wavedashes do! We'll comeback to this in a bit.

Next they mention that you don't have control of Madeline for .15 seconds after dashing. This is only half true. You don't have control over her movement, but you can still jump and grab! If you jump mid dash, you perform a hyper/super and Madeline's dash ends immediately. This is also the time period when she's unaffected by gravity. The rest of the information is all correct and unambiguous.

But wait! The only thing preventing us from getting our dash back after a hyper/super is a timer? Can't we just wait it out?

Yes we can!

This is called an extended hyper. It's called "extended" because we have to wait out the 5 frame timer before pressing jump. The same concept also applies to supers, in this case called extended supers!

This is, mechanically speaking, the same exact thing as a wavedash!

Some extra notes on extending hypers/supers:

The jump can be performed at any point after the 5 frame timer expires and before the dash ends (a dash ends around when Madeline starts getting affected by gravity again).

You can use coyote time (a small time frame after Madeline leaves the ground when she can still jump) to extend hypers/supers! Just make sure to still be on the ground for the 5 frames!

An extended hyper/super can also be performed by touching the ground mid dash or even in mid air (like a wavedash!)

Extending hypers/supers let's you chain them together. So you can extended hyper into another extended hyper! Just like with wave dashes!

Again wavedashes are just fancy extended hypers!

Also did you notice the pun in this section's title? :3

Phew! That was a lot! Feel free to take a break because we are about the get into the weird stuff!

Bunny Hop Hypers and Cornerboosts

We are in the final stretch don't worry! I know those words sound scary but it's ok. I'll hold your hand so you don't feel afraid :)

Bunny Hop Hypers

So to explain bunny hop hypers we need to learn to bunny hop first. It's a term you probably heard before from other games, but in Celeste it simply means 'jumping as soon as possible and for as short of a time as possible' usually being a 1-frame jump, where you press the jump button then release it on the next frame.

Why is this useful? So, remember how dashes start out really fast and get slower as the dash comes to an end? Well, jumps preserve some of Madeline's horizontal momentum. Letting us keep top-hyper speeds for longer! This is important because normally when you extended hyper you only get hyper speed after you jump. With a bunny hop hyper, you get hyper speed the entire time!

Now let's finally see a bunny hop hyper in action:

See that wasn't so bad!

All joking aside, if you are having trouble replicating the tricks I discuss, don't worry! This stuff will just get better with practice! A few months ago I couldn't do bunny hop hypers and now I can manage them pretty consistently. It's all about practice and determination!

Before moving on, I wanna say that bunny hop hypers are rare in Celeste speedrunning, at least not as common as extended hypers. They require a lot of specific conditions to be optimal, where as extended hypers can be done just about anywhere! You'll most often see bunny hop hypers in mods rather than normal gameplay.

Now, on to the last trick I wanna show off!

Cornerboosts

This one is a doozy and also the only grab related trick I'll discuss here. Maybe in the future I can talk about overclocking and neutral climb jumps :3

So what's a corner boost? It's a super difficult way to either build up speed or skip entire sections of gameplay of course :D and unlike bunny hop hypers, cornerboosts are used all over speedrunning! So you better get used to them :)

Explaining how exactly they work is difficult and this post is long enough as is, so let's just see how to perform one:

The most important part here is step 1. Madeline needs to be at a very precise position vertically relative to the wall for this trick to work. Try aiming for Madeline's chin to match the top of the wall. Also you might notice the green bar. That's Madeline's stamina (the stuff you consume when climbing). I'm using a mod to demonstrate that doing this trick costs some stamina.

Cornerboosts don't have to be preformed with a horizontal dash, they can also be done with diagonal dashes, but the timing is more strict.

As I said cornerboosts are used all over the speedrun, both to build up a lot of speed in combination with other tech and to skip certain sections. If you wanna see the real power cornerboosts can provide, check out this video of the last checkpoint in chapter 2 and try to count how many cornerboosts are performed. Good luck ;3

Putting All That Into Practice

So. That was a lot. But I have one small challenge for you left. Watch the following clip and try to figure out which strategies where used.

Pause and rewind as many times as needed before reading the next section. Try and play along ok ;p

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no cheating >:(

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Did you guess: bunny hop hyper into an up-diagonal dash into a cornerboost? If so then you're a massive nerd and I love you!

By the way, this is the (to my knowledge) fastest strat to clear this room in chapter 1.

Hope you had fun reading all that and that you ended up learning something :) If anything is unclear then just read it again cause I don't make mistakes.

If this gets me the attention I so desperately crave I might do another one of these things! No promises tho ;3

Also have strawb for reading all that <3

[sukirichi]

can i just say, while rereading to form my ultimate theory, ive realised i don’t think rintarou truly knows what love is. i don’t think he’s deluded himself into loving iris, i just don’t think he realises love isn’t transactional and that what he has with iris isn’t love. i noticed he also refers to the reader as “[his] woman.” as if she’s an object or his property. she’s been referred to as a pawn too. an object, something used to guarantee protection, he just hasn’t realised the pawn was the queen and he was the king about to be in a checkmate. i think ive noted three or four instances where he’s called her his woman now, it’s making me realise she was only ever that. not his lover, not his wife, just a woman he cared for and cared to use.

i’m sure now as the story has progressed he’s more infatuated with her, and that he did feel genuine feelings for her over the years, i just don’t think he knows love beyond what he’s observed. he was never raised with his brothers (reference to the drawings excluding him), he was the crown prince and so his mother saw him more as a work in progress for the future than her beloved child who she must care for — what the ring is to yn is what rintarou was to his mother, proof that SHE had the king at the end of the day and not his concubine. she’s determined in making rintarou king not because ushijima would be a bad ruler but because it would be letting her competition win. the queen and yn are two women on different sides of the same coin. rintarou also knows only of lust, his father was never loyal as seen by the fifty princes bro decided to spawn.

but back to the queen theory, cuz lowkey im popping off with that me thinks. she knows yn is powerful, “i would not take her wrath lightly” - (chapter 2) is essentially foreshadowing everything that’s about to happen, i can’t remember the exact quote but the queen warned him that yn CAN rip the throne from under him. rintarou doesn’t realise, the queen isn’t just saying this because yn is incredibly smart and strategic, she’s saying it because it’s something she’s almost witnessed first hand. the queen speaks from wisdom — age + experience.

i also retract my statement about iris’ mother being the reason she’s (iris) trying to be concubine. i think rintarou genuinely thinks he’s a fucking genius and that his plan is going to work. i do however still believe iris’ mother pulled a lot of strings to get kiyoomi and her married, there’s definitely something behind that, and put ontop of the fact that iris’ mother was in love with the king - or like wanted to be queen (delusion runs in the family ig) 💀💀💀

anyways i’ll keep rereading over the next few days, i don’t think there’s anything major in the latest chapter that gives away massive clues, but reading between the lines during the second read through might make me realise somethings.

- shhh anon

alright let’s finally dig into it 🧎🏻‍♀️ long response ahead

!! shhh anon cooking again !!! are you like, studying psychology or something because you got their characterisations on point. firstly yes, rin does not know what love is! he grew up without loving parents - he was neglected and left to fend for himself - and it was instilled to his mind that to be loved, to be seen as worthy, he had to work hard for it. like you said, love did not have to be transactional, but that’s how his mind works ! he goes along with iris smoking and drinking to get to her good side, so she would like him. he courted reader for two years, so she would fall for him. but at the end of the day, does he really see them people? maybe yes, maybe not - it’s hard to tell. like you said, he refers to them like iris and reader are his objects, his pawns, and in a way, that’s technically how he sees them.

reader is a doll for him to dress up and manipulate to make himself look good and great as a candidate for the throne. iris is his ‘woman’ whose purpose is to make him feel less lonely. AND YES OMG i love you for noticing that detail that rintaro (subtly) is materialistic ! he was seen as a ‘work in progress’ like you said, just another man to wear the crown. and their ring is exactly that too - the objects and material things they have are nothing but proof of their titles and power. in the literal sense, everything is a symbol, whether its a person or a material object. a symbol of loyalty, a symbol of protection, a symbol of “at the end of the day, i’m the legal wife!” which makes you think that since everything is a symbol to the royals, it makes sense how iris is also hesitant around rin because what can he give her? genuine love and pure feelings? she doesn’t want any of that

‘the fifty princes bro had to spawn’ HELP 😭 no but you’re so correct. the queen is speaking from experience, she wouldn’t stay as queen for that long if she lowkey wasn’t doing shady business, too. the difference between the queen and reader is that YN would go to the extreme to do what she thinks is right, while the queen would go the extremes to keep her power. they are two sides of the same coin 👑 that’s why the queen is hella pissed off because she did not endure her husband’s affairs and every horrible thing that comes with the crown just for her dumbass son to pull this 😭 anyways i loved reading this, you hit the hammer right on the nail! will not confirm or deny other theories that might be a spoiler though ;) but ah thank you as always for the interest in DTD and taking the time to share with me your thoughts 🥹

[mechanical-aristocrat]

What are your thoughts on Screwllums letter to Svarog? I'm open for discusstions.

[OOC:]

My immediate thought upon reading it was "this is super wholesome and cute" and yeah, I still definitely think that, but I've got a lot more to say now that it's been sitting in my brain for few days so buckle up:

First off, this man is so totally autistic /aff (as is literally any robot character in any piece of media, you can't convince me that an allistic robot is a thing that exists). Over explaining to make sure the exact point he's trying to get across does so as accurately as possible and apologizing in advance for accidentally crossing boundaries (considering that at this point in time Svarog is basically a complete stranger), as an autistic person myself it's very relatable to see.

Second, I think it's really funny that he only knows of Svarog's existence because he watched what is essentially an E-Sports tournament, which he only watched because Silver Wolf practically begged him to (because I think we can pretty safely assume that the "Stellaron Hunter friend" he was referring to was her); that just adds onto the relatability for me because I also do not give a flying fuck about E-Sports, he's so real for that. I love Screwllum and Silver Wolf's dynamic with each other, they give off uncle-niece vibes and it's very fun (what I don't understand and will never understand is people shipping them with each other, it makes me really uncomfortable for several reasons, but for the sake of my sanity I'm not going to get into it).

Third, the letter honestly just confirmed some of the headcanons I had once I sat down and read all the lore regarding the Machine Emperor Wars about a month ago (which I highly recommend btw it's super interesting stuff). I guess I sort of had the fear that Hoyo would try to make it so the IPC just completely dropped every last bit of their idea to exterminate all mechanical life the second Screwllum proved to them that robots aren't inherently harmful to humanity, and that everything was just magically okay after that and humans and machines could live in perfect harmony with absolutely no conflict whatsoever. Thank fuck they didn't do that because that would've been both super boring and super unrealistic, Screwllum acknowledges within the letter that there are many places where robots are regarded only as tools, they don't often have the same sort of foot holding in society that humans do, and he hopes that changes someday.

(one of the headcanons that I have regarding this is that there's a secretive group of people within the IPC that are specifically trying to fuck up Screwllum's reputation and the reputations other robots who are also massive public figures that advocate for robot rights, but especially in Screwllum's case they haven't found much success because that man does not have a single problematic line of code in his programming)

Lastly, I would kill to see Screwllum and Svarog properly interact in the future, I think they'd get along so well and their dynamic would be so fun. I don't necessarily ship them, but more power to you if you do, honestly I might eventually be convinced to ship them if more stuff like this shows up, this was super cute (also, before anyone reading gets confused, the "we will come to call each other "brothers"" bit at the end of the letter does not mean anything that would make shipping these two characters quote-on-quote "problematic". The word "brothers" in this context purely refers to a strong bond of friendship and mutual understanding. I honestly should not have to explain that, but considering that the internet is the internet, I figured I ought to).