#other people and their circumstances I can look at purely objectively

[applestorms]

who do you think is smarter: l or light? without any sort of external help (supernatural forces, $$$)

L. ez. i actually already talked about this in my little ramble on intelligence in DN (in response to another ask) but to elaborate on those two in particular a bit more...

ok first of all, to reiterate: intelligence is a difficult thing to really Measure. not only could there be considered to be a lot of different areas/types of knowledge, but there's also a lot of different ways in which that understanding/informational backlog can be utilized or acted on. (plus the whole thing about how IQ tests only determine how good you are at doing IQ tests, etc. etc.)

that being said, i don't think we have to say that intelligence is entirely relative, or that there is absolutely no objective basis under which we can judge how smart someone is, particularly in the case of fictional characters. SO,

let's begin by setting up the parameter that "without external help," specifically refers to circumstances throughout the show itself, if only because it's a lot more complicated to try and figure out who light and L even are if they aren't connected to their canon backstories. this basically just means that they are beginning with whatever strengths/weaknesses they gained throughout childhood and their early teenage/adult years, like we're judging between who they were right at the start of the series pre-lind l. tailor and before they met.

of course, this means that immediately, L has an advantage over light purely by the fact that he is slightly older and has had more direct experience testing the limits of his knowledge through his detective work. while light has also seemed to receive a decently bougie education, he has not had a wealthy man looking over his shoulder to specifically give him everything he wants/needs to Develop His Mind-- he's top of his class, top of everyone in the country, but even that seems to not be particularly challenging to him. thus i don't think it's too out there to assume that light's logical reasoning/pure book & experience knowledge is somewhat stifled.

that being said, he does possess one distinct advantage over L, which is demonstrated quite extensively throughout the show-- his ability to manipulate and understand people. because L is catered to so specifically in such an isolated environment, he never quite gets the chance to have to Live Around People in the same way that light does, meaning that he is a lot less inclined to have the same kind of Instinctive Knowledge as light about how to mask his emotions or fit in with a group. also, the autism. his approach is kinda just to (white) lie a lot-- you could perhaps view this as L being able to understand other people and their motivations/emotions/etc. in the context of a kind of detective case/puzzle, but not quite knowing or realizing the importance of covering his own ass, in the way that light does. the closest he gets with this is when he pretends to be a misa fan right before yotsuba, but even then that's a pretty minor case and clearly planned to some degree beforehand.

thus: L's strengths are in his logical reasoning and ability to puzzle out all the pieces together, pay attention to minute details in evidence, and understand people in terms of base motivations and personality, particularly with regards to crime. his weaknesses are in his ability to understand people in the moment, particularly the ways in which his own actions/presence may influence them in minor ways outside of his few intentional moments of manipulation.

light's strengths are in his ability to respond in the moment (so long as his temper doesn't get to him first), to manipulate people and mask himself so thoroughly n so regularly that he can be under surveillance 24/7 and still manage to murder a few people in secret while keeping up the Sweet, Dedicated Boy Persona in the privacy of his own bedroom, and also his Pure Dedication when it comes to sticking with one plan (KIRA), especially when his own emotions/view of himself is at stake. his weakness is in his ego/reliance on people due to his need to be Seen as someone good and just, as well as his logical reasoning, which really isn't quite up to par with L.

i think people sometimes forget that in the case of both light and beyond, their ability to "reason out" the logic of these cases is specifically because they are the ones perpetrating them, and planning them out in advance. L trips light up time and time again because L is able to think through the evidence more cleanly and consider more potential paths than light, who is always biased towards his own reasoning/justification by nature of the fact that he was the one who came up with the damn plans in the first place.

throughout the series, again and again, light fails to account for the multitude of ways in which people catch on to him-- it's part of the reason why his getting naomi is such a significant moment, because it really was Pure Chance that he stumbled across her right at the time that he did. he simply didn't account for the possibility that raye may actually have close family and loved ones he would talk about his work with, much less someone intelligent enough to put the pieces together about KIRA, despite the fact that he specifically threatens raye about a loved on in the first place. idiot lmfao

in the case of the anime specifically, i'd also like to add that i think L is a bit more emotionally intelligence/mature than light, to some degree, or at the very least has more of handle on or acceptance of his own emotions (and fucked-up-ness). both are pretty childish and self-centered, yes, spoiled little brats in their own particular ways-- but, particularly as demonstrated in the rain scene, L seems to both know what he is and Accept the extent to which his morals are actually quite gray in a way that light just. can't. part of this may be due to L's lack of connection to other people, that he doesn't hold himself to their standards quite so highly, though part of it may also just be again that L is a bit older and therefore less in the throes of teenage Image angst or whatever.

additionally: if you would really like to even out the playing field, and consider 24 year old L versus 24 year old light... honestly i still think L wins LMFAO.

i've mentioned this before, but light post-time skip really isn't all that inventive with the Sick New Schemes he comes up with. honestly, a lot of what he ends up doing in the latter half of the series is exactly the same as his plots throughout the first half, just with slightly different pieces in place. he uses takada and mikami in place of misa in some cases while still refusing to get the eyes (even his father at one point), he switches the notebooks around a whole bunch to ensure he isn't caught due to the lifespan/DN owner thing, he fights a couple snarky geniuses whose names he Desperately wants to find out for a truly stupid amount of time... really, post-timeskip light comes across as very high-functioning depression to me in this half of the series, to some degree going on autopilot with the plans that he Knows will work because he's sunk cost fallacy too hard to give up on KIRA now, despite the fact that his heart really isn't into it as much by this point. kinda like L during yotsuba, though their reactions are quite different, with L going the opposite way to intentionally drop all his shit and give up to the annoyance of everyone around him cuz he's salty that his "intellectual partner" or serial killer boytoy or whatever has disappeared now.

so... yeah. i really do think L is just a bit smarter. light is certainly intelligent, yeah, he can keep up with L just fine throughout the series, but he also uses his intelligence in really fucking stupid ways sometimes (coughcough using his Stunning Reasoning to logic himself into a corner where he has to keep killing people to be a good person. make it make sense, yagami) and is much more heavily influenced by his emotions and Especially his temper and ego.

[simlit]

All odd numbers for Kyrie!😁

What memory would your OC rather just forget?

I think he'd wish he could forget that he was given to the church as a baby. Not necessarily because he wants to reunite or even know his birth parents, he doesn't. But it's a constant reminder that he, quite literally, doesn't belong there. That he was given away as if he was a tool or some material good. It's just a lot to carry around with you.

What is your OC's fatal flaw? Are they aware of this flaw?

Fear of failure. Something that has only recently made itself evident to him (and me lol). In a way, he's a people pleaser. He doesn't want to disappoint those around him. He fears the ripple of consequences that might stem from his domino falling first, and doesn't want to be the person responsible for a larger collapse, so he sort of keeps to his duty as a cog, despite how he might not align with the objective.

How far is your OC willing to go to get what they want?

I would say... not very. He's lazy, certainly, but he's also sheltered, incredibly inexperienced, and lacks the means to get what he wants through pure brute strength, power or smarts. That being said, if the obstacle is something he can overcome, I think he'd be more inclined to actually try.

What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

I made Kyrie almost as a blank slate so that I could easily adapt him to the circumstances of the story. Because CotS is both interactive and filled with characters I didn't create, he had to be someone who could blend well with all types of people, and not have many "hardstops" so to speak, morally or otherwise. But along the way I've tried to make someone who is an "open template" entertaining, and I think Kyrie's almost lackadaisical unbothered humor emerged from all of ~that~. I didn't go in planning him to be such a huge fucking troll, but I'm glad he has his "thing". In a story with so many strong personalities, it would have been easy to get overtaken by the other cast members.

Do you have a specific lyric or quote which you associate with your OC?

"That's abominable." Because it's just so damn funny.

What is your OC's weapon of choice? Have they ever actually used it?

Yes, he has one, and no he doesn't use it. And it's been called into question multiple times in the story, and I still don't think a damn one of them knows the actual truth yet lmao. It's funnier that way. It wouldn't save him from getting murdered, obviously. It would probably just get him murdered faster.

If you met your OC, would the two of you get along?

Absolutely. If he wasn't so hot. Because honestly every time I look at him I just want to punch him in the face so 100% the conversation would go no where and I'd get arrested.

Does your OC have a faceclaim? If so, who?

No he doesn't.

What is the worst thing you have put your OC through story-wise?

I kind of... took his sister. Mean Jade go grr. I have this terrible habit of killing off loving sisters. I leave the bad ones though. Elsera says hi.

How does your OC behave when enraged?

He's one of those awful people who just gets stoic and civil when angry. As Tay said while having the absolute pleasure of being on the other end of it: that's probably worse. He's not been confronted with a situation that would make him exceptionally angry though, i.e. nothing life or death, so maybe that would change.

Does your OC have any illnesses or disorders? How do they handle it?

He doesn't.

What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

I think it would be loss. Which I guess is a generic answer, since it's pretty typical of human nature not to handle loss well. But I think when you have so very little in your life that is truly meaningful, then you're grasping at straws and have nothing to distract you from your grief. I think in the story currently, he's in a constant state of bracing. Trying to remain outwardly hopeful even though his body is already starting to reject the premise that things will turn out well, and that putting so much mental strength into denying it, degrades his focus in other facets of his life. Outside of the few moments where he's truly and genuinely amused, I do feel he's starting to lose himself under the pressure he would have, otherwise, been able to stand against without hesitation. I can't really imagine him in a place where he has to accept that loss is real, and I don't know how or if he can cope with it when it does.

What is your favorite thing about your OC?

I love what a huge fuckin TROLL he is. Sorry, it's so entertaining to me. It's one of my main reasons for preferring him with ~certain~ members of the cast. Mostly the ones who are ripe for riling up ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[yinyuedijun]

Help I have another idea I need to share sjdnkek

This one's a bit wild ig so bear with me ok??! It's fluffy too and non toxic I think. I hope. Pls tell me this isn't somehow creepy I'm sorry if it is skskdkkd

SO- Aventurine × Ena! Reader.

Ena being ofc, the Gaiathra Triclops. In this version, even though everyone believes Ena was assimilated into Xipe, that's not what really happened - Ena instead made a deal with Xipe, trusting the Harmony to uphold Order, and willingly gave up their path and power as an Aeon, choosing to reincarnate as a mortal. And before they gave up their power, they did two last things: first, guarantee that their reincarnation would regain at least some knowledge of their previous life, i.e knowing that they were an Aeon before. And second, give out one last blessing to one of the people they watched over - Kakavasha.

Ena goes on to reincarnate (I'm thinking something like the Dan Heng/Dan Feng situation, so reader has dreams of their previous memories and such, but is a completely different person to who Ena was), and Reader!Ena lives a pretty tranquil life as a mortal - while Kakavasha goes through hell, and loses faith in the Gaiathra Triclops. I haven't given much thought to how they meet, but maybe Ena!Reader goes to Penacony out of curiosity for what a land presided by Harmony is like (given that they know they used to be the Aeon of Order, and that they had previously chosen to entrust Harmony with their path.) and they run into Aventurine there - and they just know. They can feel Ena's blessing on him, and they're immediately drawn to him.

Getting to know each other, creating a bond, trusting each other until Aventurine can open up about his past with them, and reader reveals their identity, and suddenly everything changes for him - he wasn't abandoned by his God, but rather they'd given him their final blessing before they passed - and reader has this strong urge to cherish and protect him, not because he's the child blessed by Ena, but because they've fallen for him. The complicated relationship they'll have to sort out where Kakavasha feels like Reader is a gift sent by Gaiathra, while Reader cherishes and worships him like he's the divine one. Aventurine being loved unconditionally and cherished for the first time, being basically worshiped by the Reader.. being treated like he's the most precious thing in the world, being looked at with pure love and adoration. The hurt, the confusion, the fear of being loved.. maybe reader can have some issues too and be so wholly devoted they'd do anything for him, no matter how much it might harm them, just to add a bit more trouble to work on.

I don't think I'll ever actually write any of my ideas (even though I do have a writing blog lmao) bc I'm too insecure about my writing and my inspiration bursts are too inconsistent, but thank you for reading my silly thoughts and letting me share them lol I really appreciate it, especially bc you're one of my favorite writers here <3

- Penacony DH smut anon (lol)

I DONT THINK ITS CREEPY AT ALL!! I adore reincarnation romances and I have a particular fondness for reincarnated deity romances. It would be so interesting to see Aventurine process this news. I really like the phrase you used wrt "the fear of being loved" - I think Aventurine would suffer very, very intensely from this fear under regular circumstances with a human. I can only imagine the state of panic he'd be in if he were the object of affection of the god who supposedly forsook him. augflgsjsk it would be so juicy... reader too I'm sure they're full of many complicated feelings just like dan heng is (I bet the two of them would be besties)

I'm sad hearing that you feel you won't write your ideas, I think they are so brilliant and I love reading them 🥺 you're always welcome to share them here - but please let me know if you do ever decide to post something, I'd love to read and reblog it <333

[zenmastercharles]

Conceptualizing Upgraded Powers for Every Miraculous

What’s up BITCHES🗣️‼️

…i’m sorry guys, I shouldn’t have called you bitches.

The concept of evolving powers in Miraculous Ladybug has raised some…interesting questions. When Ladybug basically said “fuck you, I do what I want” and made herself a new power, it confused a lot of us. And when Shadowmoth did the same goddamn thing, we were just kind of tired of it. The unspecific and wishy washy circumstances around upgrading a Miraculous user’s powers has inspired many people in the fanbase to make up their own headcanons for it, improving on the power that we were given and also conceptualizing upgrades for other users. 

Well, in this post, I’m gonna do the same thing….

For every goddamn Miraculous we see in this show

Am I crazy? Yes. Do I even have the time to do all of this? No.  Am I going to obsess over this for days on end instead of doing what I actually need to do? Absolutely.

To explain what exactly I’m doing here, instead of looking into the animals each Miraculous is based on, I’m purely going to draw concepts from the, well, concept the kwami embodies. That means I’m going to find a new power for Creation, Destruction, Transmission, Emotion, Illusion, Protection, Subjection (fuck Action, all my homies hate Action), Evolution, Intuition, Migration, Derision, Perfection, Jubilation, Inflatio-nah I’m just fuckin’ with you, Exaltation, Multiplication, Pretension, Passion, Determination, and Adoration.

Okay so maybe I lied about every Miraculous being in here since I’m ignoring the Eagle, but I’d rather wait until more Miraculouses from the NA Box get explored. Some of these are going to be easier than others, and some of these are going to be the bane of my existence, lookin’ at you Derision (which is oddly fitting). I’m gonna try my hardest not to make these upgrades OP. Now, without further ado, let’s do this.

🐞LADYBUG MIRACULOUS🐞

“Oh, Ladybug already got an upgra-” Well that upgrade was ASS, so we’re giving her a better one. When thinking of a new power for the Ladybug Miraculous, it was pretty damn difficult. I mean, Creation is a concept that’s so broad yet so specific. You have so many options yet no options at the same time. I was caught in a bit of a strange conundrum. So, in my desperate time of need, I turned to a friend that’s been helping me with shit like this since I first started writing.  My all-knowing buddy,

🪽𝒮𝓊𝓅𝓮𝓇𝓅𝓸𝓌𝓮𝓇 𝒲𝒾𝓀𝒾🪽

When I went to this site, I did what anyone would do and simply searched up Creation to see what I found. And I found a lot, a lot that could become too busted too fast. I had a few ideas at first, my first idea after going to this page was a literal goddamn domain expansion, that being Ladybug projecting her will in the form of a pocket dimension where her imagination reigns supreme. My second idea was something I would’ve called Power Plant, basically Ladybug’s spots glow and she can generate blasts of pure Big Bang energy, which again, is busted. 

Eventually, I found something that interested me and that’s Transmutation. Y’know, Alchemy from FMA? Yeah, that. It’s basically transforming one thing into another thing of equal value. And that, my friends, falls under Creation. Because you’re basically breaking something and using the parts to create something new. So, I’m guessing you can see where I’m going with this, right?

Ladybug’s new upgraded power is Overhaul, an ability that allows her to transform an inanimate object into an object of equal weight and density. So she can take a vase and transform it into an ax, but that ax is gonna be the same weight and density of the vase…and it’s gonna be made out of glass.

…holy shit, I just realized that’s an MHA reference, I legit didn’t even mean tha-

🐈‍⬛BLACK CAT MIRACULOUS🐈‍

Another upgrade that I came up with thanks to the help of with the help of my dear friend,

🪽𝒮𝓊𝓅𝓮𝓇𝓅𝓸𝓌𝓮𝓇 𝒲𝒾𝓀𝒾🪽

I am of the opinion that Chat Noir got absolutely shitted out of a new power in Season 5. You’re telling me you had Adrien go through all that bullshit that season and you couldn’t have at least given him some new razzle-dazzle to pay it off? Boosh.

Anyway, this one was actually fairly easier since Destruction isn’t really that broad a concept. I mean, you’re destroying shit, how complicated can it be? So, with Creation, I wanted to think about how Ladybug was creating something, but with Destruction, I want to focus on what Chat Noir’s destroying.

I went through some ideas before I came to a conclusion, Chat Noir being able to destroy someone’s soul to incapacitate them, him being able to destroy someone’s mental boundaries and what not. For the longest time I had the idea in my head that Chat Noir could maybe destroy an aspect of something, like maybe he could just destroy the color in an object and turn it completely gray. However, I feel that’s a bit more…situational. But, I eventually had a definitive idea. You know what falls under Destruction? Division.

“Wha-how does Division fall under Destruction?” You might ask, and that’s simple, division is destroying the bond that keeps multiple things whole, forcefully separating them. For example, if you have a lobster and you tear off it’s claw you have to destroy the shell to get to the meat inside. You’re dividing the shell from the meat by destroying the shell. (I’m fully aware that you didn’t need that explanation but I just watched the episode of Young Sheldon where George taught Missy how to crack a lobster and I’m still not over it)

So, Chat Noir’s new power is Hissection, it allows him to forcefully separate one thing from another by basically touching it and pulling that bitch out. He could use it on an akuma’s object and literally rip the akuma out of it without damaging the object. Or, if he’s getting really morbid, he could rip someone’s skeletal structure out of their body and just watch them fall down like ol jelly bones. He obviously wouldn’t do that, but still.

I have the perfect scenario for this power to develop too, Monarch finds out that Adrien is Chat Noir and tries to use the ring to get him to come to his side since Adrien’s a sentimonster, only for Chat Noir to use this power to separate himself from the Peacock Miraculous and wedding rings, granting himself his own sentience. Isn’t that just raw as hell?

🦋BUTTERFLY MIRACULOUS🦋

I’m gonna call Gabriel Hawkmoth for this section because I refuse to keep up with his new names. Hawk Moth has already got a kind-of upgrade with “Megakumas”. However, Megakumas are just boosh. They’re basically ‘akumas but stronger’. So I’ll be coming up with a new one just how I did with Ladybug. 

Now, the butterfly is connected to the concept of Transmission which I was having a hard time with because my stupid ass brain only thought of Transmission as “broadcasting TV/telekinetic signals”. That’s the reason I changed it to “Transformation” in one of my fics. However, one quick trip to le dictionary corrected me. Now I know that Transmission is the act of transferring something from one place to another. THAT’S why he can do that fuckin’ butterfly head thing…well my version doesn’t make sense anymore.

I really only have one idea for this and I find it perfect. Y’know how akumas transmit powers to akumatized victims right? Well, what if the butterfly user could transmit themselves?

Hawkmoth’s new power is Swarm Shadow, it allows him to break his corporeal form into a swarm of butterflies, allowing him to blast across large distances in a reduced timeframe and re-materialize. It’s basically teleportation with extra steps. 

I always thought him being able to do that in Volpina was cool as hell and I wished canon came up with a way to incorporate that someday…they didn’t.

🦚PEACOCK MIRACULOUS🦚

This one is gonna be a bit shorter because I pretty much got a great idea the moment I thought about it for more than three seconds. The Peacock is the Miraculous of Emotion, right? Well, what better upgrade would there be than, well, controlling emotions?

Argos’ new power is Vehementor, it allows him to subtly or blatantly influence a person’s emotions, he can push positive or negative emotions onto someone, or soften certain emotions to calm someone down. Someone with a stronger will could of course resist this. 

I used Argos instead of Mayura because we clearly aren’t seeing her again for a while. 

🦊FOX MIRACULOUS🦊

Now THIS one is harder. The Fox Miraculous is one of Illusion, which is a power that’s so straight-forward that it’s hard to think of anything to add to it without dipping into other domains. At one point, I thought of giving Rena a memory-based power, maybe the ability to take people’s memories and project them in the form of illusions, but that seemed like it was a bit situational in nature.

Eventually, I did come up with something. Imagine an illusion so advanced that it covered you at all times and that you could alter at will. You can make yourself invisible by forcing the illusion to mimic your surroundings, you could make it look like you’re teleporting by disappearing and reappearing behind people in puffs of orange smoke, you could make yourself look like someone else, you could make someone think you’re a shapeshifter, pretty much anything! 

So, Rena Rouge’s new power is Outfox, it allows her to manifest an illusion that’s connected to her brain and can react to her brain activity, twisting, shaping, and altering itself to whatever Rena can think of. She’ll definitely need to focus to keep pulling this off, or else the illusion would go haywire and out of her control, but it could still be pretty damn cool.

🐢TURTLE MIRACULOUS🐢

The Turtle Miraculous is one of Protection, which sounds like it would be difficult to come up for something with. I always felt that when coming up with new powers for the Turtle, other fan-creators did some that just…didn’t feel right to me. They just didn’t focus on the ‘protection’ part enough for me to feel like it made sense. My first idea for this was to give Carapace the ability to shape his shields into other stuff, and while I do think that would make for a good sub-power, it wouldn’t really fit for what I’m going for.

But then, I came up with something I like. Do you remember Metal Mario? It’s a powerup from, well, Mario, that gave him a thin coating of metal that enhanced his durability and strength. I’m going to give Nino something similar to that.

Carapace’s new power is Fortify, it allows him to create a forcefield that’s shaped around his body, allowing him to run around tanking attacks left and right. It also increases his physical strength, however, a downside is that he experiences a slight decrease in speed and agility. 

(Yes, I gave him and Rena similar powers intentionally, DJWifi is one of my favorite relationships, let me be)

🐝BEE MIRACULOUS🐝

Subjection! 

“Wait, isn’t it Action no-” SUBJECTION!

Subjection is an easy one. Subjection basically means ‘bringing something under your control’. So what better power for this one than mind control?

Queen Bee’s new upgraded power is Hive Mind, it allows her to stick someone with her trompo and bring them under her control, forcing them to do whatever she wants.

Notice how I said ‘Queen Bee’? Don’t worry Vesperia fans, I’m one of you, and I’m not leaving her out. In fact, I’m giving her a completely separate power upgrade. While Chloe would have no problem mind controlling someone, Zoe would likely find the concept…icky.  So, we’ll have to find something new for her. At first I wanted to give her the ability to control plants, because one, putting plants under subjection and two, bee, but that felt unoriginal. So, what did I go with? Something also unoriginal. Because what’s better than enacting subjection? Reversing it.

Vesperia’s new upgraded power is Layoff, it allows her to reverse low-level subjection, if someone else has you mind controlled, Vesperia can reverse that shit easy. Yes, it’s basically Bee Balm from Scarlet Lady (zoe please don’t sue me).

…ugh, fine, if I did consider the concept of Action, then the power would be Comb-Up, it would allow the user to drain the momentum from an object with the tip of the trompo to such a point that the object just completely freezes mid-air.

🐰RABBIT MIRACULOUS🐰

We’ve got the main 7 out of the way, let’s get onto the time-hopping Miraculous itself, the Miraculous of Evolution. I have mixed feelings on the linking of Evolution to the Time Miraculous because, like, I get it…but like, it doesn’t match all that well. I mean, Duration was right there if you really wanted something time-related. It doesn’t make that much more sense than Evolution, but it’s closer.

Now, at first, I focused a little too much on the time aspect, I thought of stealing time from someone else to slow them down DC style, I thought of enhancing her own time to speed herself up, I even thought of a power that’s actually going to the next Miraculous on the chopping block. But, I eventually got back to Evolution, and thought about what it means to evolve. And I came up with something pretty cool. What if Bunnyx could evolve objects?

Bunnyx’s new power is Rush Job, it allows her to harness a small percentage of chronokinetic energies and apply it to an object to evolve it, bringing it to a higher level. For example, you got a car? Do you want it to fly? BOOM! Rush Job! Now your car has jets and wings….I feel like I haven’t explained it well enough.

The weakness of this one would be, I guess, when it evolves it looses one of it’s best features from when it pre-evolved. Like, going back to the car, yeah it has jets now but there’s not a steering wheel anymore, just a steering mechanism that’s hella hard to get down. Also it wears off fast.

🐍SNAKE MIRACULOUS🐍

Ah, the Miraculous of the Snake, or as I like to call it, the one that basically lets you go “nuh-uh”. Intuition is a simple concept to get down, basically you’re super aware and have good instincts. This is also another wibbly wobbly time Miraculous, it and the Rabbit take turns making each other insignificant. This one was actually pretty easy for me, as I already had this power in mind for the snake for months now. 

Viperion’s new power is Scale Factor, it allows him to peer through time to view the possible outcomes of each action they take, and adjust for certain happenings. He would have to focus hard, but I feel that shouldn’t be hard for Luka.

🐴HORSE MIRACULOUS🐴

Bit of a detour, but the Horse Miraculous’ power doesn’t make sense to me, mostly because it’s a huge wasted opportunity. The concept is Migration, and that’s basically moving from one direction to another. And what are horses known for? Running! So the obvious conclusion for the Horse’s power is PORTALS! I’m gonna give the Horse the power I think it should’ve had in the first place.

Pegasus’ new power is Steed, it allows him to sprint at incredible speeds, becoming a light green blur (same color as the portals). 

🐒MONKEY MIRACULOUS🐒

This one…this one was the death of me. Because what the fuck is ‘Derision’? I didn’t even know that was a word before Thomas decided to pull it out of his ass and slap it onto the table. Apparently is means, “contemptuous ridicule or mockery”. So basically, magic bullying. Now, how do I find another application of this? Credit where credit’s due, Uproar is kinda perfect for the concept of Derision. Basically making your opponent the laughing stock by disrupting their power. After a few hours, I finally got it. What if your power made you the laughing stock.

What if you’re the jester, the joker, the one who made people laugh, whether they like it or not?

Roi Singe’s new power is Quip King, it allows him to tell a joke so bad, a joke so cringe, a joke so unbelievably garbage, that anyone who hears it laughs at him. Forcibly. And they can’t stop. It’s basically Joker Venom but WAY less lethal. Can’t exactly threaten the city while your ribs are quaking.

🐲DRAGON MIRACULOUS🐲 

Okay, Derision was the death of me, this buried me underground. This time, I knew what Perfection was, I just don’t know how that connects to the animal or the power. I mean, Ryuko has weather powers. The fuck does that have to do with Perfection? I mean, if you wanted her to have weather powers that bad, Precipitation was right there. 

Anyways, finding something to do with Perfection that still looped in with it’s main power was very hard…so I just didn't. I straight up forgot about the ‘Storm Dragon’ powers and focused completely on Perfection. Perfection means, well, making things perfect, so I thought of something like a stat booster, making the user a living unit of strength, speed, durability, and stamina. I realized that, one, that would be way too busted, and two, it would overshadow the turtle’s new power. I eventually came up with something different though.

Ryuko’s new power is Omni-Tongue, it allows her to understand and speak all existing languages, including ancient or fictional languages. It’s kind of situational but honestly, the Dragon is already one of the most busted of the Chinese Box, it doesn’t need another super flashy power. 

🐷PIG MIRACULOUS🐷

Ah yes, the Miraculous quite literally designed for Rose. It’s the Miraculous of Jubilation, meaning the feeling of great happiness or triumph. I’m sure you’re thinking “Zen Master Charles, how the hell are you gonna find another application of this.” Quiet, dear reader, as I know how to do this. I didn’t really have any other ideas for this one since the answer was pretty clear cut.

Pigella’s new power is Peace Out, it overloads whoever she hits with her tambourine with so much positive emotion that they can’t do anything else but frolic around and enjoy the world’s beauty.

🐯TIGER MIRACULOUS🐯

What the fuck is ‘exaltation’?

“Actually, the concept got changed to ‘elation’.” Ahhh…what the fuck is ‘elation’?

Okay so Elation means ‘a feeling of great joy or pride’. Now, how the hell does that factor into a super punch? I have no idea, but I do have an idea of what it’s upgraded power could be. See, when you’re super happy, you’re super energetic, like you’re bouncing around and shit. And you would need a lot of stamina for that, so…

Purple Tigress’ new power is Resolver, it allows her to grant herself nigh-infinite stamina and a slight increase in speed and agility. 

🐁MOUSE MIRACULOUS🐁

Eezy dubs.

Polymouse’s new power is Bootleg, it allows her to produce copies of physical objects, the only downside being that the copies will be of lower quality, y’know, like a bootleg version.

🐓ROOSTER MIRACULOUS🐓

Ah, pretension, a claim or assertion of a claim to something. It actually makes sense paired with the power of the Miraculous itself, good job Thomas! Of course the power itself is busted beyond all accounts and makes the rest of the show seem like it could’ve been solved if at least one character had an IQ above room temperature. It’s hard to come up with something new for Pretension because it’s such a…specific term.

My first idea was a power that allowed the user to create a specific rule that had to be followed within a certain area, but that sounded busted. Too busted, even by the standards of the power it already has. However, once I wrote this off, I had an idea. How about, instead of creating rules, the Rooster hero could break them?

So, Rooster Bold’s new power is Rebel Roost, it allows him to make himself exempt from any rule or law by writing it with his feather pen dagger. Seems pretty useless at first right? WRONG! Laws of gravity? Fuck you, I can fly. Rules of Nature? Hey, mouse! You can kill that cat that’s been hunting you now! Yes, it’s broken, but so is it’s other power.

🐐GOAT MIRACULOUS🐐

Another eezy dub, y’know how passion basically means you’re dedicated towards something and have strong emotions towards it? And when it’s at it’s peak, nothing can keep you away from it?

Caprikid’s new power is Scapegoat, it allows him to become intangible, meaning that he can walk and/or float through physical objects, but he can’t touch them until he deactivates the power.

🐂OX MIRACULOUS🐂

The Ox Miraculous of Determination, in the simplest terms, is literally a big blue ‘nuh uh’ button. Surprisingly, it also makes sense paired with the power Astruc came up with! I’m tired as hell so I’m not gonna explain my thought process here.

Minataurox’s new power is Oxenfree, it allows him to supply his allies with boosts to their willpower. It’s lazy, I know, idc. (God, I’m falling off.)

🐕DOG MIRACULOUS🐕

THE FINAL ONE, YEEEEES

The Miraculous of the Dog holds the concept of Adoration, makes sense with the animal, not so much the power. Now, how the hell am I supposed to find another application of Adoration…actually it’s quite easy. It’s the same thing as the Horse, where all I have to do is give it the power I think it should’ve had in the first place. 

Miss Hound’s new power is Track Star, it allows her to target a specific person and track them down wherever they go. 

~~hide away, hide away from me, hide away, hide away from me-~~

I’M FINALLY FUCKING DONE! 

Guys, this took me 10 days.

Alright, if you have any alternate ideas you want to share or want to use any of these for your fics, make sure to comment below.

[femmefatalelf]

Escaping the Illusion's Web: Why you're trapped in your current life and how to change it

If a genie suddenly popped out of a bottle and offered to answer to any question that has been troubling you, what would you ask? That was pretty visit site here much the situation posed to thousands of metaphysically oriented people recently when they were given the opportunity to solicit the aid of higher consciousness.

Not surprisingly, the majority of the questions concerned personal predicaments. Here's a fairly representative example: "I have been on a spiritual path for fifteen years. I am a vegetarian. I meditate and do yoga. I am a healer and am always offering myself in service to others. Why can't I have the perfect relationship? Please help me. Thank you, Mary."

Mary is typical of the many Light Workers who responded. She feels stuck, disempowered, and more than a little frustrated by the condition of her life, and she wants (almost desperately) to find a way out. This presents a curious dilemma, for in the perception of higher consciousness, Mary's problem has already been surmounted - only she hasn't yet realized this, so she herself continues to perpetuate it.

Within the laws of the illusion created by the Veil of Forgetting (the energetic barrier that separates each human incarnating on Earth from knowing who he or she truly is), problems arise purely out of preference. When you find yourself in a less than optimum situation, it is because the condition as you perceive it clashes with how you would like things to be. If you could look from a higher perspective, you would recognize the perfection of your circumstance, the great care and intent expended in its creation, and the lesson it offers for your growth. And you would realize that the answers you seek are already with you. But while this may be lovely theory, it has little value unless you can do it.

It's always tempting to ask an expanded intelligence to intervene and fix the problem for you, but this also means giving your power away. Given the choice, wouldn't you prefer to learn how to resolve problems by yourself? There is a wonderful saying attributed to the Chinese: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. It is in this spirit that we offer the following information.

The key to the solution is embedded right in Mary's question, hidden so cleverly in plain view that the questioner rarely sees it. Her question, like almost all the others we received, is centered on the pronouns "I," "myself," and "me." "Of course," you might think. "After all, who else but I is experiencing the problem, and who else but I wishes to know the fix?" Beware, however, of truths that seem self-evident. They often turn out to be glib but false axioms that you-like most humans experiencing the world behind the Veil - assume are immutable.

As Albert Einstein delighted in reminding his associates, it is impossible to solve problems at the level of their creation. What this refers to is not the need for more intelligence and information but rather an increased awareness, or consciousness. It is simply another way of expressing one of the universal truths of Creation: What you see depends on where you're looking from. A problem persists only as long as the person experiencing it clings to his or her existing viewpoint.

There is no area of conflict on your planet today - personal, national, or global - that is not rooted in this simple principle. One faction wages war against another only because of differences in the points from which they view. There is no objective right or wrong; there is only perception. The solution is not compromise, for compromise can cripple the spirit and most often results in mutual dissatisfaction and covert resentment. Resolving the issue requires that both parties let go of their personality viewpoints (expressed as belief systems) and rise above the level of conflict to meet in a new field where both are seeing in a new way.

It is the same with an individual's problems. Therapy and processing only help you adjust to what is an unpleasant circumstance. The real solution is to let go of the viewpoint that keeps you stuck and expand into a greater level of consciousness.

"So," you might ask, "can I become more conscious?" The response is "Yes and no." Why such an evasive answer? Because the question holds the very glossed-over, self-evident assumption that lies at the heart of your difficulties. Which I are you speaking about? If you think there is only one, then there is much to reconsider.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

hi! firstly, sorry in advance for the long ask. your blog is very thought provoking! secondly, i wanna say i really appreciate all your writing on totk - i’ve kinda deliberately avoided looking at any critiques of the game because, quite frankly, i had a fun time in the moment while playing it and i didn’t want to sully that experience, but your posts have all been quality and have given me a lot to think about with respect to the narrative, its aims, and whether or not “pure, uncomplicated, escapist fiction” is actually a good thing

i digress though - the subject i wanted to ask about, which comes up both in your general “all the consequences were undone and therefore nothing mattered” stance, and more directly in your post about dondons/humanity/morality (specifically the part about “should we trust the bargainer statues that nothing matters? or should we actually care about light vs dark?”) is kind of the age old sentiment that the journey is more important than the destination, and how you think about this in the context of zelda as a narrative, as a defining game in the adventure genre, and now as a landmark in the open world style

in the case of the bargainer statue, i was thrown by you framing “trusting the statues about morality” vs “being moved by the struggle of light against dark” as an either/or - a grimly nihilistic view. in the game (and, i think, in real life), the message is that the ultimate futility of everything does not invalidate the reality of people living their lives in the present, and a positive nihilism challenges us to try and help people and do good in spite of that meaninglessness. this is why the bargainer statues feel so bizarre and un-zelda-like (or at the very least, un-hyrulian. not a bad thing!) - the universe of zelda has always at its core been about how helping other people is a noble endeavor and is its own reward (with gratitude in skyward sword actually manifesting this physically), and the bargainers’ ambivalence flies in the face of this. it’s obvious to us as the player that towns being destroyed and lives being torn apart is objectively bad, even if everyone ends up as a poe in the depths either way, and the bargainers reading as sinister and alien actually reinforces this more than it calls it into question. the quality of the time spent in life matters, even if the ending looks the same

as a game, i think zelda has always been at least as much about the stories and connections you experience on your quest to deal with the big bad as it is about that actual climactic fight. it’s always leaned into the adventure half of “action/adventure,” and in some ways i do think this is what “gameplay before story” originally meant. as you’ve noted, some of the brightest points of totk are the sidequests and characters for whom you can make a small but noticeable difference, and through which you’re driven to interrogate the world and maybe yourself too. and it’s because of these connections that reverting things at the end doesn’t make everything futile and pointless. link is our connection to hyrule, and if the adventure impacted us positively, then we can infer that it impacted link (and to a lesser extent, zelda) positively as well, and that’s worthwhile even if the external circumstances change

a last quick point is that i think the increasingly open world nature of the series also reinforces this - sure you can run naked straight to castle and beat ganondorf without engaging with the game in any way, and you’ll save the day the same as someone who put in 300 hours on the way there, but your takeaway will be completely different, because that journey is the entire point

anyways thanks again for your thoughtful posts and for reading this far if you did!

Heyy thank you so much for perusing my blog and leaving such a thoughtful ask, it's greatly appreciated! <3

That's interesting you took the Dondon post in that way, as it wasn't what I meant at all haha. But I do recognize it was worded in kind of a cryptic way, and left it up to interpretation perhaps a tad too much (see: the limits of subtext), so I can try and make myself a little more clear (and I also think you bring up really good points that completely deserve to be mentioned and that I personally do not mention nearly enough)

What I meant by the "either/or" isn't what we, as an audience should take away as what's important or meaningful, and completely discard the other part as useless. It's not what we experience ingame, and this contradiction is inherently interesting and sparks some degree of conflict (good! storytelling need those and totk is conflict anemic honestly)

What bothered me is that we are prompted, in the game, to see things in an extremely black and white way in spite of an argumentation that maybe, we shouldn't. It's not bad in itself, I even think it's great that we get to question the moral fabric of the world! It's one of the very rare (in my opinion) compelling things about the narrative weaved out for us. But the endgoal of the game still remains the same: find Zelda, and swear yourself/all of your friends to Rauru's ancestral kingdom by using his powers and his guiding hand. Link's role in restoring Hyrule is never even hinted as being a potential question mark, or something we should ponder upon (Twilight Princess did directly question Hyrule in more ways than one, WW is also there, etc). But moreso than in other games in my opinion: we are doing the bidding of a king's territorial war that happened a very long time ago, and the current state of Hyrule doesn't seem to indicate the need for pushing a unified kingdom back onto everybody, or at least it wouldn't be a problem if not for Ganondorf's presence (which in of itself is still arguable as an argument for royal unity, since people would have been willing to band together for the sake of their own communities regardless of whether or not there was a unifying realm --remove the Sage's vow, and I don't believe Link's friends would have let him handle his fight on his own even without having to swear their alliegeance to what is basically a dead kingdom by this point).

My problem isn't the statues; it's that this Light/Darkness framing is only ever questioned when close to them/the Monster Brothers, and the rest of the world is extremely rigid in what is the correct path --but without the added tragic weight that other Zelda games generally have about this aspect (the Sages in OoT being torn from their previous aspect/your own lost childhood, Skyward Sword's Hylia and the way she enacts her plan through people who never had a choice --and that's identified as something bittersweet, not to mention the infamous curse of Demise...)

I do adore what you mention, this sort of "positive nihilism" as a staple of the series. It's never as apparent as in Majora's Mask in my opinion, where getting people comfort and rest is ultimately without consequence as you constantly reset their minds, but it still feels meaningful to have helped. I think BotW did that really well too --where you help people rebuidling life and meaning in the middle of the desolation, making the post-apocalypse hopeful, a place for potential growth and change and resilience and experimentation. In TotK, however, I don't think your efforts are as centered around making sure these people get a future as they were in BotW (except maybe, as you mentioned, in a couple of sidequests --Lurelin's village being one of them, for example). Maybe it's because Ganondorf's threat is not as clear as the Calamity's was, maybe it's because what guides your adventure is to find Zelda first and foremost rather than defeating whatever threatens the peace (treated narratively as a hindrance more than the core problem, even if it is ultimately the core problem --again, the narration/quest design is pretty messy here and it doesn't help matters), or maybe it's because the endgoal is not for people to make their own way into the world, but mostly for the wayward folk of Hyrule to be ushered back onto the glorious trail of Hylian/Zonai's legacy --but to me, the game has a weird agenda regarding Link/the player's role into this world that is generally tangential to his role as a hero and a balancing force in other legends. Here, he starts the game as a knight. His duty is to Zelda, but it ends up overlapping to what Zelda represents in a far more abstract way than usual.

What I think works in TotK in terms of "positive nihilism" is actually Ultrahand, and this gimmick of "world as playground", which I believe is a very clever and engaging way to imagine an open world. There are a ton of little gameplay moments that are yours to shape and inject meaning into; manipulation for the sake of it, the joy of play, and experimentation being rewarded and never punished. To me, this feels the most like inhabiting the world, making it your own, and doing things because they matters to you --and this being enough. But narratively speaking, this is just not really the story being told to us: we are told, us and basically every other NPC, to conform to a plan laid out for us that doesn't ever need to be investigated or questioned --even though now, at crossroad of what the future could look like, would be the perfect moment to do so.

I think what I ultimately tried to point out in that Dondon post is how jarring this hint that, perhaps nothing you do In The Name of Light actually means anything, and this having zero impact on the rigidity of the pupose you are supposed to accomplish In The Name of Light --and the game never seemingly acknowledging that paradox, which made for a (I think, unplanned) pretty oppressive playing experience on my end.

[anonymousewrites]

Logos and Pathos (Book 2) Chapter Fourteen

Spock x Empath! Reader

Chapter Fourteen: Fog of Emotion

Summary: Murder and mayhem abound, and (Y/N) is determined to discover the truth so that Scotty isn't sent to prison.

            “Depending on your wife’s empathic abilities is all very well, Prefect, but there’s one way we can find out what it is Mr. Scott cannot remember,” said Kirk as Jaris escorted them to an elegant living room in his home. “But there’s one way we can find out what it is Mr. Scott cannot remember. Since you find it impossible to let us go back up to our ship, I can beam down a technician with a psycho-tricorder.”

            Bones nodded. “Prefect, it will give us a detailed account of everything that’s happened to Mr. Scott in the last twenty-four hours.”

            “I’d advise against it, Prefect,” said Hengist. “This is purely an Argelian matter.”

            (Y/N) furrowed their brow. They understood that diplomacy was necessary when dealing with a planet’s jurisdiction, but surely they understood that this would help everyone. (Y/N) sighed. Bureaucracy.

            “My wife must meditate for a time before she is ready,” said Jaris. “I see no reason why we should not use that time to good advantage.”

            (Y/N) smiled. At least someone here has sense.

            Kirk nodded and radioed to the Enterprise to send down a technician with a psycho-tricorder.

            “Prefect, the psycho-tricorder will require privacy in order to be effective,” said Spock.

            “There is a small chamber below this room.” Jaris motioned to a small corridor. “Perhaps that will suffice.” He glanced at Kirk. “Captain, news of this frightful murder is spreading among my people. They’re greatly disturbed. I have heard talk of closing Argelius to space vehicles.”

            “Well, that would be most unfortunate. Argelian hospitality is well-known,” said Kirk. “As well as its strategic importance as a space port.”

            “Yes, I believe it’s the only one in the quadrant,” said Jaris.

            Hengist cleared his throat. “There are other people we should question. Perhaps I should go to expedite their arrival here?”

            “Yes, please do so, Mr. Hengist,” said Jaris, nodding. “Anyone with any connection with this murder should be present at the ceremony.”

            Hengist smiled, nodded, and left to follow orders. He paused when a woman beamed into the room, the technician with the psycho-tricorder. She gave him a polite nod which he returned before continuing on.

            “Lieutenant Karen Tracy reporting as ordered, Captain,” said Tracy.

            “Lieutenant, we require a twenty-four hour regressive memory check on Mr. Scott,” said Spock.

            “Yes, sir. Where shall I set up?” asked Tracy.

            “Down this hall, Lieutenant,” said (Y/N), smiling and gesturing to the hall. Scotty swallowed hard before following Tracy down to the room where they’d get their answers.

            Bones frowned. “Under normal circumstances, Scotty could never have done such a thing.”

            Kirk nodded grimly. “But that blow to the head—it could put all his previous behavior patterns into the junk heap.”

            “Of course, there’s another possibility,” said Bones.

            “What?” asked (Y/N).

            “Hysterical amnesia,” said Bones. “When a man feels guilty about something, something too terrible to remember, he blots it out of his conscious memory.”

            “We shall find out soon,” said Spock gravely.

            “Ah, Sybo,” said Jaris happily as his wife appeared in the room’s doorway. “Are you ready?”

            “I am ready,” said Sybo, her voice smooth and clear. “May I have the knife, please?”

            “Certainly,” said Jaris. He looked to the Enterprise officers. “Among other gifts, Sybo has the ability to receive impressions from inanimate objects. With Lieutenant (L/N)’s more powerful empathic abilities, we shall discover the truths this weapon hides. Do you have it, Captain?”

            “The knife?” Kirk frowned. “No.”

            Jaris furrowed his brow as he examined the ring of sitting pillows, small table, and fire. “I put it right here when we arrived. It’s gone.”

            As if on cue, a woman’s scream pierced the silence, as blood-curdling as that of Kara’s as she was murdered. (Y/N) gasped as a flash of powerful fear hit them. The woman was close enough to feel her emotions as her terror overcame her.

            (Y/N) stumbled, and Spock was by their side in a moment to steady them while Jaris, Kirk, and Bones ran to the corridor where Scotty and Tracy had disappeared not five minutes before. (Y/N) straightened, touching Spock’s arm briefly in thanks, before running down as well.

            In the private room, Scotty was slumped over in his chair while Tracy was sprawled on the ground with stab wounds in her back.

            “She’s dead, Jim,” said Bones in a hushed voice. “Just like Kara. Stabbed over and over again.”

            And Scotty’s at the scene of the crime again, thought (Y/N).

            “We must complete the ceremony,” said Jaris gravely. “We must discover the truth before more die.”

            Kirk nodded shortly and with Bones’s help, he hauled Scotty to his feet and escorted him upstairs, still prone and nearly unconscious. Sybo prepared by the fire and circle of pillows as Jaris poured a drink to rejuvenate Scotty.

            “An Argelian stimulant, Doctor,” said Jaris. “Quite effective and quite harmless.”

            Bones nodded. “Go ahead, Scotty.” The Scotsman took the drink and downed it in a moment.

            “Lieutenant,” called Sybo, her eyes closed as she entered a calm, meditative state. “Join me. I find calming oneself is beneficial for the ceremony.”

            “Alright,” said (Y/N), taking a step towards Sybo.

            Spock caught their wrist for a moment. “If the ceremony causes any discomfort or pain, please protect your mind.”

            (Y/N) smiled. “Don’t worry, Spock. I’ll be careful.”

            Spock nodded sharply. “Good.”

            Hengist reentered the room. “Uh, Prefect, both of these men were at the café the night of the murder.”

            “Where have they been during the past few minutes?” asked Kirk sharply.

            “Captain, if you don’t mind, please—” Undoubtedly, Hengist was going to ask for protocol and Argelian traditions and all that.

            “There’s been another murder, Hengist,” interrupted Kirk. “One of my crew.”

            “The same as Kara,” said Jaris.

            “Why that…that’s terrible,” said Hengist. Once again, no real emotions followed the cold bureaucrat. He turned and pointed at one of the men. “You. My men picked you up near here. What were you doing?”

            The man scoffed. “Please, I know nothing about it. I didn’t kill anyone.”

            Hengist frowned. “Well, how was the girl killed?”

            (Y/N)’s eyes narrowed for a moment. Something was off about his statement, but (Y/N) couldn’t place it. Maybe the wording? Seeing him eyeing them suspiciously, (Y/N) turned away.

            “Stabbed,” responded Kirk. “And there’s no sign of the weapon.”

            Hengist sighed and shook his head sadly. “If only I had the facilities.”

            (Y/N) scowled and muttered under their breath, “If you don’t really feel sympathetic because you’ve been doing this job for so long, don’t try to act all sorry. It doesn’t come off right.” Spock raised an eyebrow as he heard them.

            Kirk approached the other man. “I know you…You were a musician at the café. You played for Kara.”

            The older man nodded. “Since she was a little girl, she danced for me.” His voice was sorrowful and soft. “She was my daughter.”

            “Now that’s true emotion,” murmured (Y/N). Sad emotions, but true.

            “Prefect, how could a thing like this have happened here?” asked Kara’s father. “The man who did it must be found. He must be punished.”

            “And you,” said Kirk, approaching the younger man. “You left the café before Scotty and Kara.”

            “Is this true?” questioned Jaris. “Who are you?”

            “Morla of Cantaba Street, Prefect,” said the man. “I was there. I have nothing to hide.”

            “Did you know Kara?” asked Spock.

            “‘Course he knew her,” said Kara’s father. “They were to be married.”

            (Y/N) blinked. Yikes, that makes Scotty and Kara flirting a little awkward.

            “But he behaved disgracefully. Unheard of. He was jealous of her,” said Kara’s father.

            Oh, good, they weren’t together anymore, then, thought (Y/N).

            “That is very disquieting,” said Jaris.

            It was strange in Argelian culture to be jealous since everyone involved themselves in various forms of pleasure. They were fairly hedonistic, after all. It might have been strange for the Starfleet crew, but their culture was not the Argelian’s.

            “I know it was wrong, Prefect,” said Morla. “But I just couldn’t help myself. I loved her. And when she danced with others and went over to the table with these officers, I could not stand to watch so I left. I went home.”

            “Jealousy has often been a motive for murder,” said Kirk.

            Jaris nodded. “Yes, I know. That is why the emotion is so strongly disapproved of here.”

            “Prefect, I didn’t kill anyone, I couldn’t,” said Morla, his voice and emotions a desperate storm.

            “We shall see, Morla,” said Jaris gravely.

            Bones reentered the room from where he’d been checking the other door of the room where Tracy had been killed. “Sorry, Jim, the lock may or may not have been picked. Be hard to tell, even with the tricorder.”

            Kirk frowned. That didn’t help Scotty’s case. Turning to Morla, he said, “Can you prove you went directly home?”

            “Captain, may I continue with the questions, please?” interrupted Hengist, full of strict protocol and presumption.

            “Well, get on with it, man!” said Kirk sharply. “Just don’t stand there.”

            “Captain, Captain, you’re behaving very much like a man who is desperately trying anything to save his friend,” said Jaris evenly. “Would you be so desperate to save Argelius as a space port for your Starfleet?”

            “Prefect, not just as officers of Starfleet but as people, we’re trying to find justice for Kara and Tracy,” said (Y/N) resolutely. “We want to help and find the truth. No matter what it is.”

            “Even if its Mr. Scott? Need I remind you that in both cases, your friend Scott was discovered over the body and later claimed to remember nothing,” pointed out Hengist, who was really starting to get on (Y/N)’s nerves.

            “I am ready, Jaris,” said Sybo’s soft voice. She took a seat by the fire.

            “Gentlemen, sit down, please,” said Jaris, gesturing to the circle of pillows.

            “On one condition, Prefect,” said Kirk. “That the room be sealed so that no one can leave or enter while the ceremony is going on.”

            Jaris nodded and pulled a switch, closing the doors. “The room is sealed.”

            “Captain, are you sure about this?” asked Scotty.

            “Scotty, this won’t seal your case,” said (Y/N). “It will just indicate bits of the truth or clues to it.” They smiled slightly. “It can’t hurt.”

            Scotty nodded. “Alright, if you insist.”

            “And afterwards, we can return to the Enterprise for a more scientifically detailed investigation,” said Spock. He knew (Y/N)’s abilities could help alleviate some suspicion from Scotty and didn’t doubt their observations since they never overreached and assumed what couldn’t be determined with mere empathy, so he would go with the ceremony because he trusted (Y/N) not to twist any facts.

            Kirk nodded. “We do this their way, and then we do it our way. Let’s take our seats.”

            (Y/N) sat beside Sybo and took her hand. Spock was on their other side, but they merely took his wrist to avoid his hands. As usual, Spock marveled and was honored by the care they took not to cross any of his boundaries. Kirk was on his other side, but Spock was the first to just move so his wrist was touched and not his hand. Yes, Kirk wasn’t going to disrespect his culture, but there was still a difference in the care (Y/N) put in. It made Spock feel special to them. And that was one emotion he didn’t mind at all.

            (Y/N) took a deep breath as they felt Sybo’s psychic energy join with their own to grow and strengthen hers. It was a pleasant feeling—(Y/N) hadn’t been connected with another psychic in a while, and as a Celian they were used to physical and psychic connections growing up—but it was still strange to engage with someone so foreign to them. Thankfully, the feeling of Spock’s firm arm beneath their hand grounded them.

            “Let us begin,” said Sybo. “Let the circle be not broken. Concentrate upon the flame which burns upon the altar of truth.” Everyone’s eyes closed.

            Spock could feel (Y/N)’s psychic aura touch his own. For a moment, he was worried they’d search his emotions and reveal how deep his own really ran, but then he remembered who it was. It was (Y/N). They merely sensed him with their psychic abilities. They were not going to breach his trust. In fact, he didn’t even mind the feeling of their mind. It was warm, like the sunshine in a meadow. Odd. It conjured such dreamy images in his head. Odd, but not unwanted.

            (Y/N) furrowed their brow as they felt a psychic presence other than their own and Sybo’s in the circle. As they were all connected and their energies amplified through Sybo, they could feel each other. First, they thought of Spock, but this energy…it was too dark to be Spock. Spock’s aura made (Y/N) feel safe, like they were at home and surrounded by comfort. This energy made (Y/N)’s skin crawl with its aggression.

            “Yes, there is something here…” murmured Sybo, sensing the same as (Y/N). “…Something terrible. I feel its presence.”

            (Y/N)’s grip on Spock’s wrist tightened. The emotions invading their senses were unbearably strong and malevolent. “There’s so much fear, so much anger, hatred. I can feel it.” Their brow furrowed uncomfortably. “Like needles digging into my skin.”

            “Anger feeds the flame,” said Sybo. “Oh…Oh, there is evil here.”

            (Y/N)’s head throbbed as the presence nearly attacked their mind. Their own fear grew as barbs of anger dug into their skin from the presence. They were not as eloquent as Sybo, but they felt it too. “It’s monstrous. There’s so much hate that it hurts.” They struggled to keep their countenance.

            “A hatred of all that lives,” said Sybo. “A hunger that never dies. It is strong, overpowering. An ancient power. It has a name—Beratis Kesla Redjac. Devouring all life, all light—” Sybo’s ancient priestess powers now flew beyond empathy as her mind gripped onto the enemy’s presence. “—a hunger that will never die! Redjac! Redjac!”

            The room went dark. (Y/N) cried out. Sybo screamed.

            (Y/N) slumped over as the shock of feeling someone’s—Sybo’s—death flash through them. The emotions of pure terror and being so entwined with her mind was nearly unbearable. Spock caught them and pulled them protectively closer for fear that Redjac would attack them as well.

            The lights switched on, and the group’s eyes widened as they saw Scotty standing right behind Sybo, who fell over, eyes blank and unseeing, with a knife in her back. Blood stained Scotty’s hands.

            “We…We need to move her body,” said Bones quietly.

            “Yes…So we may bury her soon,” murmured Jaris sadly. “My beloved Sybo…oh, my beloved.”

            Kirk and Bones exchanged looks and carefully carried Sybo to a nearby couch so she may rest in peace. Scotty sat in a chair, staring blankly, horrified with himself. Kirk glanced at Spock and saw him supporting (Y/N). He still refused to let go of them.

            “Spock, is (L/N)…?” Kirk didn’t want to say it.

            Spock shook his head. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if they were. “Their mind was still connected with Sybo’s when she was killed. (Y/N) is merely in a state of shock induced by psychic injury.”

            “And they’ll be alright?” asked Kirk worriedly.

            Bones nodded. “Yes. They’ll just be a little fragile for now.”

            “I’ll watch over them,” said Spock, not even bothering to justify his behavior with logic. When it came to (Y/N), what mattered was them, not his image.

            Kirk nodded and then addressed the main issue. “Three murders, and Scotty the only possible answer each time.”

            “I don’t care what the circumstances indicate, Jim. Scotty simply could not have done it,” said Bones forcefully.

            “Normally, no. But that blow to his head could—” said Kirk grimly.

            “No, Captain,” croaked Scotty.

            “Scotty, I’m sorry,” said Kirk. “You don’t even remember whether you did it or not.”

            “I agree with you, Captain,” said Hengist. “I am perfectly satisfied Mr. Scott is guilty.”

            “But not responsible,” said Kirk sharply.

            “That is unproven, sir,” said Hengist.

            “We can prove it, if he’s insane,” insisted Kirk.

            “Gentlemen!” said Jaris. “Please. How could any man do such monstrous things?”

            “That’s what we hope to find out, sir,” said Kirk.

            “Mr. Scott…” Jaris gazed at Scotty.

            “Sir, I swear to you I did not kill your wife or the other women,” cried Scotty.

            “By your own admission you don’t know whether you did or didn’t!” said Hengist. “Your so-called failing memory—”

            “Mr. Hengist,” said Kirk. “On the Enterprise, we can make a recording of the registrations of Mr. Scott’s conscious and subconscious mind. And they will tell us what happened to him in the recent past.”

            “There would be no room for doubt,” said Bones. “We would know. And, after all, that’s what we’re after, isn’t it, Prefect? To know?”

            “You, sir, claim to remember nothing about the murders,” said Jaris gravely.

            “Aye,” replied Scotty.

            “If this is so, you may have killed without knowing it,” said Jaris. “Will your machines tell us this?”

            “No doubt will remain,” promised Kirk.

            “Very well. We will go to your ship. And he who is guilty will face the ancient penalties, barbaric and horrible though they may be,” said Jaris. “The ancient penalty for murder was death by slow torture. That law has never been changed.” He looked at Kirk. “Make the preparations.”

            Kirk nodded and pulled out his communicator to speak with the Bridge to prepare the Transporter. In Spock’s arms, (Y/N)’s mind finally became “present” again.

            “Spock?” they asked hesitantly, trying to sit up.

            Spock guided their movements. “Your mind was shocked by Sybo’s emotions,” he said, assessing that they needed to know what had happened to ground themself. “You are alright; your mind is just strengthening its barriers once more.”

            “Yeah…I can feel it,” said (Y/N), wincing. “What’s happened while I was out?”

            “We are preparing to beam aboard the Enterprise to properly determine Mr. Scott’s guilt. The Prefect has decided it will be allowed,” explained Spock.

            (Y/N) nodded. “Good. We need the truth. I couldn’t…I don’t know who it is, but someone here is so angry. I know they’re planning to hurt more people. Their anger burned and felt like needles in my skin.” They shivered at the phantom sensation. “It hurt, Spock.”

            Spock furrowed his brow at the knowledge that they were in pain. He hated it. He wanted the one he loved to be safe. So Spock would do the only thing he could: he’d ensure that the evil affecting them was caught. He’d protect them.

Taglist:

@a-ofzest

@grippleback-galaxy

@genderfluid-anime-goth

@groovy-lady

@im-making-an-effort

@unending-screaming

[fairycosmos]

i love you chloe i do, and i think you're very aware of the privileges you have been afforded (being white, living in a relatively secure country, food and shelter) but let's be real living under capitalism in this political landscape and the nhs doing fuckall to help people with their mental health issues and in general the cost of living crisis..... it's okay to say you're not doing well even if you have some of your basic needs met idk if this sounds rude but to me it's honestly no surprise most of us are not doing well... look around us, how could we be doing well given the circumstances of modern life. and even if you were well situated and doing well, there's also the grappling with imperalism and neo-colonialism, plus the exploitation in the workforce happening in our own countries right in front of our eyes

dw it doesn't sound rude at all!! and like ur objectively right, there's no point in playing the pain olympics with my own struggles - i rarely used to do it. i used to think: well the shit im going through is still rough so i don't need to factor in that other people have it worse when considering my own trauma. but the older i get the more it sinks in that compared to most human existences the world has ever seen, mine has been a generally comfortable and uneventful one despite the grief. ive always had food and water and a home and an education and modern conveniences and (relative) freedom a day decent physical health and certain privileges, and they're such important things that have always just been right there for me to access, out of pure luck, not even bc i am more deserving of them than those who have no access to these necessities - and i still never feel good. i still lose my mind all the time and cry basically every day and can't manage to overcome my own pain and loss and mental illness and contempt for the way society is set up. sometimes i just think to myself, if spirits are somehow real, they must look at me and see the weakest most pitiful creature ever lmfao. whew anyway i do completely get and understand your point, and i agree, despite my complicated personal emotions on the topic. i know the present moment has its own legitimate and terrible challenges, and they just seem to get worse by the day, and we probably really r in a special kind of hell when it comes to the progression of late stage capitalism. and just because our urgent needs are currently being met (and who knows how long we can keep that up, like you said, cost of living crisis etc...), doesn't mean our emotional ones are, which can still be debilitating. thats what i would tell anyone else struggling with this feeling, so i get you. i don't know, it's just so hard to cope sometimes. it's so bizarre to feel utterly depressed and slightly lucky at the same time. anyway, thank you for being a friend and a validating voice that i needed to hear. i really appreciate it. love u love u love u ❤️

[gear-project]

Wait so Ramlethal's katanas could theoretically be a potential threat to Happy Chaos because her Instant Kill is called Soul Extinguisher? Shouldn't Happy Chaos, after spending time in the Backyard, be resistant to spiritual or soul attacks? Unless there is something about the Rattle swords we don't know about.

From the very beginning, the RATTLE katanas were "created" along with Ramlethal herself inside the Backyard.

So from that point onward, they had spiritual features to them that a sword forged in the outside world probably would NOT have.

And while Happy Chaos himself has similar origins, there are different properties to speak of when talking about the difference between a "normal" Backyard Resident, and a being that was "corrupted" by Negative Information.

When the Valentines were created, they utilized the properties of GEAR Cells (from a VERY specific Gear, Justice), a specific kind of Human, and various other useful data that would aid a Valentine's powers in the outside world.

However, with Demihumans and Youkai, they have slightly "different" circumstances related to their birth: some are born from "strong beliefs", "rumors", "fears", "intense thoughts/feelings towards something or someone", or even simply an "intense focus" that manifests itself as a living being or monster.

With Demihumans/Youkai in particular, some are formed from Positive thoughts, while others are formed from Negative thoughts and fears, the former are often associated with Guardians, Deities, and Treasured Objects and Folklore associated with those... However the latter often bear Curses, Deadly properties, and dark Legends surrounding their existences.

You can think of it as similar to the concepts of "Yin" and "Yang" which are focused on both Positive and Negative energies.

That is not to say that all Negative Energy is "bad" or that all Positive Energy is "good" in classification, but in the natural sense of things, it is similar to the difference between Nutritional things and Poison depending on the being or person it affects.

In the case of a being like Izuna... he was born from the well-wishes of a dying woman who wished to see if her husband was safe... and thus Izuna was born as a "guardian" of sorts for human well-being born from an Kanzashi Hair Ornament.

But when you look at a being like I-No:, she was born from the fears and dreads of Humans towards GEAR-Kind: the nightmares and hatred of Gears and the desire for a world free of war and conflict with Gears.

Is I-No's existence truly a Negative existence though? Hard to tell.

With Happy Chaos though... he was exposed to "pure" (undiluted) amounts of Negative Thoughts, Negative Emotions, and dark intent that literally transformed his body and twisted its appearance...

If that sort of thing can transform a "human" in to a "monster"... imagine what it could do to an entire POPULACE of people... that's how potentially DANGEROUS Happy Chaos actually IS.

Just like it's "common knowledge" to avoid toxic chemicals or poison... this is the sort of thing you SHOULD avoid for your HEALTH!

Happy Chaos already classified himself as something akin to an "undead corpse" saying he was "already dead" when he confronted Nagoriyuki (and even Giovanna stated that something "reeks" when she got a wiff of his scent).

But well, just as humans use cleaning chemical agents to get rid of stains and corrupt and rotting elements, there are entities that are the complete OPPOSITE of what Happy Chaos is by nature... beings that COULD purify if not wipe out his very existence!

Thus far, Folklore often hints that the Japanese people are often known for using methods to kill Demons and Ghosts, so those "ancient methods" are most likely the key to defeating something of "undiluted darkness" like Happy Chaos.

Even the very bloodline of the Japanese is tied to the extermination of spiritual entities that have a negative impact on this world...

As for Ramlethal herself... while one might speculate that she has no immediate ties to Eastern culture, just the mere fact she uses Katanas and the "sacred methods used" for forging said katanas, speaks positively towards her case as a potential enemy to Dark Energies (and Chaos).

[acourtofthought]

Yeah, absolutely. I didn’t mean to say that the “only soft with the love interest” trope is exclusive to Feysand, but that it doesn’t make sense to rely on it so heavily with both Feysand and E/riel (two of the sisters’ ships and main romances, whether established or potential).

Especially because, again, that’s not what E/riel is about. It’s literally a ship between two people who can’t communicate even when they have all the chances and instruments to do so, who hide their true selves from the other because they feel (deep down) that they wouldn’t be accepted. And they wouldn’t.

They’re too different, and not in a good way. Azriel’s life revolves around violence and shadows; Elain’s revolves around peace, gardening and sunlight. What do the two of them even have in common? What could they build a relationship on?

Feysand and Nessian have core values in common (and I don’t like Nessian, but it’s objective), Elucien have core values and also hobbies in common. It’s easy to see why these couples work or would work together, but not E/riel.

And even if we were to look past Azriel and Elain’s differences, why would anyone wish for them to be together after what we learned in Azriel’s SF bonus chapter? Because, no matter how you spin it, that was seriously problematic.

Not only does Azriel show that Lucien’s life means nothing to him (which should give everyone the ick considering Lucien is Elain’s Mate and someone she’d never want to be hurt), but also that he has zero regards for her feelings.

Azriel doesn’t stop and think about what it’d be like for Elain to lose her Mate (both psychologically and physically), or acknowledge Lucien’s importance (which goes beyond there being romantic feelings between Lucien and Elain or not). Azriel also admits that he’s only thought about having sex with Elain, and that was a red flag considering the circumstances.

Do I think there’s anything wrong with not wanting anything besides sex? Absolutely not. Do I think Azriel should be shamed for it? Again, absolutely not. Does it bother me that, out of everyone in the NC and Prythian, he chose Elain? YES.

We get it, Elain’s the third sister, Azriel’s the third brother, it’s almost impossible for him not to think “why Lucien and not me.” But shouldn’t some boundaries come into place when you risk hurting another person, and one you supposedly have feelings for at that?

The thing is: Azriel and Elain are two people who view romance and sex differently, who’ve had opposite experiences regarding the latter (as far as we know), and if Azriel actually cared about Elain (even just as a friend) he would’ve spoken to her at length about engaging in something that’s only physical. That’s a conversation that needs to be had, especially if you have an inkling that your partner may not share your view or experiences.

Of course, Elain could simply want to have sex too. We don’t know her enough to rule the option out, and it’s her right to do whatever she wants. But still, how can we, how can AZRIEL know if he hasn’t asked her? How can he respect Elain and her wishes if he only thinks about getting in bed with the third sister, and can’t even ask her if that’s what she wants?

Us readers, being outside of the story, can see that Elain is either (according to E/riels) chasing a romance with Azriel, or (according to us Eluciens) ignoring her too difficult feelings towards Lucien, their mating bond and what happened during the War by seeking an “easier” connection.

Both opinions are based on possible interpretations of Elain’s feelings more than they are based on possible interpretations of her physical desires, and, while both are important, Elain deserves to know that Azriel’s interest is purely physical.

She also deserves to know that Azriel fantasizes about having sex with her, which is okay, per se, but becomes a bit troubling when you realize that the only reason he’s fixated with Elain is that she’s Feyre and Nesta’s sister, that Azriel knows Elain has a difficult situation to still sort through, and never even bothers asking her if she’s fine with it all. (With her situation, his desire).

That’s the quintessential of problematic.

(P.S. Understand, it’s not my intention to shame Azriel. He can do whatever he wants as long as he doesn’t hurt anyone and I stand by that, but I also think that there were many ways to go about his attraction towards Elain, all of them much more respectful to her, and that he simply didn’t care enough to go with them).

Hello again! 😊

You made so many good points.

It almost seems like they get so fixated on a trope (like you said with Az being soft around Elain versus who he normally is) at the very first hint of it and they call it a day. They never bother to question whether it actually meets the criteria for that trope. That trope only works when the female is aware of the Male having a dark side but knows he's soft around her. According to Az, Elain has no idea so she's been tricked into thinking he's someone different than he is. If they're really meant to be together, he should have trusted her to show the good and bad in him especially before they were willing to hook up.

The Bonus Chapter always makes me question how anyone still thinks Az and Elain are endgame.

What girl wants the male love interest to say he's never thought of a future with her beyond his sexual fantasies? In what world does anyone think that means Az is in love with Elain?

And you make an excellent point. There is nothing wrong with Elain and Az sharing a mutual attraction and being willing to hook up and I completely applaud that as part of these characters journeys if that's what they need. But we can still recognize the difference between what that is and actual love.

E/riels love to talk about consent but is it really consent when the guy knows he's given the female a false impression of who he is? Their lack of communication is such a red flag. Like you said, she deserves to know exactly who it is she decided to take that next step with and vice versa. Az also should have been informed on where Elain's thoughts are when it comes to Lucien. He thinks he knows but that's not the same thing as Elain explaining to him what she wants to do about the bond.

I don't think you're shaming Az. I think you're expressing why in this situation Az is not making smart decisions and is basing those decisions on the wrong things. Seeing that he would have kissed Elain wouldn't have become so problematic if it wasn't followed up with all the reasons why he's become so fixated on Elain.. And the fact that he admit to Rhys or himself that he's over Mor..

Thank you for your follow-up! 😍

[indieninja92]

i actually disagree with OP in that i think the people they're talking about aren't treating their books as objects at all - they're treating them almost exclusively as symbols that represent a whole raft of other ideas, well beyond anything contained in the actual physical pages.

i remember reading about how, in the 1950s, america was building lots of new houses for the burgeoning middle class, and these houses almost always included built-in bookshelves. books were a symbol of middle class comfort, because they were associated with disposable income and leisure time.

but the people buying these homes didn't all necessarily read, or want to read, that much! so instead they'd buy cardboard boxes with book spines glued onto them to fill the shelves. they wanted to tap into the book-as-symbol without engaging with the book-as-object.

when books are being used for their symbolic function, they can be put on a shelf like any other ornament. they're set apart from ordinary use, not bought to be read but to be part of a visual story someone is telling about themselves.

if that's how you view your books, then annotating them is akin to using an ornamental bowl to eat your cereal out of. it's not appropriate - that's not a bowl for using, it's a bowl for looking at.

but when the book is being used symbolically, the way we treat it becomes inseparable from the way we treat the ideas it symbolises. destroying a book becomes identical to attacking either the ideas expressed in that book itself, or the ideas people associate with books in general (education, learning, intellectual freedom, etc.)

this is about as far as you can get from appreciating the book as an object. it has nothing to do with enjoying the feel of the book in your hand, the texture of the pages, the smell, the weight, the physical experience of interacting with that object. it's a purely symbolic engagement, with ideas that have little to nothing to do with the object at hand. the book-as-symbol is all about the person, not the book.

for what it's worth, i dont think there's anything wrong with enjoying books as symbols. i enjoy collecting books as a distinct hobby from reading, and i enjoy displaying my collection for all sorts of symbolic reasons. if i didnt, i wouldn't have half so many of them in the house! i like to read, but i also like to be a person who has a lot of books - two very different things!

the issue is really in conflating the two, or in treating all books under all circumstances as either purely symbolic or purely practical. like most things, they're both, and which they are in any moment depends on the person engaging with them. cutting a book up for an art project might be a symbolic attack on those ideas, or it might be a practical use of an easy source of paper. a book on your shelf might be symbolic of your identity as a well-educated, literary-minded person, or it might be a nice splash of colour to liven up your living room. i don't have anything pithy to sum this up except... isnt that cool?!

most annoying trait from what i see as a millenial book girlie culture is "love of books" not as love of reading but as adoration for the physical object. an e-book, a library book or an audiobook don't have the same value because you can't display them forever for others to see. full shelves of unread titles are a symbol of status. annotating your own books is a crime. using old books in art projects like collages is guaranteed to earn you "as a reader this pains me" comments. i love buying a beautiful edition as much as anyone else but man the consumption mentality here is tiresome

[stewiemartins]

The discontent of retailers (as revealed both in common actions and in wholly distinct ones), the distrust of the government amongst industrialists and bankers (as expressed in the refusal of loans), the revival of anti-Semitism (after a defeat or a national humiliation): all these objective realities should be regarded as totalising schemata. But we should realise that every one of them, in itself and for everyone, is the Other, that is signifying structure is infinite seriality, and that it has the practico-inert unity of an index of separation. For example, in so far as retailers have produced their own organs of defence and can affect the government, it is inappropriate to speak of discontent: they fight ministerial power and try to change it. Everything is praxis, if it succeeds, everything will be settled amicably. On the other hand, when the isolated small shopkeeper sees taxes and wholesale prices rising when he is unable to raise his retail prices, he feels, in his very person, the fear of ruin and hunger. But his reaction would be pure terror, rather than discontent, unless, in his very fear he discovered the same discontent among other shopkeepers as a serial totality of impotence, that is to say, unless he discovered himself as dispersed in the seriality of the Other, as affected by the impotence of Others, and as affecting the Others (that is to say, himself as Other to infinity) with his impotence. For this reason, the common material object (for example, tax or the index of wholesale prices) in its practico-inert development, creates the unity of the discontent. But it creates it outside, in him. In the multiplicity of individuals, this discontent realises itself in the theoretical and practical protests of isolated, discontented individuals (who do not know one another as individuals), as the index of their separation. In this sense, it is a social reality; it is a force (as impotence) lived individually, it may lead a person to sell his business, to commit suicide, etc; and in circumstances it can serve as a basis for regroupment) and this force is simply the practico-inert power of hundreds of thousands of people as potential energy. But this force does not reside in anyone, and it is not the product of everyone; it is alterity itself to precisely the extent that, for everyone, it is elsewhere.

Practico-Inert: represents the material consequences of human actions that persist and influence future actions, even though they may no longer align with the original intentions. For the wealth generated by the Industrial Revolution and Climate Change, Climate Change being the practico-inert.

Praxis: The process of putting theory into practice. It involves the practical application of knowledge, skills, or theories in real world situations.

Alterity: refers to the state of being different or the quality of being radically alien to the conscious self or a particular cultural orientation.

I know this is from the Critique of Dialectical Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre but i need to look up the reference and I don't have the copy right now.

[jdgo51]

Believe

Today's inspiration comes from:

A Savior Is Risen

by Susan Hill

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” — John 20:29

"'Doubt tends to creep in at unfortunate times. In pivotal moments, when we need mountain-moving faith, doubt whispers, Does God hear my prayers? Why hasn’t He fixed this situation? How long will this continue? Often, when we experience doubt, we put on our game face and pretend all is well — but there’s a better way.

After Jesus was resurrected, the apostle Thomas struggled to believe the reports about Jesus being alive. Thomas said,

Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe. — John 20:25

Sounds pretty cynical, right? Maybe so cynical that Jesus might write off Thomas? Hardly. Rather than dismissing Thomas because of his doubts, Jesus invited Thomas to take a closer look. A few days later, Jesus appeared to the apostle and said,

Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe. — John 20:27

When Thomas leaned in and took a closer look, he said,

My Lord and my God! — John 20:28

The remedy for doubt is taking a closer look at Jesus. No, you can’t reach out like Thomas did and touch Jesus’ flesh — but you can study His Word. You can study history. You can study science. You can wrestle with the Scriptures and voice your questions in prayer. Jesus invites you to lean in closer and express your doubts — it’s the process that strengthens faith.

Lord, like Your disciples, I pray, “I believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). When I struggle with doubt, teach me to look for the answers in Your Word and fill me with Your faith.

Take a closer look at Jesus

Humility

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! — Philippians 2:8

As the Son of God and Savior of the world, Jesus could have preached with pride and condemnation, but He never did. God could’ve chosen for Jesus to be born into a prominent and wealthy family; instead, He was born into humble circumstances. Jesus could’ve spent His thirty-three years on earth focusing on self-glorification, but instead, His goal was to bring glory to the Father. Although Jesus had the option to turn His back on His mission, He humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross (Philippians 2:8). At every fork in the road, Jesus chose the humble path.

The apostle Peter wrote,

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:6–7

What does it mean to live with humility? It means in order to love your neighbor, you should lay down your privilege and position and choose kindness and meekness instead. Humble living doesn’t mean you should shelve your ambition — some of the most productive people in the world are the most humble. Humility means approaching your work and goals with the objective of serving God and helping other people.

Humility may present differently in every culture and generation — it’s up to you to look for opportunities to make your life service-oriented. How can you encourage a peer at work and celebrate their talent? How can you surrender your time to volunteer at local nonprofits? How can you commit a portion of your income to help someone else? When done with a pure heart, these actions are all ways to participate in humble living. Identify one way you can actively humble yourself before your neighbor and contribute to Christ’s mission of love. As you do, watch how God changes you.

Lord, I pray You will teach me to humble myself before You and my neighbor. I pray my life will bring You glory and be of service in Your name."'

Excerpted with permission from A Savior Is Risen, copyright Zondervan.

[selormohene]

day 112 (monday, october 23rd 2023)

Another day of perennial reflections, as reflections specific to the day are somewhat lacking in my memory. But for the rest of the days I've got posts mostly written so hopefully the backlog clears up pretty quickly now.

This one is on the question of self-valuation or self-improvement and the extent to which it must necessarily involve treating yourself and others as objects. There's a basic thought that motivates the question, and we'll look at the basic thought and some instances of it before pinning the question down in more determinate form. So you will often hear that people think to themselves, "if you don't love me, someone else will," or they have an abundance mindset when it comes to personal relationships, but when you look at what they're actually doing it basically amounts to treating people as fungible: the same way you might spend money because you think more money will come when you need it, you let people go because you think another person will come and as far as you're concerned the two people are interchangeable or the new person will be "better" than the last, but "better" here means "better serves your ends." Or people whose whole thing is maintaining their integrity and boundaries, but that shows up as avoidance. Or people who "don't tolerate disrespect" and that shows up as cutting other people off at the first sign of conflict. Or the idea of whether or not someone is in or out of someone else's league — not just judging X to be out of Y's league or whatever, but even taking that concept to be applicable to human relationships in the first place. Or the idea of "valuing oneself" or even "valuing one's time," but then that looks like placing a numerical value on aspects of one's being, placing a comparable value on other people, and then if your number happens to be higher then you take it that it's not worth wasting your time on other people. Another way of looking at it is treating people as points in a high-dimensional vector space of personal qualities, or on a manifold embedded in a high-dimensional vector space, which can seem like treating them as the unique individuals that they are (because the vector space is of high enough dimension that you think everyone is on their own one-dimensional subspace) until you start thinking to yourself "well person B is of comparable magnitude to person A along these dimensions and of higher magnitude along these other dimensions, so they're nearly parallel and B is of greater magnitude, and those dimensions are about all I associate with person A, so as far as I'm concerned person B is better than person A with respect to all that's valuable in person A."

To some extent this pervasive sort of pattern, you might think, is just the problem of miscalibration: you've been traumatised by not doing enough of something (like valuing yourself), so you overcompensate by doing the opposite thing to an equallly unhealthy extent (as a buffer against falling into your past tendency, or as a reaction or overcorrection when you're in similar circumstances, or because you don't have a proper baseline for what a healthy approach to X is like and so can't find the golden mean).

Another way of interpreting this is that it stems from a purely instrumental approach to ourselves and the world, or to others with respect to us. (I say purely instrumental because, as Korsgaard reminds us in Self-Constitution, instrumental reasoning is inevitable and necessary, even valuable, if and only if it is governed by the categorical imperative, whereupon it even becomes a duty: if we are to do good, rather than for our movements or acts merely to happen to be the fortuitous efficient causes of good, we must intend to do good; if we are to intend to do good, rather than merely to wish to do good, our intentions must be capable of efficacy, and so if we will to do good we must will our intentions to be capable of efficacy, and if our intentions are to be efficacious our capacities to do good must be developed as far as possible, and so if we will our intentions to be efficacious we must develop as far as possible our ability to do good as well as possible, i.e. our skill at bringing about our ends — and all of this will be for the good provided our ends our governed by the categorical imperative.) The idea of being purely instrumental isn't that people are bundles of traits, although this is another reductive way of looking at other human beings; rather, it's that people are vectors (in the sense of vehicles) for optimising certain values you find valuable, or inducing certain feelings in you. This is a lot more subjectivist or voluntarist.

But another way of looking at this problem is that it's yet another instance of the complete capture of our thought by financial and economic and quantitative metaphors. This might be thought to be a specific feature of capitalism, or of late modernity, or of the contemporary incarnation of being or whatever, or, if you're a bit more ambitious and sympathetic to the Sohn-Rethel sort of line, a manifestation of the logic of abstract exchange which is embodied in the existence of money, but which is, in that embodiment, actually a precondition for the very possibility of the human cognitive capacity for abstraction.

But now, if you take these lines that these sorts of tendencies stem from the very idea of thinking of human relations in such quantitative terms, I wonder the extent to which it is possible to see ourselves as human beings who can be better or worse — rather than, maybe, unique and of incorruptible value (and only merely having better or worse traits which do not touch what is essential in us), or rather as good versus failing to be good in all sorts of ways, or something else — without falling into treating humanity as a whole under these sorts of comparative, numerical, essentially exchangeable measures. Note here that, as with many things, the invidiousness seems to come in not merely with a certain use of such concepts, but at the level of the concepts themselves, at the level of even entertaining them as potentially applicable to human beings.

Part of what is at issue here is the difference (or potential lack thereof) between our perspective on ourselves and our perspective on others, and the extent to which such a difference might be simply constitutive versus merely a choice, and the ethical implications of one or the other answer. For instance, people say things like "would you hold others to the unreasonably high standards to which you hold yourself? Or like it if it were someone else holding you to those standards? Or would you allow them to hold themselves to such standards?" or "how would you like it if someone talked to you that way? Or if you heard someone talking to themselves that way? Would you do the same to others? So why do you do it to yourself?" And on the one hand you see the point of such questions, but on the other hand it's like, "well I'm not the other person, and I'm not talking to someone else, I'm me and I'm talking to myself." There's something ineffable, it seems, about the self-relation. And yet it's not clear that we can draw those lines so clearly and the pressure goes in both directions, towards treating others as we treat ourselves perhaps for the worse) and towards treating ourselves as we would treat others (hopefully for the better).

But there's also the question of whether the view of moral universality that seems to be recommended in place of this model — treating human beings as bearers of unquantifiable value — is compatible with the partiality of personal relationships. We have a special self-relation that's unique, but we also have differential relationships to people close to us that we don't have to the anonymous man. And it's not clear whether the difference is in degree or kind, or both, but any way of construing the difference leads to difficulties in the question of the extent to which we can just see people as equally incorruptible bearers of value. In short it's not clear to what extent we can escape this problem or tendency, and it's not clear the extent to which, even if we admit it even a little bit — in the form of believing in the idea of self-improvement, for instance — it doesn't just end up corrupting our entire approach to relating to human beings, ourselves as well as others.

[clowngames]

I appreciate the tone clarification at the start, and I should have done the same thing because I'm absolutely approaching this the same way.

I agree with pretty much everything you've said. The only thing for me is that, while capitalism is unethical, I don't think it's unethical to participate in it.

I've said before I work in games; to be more specific, I run my own game studio. It's too small for full-time artists so I pay folks on a commission- or project-basis. I have been the one to choose between two artist of near-equal talent and chose to go for the one who charged half the cost. It doesn't feel good but if I don't do that when I have the chance then we run out of funds, or I have to make other sacrifices to keep the company running.

A more pro-capitalist, liberal/libertarian type would tell me that if I couldn't figure out how to run a business without paying my workers properly then my business deserves to fail. I think if I were operating with 20x the budget I would agree with them. I'm convinced at this point the only way to successfully start a business is to either start out already rick, or take as much advantage of employees as possible, or both.

What I'm trying to say is that, in addition to no ethical consumption under capitalism, I don't think there's very much ethical production either. I don't think it's possible to participate in capitalism without driving your trolley down the wrong track often enough to satisfy the system. As a result, I don't think it's fair to criticize AI art, or the people who use it for that reason.

Now, your last paragraph on IP protection, and the subject of the meme, is a different story. I think it's a valid criticism that the developers deciding the datasets never even considered things like permission and IP. Or they considered it and didn't care. Regardless it creates a messy situation for everyone else.

My opinion of AI and IP is only half-formed, so bear with me. I'm torn between "yeah this is art theft" and "no this is transformative." There's a philosophical argument to be had about whether or not a work produced by a learning algorithm can be transformative, and from an objective standpoint I appreciate that such a philosophical argument might have legal ramifications, even though I don't love the ramifications themselves.

There's a quote I only half remember which goes something along the lines of "steal from one work, you're a thief. Steal from 7 and you're a genius." There's a case to be made that AI, by stealing from 100,000 works, is placing itself closer to the latter than the former.

There are circumstances in which the art is objectively not transformative. I've seen some examples floating around where someone found AI-generated art that just looked exactly like a blurry, shitty version of their own art, and there's a serious issue there which is that a person might generate art and assume it's transformative because they aren't familiar with the work it looks identical to. That's a problem, and speaking as someone who has never developed AI, it's a problem with no clear solution. Maybe the silicon valley folks can figure it out if someone can convince them to care.

I do really like your framing of AI-driven data harvesting as a privacy issue akin to the other ways data are currently being harvested. I was just starting to gain a political consciousness when the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke. Obviously this is not a purely-AI issue, and I don't even think it will really be exacerbated by AI but data privacy laws would have consequences on how machine learning gets its datasets and the legality of using current datasets. I think these consequences would be good; adding your art to the datasets should be opt-in, not opt-out - and we don't even have a way to opt out right now!

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say current dataset collection methods are unethical, but certainly they could be ethically improved, and certainly if you apply those same methods in other ways (such as the way we can currently use data-collection to affect political positions) it gets way, way worse.

[bellorindaniel]

Integrated project

Definitions

Story: A story is based on real or fictitious events that the characters stand out in being created by the author himself. The story stands out in four things that are: Theme, plot, structure, and characters with this, an excellent story is made.

Tales: Based mainly on how creative it is, a tale is read from a book or for young children at bedtime, it is something fictional that is from the perspective of the narrator looking at every detail.

Science fiction:This term basically means fiction, in the real world it is about all kinds of stories that consist of this. In a way it is also related to horror which goes hand in hand with fantasy. But in itself this genre was created many years ago and has had a lot of fame because most movies and books are based on this genre that stands out in the fantasy.

Science fiction story

It was 5 o'clock in the afternoon on a hot day in the summer of 2060, besides,our world was super advanced, with many technologies everywhere.Of course, You saw super robots that did things by themselves as well as in supermarkets basically you did not see people but only machines that served you if you needed it. They were programmed for any type of problem or circumstance, so much so that it was fashionable to have a type of time machine that In other words,consisted of traveling to the past for a certain time limit.

This was of great interest to my group of friends:Mathias, Victor and myself Daniel with whom I always hang out in my free time. Our objective was to end up with those problems that in the past were very strong and that nowadays with the help of technology, were solved with total comfort. In addition, my friends and I had already graduated and we were very interested in nature because we had done a paper on water that was part of the schedule of the environmental engineering career, and basically we talked about how water had evolved and we realized that in the past, people suffered for having water and the fact that many people also wasted water. Totally different in our time that had been solved.

Two years passed, and we were in a pre-list to access this time machine, because there was a crowd of people who wanted to enter and travel in time and it was very slow because there was only one machine and you could access only a maximum of 20 people. However, I arrived that day and it was a very luxurious place with a lot of security everywhere because it was something unique never seen before.We have to account for that there were a lot of people and we were scheduled for a specific day and we were running inside the place due to desperation of everyone, until after 4 hours of pure uncertainty, it was time for the check in, where we had to hand in our passport and the respective medical permission papers to continue in case something happened to us and can move out correctly.After arriving in Guayaquil, Victor said

- We are going to the streets to campaign and follow through with the people who need to solve it. To which Mathias and I immediately discussed that

- There will be machines to not waste water, and we will give water to everyone who needs it so there will be no more problems. With this, we were able to go ahead and the problems were solved little by little.In conclusion, we were able to make sure that there would be no more water problems and make up for those who needed it in order to bring about joy for everyone.

The image was very easy to get because nowadays, there are many pages that can create a scenario just as you want it. I put a brief summary of my story and I was able to save the image that describes a bit of my story.

References

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Story. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved October 14, 2023, from https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/story

Vocabulary.com. (n.d.). Tale. In Vocabulary.com Dictionary. Retrieved October 14, 2023, from https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/tale

Sterling, B. (2023, August 4). science fiction. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/science-fiction

(Listening and Speaking and English for Oral presentations)