#someone should do that trolley problem meme with this

[mxtxfanatic]

sorry if you're done talking about it and don't want to discuss it anymore, but for me the 'trolley problem' post was just a sad note about how xie lian's attempts to stop "the trolley" (who always has a name and we very well know about it) end up in a disaster. not because xie lian did it, but because the trolley is actually an unstoppable force with malicious intent and no one else gives a fuck or doesn't have resources to help

but xie lian also shows us that even if things end up like that, it's worth trying. it's worth it, because you might not save everyone, but might save a child. a village. a little boy. a little girl. but if you don't do anything, you'll never know

I’m gonna go ahead and link this addition to my original commentary plus this response that I had in the notes to someone else with a similar reading of that post:

All I can say is that some of y’all are nicer readers than I, because I took that post to mean exactly what op said. If op came back and clarified something, I didn’t see it; I’m only talking about the original post and how inappropriate it is to 1) victim-blame a victim of the events in question for apparently having the audacity to not passively accept events he could influence for the better and 2) say this as a “joke” (because the blasé tone, minimalization of the actual events, overexaggeration of the victim’s responsibility for how said events turned out, and the flat-out avoidance to name what was the actual cause of everything that happens to make it into a meme format was fully meant to be taken as a “joke”).

The issue both with the trolley problem and the likening of it to the events of tgcf is that neither the trolley nor anything Xie Lian experienced are “unstoppable forces.” The trolley is not a natural disaster or the act of an omnipotent god: it is just a trolley. And not only is it just a trolley, it is a trolley that was made, owned, driven, and maintained by people. Everything that goes into a scenario where a trolley is on track to run over a crowd of people (tied to the tracks, another thing that is decidedly not a natural occurrence), is one that is 100% manufactured by multiple different people.

Likewise, while the Yong’an drought was a natural disaster, everything that led to the fall of Xianle was 100% the machinations of multiple different parties, from the rich nobility of both Xianle and Yong’an hoarding their wealth, the corrupt officials who stole aid, the corrupt religious officials who blocked Xie Lian’s followers from praying to him, Guoshi and the king for keeping all of this from Xie Lian, and to the other heavenly officials who withheld help with the intent to prey on the victims of the disaster. Jun Wu’s contribution could honestly be considered the least in this conversation, merely serving as the wind fanning the flames of a fire that had already started. None of that was a coincidence nor the fault of anything Xie Lian did or attempted to do.

Yes a big part of tgcf is recognizing that Xie Lian’s steadfastness to helping should be a personal goal, but another big message that mxtx pushes in all her works is that 99% of all societal problems can be tracked down to a few select individuals choosing to do evil because they don’t think that their greed, selfishness, insecurities, fears, or entitlements are a bad thing while most everyone else either looks the other way because “it’s not my problem,” tries to benefit because “why let opportunity go to waste?” or actively participate because mob mentality. Mocking good people for doing good under these circumstances will never be funny, sympathetic, or relatable to me.

[gdaymer]

I think the easiest way to explain the logic and emotions are intricately linked is through philosophy. Because philosophy literally teaches empathy and its why those jokes about engineers saying practical answers to philosophical questions is missing the point. Philosophy is not supposed to be answered easily and quickly because it is the thinking of the issue that is the goal. Answers you give are almost meaningless compared to the discussion on how you got there!

The trolley problem despite being memed on for so long is a perfect example of this! Its a fucked up choice! Would you save five strangers or one close friend? The answer is almost meaningless because it makes you realise your priorities and hopefully analyse them!!

But how do you explain to someone deep in the rabbithole of getting the Correct Answer that it is worth it to analyse why you make certain choices? That empathy is worth striving for? The most critical question in getting through to someone who does not care about you is How Do I Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People????

By their logic they shouldn’t! How can you convince them of its necessity??? This question is so completely and fundamentally necessary to understanding other people and a lot of people choose to ignore it

[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.

[trendfag]

no because every time i see that stupid fucking trolley problem “meme” with palestinians tied to both tracks i get filled with so much disgust just pure disgust like i genuinely cant believe someone made that, looked it over, thought yes this is a good point to make and i believe in it, and then posted it. how fucking sick do you have to be to think yeah im going to posit supporting a genocide as something you should contribute to. in any context. im far from a misanthrope but genocidal liberals might make me into one i swear

[rutilation]

*arrives @ new chapter 15 minutes late with starbucks*

hey guys i think Ichikawa might not be a fan of reality tv

Believe it or not...I’ve just about run out out of things to say about Cairngorm, at least until their character arc progresses further.  As I mentioned in my writeup for chapter 72, the fact that Cairn wants to do something meaningful with their new lease on life means that sooner or later, they're going to realize that being in a romantic relationship/going to disneyland will not cure their existential anxiety, no matter how much Aechmea wants that to be the case.  At this point, I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I will say that I rolled my eyes at the fact that Aechmea decided to make a literal performance out of their relationship less than 24 hours after Cairn expressed even a teensy bit of discomfort with all the PDA.  I wonder if they even know they’re being filmed, or what a camera is for that matter.  I also found it kind of adorable that Phos, despite being outwardly bitter towards them, still tried to act on their advice anyway. 

But how am I supposed to achieve a fabulous wordcount without my muse?  How I say?!

So, the main reason I was convinced that the gems’ inclusions were actually in the human particle was because bringing back the dead is about the most anathema thing to this story on a thematic level that I can think of.  But this turn of the plot is one that I think I can swallow: in essence, the dusted gems have a chance to be reborn, but not resurrected, which I think fits just fine with the series’ attitude.  I’ve still got my eye on the human particle though; I know a plot device when I see one.

If any point in the story is going to serve as a crossroads for Phos’s character, I’d say it’s here.  There have been plenty of twitter arguments sophisticated discussions over what role Phos is playing in the story at this point.  Can Phos still be considered the hero of the story after all the shady moon-betrayal bullshit from volume 8?  Or are they already well on the path to tragic villainy, and we Phos-stans have just been too blinded by sympathy to see the writing on the wall?  For me at least, I think that their ultimate decision in response to this is what will answer that question.  While there’s been a certain level of ambiguity to Phos’s actions up until this point, being an accessory to genocide isn’t something you can come back from, now is it?

I’ve mentioned a few times before that Variegatus seems to share some striking parallels to baby-Phos.  So, what if the reverse holds true and our current Phos is supposed to be similar to Ventricosus?  Both of them certainly face a similar conundrum.  Like Ventricosus, they’ve bargained with the Lunarians and fought tooth and nail to try and free their species, only to find out that they have to throw the other third of humanity under the bus in order to get their wish.  If the parallel between these two characters holds true going forward, then here’s how I suspect things will play out: after some angst over the decision, Phos will initially ignore their conscience and go along, for a time, with the plan to wipe out the Admirabilis, before ultimately deciding to sabotage the snail genocide at the expense of their own mission, just like she did for Phos all those volumes ago.

I haven’t talked about them much before, so I might as well share my thoughts about our two most sympathetic Lunarians, starting with Barbata.  I didn’t notice this until someone else pointed it out, but aside from being the only Lunarian who isn’t enthusiastically kissing Aechmea’s ass, he’s also the only one who calls Aechmea by his name rather than his title--at least behind his back anyway.  Coupled with how upset he seemed with bearing the bad news for Phos, it seems possible that he might end up siding with the gems over Aechmea when shit hits the fan--and I think we all suspect that’s going to happen sooner or later.  Since he’s a scientist, I wonder if he perhaps knew the mysterious professor when the two of them were alive.  We have to learn more about her from someone and I doubt we’ll be getting anything out of Kongou until towards the end of the story.  Whatever else, it’ll be interesting to see where his character goes.

I also want to talk a little bit about Cicada, who, despite being a big ‘ol teddy bear, comes off as a bit of a cipher.  As a charming as I find him, my first instinct is to distrust anything and anyone who is Aechmea-adjacent, so I can’t help but get the feeling that his niceness towards Phos is part of some good-cop-bad-cop routine he’s doing with Aechmea.

There’s one reason that I doubt this reading, however.  It’s this moment from back in chapter 56:

After Phos collapses, Cicada seems genuinely alarmed.  But if he were actually feigning goodwill towards Phos, then what’s the point of putting on a show of concern for someone who’s unconscious? 

And then there’s that whole business of him having a twin/clone, a subject which he brushed off when asked about it.  He’s a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a huggable marshmallow.

I’m also curious about his name.  While all the Lunarians are named after bugs or plants, he’s the only one named in a way that is entirely transparent to the readers.  The Japanese speaking audience isn’t going to have to look up セミ to know what he’s named after.

In terms of cultural association, cicadas are associated with two things: being really loud, and having short lives, the latter of which falls neatly into the series’ mono no aware aesthetic.  So, for Ichikawa to name one of the Lunarians after a famously short lived creature--and to be a lot more obvious about it than with the other Lunarians no less--what does that mean?  Is it implying that he’ll be one of the first Lunarians to actually die?

And finally:

That is one conspicuous meteor.  What are you implying Ichikawa?  What are you implying?

[utilitycaster]

In a very on-brand move thinking about how much the “haha this group has one brain cell and this character has it” meme annoys me sparked like, between two and seven different rants for me (I edited myself down to four, mostly) so I’ve helpfully numbered them into something that is debatably readable.

The main reason I don’t like it in any media is because usually it’s not as simple as ‘this is the brains of the group’, because people are multidimensional. I also don’t like it in actual play specifically for “stop acting like stats mean absolutely everything” reasons, which is a thing I’ve been on about recently; think “Caleb Widogast (20 INT, 16 WIS) and the Emerald of Death that Absolutely Could Have Been Left Alone”.

It is my belief that people who do not take impulsive and/or risky actions in D&D are bad at playing D&D. There’s a good quote from Travis Willingham about this - that you can’t just play it safe. If you want to be pedantic and optimal about it the smartest thing to do would have probably been to never touch the ship full of corpses and the +1 Spider Crown of Makes Good People Throw Up*. But I think most** people understand that to have a story, that is, to find out, one must first fuck around. When players delicately try to skirt around every possible thing that might deprive them of a single hit point, it is unbelievably frustrating. It is not unintelligent or ‘lacking in brain cells’ to take risks. Dorian and Opal made great choices! They saw that the Nameless ones were going to be a threat that they could not avoid, and took actions to address that! Which brings me to my third point.

I find that fandom often pivots with all the grace of a broken Zamboni driven by an elephant, which is to say they do not react well to changes or new information. When the Nameless Ones show up, and it becomes clear that the plan of quietly running away undetected had failed, a lot of people seem to short circuit (presumably) and perceive whoever drops that first plan - even though we already know it has failed - as being the cause of the new problem. This is wrong; the person who drops the plan is the person who reacts first to a new and changed situation instead of hanging on to plan A when they know it won’t work. This happens a lot; I may be turning over a huge amount of dead discourse about Rumblecusp but it was fascinating to see how many people were frustrated by the inaction against Vokodo but then championed inaction in terms of reacting to Jester being in trouble; it seems many people make a connection between inertia and ‘the brain cell’ even though sticking with a plan you know has failed is not smart. This also, I should note, tracks with neutral good characters often being assigned the brain cell by the fandom, so onto point 4, which is…

It’s easy to appeal to law or chaos - in fact, it’s much easier to appeal to that than to morality (good/neutral/evil). True neutral is also not terribly hard to appeal to in that you either zero in on the character’s personal goals/beliefs and ignore alignment altogether, or you trust the player isn’t a total dickhead and will go along with the party majority. Neutral good and neutral evil are the trickiest alignments to motivate, and since neutral evil is both rare among PCs and especially tricky***, let’s talk neutral good. Neutral good characters want to help but they lack the certainty of a lawful character or the spontaneity of a chaotic one; they typically need to analyze everything to figure out how they can best help since all they really have to go on is ‘am I helping’ and that’s often a complicated question. And it’s not bad to do this! It’s a valuable perspective to have in a party. But it’s not a sign of intelligence so much as a sign of having a specifi philosophy, and while I’m sure there’s someone out there who wants to watch a 7 hour trolley problem debate, I do not, nor do most people, so another character will often take action. This in turn doesn’t mean they’re impulsive, so much as they acknowledge that the trolley waits for no one.

In summary I think a lot of people associate “the brain cell” with extreme caution, but in a world where pausing for six seconds can get you hit by a poisoned dagger (and also resurrection exists), there is a lot of sense in making a quick decision.****

*if you were going to say “um actually this is the circlet of barbed vision” unironically may I gently suggest you learn what jokes are.

**not many, and yet still, far more than the acceptable amount, which is zero.

***this is a whole new too-long post but in short while neutral good usually wants to actively help, neutral evil often just doesn’t care if they do harm, but doesn’t actively seek it. Many neutral evil characters (eg: pre-Mighty Nein Essek) have relatively morally neutral goals; the evil comes from them being willing to hurt others in their pursuit of those motivations. They do not necessarily see doing evil as its own goal or reward the way a neutral good character may feel about doing good.

****for more on this see every time I have ever complained about how people are all about more thorough examinations of worldbuilding when it comes to boring shit like fabric arts but refuse to apply it to like, the sociocultural implications of a world with complete gender and sexuality equality and wildly different lifespans among different peoples and the presence of magic and gods.

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Ayesha Liveblogs Death Note

I’m watching this show specifically because of that text post that said, “Watch how quickly this one guy decides to be the worst person ever” and he has killed two people in the first ten minutes

Though 2 be fair he’s killing people to save people so it’s a trolley problem kind of thing for now

“In fact I’ve been waiting for you... Ryuk” ok weird flex Light but u do u

“You’re the first one to use to this extent in five days” WAIT DID HE MURDER ALL THOSE PEOPLE IN FIVE DAYS I THOUGHT HE WAS JUST LOOKING AT A LIST OH MY GOD??

“So there isn’t a price to using Death Note?” said Light, as if killing people is just a normal thing that we all do

Fhkjfhfkjb Ryuk really went ‘u used the book so we’re friends now’ 

I was wondering why the book was in English, and I guess that makes sense British and American imperialism really Did That

“I can write down the names of criminals, and slowly reduce the number of evil people” uhhhh doesn’t u being a Book Murderer also make you a criminal Light

“Human lives shouldn’t be taken so lightly” bah dum tss

Also I guess that revelation lasted about thirty seconds for you huh

Update from 15 seconds later: Even less than that

“I would create a world of earnest, kind humans” really because I don’t think places that allow the death penalty are generally nicer societies 

It’s interesting that they use English in the classes and the notebook but the conversation at Interpol takes place in Japanese (despite the implied internationality and Ryuk’s aforementioned claim about English being most common) 

Huh I won’t lie I do think it’s confusing that the main characters are L and Light, which also starts with L

“I am justice” I mean if anything this show just proves that no one should be allowed to use the death penalty on apprehended suspects in criminal justice cases ever 

OH SHIT PLOT TWIST HIS DAD’S A COP (IT WAS IN THE TEXT POST I THINK BUT I FORGOT)

Wow this show is full of mind games already I guess I can see why like, crime show fans would dig it

“But I’m going to say this as your roommate” OH MY GOD THEY WERE ROOMMATES KJHRGKJHKJHG

Interesting that someone is following Light specifically already

I mean not to poke too many holes in your plan Light but wouldn’t it clash with your plan to become God if you die at like 35 or smth 

“You’re already much more of a shinigami than they are” Ryuk said my friends are BORING I want to hang out with this MURDER TEEN

“I may not look it, but I’m pretty popular” Light is exactly the kind of guy who ends up in a true crime special where a bunch of people say he seemed like a nice, charismatic young man

Man this poor girl that Light brought on this date is going to be straight traumatized after this

I mean isn’t it MORE suspicious if someone dies around someone with direct ties to the police even if it’s not a heart attack

“You were indeed a brilliant FBI agent once, but now you’re my fiancée” kjhfkjhg WHAT FBI AGENTS CAN’T BE MARRIED 

“Once we have a family, you’ll be so busy that you’ll forget that you were an agent” I’m not a fan of Raye Penber 

What’s the point in killing Raye at all???? He told you he was part of a special investigation so clearly he’s not that suspicious of you

Light sure is bold to announce his Killing People Experiments in the middle of a busy sidewalk 

Incredible that consistently no one notices Light’s increasingly threatening declarations????

Fjkfkfhk these five cops finding out their Hail Mary is this strange little goblin man,,,, wow

This woman has really pushed Light to the brink just by giving a fake name, I admire her tenacity

Cops wearing fake IDs really did not age well oh boy

SERIOUSLY HOW DOES NO ONE EVER HEAR LIGHT SAYING SUSPICIOUS THINGS IN PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES HE LITERALLY JUST SAID “I AM KIRA” AS A DETECTIVE WALKED BY, WHILE HE WAS TALKING TO SOMEONE HE KILLED IMMEDIATELY AFTER

Wow it really took only eight episodes for L to track Light as close as one of two families

“You have a wife and daughter, right?” “I know!” I mean..... not 2 be that guy but... cops

 “To me, apples are like... Well, like cigarettes and liquor to humans” Vcvhcjhj every once in a while Ryuk says something that really tickles me

I know the word sociopath is kind of outdated but man does Light have actual interests outside of school or does he just do stuff to fill the void of his lack of interests (outside of murder)

JKHGKJHGKJHKJHG I cannot believe that this has turned into a fake classmate situation first of all 1) are you going to become friends and 2) How old are you Ryuzaki/L?

“Where is that rich kid from? And he’s even at the top of his class? What a jerk” honestly a mood

I DESPERATELY want Light’s mother or sister to overhear his evil cackling will someone finally eavesdrop on this god complex

“If I sit normally, my reasoning skills drop by 40%” weird flex but same 

Sidenote: I can’t believe how many episodes of this show I already have watched

Ngl I was VERY shook that Mr. Yagami had a heart attack. Also does Light care if his family lives or dies or is he kind of neutral on the subject? 

“If Kira is an ordinary person who gained this power, then he is a very unlucky person” Dad and L said ‘if u ARE Kira could you please stop murdering thank you <3′ 

Light really underestimated how much cops hate anyone who has killed a cop oops

OH SO IT’S NOT LIGHT I WAS WONDERING WHY HE HAD NOT MADE AN APPEARANCE THIS WHOLE EPISODE U MEAN THERE ARE TWO GUYS WITH THIS EXACT SAME IDEOLOGY AND PLAN? INCREDIBLE

Update from ten seconds later: Two people, I guess

Well this explains the girl in the short dress which serves as the Netflix thumbnail of this show I was wondering when she would show up 

Also she sounds like she’s very young? Clearly Shinigami don’t have a minimum age of informed consent when it comes to their Murder Eyes Contract 

Hahah I bet Light didn’t imagine that his petty and fucked up apple joke would bite him so quickly in the ass

Dhkjdhdkjhd Misa is so bold dropping her Death God deets in a video for anyone to see 

“The way to kill a Shinigami, is to make them fall in love with a human” does this mean that Ryuk is going to fall in love with Light or Misa? Both would make me uncomfortable

Oh wild guess Misa became a Death Note Wielder through the Power of Unreciprocated Voyeuristic Love

“Yeah, I have a girlfriend now,” said Light, after a girl contacted him through a series of anonymous video tapes implicitly vowing to be his disciple 

“No one could tell who he’s attached to if I’m with this many people�� [20 seconds pass] “Found him!” HAHAHA the funniest part of this show is consistently watch Light going “got ‘em” before it immediately is revealed that he doesn’t got ‘em 

Why is Light so incredibly searchable??? I think the only way people people could find my height online is if I happened to answer it for one of those Facebook note memes in 2007 lmaoooo

“There are many places that will go and sell your personal records” ah, data breaches; a problem that has not gotten any better in the last 15 years since this anime came out

HKJHFHKJFHF Light immediately jumping into fake-dating his weird disciple in front of his mom... what is this show

“Please make me your girlfriend” OH MY GOOOOOD

This is one of the weirdest romantic dynamics I’ve seen in recent memory but you know what? Whatever, at least it’s not Anxiety and Murder

“Does that mean I’ll have to deal with her until she dies?” Light is truly exuding some Ladybird Book of Dating Energy rn: 

The fact that to kill L all Light had to do was get an obsessive girlfriend... astounding

Beautiful that it took Misa less than a week of knowing Light to ruin his whole 15 episode game plan and also life

“I think I may be Kira” Well this show keeps taking one escalation after another this is exhausting why can’t Light just be a normal person who found it, tried it out of interest in the occult, discovered he’d committed a horrible atrocity and then went to therapy for the rest of his life only to confess to Magical Murder on his deathbed while his family goes, ‘Wow, Grandpa’s crazy’

Does L not think that keeping three different people imprisoned for days on end will lead to some psychological repercussions for him

FOR WEEKS ON END????? OH MY GOD???? The fuck L, I know two of these people are murderers but there are some minimum conditions of correctional facilities and this seems a little Stanford PE

THE DRAMA OF THIS EPISODE I KNEW IT WAS GONNA BE A BLANK BUT HOW FUCKED UP TO PUT EVERYONE THROUGH THIS L I THINK YOU NEED THERAPY!!!!!!! I MEAN LIGHT AND MISA ARE MURDERERS BUT FORCING A MAN TO HOLD HIS SON AT GUNPOINT AFTER IMPRISONING THEM FOR OVER A MONTH IS REALLY A REFLECTION OF A COMPLETE LACK OF EMPATHY (especially when you think that this version of Misa and Light don’t know anything!!! Oh my god!! The fuck)

“I will make arrangements so you and I are together 24 hours a day” call me crazy but I would not want to spend 24/7 with the man who imprisoned me for over a month while playing cruel psychological games all the while

“I’m one of those people who’ll accept Kira, I’d think of ways I could help him” Misa said Bimbo Rights

“I could never toy with a woman’s emotions like that” Light’s dating life and personality has gotten a LOT funnier since he forgot he was a murderer I kind of wish THIS could be the whole show 

Also: Nice to know Light USED to have standards of how to treat women

Honestly fair play to both L and Light they both deserved to be punched and it’s funny to see eighteen episodes of mind games culminate in punching and kicking each other in the face

“Matsuda’s being an idiot again” “Well, Matsuda is a natural at that” wghkjhgkj what has Matsuda done to any of you

"He’s punishing criminals as a front, and killing people for the benefit of this company” is Light unknowingly going to solve the murder chain he himself started... inspiring

“I was testing you” this is why Light is your only friend, L, Aizawa has kids and it’s a dick move to ask him to put his convictions before them

Poor Matsuda realizing he’s got the least to offer to their team... me in high school science labs 

I understand Aizawa’s moral crisis but why do NONE of these cops care about their wives or daughters they’re just kind of like, ‘I will provide for you but I have no interest in or fulfillment from being part of your life’ (ACAB)

Matsuda is truly about to die for being dumb and eager to help 😔 Rest in Pieces

“We must not allow Yotsuba to figure out that we are investigating them,” said L, just after it cut from Matsuda being obvious about investigating them. Oh Matsuda 😔 you’re so bad at your job 😔

MATSUDAAAAAAAA oh thank goodness; Bimbo Rights save the day

“I can’t go along with your idea, it’s wrong!” said Light, despite the fact it took him 15 seconds to get over murder the first couple of times he did it 

Staaaaaaaaay Good Light, I don’t want ur Deathnotesona I want this young man with moral convictions!!

The level of hubris it takes to answer a phone call during your secret Murder Meeting while people continue to talk about their Murder Plans is just out of this world

“If I die, you could probably become the successor to the ‘L‘ name,” said L, to the person he has been trying to catch for twenty episodes 

“I won’t say anything under any kind of torture” “Yes that’s true” Which he knows because he tortured her for six weeks!! You see that that’s fucked up, L, right? RIGHT??? RIIIIIIIIGHT? (LIIIIIIIGHT???)

Seriously not to beat a dead Shinigami but Light is so much better like this. He doesn’t want to throw people’s lives away for the investigation! He wants to protect Misa! He thinks Kira is wrong! Why does he have to be a murderer!!! Why can’t this show be about a nice young man!!!!

“Hey Ryuzaki, that’s messed up!” THANK YOU LIGHT AGAIN I KNOW YOU BOTH HAVE KILLED PEOPLE BUT YOU DON’T KNOW THAT RIGHT NOW SO FOR ALL MISA KNOWS HE’S JUST A GUY WHO TORTURES HER AND TELLS HER CRUSH WILL DIE IF SHE DOESN’T HELP

Wow Rem is so ride or die for Misa protecting Misa from creepy Higuchi, giving her info and telling her to trust Light, that’s love bitch

Props to Misa for getting a confession out of Higuchi after one (1) car ride 

Why do I feel like L is going to be responsible for reawakening Bad Light is it because he psychologically tortured him for six weeks? Had his dad hold him at gunpoint? Forced Misa to investigate on his behalf? Constantly and unerringly presses him on what Kira would be thinking as he’s handcuffed to him 24 hours a day? Maybe!! This is like Build-a-Bear but he’s customizing his Teen Murder Friend 

“Only Mr. Matsuda can do [the mission to lure out Higuchi!Kira]” Death Note really said the Himbos, Herbos and Thembos shall inherit the Earth 

They keep saying they don’t know how he kills but it seems pretty obvious that he writes down their names to kill, they literally saw him do it

I really don’t want any of the investigation team to die but things are not looking hot :(

“Ryuzaki, I never knew you could fly a helicopter” “It’s just intuition” what does that MEAN

“Those aren’t allowed in Japan,” said Light, about a gun, as if he had not killed probably thousands of people without one 

In spite of this fact I really do want Good Light to stay 😔 Why! Can’t! This! Show! Be! About! A! Nice! Young! Man!

Also they really are playing into this father-and-son duo I will be very sad when the dad inevitably dies as I’m sure he will 

Family side note: I’ve been wondering this since the prison ep but where do Light’s mom and sister think he IS now that he’s dropped out of first year uni to be a teen criminal investigator handcuffed to a maladjusted homebody private eye

AIZAWAAA and also the other two guys I guess there was a plot relevant reason for him to rejoin the police huh

Well what a clean ending to this Kira arc. No one died and the killer was caught! Yikes that the next ep is called ‘Revival’ tho 😔 Rest in pieces Good Light

Also a new and very threatening intro???? What happened to the Twilight Apple Hands 

BOOOO I knew Light would get his memory back but I was hoping it would at least fuck him up for a while he sorted out his two personas but I guess all roads eventually lead to Bad Light 

Full disclosure I stopped watching for a few days just after Light got his memory back and let me tell u coming back later hasn’t made it any more tolerable I am truly not built for this EUGH

“Do you really want to halve your life a second time” “Well, that can’t be helped” REALLY???? CAN’T IT BE HELPED MISA??? WHY ARE YOU AND LIGHT SO CRAZY

Oh I guess we’re back to Light saying incredibly suspicious things right near the investigators lmao what if those cameras secretly had audio or you know, L simply knew how to read lips 

“Misa, let’s make a new world together” Remember a bunch of episodes ago when Good Light was all ‘I could never toy with a woman’s emotions’?? What was the reason!!!

“Have you ever told the truth at any point in your entire life” L cutting straight to the core lmao (also the answer is obviously ‘no’)

This show has taken a jarring tonal shift why are they having a post-rain-confrontation massage and towelling each other off this is a level of intimacy I was not prepared for I NEED PEOPLE TOOK LOOK AT THIS:

OKAY OKAY OKAY I KNOW THAT IT WAS PROBABLY NOT THEIR INTENTION BUT THE ONLY WAY I CAN READ THIS SCENE IS AS “Don’t kill me Light~ 🥰 I’ll fuck you~ 🥰” 

I guess L knew he was forcing Rem’s hand to kill him if he disproved the rules written in the book?? But to what end omg how does this help anyone 

“In April 2012, Light Yagami, age 23, joins the National Police Agency” should’ve known we’d land here eventually (ACAB)

Ah, I see another person who doesn’t know how to sit, clearly they will inherit the L title next lmao

Update from the first few mins of the next ep: “Near should succeed L” told you

“There’s no way I’m letting Sayu marry a detective” ahjfkhkjf he’s a little old for her I think but it wouldn’t be the worst thing this show has done romantically lmao; maybe Sayu would get to investigate her brother

“I might’ve considered going out with you, if you were a little younger” HA GOOD FOR HER

“[...] the Japanese police are unreliable. In order to solve this case, we want you to hand over the notebook to our country.” Of all the Japanese-speaking Americans in this show, this is the most accurate jkhfkhf the US government really is Like That 

Ah, so that’s where Mello’s gone, oh how the turn tables 

Also way to sell your subordinates out immediately, NPA Director, will you give them the Kira task force’s home addresses too

The real question is if Light actually cares about his sister enough to prioritize her over the notebook

“Call me... N” Oh my good L... M(ello)... N(ear)... Oooooooooooooooo

It’s my saving grace that I only need to get through 9 more eps but as always I must wonder where this is going will Light just die and end up in Shinigami purgatory while the people who knew him after the fact go, ‘hey, that guy was fucked up’

“If things get bad, I’ll have to kill Sayu” well I guess that answers that question, my expectations of Light are so low and yet he continues to find new ways to be awful

Good for Mr. Yagami and Sayu for getting out of that alive I guess but hoo boy I think this is going to have some psychological repercussions for both of them 

Uh oh this episode is called ‘Father’ I’ve been dreading this one bc I think that means Mr. Yagami is about to die 😭😭😭

“It was an institution for brilliant children, to raise them to become L‘s successor” okay calm down Professor Xatari that’s not what children are for lmao 

Well I guess it’s a lot easier to track down info about these two guys than it was to figure out L lmao

HAHAHA Sidoh haunting Ryuk to ask for his stuff is a fun addition to this madness  

“He’s scary for a human” jkhhfjh how unhinged does Mello have to be to threaten a literal Shinigami 

I truly don’t understand the logistics of how they revealed Ryuk to the police force isn’t the second Kira notebook supposed to belong to Actual Kira, in the police force’s eyes????? I do not understand how Light can just turn up with another notebook and everyone’s like ‘sure cool’ did I miss something 

Mr. Yagami killed for being unable to take human life ugh this is the worst 

“You’re not Kira. I’m really glad.” WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS SO SAD MR. YAGAMI NOOOOOOOOOO THAT’S WHY HE RENOUNCED OWNERSHIP OF THE NOTEBOOK 

Neither Mello nor Near seem overly concerned with the lives of people around them does being a Super Genius Investigator also mean you have to be a dick (is this Benadryl Coddleswab Sherlock syndrome)

Lmaooo genuinely love how it’s constantly apparent that Light is the least smart of all of the smart people Light spent five years working on his reputation and it took Near one (1) phone call to destroy it 

Ghjkhgkhgkgjh Light outsmarted by Near yet again never think people will prioritize principles over money

Lol yeah Aizawa needn’t have given a name after he said the “Deputy Director Yagami would kill Kira and then himself” thing, you don’t do that just for anyone who was he fooling 

How does Light keep track of all the renunciations and notebooks bc I certainly can’t 

Ffhkfjhfj Mikami truly looks like the son of L and Light it’s like Light missed him and was like, “Miss u boo :( (even tho I kinda killed u) I’ll adopt An Evil 27-year-old in ur honour :)”

Is Mikami’s story really, ‘I got bullied in high school and have mommy issues so now I think people I don’t like should die’ ok Shonen Snape 

“I just want you to meet with me and hear me out” Light really proving to Aizawa that he can lie AND manipulate people’s feelings 

“The truth is, she’s not smart enough to be my partner” first of all Light I think this show has proven you’re not that smart, and Misa’s Herbo Energy is effervescent and will outlast you, and third of all go to jail

“He’ll look suspicious if he doesn’t say something soon” “Ide, have you ever been in love” Matsuda continues to be the only good part of this show

“You’re the only man I’ve ever respected and admired in my life” GET SOME THERAPY KIYOMI

“You’re going to be the goddess of the new world” so it’s not enough for Light to be a murderer he must also be a cheater

Lmao Near’s powers of perception do seem a little B/BC S/herlock because L tried for literally months to work out the possibilities and Near is just like ‘I KNOW IT NOW’

“The only thing I can deduce from this is that Light Yagami is popular with the ladies” HEAVEN KNOWS WHY (PUN NOT INTENDED)

Every moment Aizawa gets closer to proving Light is Kira is another step closer to death 😔

“This is definitely Mikami’s handwriting” Not to be a know-it-all, Near, but handwriting analysis has been proven faulty many times in multiple courts of law

This truly is a game of Cat and Cat. All these hidden plans give me a headache fkjhkfjh call me Misa-Misa and spin me sideways I don’t have the braincells to spare

Well this is definitely some kind of s*xual assault absolutely fucking hate it wow this show truly just drains the life out of you 

“Matt, I never thought you would be killed” why wouldn’t you think that at this point anyone who comes close to this investigation eventually dies (also wjkhkjhgk why is Matt special didn’t you kill all those thugs you had before -- Mello said ‘the lives of my allies are only important if they are drawn in handsome protag style’) 

As of yet I haven’t really talked about Near’s wild toymaking but hoo boy is that L finger puppet something to observe

“Everyone who knows about the existence of the notebook will die” I’m still pulling for their survival, particularly Matsuda (himbo rights!!!)

Imagine if they just shot Light Yagami on sight how ironic would that conclusion to all these mind games be 

“I’m waiting, for the one who will solve everything, to arrive” Lmao if it turns out L is alive I’ll pee laughing this show is so fucking stupid 

Take a shot every time there is a Humpty-Dumpty-in-Puss-in-Boots style explanation about how everything actually happened

“I’ve won, Near” I bet/hope what gets Light caught is his inability to hold in his hubris for one (1) minute

Although the last episode is called New World, in which case maybe he wins in a very weird ending to a very weird show

Sjkfhkjhfkhfkjhf well I guess what gets Light caught is that the person he invited to be his murderous disciple keeps calling him God

“A second ago, you said ‘I win.’ That’s as good a confession as any” HA hubris strikes again also bold of Aizawa to clap Light on the shoulder knowing he is a mass murderer

Ohhh Matsuda he’s so nice and believed the best of Light :((((((((((((

Watching Light become increasingly desperate and crazed is very uncomfortable give it up dude u’ve been beat (though I suppose there is time for everyone here to be murdered still lmao)

LMAO LIGHT SAID “IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘EM, CONVERT ‘EM”

Yeah I figured if one of them was gonna shoot it would be Matsuda :( :( Good for him for not killing Light tho!!

Huh I guess that���s the end of the show I thought Light would die but I did think we’d at least get to see him in Shinigami Purgatory or smth... what a wild ride. This certainly was a show.

[flybi91]

I’ve mostly recovered from  having to experience Walter for extended periods of time.

 I’m just doing a little side bit before continuing Maude because it’s 5:30AM (I was listening to scary stories and I can’t sleep and I’m too afraid to leave my room to pee) and I know if I start on the regular series I’m gonna end up watching until like 8am. But I wanted to watch SOMETHING so decided instead to watch the episode of All in the family where Carol gets married.

Carol is very understandably pissed off that Archie is coming to the wedding. She’s marrying David, a Jewish man and Archie being Archie, she knows he’s gonna start shit.

Maude is doing that stereotyping thing where it’s technically antisemitic but it’s not a bad stereotype. Maud is supposed to be that liberal that’s like progressive in a way that almost feels worse than a bigot, kinda like most liberal twitter users. Her and Archie are basically the same but on different ends. 

Maude tells him right off the bat what’s going on and he repeats word for word what Carol predicted.

They REALLY should of had more crossover because Bea Arthur and Carroll O'Connor are absolutely fantastic together. I haven’t seen the first episode with Maude since I was a little kid, I really need to re-watch it.

Like all 4 of these actors are phenomenal together but Carroll and Bea are really on a different level that you rarely see.

Maude and Carol have an argument about who had what wedding showers and which husbands they were with, iconic.

The police got called on the bachelor party and Carol finds out that there were girls there. She’s upset that David had a bachelor party with women there without even talking to her about it and he does this borderline emotional abuse thing of “What happened to the free spirit, liberal minded woman i love🥺“ like shut the fuck up.

Dude bought a house without telling her, is expecting her to quit her job because he’s already expecting her to have more kids. NONE of this was previously discussed, he’s been planing her life out for her without telling her. I’m saying this as a Jewish woman I want to crush him like a bug, I’ve meet this EXACT type of dude and I’d throw him in front of the trolley problem with 0 remorse.

So Carol says something antisemitic when he mentions getting a good deal on the house and when she realizes she’s instantly, genuinely upset with herself. BUT David talks about how he was basically waiting the entire time for someone in her family to say something antisemitic because his mom said it would happen eventually. MY MAN you dated this woman for like 2-3 years and the ENTIRE TIME you were thinking this?!?! like you were just chillin in bed with her thinking one day she’s gonna say something fucked up???.

And we find out Archie called the cops on the party. He went back to the motel earlyto be miserable so he didn’t even know he was next to the bachelor party.

Like it really was the “I'm about to end this man's whole career“ meme except it wasn’t even intentional.

When ever I watch or read interviews most of the cast talks about how they thought Marcia Rodd made a better Carol than Adrienne Barbeau and I always thought it was kinda shady but I have to agree. This version of Carol REALLY feels like she genuinely believes what she’s saying and when she argues with her mom you can tell she’s legit pissed. I like Adrienne but this Carol really felt like Maude’s daughter and I have to wonder why they didn’t just hire Marcia if everyone that worked on that episode loved her so much. 

All in all, everyone in this episode was an asshole in some form or another except for Edith who’s an angel.

also i am posting this at 7am, it’s getting lighter out which means i can go piss and then sleep

[reasonandempathy]

hey man, i just saw your rb of a spongebob meme abt capitalism and it said that 9mil of people starve when we produce enough food for 10bil and waste a third of it? and i looked in the comments and i couldn't see any sources for that. but i was talking w someone the other day, and they were saying that we don't have enough resources on earth for everyone. so i was just wondering if maybe you knew more about, like, that whole topic? bc the other person was arguing that simply redistributing the world's wealth wouldn't actually help as much as people think, bc it would be spread so thin as to be practically useless?? that we should have wealth concentrated a bit in order to advance technology that will benefit everyone??? but like, if it's true that we have enough resources to feed everyone then i'd really love to show them that little fact. they think it's a matter of saving everyone now or saving people in the future. like, kinda like the trolley problem, just a little? spend all the resources now and guarantee everyone lives to next winter - or triage, save as many as you can now but focus on preparing for the future. i think they're thinking abt habitable land as well? but i think that's unnecessary worry for a good long while. like, just build up? but like, do we/can we produce enough food for our growing global population? like, is that sustainable? or do we actually need to find a way to terraform mars in order for agricultural crops?

sorry, i got to a bit of think-typing at the end there. i'm trying to ask if you know where i could look for more information - if this topic is something you have any familiarity with. tbh i don't even really know what this topic is called or if it's a bunch jumbled together. and i know this is probably a really big ask, so no worries if you wanna skip it, or save it for a rainy day when you're bored. anyways, sorry to clog up your askbox, and i hope you're having a good day. thank you for your time :)

Hey.

I wrote about something similar 4 years ago.

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 25: 1x16 The Galileo Seven

I took a half day off today and had a three hour nap in the afternoon. Now I’m feeling, I think, better?? Perhaps?

Anyway, today’s ep is The Galileo Seven, aka capitalizing on Spock’s popularity time.

Hmm, a vague and undefined phenomenon perfect for scientific study--Spock will love this. (Aka Kirk’s real reason for investigating the quasar. Just a little gift for the bf.)

Yeah Shuttlecraft Galileo! I love the shuttlecrafts; I think they’re adorable.

New Paris Colony.

The Commissioner isn’t wrong, though, like this probably isn’t the time to go on a random exploratory mission. Ah, yes, this weird space anomaly full of unknown dangers--let’s launch our most important officers right into the center of it while we have time sensitive supplies onboard. I mean come on, there’s a plague going on!

Love the shaky movements of the shuttle as it flies through space.

Hmm they’re exploring an unknown weird space thing and something goes wrong? Who could have predicted that? Other than Boma, who’s like ‘this is actually really normal though?’

Kirk’s sigh right before the credits lol.

Uhura taking over for Spock.

Those doors looked awfully, um... not metal when they opened. But I still like the design.

This is a good episode for understanding what ‘logic’ means to Spock. Like people, including people in this ep, talk about it as if it were just being emotionless and not caring about others but it’s a whole philosophy/value system and he adheres to it pretty well.

Shuttlecraft Columbus.

Kirk has such a big headache right now. He hates having someone step on his command toes.

I love this Bones and Spock conversation. “This is your chance for command.” “I am a logical man.”

Those pants really are terrible. Everyone always on about the skirts but no one ever talks shit about those horrendous pants.

Spock gets to show off his legs standing in a V like that though lol.

Philosophy 101: The Trolley Problem.

“My choice [of who to leave behind] will be a logical one.” Stop bullshitting, Spock lol. “Idk man... logic?”

Well his decision just got easier by about 1/3.

It’s Pauna! Oh wait wrong show. Thank God.

Spock is talking about how this spear looks like something Native American but lbr it looks like a Vulcan spear and he should know. He’s the bitch with the ancient weaponry hanging on the walls of his quarters.

Spock could move the body way more efficiently, I mean he’s 3x stronger than these other fools. Look at the way he throws the spear as if it were made of cardboard. Which it is definitely, definitely not lol.

That quadrant name would make a good wifi password.

The commissioner truly has NO purpose here other than to be a human clock.

I understand Spock not wanting to waste time with the ceremonial duties of command or with burying a person while he could be working to save the people who are still alive...but I don’t believe for one moment he doesn’t know elaborate funeral services. The Vulcans love their rituals.

“We have no fuel! What alternatives?” Yeah lol that is pretty bad.

“Sensitive Vulcan ears.”

He literally just said they’re not tribal, Boma, are you not listening at all?

“I’m frequently appalled by the low regard you Earthmen have for life.”

Like Kirk always says, this isn’t a democracy.

Honestly this insubordination kinda seems like xenophobia to me in that I feel like everyone thinks it’s okay to be disrespectful to Spock because he’s an alien, because their human morality and philosophy is inherently right and Spock not following it is deserving of ire, even though he’s in command.

They’re on Spock’s back when he doesn’t seem to respect life enough and when he respects life too much like he cannot win.

Our duties to other life forms.

At least the reboots got Spock’s sass right.

I feel like Spock’s logical and emotionless responses are helpful though because I would be a straight up anxious mess. It just seems so clear to me, all the places where being unemotional is allowing him to act and keep control where a scared and confused person ruled by emotions would not be. I mean they’re all Officers and it’s not like McCoy and Boma are wandering around weeping or anything but still. Not all of Spock’s decisions are right but I’d be soothed by his attitude.

“Luck may be the only tool we have that works” reminds me of “Captain, you almost make me believe in luck.”

Kirk also makes a lot of command decisions here and it’s interesting to compare his style with Spock’s.

Loving the creature design and this is not a sarcastic comment.

“Certain scientific curiosity” about whether the crewman is dead. Sure okay.

See, I was right, he can lift and carry a grown man by himself.

That spear very much hit him lol.

Spock is upset. He lost a crewman. And logic isn’t working like it’s supposed to. I love that “They should have respected us” bit. He is a little arrogant, and for someone who’s spent most of his adult life around aliens, rather set in his idea that rational responses are the only responses.

He’s really having some revelations here. I bet he can’t wait to discuss all this with Jim.

I’ve seen that shot of Scotty just shoving a wrench in the wall and making sparks fly used in memes. Out of context it is quite hilarious.

Ugh, this is such a tightly constructed narrative. Love it.

Yeah, Boma, back off. This is just crossing a line.

“You will have your burial, provided the creatures permit it.”

Poor creatures honestly. These weird aliens keep showing up and bothering them.

This Captain’s chair is pretty wide too but Kirk manages to sit in it and look cool @ cpine.

Noooo you can’t leave them behind!

Uhura posing behind the Captain’s chair and looking at the screen like google earth always taking pictures.

Lol, space normal speed. (You’d think the Commissioner would show up at this point to be like bUt ThE pLaGuE but actually we never see him again.)

Those creatures aren’t even AIMING the spears they’re literally just throwing them parallel.

“Get us off, Scott.”

“Yes.... my first command.” Oh, Spock. I love him.

Love that Scotty’s really, genuinely proud of him. Scotty’s so Unproblematic. He really is just here to do his job and he’s never mean or causing trouble of any sort.

Jim will see the flares because he loves you!!

This poor actress playing the Yeoman has nothing to do. “Oh, it’s hot!”

Really living for Kirk’s face journey as he thinks all hope is lost and then realizes they’re (mostly) okay.

I want to hear what Kirk and McCoy are saying at the beginning of the last scene. I bet they’re talking about Spock.

Everyone gently making fun of Spock but in a ‘we love you buddy way.’ And Kirk using this, their one scene together all ep, to lay on the flirting extra thick. “Mr. Spock, you’re a stubborn man” is really pushing the flirtation meter off the charts.

They’re mocking him for making an impulsive decision but he was totally right AND he was totally logical imo? Like “you reasoned that it was time for an emotional outburst” is certainly one way to put it but another way is “the only possible chance we have of being detected AT ALL is to make a big scene and if it doesn’t work we’ll just die faster than we would have anyway” which is logical, and in fact, I think someone too caught up in their emotions might hesitate to do it. I mean, I’d probably hesitate--I think the emotional response to the situation is to want to stay alive as long as possible, even if you know--logically--that the difference between living another 6 minutes and another 26 minutes is nothing. You’d be better off giving away the chance for 20 extra minutes in exchange for a better chance of not dying at all. That’s logic bitches!

Kirk sees some hope for himself here. “Oh, Spock can follow his heart??? Perhaps... to me??”

I am not a fan of these fake laughter endings. They are so overdone lol. Uhura is literally pointing and laughing in the background. It’s not THAT funny guys.

That said if Beyond had ended with some fake laughter it probably would have improved the film substantially.

And that’s it! An excellently plotted episode, really well done on the level of craft. I really get off on that kind of thing. I know a lot of shows that can write entertaining episodes/seasons/multi-season plots but don’t have any, well, real logic to them and that’s not necessarily the worst but then when you see something that’s really just well made, it... well for me it triggers a very certain satisfaction.

Also this is easily a top 3 Spock episode. Great character stuff.

Next up is the Squire of Gothos, which I think is one of the weaker S1 episodes. Not bad, just not Classic level like almost every other ep.

[fluffypotatey]

100, 65, 62, 58, 16 for the ask thing:D

Thanks for the asks @nextstopparis ❤️❤️❤️

Alright, it ain’t 4am yet, but here we go:

100. What belief do you have that isn’t logically grounded, but you still firmly believe in?

Is it cheesy for me to say magic? 

Listen, I know, but you asked for non-logical beliefs, and that’s magic. I think of magic like energy. You don’t see energy but it’s there and we have proofs about it. Same with love. You can’t see love but you most definitely feel it when you’re with your SO or best friends. 

So, just because you can’t see magic, doesn’t mean it’s not real.

65. What age should people be allowed to vote? Should children and teenagers be allowed to vote?

So, I live in the US and the age here is 18, and I’m fine with that. It was around this time that I was getting really bothered with what was going on politically and really wanted to do something about it. Personally, I see no harm in younger kids being informed on what’s going on, but they also are meant (and are told) to depend on the adults to fix/keep things stable. Of course as you get older and more independent, you have a better understanding of the world around you. So, it makes sense then for older teens/young adults to vote because this is a way to ensure that their future stays stable. 

62. Would you want to meet a clone of yourself? Would you like them?

No. I think I would be a little creeped out seeing a carbon copy of myself, but I don’t think I would dislike them. I mean, sometimes I can be a bit of a bitch and I can be annoying, but I don’t think that’s enough for me to dislike my clone. If anything, I’ll just be feeling a lot of second hand embarrassment.

58. Are we eventually going to ‘run out’ of new combinations for music, art, language, etc.? Is there a limit to human creativity?

I highly doubt that. Benefits of having a global connection with almost every country is learning their style of music. Not to mention the combination of different period styles. (Do excuse me but I’m mostly gonna be talking about  music because it’s something very close to my heart.) 

So, y’all remember the sea shanty tik tok that has been going around and sounds beautiful? Well, that is just a wonderful example about the abundance of human creativity. Some random guy posted a video of him singing the melody. Another dude dueted him to sing harmony as did another and another. Some people played instruments instead of singing, and it all sounded so phenomenal. Even still, some one else could come up and add a new harmony to the song making it sound even better. That just goes to show that creativity from humans has no way of running out. Individuals can feel burnt out and may stop creating, but humanity as a whole will never stop. I don’t think we can.

Think about it. what do you do when your bored out of your mind. You create. Make foods, music, art, stories, clothes, etc. Humanity’s creativity knows no bounds.

I also doubt that languages will every run out of any new combinations. If you look at Old English, to Shakespearean, to english in the 20′s, to the 50′s, to the 80′s, and now, you would see a huge difference. Old English, personally, looks illegible, and shakespearean makes my head hurt and takes me hours to figure out what Hamlet means when he laments for the 100th time. We always talk about how someone from the past or future coming to present day and having difficulty understanding our slang and vocabulary. Yeet? Where the hell did that come from? A meme? A vine? Doesn’t matter because it’s here now and here to stay.

In summary, no. Human creativity knows no bounds. So have no fear.

16. Do theoretical ethical debates have any value? Is it important people discuss ethical dilemmas, e.g. the trolley problem?

I think debates like these do have value in that they help teach us about ethics and morals. However, I really hate the trolly problem. It’s just makes me feel dirty I don’t know. I mean, Either choice you make, someone will died and blood is on your hands. Then there’s the question of what if that one person on the other side is someone you care about? and when you pick it, suddenly you’re selfish. To be honest, I don’t think the trolley problem is the best way to teach and debate about ethics because no matter what, everyone is trying to find a way to save everyone, so really, everyone does have compassion and wants to help.

 Ethics, to me, has everything to do with both you action and intention. take for example the ethics problem with some guy stealing from a pharmacy. 1st, why a pharmacy? His wife needs some meds. 2nd, why didn’t he just pay for them like a “normal” person? The pharmacist jacked up the prices to profit off of them and he is poor. Now, is what he did good? I would say yes. Why? His wife needed those meds and this man was backed into a corner and was desperate. Is stealing wrong? Yes, but so is raising pricing on medication people need for their health because of your greed. 

[legendsgates]

Underrated SCP List

I’ve decided to create an updated list of my favorite relatively-unknown skips, as well as other articles I think more people should know about. I’m leaving out the more popular ones like 682 or 049, since it’s easy to find and get info about those. These are SCPs that, tragically, tend to get overlooked.

Normal SCPs

SCP-001 (Dr Mann’s Proposal) The real juicy stuff here isn’t in the file itself, it’s in the attached O5-clearance document. And good lord, the implications give me chills.

SCP-001 (S Andrew Swann’s Proposal) It’s us.

SCP-370 (A Key) Don’t look. Don’t look. DON’T LOOK.

SCP-408 (Illusory Butterflies) The booooterflies! Kondraki’s best friends :3

SCP-413 (Endless Garage) SCPs can play pranks too.

SCP-447 (Ball of Green Slime) Could also be named ‘Too Bad We Can’t Market This’. I would recommend reading the experiment log.

SCP-504 (Critical Tomatoes) You know the trope where bad actors and comedians get tomatoes thrown at them? Well...

SCP-507 (Reluctant Dimension Hopper) Poor 507! He hasn’t been the same since he came back from 99P-UT1-24J. Or 952-7YD-ABBA, for that matter. Read the log!

SCP-597 (The Mother of Them All) This one is either incredibly unsettling, weirdly soothing to think about, or a godawful mixture of both.

SCP-632 (Intrusive Arachnid Thoughts) Arachnophobe’s Worst Nightmare. Don’t read if you’re scared of spiders.

SCP-743 (A Chocolate Fountain) …At least they get a good meal first?

SCP-939 (With Many Voices) Thorough and creepy. Especially 939-101! I can’t tell whether I should be scared or pitying. Do not read if people getting eaten freaks you out, and don’t read the ‘scp-939 reproduction’ page if decapitation (or internal parasites, possibly) is a squick.

SCP-1155 (Predatory Street Art) I would like to see who would win between this and 173.

SCP-1171 (Humans Go Home) To borrow the words of tumblr user @arctic-chameleonus​... my thembro Beauremont got fucking catfished.

SCP-1459 (The Puppy Machine) Once you get past the inherent horror of the scenario, the test log is actually pretty damn funny. Or maybe I’m just nuts.

SCP-1545 (Larry the Loving Llama) Guys, stop calling him by all those different names - his name’s Larry.

SCP-1730 (What Happened to Site-13?) This one is a long, horrifying read - and it’s absolutely breathtaking. If you have time to kill and a taste for human corruption at its worst, come take a look!

SCP-2316 (Field Trip) You do not recognize the bodies in the water.

SCP-2357 (The Perfect SCP) The resignation letter of a Foundation employee... who specialized in memes and infohazards. If you’re not familiar with the Foundation-standard usage of those words, this is an easy and fun article to get a taste.

●●|●●●●●|●●|●

SCP-2662 (cthulhu f'UCK OFF!) I feel so bad for them, they just want to be left a l o n e

SCP-2703 (For a Good Time Call) She’s so friendly and helpful, stop screaming when she appears! You were the one who called her and she just wants to help you have a good time!

SCP-3008 (A Perfectly Normal, Regular Old IKEA) It’s an IKEA - a totally normal, nonanomalous one. Not sure why it’s on the site.

SCP-3636 (World's Greatest Jukebox) Please screen the title and lyrics very closely before you try to play anything. And don’t even touch anything on the blacklist.

Joke SCPs

SCP-006-J / SCP-006-CU-EX (WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING / Cuddly Cwawies) BUGS! Read that in whatever inflection you desire.

SCP-048-J (Negative Probability Phrase) I swear, if you jinx us-

SCP-076-J (IN OWN WORDS) Totally not Able, fellow meat-slaves!

SCP-666-J (Dr. Gerald's Driving Skills) OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH FUCK OH GOD OH GO

SCP-900-J (Modern Major Keter-Class) i’m sorry I can’t do this one justice

SCP-1543-J (The Sun Launcher) When in doubt, toss it into the sun.

Group-of-Interest Format

The Serpent’s Hand

A Love Letter to a Lady Mantis - and its sequel, A Wedding Gift for a Lady Mantis! An adorable romance. Don’t read if you’re scared of bugs.

Hello, I am an Eldritch Horror - You'll want to familiarize yourself with SCP-426 (I am a Toaster) first, but this adds a whole new depth to the SCP’s lore.

KoI Format - God is a fish.

Shark-Punching Center

SPC-001, Uncle Nicolini's Proposal... Maybe. (It's Lonely At The Top, says the article third from the top.) Once something becomes too easy it’s not even worth doing anymore, right?

SPC-172-J (”Sword Sharks?!”, Never Bring a Fist to a Spear Fight) Y’all need to update your shark-identification guide, stat. And maybe don’t punch it right where the horn is. However, I must say I like your style of protocol naming.

Story

A Lesson in Power - Broken Masquerade canon. A gun is only so intimidating when you work with SCPs.

Ethical? - Broken Masquerade canon. There’s going to be a change in the Foundation’s hierarchy, now that they’re forced into the light.

Ethics Committee Orientation - Isn’t the Ethics Committee, like, a myth?

Tales of the Ethics Committee: The Foundation Eats Babies - How do you choose who lives and who dies? To quote Agent Strauss, “We’re a bit beyond trolley problems here.”

Termination_Order - How to execute someone who can turn you into spaghetti with a thought. This one gets dark - warning for rape mentions.

Transcript of Dr. Clef's seminar, "Reality Benders and You: How to Survive When Existence Doesn't." - Fucking Clef. That asshole.

Exceptional Cases Which Do Not Quite Fit Into Any Of The Aforementioned Categories

Abundance - this story is actually on the Wanderer’s Library site and doesn’t mention the foundation, but the slowly-growing unease turning to gradual horrified and/or disgusted understanding would make some scp articles proud.

The Ship In A Bottle Hub - Please. Please read it. At least the intro - it will show exactly what to expect.

[Edit: most recent addition to this post can be found here]

[rosesisupposes]

Destined, part 13

aka Seeking Advice from Glasses Nerds

Character Tags: Virgil/Anixety ; Patton/Creativity ; Patton/Morality ; Logan/Logic ; Remy/Sleep ; Dante/Deceit

Chapter Pairings: Logicality, Prinxiety mention, Platonic Moxiety/Analogical

Chapter Warnings: blushing & puns  (i have two settings: angst/worldbuilding and blushing)

Reader Tags: @residentanchor @royally-anxious  @bewarethegrammarpolice   @fellowthomassandersfander @jemthebookworm

Summary: After centuries of acting as an oracle to heroes, quest-seekers, and villains alike, Virgil just wants to live as a normal, modern human. For someone who can see infinite probabilities, you’d think he’d know better.

<<Chapter 12 | Masterlist | Chapter 14>>

Read on ao3 [updated]

The morning had been a complete and utter mess.

Virgil and Gilda’s careful truce was utterly ruined whenever Virgil was distracted, and sweet Sybill was he distracted the rest of that day. His black hoodie was a mess with steamed milk and flavored syrup stains, and he was pretty sure coffee grounds were, well, ground into his sleeve and never coming out.

The one saving grace was that the sorcerer had caused him to be late today, so Roman hadn’t seen him looking like a mess of a somewhat-human-being. Remy had informed him with far too much glee that Roman had looked disappointed when he’d come in to see Virgil missing, and that Remy had flirted extra hard to make up for it.

If he hadn’t already been a mess of indecision and worry, Virgil would probably have been more annoyed by that. As it was, he was much more worried that he was going to get Roman hurt than whether he’d ever text him.

Remy was about to sail upstairs to sleep when he looked Virgil up and down, frowning.

“Boi, you are a mess. What has happened to your clothes?”

“I blame Gilda.”

“How dare you, she has done nothing wrong, ever, in her life. Here, you’re not my size, but I think you’re Antony’s. This should fit you.”

His boss tossed him a distressed purple t-shirt. Virgil started walking to the back room to change, then stopped. “Wait. Where did this come from, you’ve been downstairs all morning.”

“From the back. Antony… left it there. Last week,” Remy replied with a self-satisfied smirk.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “It’s a good thing the health inspector is in love with you.”

Remy shrugged. “It’s not my fault I’m the perfect man. Go change, I can’t have you besmirching the aesthetic of How You Brewin’. We have a very attractive reputation to maintain.”

Virgil wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he was very grateful for the shirt. It was hard to clean up the mess that was his thoughts when his entire appearance was a mess too. And to be honest, he dug the purple.

Feeling just a bit better, he made it through the rest of morning and early afternoon without any more spills. But he was still conflicted. What should he do about Dante’s destiny? He’d never been connected to a seen future in any way, let alone been infatuated with friendly with a pivotal actor in that future. Who would he even ask for advice? It’s not like Sages had parents.

But he wasn’t most Sages, he realized. There was someone who actually did call him ‘son.’

He made his way over to the bakery and saw, with a warm bubble of pride, that Logan was leaning against the side of the counter as he chatted with Patton, who was glazing pastries and smiling even larger than normal. It seemed that the happy resolution of months of mutual pining was constant conversation and flirting.

“Hey, if I’m interrupting I can come back later - I just need Patton’s advice on something,” he offered as he approached the counter.

Patton looked up at Logan, who smiled, still a little tentative and embarrassed, and said “Not a problem. I can leave you alone to consult.”

“Actually,” Virgil interrupted, “you can stay if you want. I… have a bit of an odd situation, and two perspectives would probably be better than one. Unless you have work to do.”

Logan rubbed his neck. “I probably do have work I could be doing, but now I’m intrigued. I will gladly assist if I’m able to do so.”

Virgil nodded and pulled himself up onto one of Patton’s only clean baking benches.

“Kiddo, I can get you a stool, you don’t need to sit up there...”

“Pat, I appreciate the offer, but right now I am too overwhelmed to worry about what is or what isn’t a chair,” he muttered, his anxiety heightening as he tried to think of how he’d explain his predicament. He wasn’t quite ready to tell them both that he was an ageless magical being.

“So. Um. I have a bit of an issue, but it’s kind of… private? It involves some sensitive details I don’t know that I can share,” he offered, not making eye contact.

“You only need to share as much as you want to, kiddo,” Patton said kindly, pulling up a stool.

“Unless, of course, the details are so crucial as to make any advice without them useless,” Logan interjected, sitting across from him.

“I hope that’s not the case - here, let’s try a hypothetical. You both know the trolley problem?” Virgil asked.

Logan’s eye widened. “Philippa Foot’s thought experiment? Of course, yes, I suddenly feel much more qualified for this discussion.”

“No, like the meme,” Virgil and Patton said at the same time.

“I… I don’t understand, but go on,” Logan said, lifting his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose.

“Okay, so, hypothetically, I know someone who has control of a lever to change the train tracks. He has a choice between an empty rail, and one with several people, whose death will somehow benefit him. Like, uh, the king and the next three in line for the throne before Lever Man. You’re following so far?”

Patton and Logan both nodded, Patton slightly more confused than his darker-haired friend.

“So, hypothetically, Mr. Lever is pretty likely to want to pull the lever towards the people, but there’s a small chance he won’t. He could decide last-minute to be merciful. The only way I know for a fact that he won’t flip the lever is if… um, Superman flies in, and forcibly pushes him to keep the lever on the empty track. But if Supes tries that, there’s a nonzero chance he’ll fall onto the empty track himself and be hit by the train.”

“Well obviously that would be the ideal situation, Superman will survive such a blow easily,” Logan offered.

“Okay, not Superman. Just a regular dude then, I don’t know what to call him…”

“Call him Logan!” Patton said eagerly.

“Um, why me?” Logan asked.

“Cause you’re my hero,” Patton said, smiling. Logan immediately blushed and looked down.

Virgil smirked and exaggeratedly rolled his eyes, then tried to pull them both back on track (Heh, track. Wait shit, no, he needed to focus. This was what happened when he spent this much time with Patton).

“We’re talking about trains, I’ll call the hero… Thomas. Like the Tank Engine.”

“More like Thomas the Dank Engine”

“Patton, buddy, focus. Okay. So the only person who can guarantee that Mr. Lever won’t kill the royals and become king is Thomas, but Thomas could get hurt or worse in the process. But, there’s also a chance that Mr. Lever will decide to not kill anyone. If I’m the only one who knows this… Do I have an obligation to tell Thomas?”

Logan looked pensive. “Hm. That is an interesting hypothetical. What would happen if you didn’t tell Thomas?”

Virgil thought. “I mean, there’s a chance that he’d still be in a position to stop Mr. Lever anyway, and so there’s a chance he would still be at risk, he would just be unprepared. But there would be an equal chance that he wouldn’t be in the right place at the right time without knowing, so the likelihood of Mr. Lever successfully going through with his plan is pretty high.”

Logan nodded. “And the risk of indeed telling him?”

“Well, best-case scenario, Thomas would choose to stop Mr. Lever, be successful, and not get hurt,” Virgil said with a sigh. “But I know better than to pin all my hopes on that happening. If he knew, and Mr. Lever was merciful on his own, then Thomas has been through a lot of worry and stress for nothing. Or, he could try to stop him and be unsuccessful and get hurt or killed in the process. Or he could be successful in stopping him and still get hurt or killed. Or he could choose to do nothing and feel like a coward for the rest of his life, or he could choose to do nothing and get killed along with the king anyway.” The speed of his words picked up as he listed possibilities, his perpetual internal monologue spilling out into the open like - well, like a runaway train. Those things were dangerous.

Patton put on hand on Virgil’s need and rubbed it reassuringly. “Hey, kiddo, take it easy, okay? Just let yourself relax. None of these things are happening just yet, it’s okay.”

Virgil nodded and took a deep breath, using meditation breathing to calm his elevated heart rate.

“It sounds like a big part of this question is you trying to decide what’s best for Thomas,” Patton continued. “But maybe, just maybe, that’s something he needs to decide for himself.”

Logan nodded in agreement. “Patton makes an excellent point. It seems like there many factors to consider, but only Thomas himself can accurately weigh their relative importance within his own life. The negative result of causing him unnecessary worry is far overshadowed by the other possible negative outcomes.”

Virgil looked at both his friends. Two serious yet supportive expressions looked back from behind matching black frames. “But…” he started

“Hehe, butt,” Patton snorted. “Sorry, go on, big guy!”

“But what if I, personally,” Virgil hesitated, “what if I care a lot for Thomas and don’t want to risk hurting him?”

Patton brightened, clapping his hands. “Awwww my son has a cruuushhhh.”

Logan cleared his throat, carefully looking directly at Virgil and nowhere else. “While I, ah, understand the heightened feelings of worry that go along with feelings of… affection… for someone, you can’t allow that to cloud your judgment here. Yes, you may cause Thomas some distress by telling him what you know, but imagine if the truth came out without your telling him. The most likely outcome would be a feeling of betrayal on his part.”

“You think so?” Virgil asked nervously.

“I know so, kiddo,” Patton answered. “If you really care about him and his well-being, you’ll let him make the choice himself. It may be hard, and yes, there’s a chance that you telling him will also make him feel betrayed. But if you speak from the heart and make it clear that you are only trying to help him to the best of your ability, I think you’ll find he’ll appreciate the effort.”

Virgil sighed, looking back and forth. “Thanks, guys. You’re right. I’m really glad I came to you both.”

Logan smiled. “Anytime, Virgil. And might I advise telling Roman sooner rather than later?”

Virgil blanched. “What? Who said anything about Roman? We were talking about, uh, Thomas, yeah. All hypothetical here.”

“You forget that I’m almost always in the cafe when Roman comes in. Particularly,” Logan smirked, “two days ago, when you spoke to him for several minutes and wrote your number on his coffee cup. I didn’t want to mention it earlier because it wasn’t relevant to the advice, but it was intuitively obvious even to the casual observer.”

Virgil heard a strange, strangled sound and turned to see Patton with both hands over his face, eyes shining with delight. “Ohhhhh that is so cute!!!” the paternal baker squealed.

“I. Um. It’s not really anything yet, and might not be ever, so don’t get your hopes up,” Virgil muttered. “Thanks again for the advice, I’m going to go… hide.”

He slid off the baker’s bench and slunk back to How You Brewin’ to start cleaning up for the night.

At least he knew what he needed to do now.

author’s note: This chapter brought to you by inspiration from Mind vs Heart and Alone on Valentine’s.

Also from my undying love for Logicality. Glasses love is the best love.

[kilhikili]

For the jumbo ask game: ❌, 🍊, ⭐, 🍐, 🌠, 🔮!!

❌ What kind of things would end any relationship for them? Is there a history behind why these things bother them? Could they ever take someone back despite this? If so or if not, why?

Malicious lying and manipulation tend to be deal breakers. If he feels like he’s being used, gaslighted, or manipulated into doing things that violently harm innocent people, then he’ll break ties. While he’s had to do things he wasn’t particularly proud of to survive, there were times he ran with the wrong crowd and was put in situations that made him feel conflicted and ashamed of going against his better judgement. He has never been in a romantic relationship before, but the same would apply, if he ever actually DID get into one.

Mending broken relationships wouldn’t be impossible, but they’d be difficult because his trust is difficult to earn. Once that trust is broken, it’d be MUCH harder to earn back. The offending party would have to show real remorse and not only a genuine desire to change, but they would have to demonstrate steps already taken to rectify that.

🍊 What is your OC’s favourite meal? Snack? Dessert? Drink? Any reasons behind this besides liking how it tastes? What is your OC’s most hated food? Stuff they can’t stand to eat or drink?

K’ilhi LOVES noodles of all kinds! He also really loves rice bowls with eggs and sausage. While he believes he has simple tastes, simply because he doesn’t know better, he does tend to prefer meals that are compact and easy. His favorite snack is probably cheese. Dessert-wise, he loves sweets. Fruit tarts, cake, cookies, flaky pastries with fruit fillings, you name it! As far as favorite drinks go, he really loves lemonade and all sorts of teas, but you wouldn’t know it with how often he’s nursing liquor. (It’s a bit of a quiet problem right now.)

His most hated foods are brussel sprouts, artichokes, and undercooked meat. For K’ilhi, there is a special place in the seven hells for licorice, too. He’s also got a disdain for lumpy textures, like cottage cheese. In regards to drinks, he doesn’t like the taste of plain black coffee.

⭐ What is your OC afraid of? Any crippling phobias or some such? How do they act when scared and what helps them calm down? Does anyone ever find your OC scary? Why?

K’ilhi has a fear of being trapped that ties to childhood trauma. He doesn’t have claustrophobia, but the idea of being cornered without an escape TERRIFIES him. Whenever he goes places, he almost always knows exactly where the exit is, and has at least two ways of getting the hell out, should he need to.

Shortly before learning of the disappearance of his parents, he was violently snatched from his bed in the cover of night in La Noscea and clapped in irons. Creditors had come to stake their claim on his parents’ assets, and they intended to illegally sell him off, too.

When he’s woken up from night terrors, he’ll usually rush to open a window and get fresh air. After that, he’ll likely a bottle and start drinking to numb his senses a little. He does his best to forget about it, and never brings it up in conversation.

The only person he’s really opened up to about that has been welcoming and supportive, thankfully!

K’ilhi is also secretly afraid of scorpions.

🍐 What is your OC’s mentality? Are they overall positive? Negative? A bit of both? Describe their thought patterns and reasoning behind their choice making! 

K’ilhi does his best to be positive. Negativity will come in heavy doses at times, especially when he’s feeling unsure of himself or any insecurities rear their heads. While he can be a bit of both, he tries his best to be more positive than negative. Life has a lot to offer, and things have begun to turn around for him. In fact, after a recent tarot reading, he’s felt quite optimistic about his future. Now if he could only put that bottle down!

His thought patterns... really depend on the situation! If he’s in a high-stress situation like combat or urgent deliveries, it’s that John Fucking Madden meme, and it can cause him to make mistakes. He’s working on it, though! When it comes to other things, like comforting people or making tough decisions, he tries to be thoughtful.

🌠 Who was your OC’s first friend? Do they remember them or are they still friends now? Talk about some of the people your OC has lost contact with over the years. Do they have any regrets about losing these people and would they revist them if they could?

K’ilhi’s first friend was a hyur cabin boy a couple of years older than he was. He was the only kid aboard his father’s merchant ship quite often, and K’ilhi was his little shadow. Despite the older boy acting annoyed to have a little blue shadow, they were nigh inseparable. At some point, the boy and his father left the company, but he remembers him fondly.

Over the years, he’s lost contact with a LOT of people. A baker in Limsa Lominsa who first offered him a real job doing bread deliveries, a fisherman who gave him work swabbing the decks of his fishing trolley, and an innkeeper who employed him for a few days to simply sing songs and tell stories in order to draw in patrons. He lost touch with several would-be lovers, too, but those were by design. Ever afraid of losing people, he’s had a tendency to draw away and cut ties before things get too serious. It’s something he regrets, finding that it’s more difficult to make friends, and even harder still to connect with people on an emotional level the older he gets.

People have never seemed to be a permanent fixture, and it makes it difficult to form any deep, meaningful or lasting relationships, and is starting to realize that no man is an island. He definitely regrets having lost contact with people who showed him genuine kindness, as he’s discovered those types of people come few and far between, and would revisit them if he had the opportunity.

🔮 Star gazing or cloud watching? Hand-holding or snuggles? Early mornings or late nights?

While he likes all of these very much, he does have preferences. He is up late at night quite often (it’s rare for him to be up early and if he is, he’s grumbling about it!), so he loves to go star gazing. There are some constellations he remembers, although he doesn’t know them all by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe someday!

As far as physical affection goes, he’s never actually held hands with anyone! He has, however, snuggled people he’s slept with. It’s never been for long, as he has a tendency to slip away from one night stands and not linger around. Despite that, he doesn’t realize just how touch-starved he is. Oops!

[meffthetravelfox]

Week 1 AKA feeling like a first year again

This right here is Ķemeri bog and its the literal Dead Marshes from LotR and this is where I want to be buried. 

The world is super small and all the trams and trolleys in Rīga are made in Czech republic.  Coincidence? I don’t think so. 

First days of school were real fun. Until Sunday evening we didn’t really have the timetables, bcs link they gave us in the materials led to a page that hadn’t been updated since spring. Google disappointed us. Someone must’ve bribed some university officials and in the end we got to the page. I thought that was the biggest problem to overcome. 

Every single class began with a new wave of panic when the teachers started speaking Latvian. Don’t worry, your Korean teacher will talk to you in Korean only. I can’t speak Korean. Even the hardcore k-pop fans and dorama lovers can say only a couple of words or sentences. The teacher hands our books. They are in Latvian. But don’t worry, Erasmus, you’re not gonna use them, it’s just a present, bcs the professor is so happy to have it printed finally. The book has been lying on my table since then, constant reminder of language barrier. I don’t know if it motivates me more to learn Latvian so that I can study Korean through it, or if it’s the other way around. 

But having Korean textbook is one thing, but Latvian textbook in Latvian is a whole new level. There’s nothing to save you, no rope to hold onto.  It’s not a nightmare I had, it’s reality. Our textbook is all in Latvian. 

Japanese lessons are cancelled, the teacher is not in Latvia yet, my classmates tell me. Does it mean we don’t have a teacher? How does this university work? 

Haijima-sensei is a Latvian lady that teaches Japanese art history. She agrees to do it in English. Victory. I soon find out that she doesn’t really teach, she just plays documentaries on different topics and translates them.  It’s still better than the big nothing on Japanese art that we have in Olomouc.

On the opposite side of the street from Faculty of Humanities is a Yolo Cafe and it’s the best joke ever. 

I explore the library that is in the building and fall in love instantly. It’s small and cozy and there’s shitton of books on Japan.  I also found Czech books. This is all of them. Half of them is Kundera. There’s Latvian translation of Švejk, Seifert and Viewegh. I am tempted to ask the librarians if anyone actually reads them and if it would make them happy if I brought them some books from home after Christmas. 

This picture right here might look like a scene from S.T.A.L.K.E.R., but it’s actually the view from our dormitory kitchen. There’s also trains with writings in Russian passing behind this abandoned building now and then and it adds to the atmosphere.  I love it.

About the kitchens. They are the meeting place. This is where you start relationships, bcs it’s so easy to start talking when the opening lines are so easy and obvious - Whatcha cookin’? If you are lucky, you get free food samples. I play a game when I’m trying to guess from where people are by the looks of the food they’re cooking. 

I found my people.  Unicon Cafe is a geek bar not far from the center of Rīga and they have about everything your heart might desire. Small TARDIS for the tips, big one in the corner for proper time-travel selfies, posters, flags, board games and Bill Cypher in the window. And also several-pages-long list of drinks named after everything, starting with the Hogwarts houses, through legendary Pokémons, all the way to houses from Game of thrones. And those were very popular my first night there, since it was a Game of Thrones party. 

People who own the bar also do summer and winter cons and shitton of various events over the rest of the year. Kudos for active community ♥ 

As the week proceeded to it’s end, it was gaining on intensity.  Friday seemed to have not 24, but at least 48 hours.  It started with being almost killed by a Latvian wasp. Then the universe balanced itself when another teacher of Korean(bcs they can’t have just one at the uni) told me that she wants to talk to the class in Latvian and that I can go home. Since it was 8.30am I was more than happy to oblige.  M. and A. + P., her new Hungarian roommate,  were planning to go to Ķemeri (it’s pronounced Ťemeri, ok, Latvian has to be special and I’m crying in phonetic transcription) bog trail not long after I made it to the dorms. My forearm was swelled af, but the weather was nice(and that’s something you start to really appreciate when you are in Latvia) and coincidences don’t exist, so I took Zodac and decided to pack a lunch and go with them. 

I was not disappointed.

We have the opportunity to taste what travelling with Latvian railways is like. It’s bumpy, but else, pretty ok.  Ķemeri used to be pretty popular spa town, or something like that, but now it’s basically just the train station that brings ppl that go to the national park that’s close to the city. When we were waiting for our train back, we found one small shop that was probably the only one in the whole town, by the number of people that came there in the time we were enjoying ice cream outside. 

The way to the bog is supposed to take 20 minutes, but it’s almost an hour and we have to cross a highway at one point.  I’m not complaining though, bcs at least half of the way leads next to an old cemetery that is part of the forest.  The others are getting skeptical, but I have Pokémon GO on and if there’s a pokéstop in the distance, it has to mean there’s something resembling civilization nearby.

We find a field that is a giant parking lot and there’s even a man selling parking tickets. There are two or three cars parked. Either it’s the best job ever, sitting in the middle of field in a forest and doing nothing for the most of the day, or the tourist season is over.  Further into the forest we pass a blue caravan. There’s a lady selling coffee, beer, chips and ice cream. It’s very surreal. 

The bog is pure magic.  It’s quiet, more quiet than should be possible. There a pair of ravens flying over it and the sounds they make carries into the distance.  I think about the Dead Marshes in Lords of the Rings. (Later I found out that the Ķemeri bog was indeed a dead bog and that there should be several thousand soldiers’ bodies decaying somewhere around that area)

On one of the tables with info about the bog there was a part about safety etc. It said that swimming in the small lakes in the national park is not recommended. Not forbidden, just not recommended. So if you wanna go and die a poetic death in the bog, feel free to do that, you’re not gonna be breaking any laws *wink wink*

When we were on top of an observation platform in the middle of the trail it hit us just how flat this country is.

Politbyro took all the mountains. 

But that was not the end, in the evening I found my own Rīga’s Plán B(R.I.P.) called DEPO, made some new friends and listened to some pretty cool music. 

And learned an important lesson. 

Even though Rīga is the capital and even though there’s shitton of public transport during the day, there’s only one single tram going from the city center in the direction of our dorms at 0.40am and if you miss that, it’s either party till the morning, or a taxi.  The fun thing is that finding the tram that you’re supposed to take is sort of a Russian roulette here. See, the night trams don’t have numbers here, even though Google maps say they do. There’s just the name of the depo to which they are going on the front window of the tram.  It’s not something pleasant to find out in the middle of the night. 

But I managed to survive. 

Meme of the week:

Politbyro tried to kill me and they almost succeeded