#simple shit

[pastacatprod]

Bro, life is easy. Just:

1. Find a job that makes you happy OR makes you money OR a combination of the two OR none of the above.

2. Be happy OR happy despite the circumstances OR miserable.

3. Profit OR live in poverty

[halfdeadwallfly]

people like to say they support you, but they get pretty bitchy and cold when they have to actually look at the manifestation of your problems

[notmuchtoconceal]

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@notmuchtoconceal

Glad you'd prompted me once more to consider the metaphysical aspects of Majora's Mask, bro. Was actually just reading about the Scythian religion. A gentleman by the name of Jorgani points out that Prometheus, as we understand him in the Greek context, is a melding of Enki, the Babylonian Wisdom God Who Was Father of Mankind and a figure from Thrace/Scythia. I was considering the Enochian figure of Azazel, who was a War and Blacksmith God, and of how in some tellings it's Prometheus who performs the Cesarean Upon Zeus Which Births Athena, and in some Hephaestus. How it's said that Prometheus stole the fire from Hephaestus's forge. He is a god of Metallurgy, or Chainlink, once again connections to DNA, to metal, to liquid states, to Mercury. This also ties into my Unverified Personal Gnosis about Ares as A God of Bondage. In many myths, he is trussed up, humiliated publicly, ensnared, laughed at, abandoned, thrown into a jar. The similarities with Goetic lore are self-evident. Part of it, the bondage element -- is tied to discipline, some of it to force of will. In my heart, the thrill of bondage is not in succumbing to the inescapable, but in overcoming it, in escaping. This is quintessential in the art of the stage magician, escape artist, strongman, circus ringleader -- you can see, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Dionysos, there is plenty of overlap in the function of the brothers. Bodybuilding and bondage. An absolutely winning combination. Fight clubs and bondage displays. Sheaths slick as hotrods. Show off those bodies, boys.

In the Scythian religion, there is a belief in seven primary Gods, a pattern in line with the Hermetic division of the personality in correspondence with the Seven Classical Planets. The first three Gods are Considered to be as follows: An Absolute, An Earth Mother and A Sky Father, and they are understood to be largely impersonal. The next four are associated with the physical world as we know it and are more immediate and relevant to day to day life. Of these, is the Scythian Ares, as well as what are believed to be correspondences to Dionysos and Apollo and a Fertility Goddess Perhaps Not Dissimilar From Aphrodite, or maybe Artemis.

I was thinking of the Hylian Religion, it's own Big Three, then the Four Lesser Divinities of Termina -- boundary markers, perhaps demons of the compass points, cardinal directions, Guardians of the Four Corners.

It's not simply nostalgia, though I do appreciate the low-res look. Rather, I do believe the moment in time, exploring a pioneering new technology and all the possibilities it offered, provided the atmosphere to tap into some uniqe creative potential, which latter software updates and corporate franchise-making was not as privy to nurture.

OoT is the Narrative Equivalent of Induction Into A Gnostic Mystery Cult. Down to the Plot Twist Which is the Reveal of the True Nature of the Triforce -- a Metaphysical Bond where One Unity Is Severed and Binds Three Souls -- the player ascends into Virtual Godhood. In Majora's Mask, Link is himself the Protean Figure of Mercurius/Hermes changing Shape and Identity at Will, Mastering Time and Space, Land and Sea, Underworld and Spheres Beyond the Spheres, Becoming a Radiant Purifying Force Which Shatters All Illusions, Even the Illusory World of the Dreamscape Itself as the Evil Hands You Your True Face as A Righteous Devil and Deems You Fit To Slaughter It.

There is a sense of transition, of completion, and a sense of accepting death, but I do think Link's literal death is thinking too small, too narrowly, though we do know he dies with regrets, his spirit living on to bestow knowledge upon his descendent. The Death angle is touching on something real, but it's also letting itself off too easy. As Style comes from practice, Specificity in Analysis Comes From Keen Observance.

\\./

//.\

@flyoverkushtaka

Well, this is certainly a lot to take in. I'll probably have to respond piecemeal over a few days, having to go back and reread these things to really grasp what you're getting at. I had said nothing yet about Majora's Mask and Buddhism because the right words had yet to come; I needed to refresh my understanding but could not find the time to.

It's a complex subject that I've never seen breached satisfactorily. The three-day cycle is symbolic of samsara. Link is the bodhisattva who liberates the inhabitants of Termina from their suffering. The completion of this task rewards him with apotheosis into the Fierce Deity, perhaps puzzling to Westerners but an obviously reference to the Wrathful Deities of Buddhism, who harness their wisdom and compassion into passionate fury to achieve their goals: They attack, harangue, aggress. They confront you with your own sins and shortcomings, not to make you feel shame, but to strip away your ego and show you how to overcome moral and existential hurdles. . . . Oh! Yes then!

Majora is the culmination of the primal scene of Skull Kid's abandonment, and Link as the Fierce Deity is literally stripping the delusion and suffering away from him so Skull Kid can reconcile with the trauma of losing his friends. Termina is an an inverted Bardo!

It's all coming together now! I can see it oh so clearly, Mister Jacek!

Majora's Mask's thematic core is Buddhist myth and philosophy turned on its head, like a wasteland tower flipped into the sky!

It's Buddhism in Wonderland, Vajrayana Mabinogion! On the surface, Termina is a Bardo for Link, wandering through endlessly, confronted with demons to assail and demoralize him as well as eerily familiar faces to evoke comfort and unease. But if Link makes the effort to act as a true bodhisattva and heal the suffering of the land, you realize that Termina is *everyone else's* Bardo, a shared Bardo, and Link is rewarded with (brief) ascension to Buddhahood as the Fierce Deity.

Oh! But also the Fierce Deity is the completion of the logic of heroic violence! Link is the crusading knight on a mission from the gods, the sort of warrior-figure so intricately woven into so many cultures that it loses some of its teeth in this representation, the little fairy-boy with his little sword who slays monsters that vanish in a puff of smoke when vanquished. Cartoon violence. The Fierce Deity is not a superhero but the expression of violence in its realer, more horrific form.

Violence is the imposition of will to remove agency from another sentient being. Its use requires the harnessing of dark forces inside all of us. Its aftermath is every bone that doesn't heal neatly, every friendship permanently soured, every empty seat at the dinnertable.

Link is a tool of violence wielded by divine forces for their arcane cosmic purposes, and it's cute when he's a little boy fighting monsters and standing up to evil, but you don't come back easy from being a child soldier, from every talking tree and glowing stone telling you your destiny is to kill, over and over again. And so Link incarnates as a violent god to permanently break the cycle. OoT is a clash between good and evil; MM meditates on the question of using violence to stop greater harm. Great Hindu epics have been written about this moral puzzle. Yes.

//.\

[1introvertedsage]

[ash-and-starlight]

the black mold told me to draw this

[notmuchtoconceal]

There really does need to be an anthology that's just sexy villains getting exactly what they want and winning.

Yeah, long as the prose has style and the players got character.

[saturdaymournings]

Shouldn’t be so difficult to people tbh. Trans people are who they say they are.

An unfortunate, reoccurring phenomenon I’ve experienced increasingly is people pestering me about my gender and/or hinting that they’re a trans ally (assuming they aren’t trans themselves) and goading me into coming out, and then getting extremely uncomfortable when I come out as a trans man. I’m genuinely shocked by the amount of times in the past few months alone I’ve come out and explained that I’m ftm, a binary trans man who uses he/him, and have been asked “Okay, so can I use they/them?” Or, “why don’t you use they/them?”

I am not a passing trans man - not for lack of trying, but due to things that I simply cannot control, hide, or remedy right now. I have been told I look more androgynous than masculine, which is a significant part of why my pronouns are questioned, yes, even by other trans people. It makes people uncomfortable, because my identity doesn’t align with their perception of me.

But even if I wasn’t doing my fucking best to pass, even if I didn’t bind, or if I chose wore dresses and skirts, my pronouns should be respected. You don’t get to “compromise” or decline to use someone’s pronouns because their presentation doesn’t align with the image in your head. You can’t just refer to any trans person by they/them pronouns because it makes you more comfortable.

[artist-rat]

lyds doodle!! it's not much but it's honest work 💪

[dieselocelot]

monsieur maison's big day. you get both because im indecisive (x)

[inkskinned]

one of the things that's the most fucking frustrating for me about arguing with climate change deniers is the sheer fucking scope of how much it matters. sweating in my father's car, thinking about how it's the "hottest summer so far," every summer. and there's this deep, roiling rage that comes over me, every time.

the stakes are wrong, is the thing. that's part of what makes it not an actual debate: the other side isn't coming to the table with anything to fucking lose.

like okay. i am obviously pro gun control. but there is a basic human part of me that can understand and empathize with someone who says, "i'm worried that would lead to the law-abiding citizens being punished while criminals now essentially have a superpower." i don't agree, but i can tell the stakes for them are also very high.

but let's say the science is wrong and i'm wrong and the visible reality is wrong and every climate disaster refugee is wrong. let's say you're right, humans aren't causing it or it's not happening or whatever else. let's just say that, for fun.

so we spend hundreds of millions of dollars making the earth cleaner, and then it turns out we didn't need to do that. oops! we cleaned the earth. our children grow up with skies full of more butterflies and bees. lawns are taken over with rich local biodiversity. we don't cry over our electric bills anymore. and, if you're staunchly capitalist and i need to speak ROI with you - we've created so many jobs in developing sectors and we have exciting new investment opportunities.

i am reminded of kodak, and how they did not make "the switch" to digital photography; how within 20 years kodak was no longer a household brand. do we, as a nation, feel comfortable watching as the world makes "the switch" while we ride the laurels of oil? this boggles me. i have heard so much propaganda about how america cannot "fall behind" other countries, but in this crucial sector - the one that could actually influence our own monopolies - suddenly we turn the other cheek. but maybe you're right! maybe it will collapse like just another silicone valley dream. but isn't that the crux of capitalism? that some economies will peter out eventually?

but let's say you're right, and i'm wrong, and we stopped fracking for no good reason. that they re-seed quarries. that we tear down unused corporate-owned buildings or at least repurpose them for communities. that we make an effort, and that effort doesn't really help. what happens then? what are the stakes. what have we lost, and what have we gained?

sometimes we take our cars through a car wash and then later, it rains. "oh," we laugh to ourselves. we gripe about it over coffee with our coworkers. what a shame! but we are also aware: the car is cleaner. is that what you are worried about? that you'll make the effort but things will resolve naturally? that it will just be "a waste"?

and what i'm right. what if we're already seeing people lose their houses and their lives. what if it is happening everywhere, not just in coastal towns or equatorial countries you don't care about. what if i'm right and you're wrong but you're yelling and rich and powerful. so we ignore all of the bellwethers and all of the indicators and all of the sirens. what if we say - well, if it happens, it's fate.

nevermind. you wouldn't even wear a mask, anyway. i know what happens when you see disaster. you think the disaster will flinch if you just shout louder. that you can toss enough lives into the storm for the storm to recognize your sacrifice and balk. you argue because it feels good to stand up against "the liberals" even when the situation should not be political. you are busy crying for jesus with a bullhorn while i am trying to usher people into a shelter. you've already locked the doors, even on the church.

the stakes are skewed. you think this is some intellectual "debate" to win, some funny banter. you fuel up your huge unmuddied truck and say suck it to every citizen of that shitbird state california. serves them right for voting blue!

and the rest of us are terrified of the entire fucking environment collapsing.

[sunderwight]

Cumplane where Airplane, in a fit of either bravery or insanity or positive or negative self-esteem (he's not totally sure) decides to cosplay as Luo Binghe and post the pictures online.

Of course, he doesn't do it as "Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky", he knows he has some questionable fans and doesn't really want to hand them a picture of his face. So he posts the images under one of the pseudonyms he uses for lurking around the comment section and social media tags. It's just a handful of images of him looking like the protagonist in his head, attempting to strike cool poses in a wig and some period clothes (he rented both).

The reception is... mixed. Airplane does not have abs, after all, nor a flawless complexion or much skill with makeup. He is fat, freckled, and awkward. The PIDW readership is not known for being particularly supportive either. In fact they're mostly a crab bucket of negativity and masculine posturing, so he gets a lot of mean-spirited commentary.

It's fine. Nothing he hadn't expected. Really solidifies for him that posting was a fit of madness, actually! What did he even expect? He's bracing himself for the worst when he sees that Peerless Cucumber, notorious hate-reader and defender of Luo Binghe's honor, has commented. Ah, shit. He's probably going to rip into Airplane for daring to sully his precious Binghe's reputation by dressing up like that, isn't he?

The comment is long, too. Fuck. Airplane's not sure if his self-esteem can take a comprehensive beating from the champion hater himself, but he's too curious not to look.

Shen Yuan, in the meanwhile, is just pleased that there has FINALLY been a Luo Binghe cosplayer who looks the part. Of course Luo Binghe wouldn't have exaggerated muscles, those are just a product of dehydration. Binghe spent most of his disciple years running around chopping wood and hauling laundry, and then later doing whatever he could to pack on the calories in order to make it through the Abyss. A hefty workman's build would only make sense for him, anything else would be nonsense. Airplane also described Luo Binghe as having a beautiful face, which Shen Yuan won't blame most cosplayers for not being able to just make happen, but a beautiful face doesn't mean "covered in so much makeup it looks like an anime character"! When would Luo Binghe have the time or inclination to put on makeup? A natural beauty with some inevitable blemishes would make more sense and be much more appealing, and this "Airplane Crashing to the Ground" (funny play on the author's name, Shen Yuan approves) has very pretty features! Everyone hating on this cosplay is just an idiot, the only actual problem is that his wig is poorly fitted.

So in true Peerless Cucumber fashion, he lays this all out.

This gets him embroiled in arguments with several other fans, who even accuse him of actually being the guy in the photos, claiming that there's no other reason why he would defend them. Shen Yuan doesn't care if people think that's him, because that's still the best Luo Binghe cosplay he's ever seen, but he doesn't want them doubting the sincerity of his arguments. So, he decides that the only reasonable thing to do is dress himself up in cosplay as well and then post the actual photos of himself.

While he'd like to dress up as one of Luo Binghe's allies like Mobei Jun, or maybe someone cool like Yue Qingyuan, he is too pedantic to think he could pull that off. Those guys are all strong warrior types, and Shen Yuan is a scrawny pale rich kid who looks like he'd probably lose a fight with a wet paper towel. The only characters he could plausibly pull off would be some of the more consumptive members of Binghe's harem and maybe, maybe, one of the weaker villains like Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Yuan is NOT posting pictures of himself crossplaying to the central nexus of toxic masculinity itself, so... Shen Qingqiu it is!

Poor Airplane has to go sit and stare at a while for a while. Peerless Cucumber likes his cosplay. Peerless Cucumber, ardent defender of Shang Qinghua's sellout crappy main character mary-sue, thinks Airplane is good-looking enough to cosplay as him. And said so. Repeatedly. And then posted borderline thirst-trap villain cosplay of himself, inadvertently revealing in the process that he is hot.

What the. What. What?!

Anyway, Shen Yuan suggests that they attend the next convention both cosplaying together because Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky is supposed to be doing a meet & greet at that one, and wouldn't it be fun to go as a pair? And Airplane agrees before his brain catches up and he realizes that might present a problem.

[sadisthetic]

the madness frustration loneliness of the dissonance of a mismatch of the rotten heart to the rest

allosexual aromantic swag happy pride *peaces out*

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Council of lovefools.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[notmuchtoconceal]

has zero desire to compulsively pick fights with people who ignore him.

has a life and friends.

[gremnda]

i read @hopepetal's fic sunflower days, went insane for a few days and this appeared-

i am so weak to pearl and scar being besties and this fic is basically that and more :,) <3 genuinely so so good, i already cried to zera about it and yall should read it and do the same ù_ú <3

[littlelightfish]

People call him happy feet

But listen

How does a middle-aged man move his legs like that?? I mean, his knees are something else.

New addition: