#they fall in the neutral category of morality

[sendinganew]

A joke post about anew joining the event featuring Athena from @ask-a-wooper-n-mew

They have not made a good impression of themself to her if you’ve seen the asks on that blog :3

[glowingreverie]

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[drama-glob]

Something I'm really anxious and eager to see is whether Satan will truly be an antagonist to Fizz and Ozzie's relationship like Mammon or if he'll be more on the neutral side as wrath can be seen as justifiable depending on the circumstances/if it channeled into something productive; I know he's calling someone a disgrace in that screenshot, but he could be saying it to Ozzie, Stolas or possibly even Mammon because I'm sure if he heard about Mammon leaving rather than fighting Ozzie, he'd be judging him for that. ;)

I have a feeling Satan will still likely lean towards the antagonistic side (unless his mind gets changed :/), but the fact of it being Ozzie vs Satan is something I find interesting because those two share several characteristics in common such as muscles (although it appears Satan will at least have more of that given Bee's remarks ;) ), height and literal fire power; we see too that when it comes to Ozzie's love for Fizz, he's fully capable of letting his anger out in order to protect Fizz or just express how he feels when Fizz is in danger. Ozzie is normally chill however as his sin pertains to lust/pleasure in general and to which he has already said shouldn't be about force, thus it would fall more into the wrath category (as well as pride and greed too) whenever it stops being about consensual sex/mutual enjoyment and turns into domination and control, which could be where Satan possibly sees Ozzie as weak despite the latter having the moral high-ground in this; Satan could also see Ozzie as weak because he sees love as making someone soft and is a weakness that can be exploited, but we admittedly don't know enough about Satan yet to know what his opinions about love are. :/ In the end though, having this potential confrontation between the two sins come down to them upholding the values of the sin they represent with Ozzie fighting for his right to love Fizz too (and thus showing love doesn't make you weaker) should be good. ^_^ (I already mentioned it in another post about how them fighting would make it be like love vs war, but it very well may still be case ;) ).

One a related note, it's also interesting is we've already seen lust and wrath be connected (at least when it involves infidelity being discovered) all the way back in episode one. O_O

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

The anon who sent the malleus ask. While there are some characters in twst cast that I tolerate there is just the Octavinelle trio that I dislike significantly. There actions during book 3 just made my blood boil. Vil was also on that list but he managed to redeem himself somewhat in book 6. At least he apologised. Can't say the same for merfolk trio. I'm curious though. Despite what they were doing to everyone (especially yuu) they are still very popular within the fandom. Your thoughts?

… Which Malleus ask?? I have several in my inbox and queue 💦

I think it's important to first establish that people do not always base whether they like/dislike a character based on the morality of the actions that character made in-universe. TWST is a game with a wide variety of characters, and a game which centers on both the good and the evil that they are capable of. Some characters apologize for their actions (Riddle with his apology tart, Vil at the start of book 6, Idia mumbles a sorry at the end of book 6), others don't or may have apologized off-screen (Jamil, Leona, Azul). We shouldn't expect them all to react to their issues in the same way, and nor does lack of a formal apology mean they do not feel remorse or aren't addressing their issues on their own way. For example, while we may not see Azul utter a "sorry" to anyone, we do see him and the twins changing up the business model at the Mostro Lounge after his OB, both in terms of food/drink sales and in terms of how to get one of his well-sought-after consultations. Many of the students, the OB boys in particular, do dubious things and that was a huge part of the advertising and marketing for TWST (and still is to this day); the franchise largely pulls fans who are interested in these types of narratives.

This brings me to Octavinelle. Was what they did scummy? Yeah. Do people have a right to judge them and dislike because of what they did? Also yes. But they remain popular anyway because the wrongs they committed are not the only things defining them. You have Azul's backstory, the complex friendship-business partnership deal between the trio, the very cohesive mermaid mafia theme--and, despite all the bad they've done, you can't also help but respect and admire them for the intelligence and planning it takes to carry out the operations that they do (+ using that asset when they return to help in book 4). Running a restaurant on their own AND Azul's... other business... while also being students and participating in clubs is nothing to sneeze at. They have redeeming qualities that fans love outside of being upset at them or holding them accountable for book 3.

I think what also helps to offset the evil of their actions in book 3 is the fact that it can be argued the 225 students they suckered "opted in" (and Yuu "opted in" too, it’s not like Azul forced them to sign). They came to Azul of their own free will seeking help, and Azul provided that help. He laid out the conditions and made them VERY clear, and it was the students who agreed to his terms and signed on the dotted line. Technically Azul did nothing "legally wrong" and played by the rules (respecting client confidentiality, taking advantage of loopholes), which is why Crowley cannot intervene. And, as Leona states later in book 3, anyone who falls for Azul's schemes is dumb and only has themselves to blame for thinking there is such an easy way out to their woes. Yes, it was dirty for Azul and the twins to interfere and/or set up the conditions in their favor, but there's also a degree of responsibility on the signers to read the terms and consider where the contracts may be deficient.

My point is, people will like what they like and it doesn’t solely come down to the righteousness (or lack thereof) of the characters’ behavior. I’d also say that behaviors themselves don’t always fall into “good” or “bad” categories. Azul’s contracts themselves are technically neutral. Other times, it depends on perspective. For examples, Malleus deems his actions in book 7 "good" but to everyone else it's "bad"--and the players, looking on, have to grapple with the dual nature of it. That's a discussion for another time though, I don't want to go too out of the scope of this ask.

[transmutationisms]

re: self harm, was thinking of those anons you got a while ago from people saying they didn't like their phone/screen usage but continued to engage with it - wondered if it could fall under some definition of self harm (which i say morally neutrally) given their resistance/displeasure in spite of it apparently serving some sort of need for them. hoping this isn't a stupid question, sorry if so

i just don't think the category is useful. self-harm isn't defined by magnitude of harm (superficially cutting yourself is p inarguably less harmful than depriving yourself of sleep to go to work) or even by intent (if you habitually cut yourself you will get slapped with the self-harm label regardless of why you do it or what purpose it serves in your life). so "what counts as self-harm" is really just asking "what do psychiatrists think is aberrant behaviour" and idgaf except when i'm in situations where i'm trying to avoid being institutionalised

[maleficore]

It always makes me feel so ehh when people use chosen!Durge when they strictly mean this bloodthirsty cruel person because be honest, what choice did they really have? Unless you play Durge as being incredibly suicidal and unhealthily self-sacrificing, telling Bhaal they will do his bidding is for the most part a survival choice. Durge as a character doesn't know Withers will just swoop in and bend the fabric of the universe to his will to save them, they have no idea that their refusal won't be the last thing they do. So it makes perfect sense for someone who is not necessarily an Evil person to go along simply because they're scared of dying (and being tortured in the Bhaal's domain forever), but both the game and a large portion of players refuse to acknowledge it.

Chosen Durge is always the baddie, a lost cause, and while that can well enough be true for some characters to me it's just.. boring? Unless you play/write them evil from start to finish, it really falls flat. Where are the blurry lines? Where's the moral complexity? Not everything is binary, but it feels like in Durge's case everyone from the characters in-universe to a lot of people engaging with the story only believe they can be one or the other. Completely different, changed person who would rather die than to endure Bhaal's hold on them or a monster so soaked through to the bone with Bhaal's taint, even amnesia wasn't enough to save them. That's what the "redeemed" and "chosen" shorthands look like to me. Even using [alignment]!Durge is better. Someone saying they made a redeemed!Durge tells me nothing. Yeah they let Bhaal kill them, great. What are they like, though.

Ezra could very well fall under the Chosen category, but he is SO far removed from what that means in the fandom, using it for him would be doing him a disservice. I refuse to simplify him that way, he has too many layers and is too complex as a character to put him in a box like that. Even alignment does a shoddy job at summarising him to me. People don't work like that. They're often self contradictory and don't think before they act. Okay his baseline is chaotic neutral, but sometimes he borders on evil and other times he's so incredibly selfless you could call him chaotic good even. Circumstance and emotions can affect people greatly!

It really just boils down to.. PLEASE try to get out of the black hole of Larian's rushed "Oh shit we need to put a bhaalspawn origin in this" black and white narrative and see just how many galaxies there are to explore. Don't constrain yourself to the story forks they established, you're just hurting your character writing in the long run and putting a big ass sign on them that pretty much makes them get lost in the sea of all the other "redeemed" and "chosen" Durges. They might make good descriptors if you're just crafting characters to play as, but I wish we dropped them entirely. It's not OC language, it's AU language for canon characters who already had all the work done on them by writers and that people at large know well enough to tell there's more to them than that. In here it doesn't work.

And I also consider it kind of TikTok lazy and uncreative to use, but that's just me.

[sugarpasteltmnt]

You write unhinged Leo so well, and I really like how you write him. I was wondering if you had tips on unhinged characters 😂, or do you just get inspro from existing characters 👀

aksdakjsdh thank you so much ;w;

And honestly???? I’m not totally sure how to give tips— but I love, love, love unhinged characters in media, so I’ll use them as examples

(long rant below lol)

I’ve always been a big fan of silly, ‘crazy’ characters in animated movies and cartoons. I grew up on Batman the Animated Series and the original Teen Titans, which were full of silly, fun tragic characters.

Don’t get me wrong, i love a good edge-lord— but as a tot i thought the colorful, theatrical, insane bad guys were more fun to watch than the big scary serious ones (ESPECIALLY if they had a good villain song. A+ good shit)

(From left to right: Ratigan from Great Mouse Detective, Joker from Batman the Animated Series, Mumbo Jumbo from Teen Titans, Martin from Secret of Nimh 2, Bill Cypher from Gravity Falls, and Spinel from the Steven Universe movie)

And not just bad guys!! There are a ton of unhinged good/neutral characters that i absolutely adore.

(From left to right: King Bumi from ATLA, Clara from Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun, and, of course, our silly 2018 turtle boys)

((There are many more characters in both categories, but I’ll slide these examples in here for now))

My personal brand of “Unhinged” or “Crazy” characters definitely leans on comedy. That’s what i enjoy seeing and reading! I personally like it because it can help keep a story fresh and interesting. There’s an element of surprise and unpredictability with what a character might do, and i love that!!

I also really enjoy a touch of feral behavior in my unhinged characters. The lack of clarity and the danger that imposes can be a very fun tool to use, no matter the character’s moral compass. (I’m feral for feral behavior lol)

And impulses. Whether a character has a few screws loose or is generally a goober, they like to act on impulses. This often goes hand-in-hand with comedy, and that’s something I enjoy!! We get a lot of moments like that in Rise, and that was one of my favorite parts of that TMNT iteration.

But as far as writing goes, it’s been tricky for me. All of the characters I grew up or love have been visual— trying to find a good balance for reading has been a puzzle I’ve been figuring out as I go.

I read a lot manga (lol nerd) and comics, and I love how thoughts/dialog are depicted. Especially the really dramatic or impactful moments. (I’d add examples but I’m already at the Tumblr image limit LAME)

As strange as it sounds, I try to capture that “impactful visual” style in my writing. If I had ANY advice on writing unhinged characters, pay attention to pacing—

Short. Fast. A calculating thought. Perhaps a run on sentence that lacks punctuation to represent the rushing and disorganized thought process. A question? An answer with little thought. Is this moment amusing; describe how. Is it upsetting; describe how. Are the thoughts starting to scatter? M aybe s o…

Big moment statement.

Action or plan of next big move. Flow should never seem too uniform. Even in normal writing. Don’t be afraid of accentuating— but don’t overdo it. Remember, unhinged characters are impulsive. Have fun with that.

Just as a quick and dirty summary— when it comes to unhinged characters, I like to use comedy, feral behavior, and acting on impulses. I also like to keep it as visually appealing as possible for characters to give the eyes a little treat after reading walls of text. I like to use fun text formatting to help with the fun too (But don’t overdo it! Don’t make it feel like a chore to read) (<- says the girl who goes into way too much details sometimes lmao whoops)

But ultimately— have FUN!!! Unhinged characters are fun, so make sure you have fun writing/drawing/creating them!!

[thatbadadvice]

Help! My Mother-In-Law Buys A New Outfit Every Time She Pours Jet Fuel on Chilean Sea Bass and Throws Their Carcasses, Flaming, Into the Rainforests from the Open Belly of Her Private Plane

Care and Feeding, Slate, 1 May 2023:

Dear Care and Feeding, My husband and I have two children (2 years and 6 months). We recently moved back to my husband’s hometown to pursue a career opportunity for me. My husband has been home with the kids but was just offered a job. We found a daycare, but it can only take the kids three days a week right now (we’re on waitlists for full-time, but it seems like it could be months or more before we find two full-time spots). My mother-in-law has generously offered to watch the kids for the other two days. Overall, she is a lovely, responsible woman, but we have some significant value differences around environmental issues and I’m not sure how to navigate them. Our household focuses heavily on environmental awareness. We drive electric cars, we compost, we limit our air conditioning, we limit our flying, we eat all leftovers, we avoid plastics whenever possible, and we buy exclusively secondhand clothing. My mother-in-law is a big fan of consumption. Her house is full of plastics. She throws away whatever is left on her plate at the end of a meal, she keeps her house so cold in the summer that I need a sweater and she drives a minivan. I’m concerned about the message it sends to the kids if we stick to our values, except when to do so would be inconvenient. How do I bridge our two very different lifestyles going forward? —Environmentalist Mama in Limbo

Dear Environmentalist Mama,

I'm not sure how you can describe a person who air-conditions her home and drives a minivan as "lovely" and "responsible" but I will assume that this planet-hating harpy has gripped you so tightly in her environmentally irresponsible talons that you cannot see the wildfire-ridden forest for the trees (which she is personally cutting down for fun and profit). Do not let yourself be hoodwinked by promises of familial love and generous offers of free child care, as if these things matter more than assiduously composting! This woman is a monster who is single-handedly destroying the only earth your precious babies have to live on. Imagine the tragedies that will unfold if your children experience a loving connection with a person who purchases items made of plastic? They could come to believe that other humans are whole people with their own interior lives and decision-making apparatuses and values instead of ugly nasty baddies who dare to oppose Mommy's One True And Only Way?

You simply cannot bridge two lifestyles as different as the two you describe here. On the one hand, we have your blameless and perfect eco-conscious little household of brave, Dumpster-diving Oliver Twists, and on the other hand, we have an ethically compromised, unscrupulous, indefensibly ignorant shitbird who probably barbecues her factory-farmed meats over asbestos tiles and flies to Australia to distribute the ashes over the Great Barrier Reef. If Planet Earth does not spin out into an apocalyptic ball of climate disaster by the time your children are old enough to be knifing their peers over tire fires for their share of rat rations, it will be because your uniquely virtuous family had the moral fortitude to drive an electric car and limit your flying. After all, electricity comes from magical climate-neutral fairies and the jet fuel industry is waiting with bated breath for the day that you ground your family and send an international behemoth into wholesale free-fall.

If there is one guaranteed way forward through the climate crisis, it is to silo ourselves into individual categories of "good people" who use paper straws (like you! you are so good!) and "amoral reprobates" (such as your mother-in-law, who sucks!) who do not. The very future of humanity depends on demonizing and shaming other people until they behave as we want them to, privileging individual actions over collective resistance to and accountability for the worst global offenders, and rejecting community-building opportunities in favor of being the only best good person ever.

Build no bridge with this woman! She would probably just drive over it with her minivan, and then the blood of billions will be on your hands.

[liketwoswansinbalance]

Please read or skim the descriptions below the poll and approximate as best as you can before voting. (If you disagree with any of my character interpretations, feel free to comment.)

Hephaestus (or Kyma) - Can and will set their pride aside to help others. E.g., Hephaestus held back and did not stand up to Vulcan in order to save his fellow Evers and spare them from further punishment. He took the selfless way out, instead of going after personal satisfaction. Both he and Kyma care for others, and in doing so, save themselves, too. Yet, they also seem willing to sacrifice themselves. "All against Evil" mentality.

Hook (or Midas) - The "neutrals." These two get their own category, slightly outside of the Kyma to Rhian spectrum. Will save himself first if he has good reason to neglect others. Is willing to betray, lie, and cheat, yet cares for those specifically aligned with him. He cares for those on his side (sometimes, meaning only himself) and that excludes everyone else, the masses. Has an "us vs. them" or "us against the world" mentality.

Rise Rafal - Mostly "Good," or if not Good, honorable on some level, but cannot set his pride aside. Slightly narrower than the Hook category. Deserts and tortures everyone with almost no qualms. Yet does possess a conscience. Has a cynical mentality of: "I will save myself and hang everyone out to dry, to fend for themselves" or essentially, the classic: "Every man for himself." Assumes the worst of human nature, under normal circumstances—unless someone gives him reason to believe they will do Good. Also: "So long everyone. I only care about myself, and will do nothing for you." Plays defensive sometimes, but only for himself with few exceptions (like protecting Rhian). Overall: "Me and my personal gain against the world" mentality.

Fall Rafal - Inclusive of the above description. Plus: Will actively, preemptively hurt (or endanger) others, when necessary (could be "necessary" in his mind). Uses people, and sometimes, treats them as disposable. Escape Clause: If he's feeling particularly vindictive or sadistic, as events take a turn for the worst, the definition of "necessary" will widen to accommodate him. Salient addition of the: "I'm always right" mentality.

Fall Rhian (or Marialena) - Self-serving to a greater degree than Rafal is. Believes other people are Good, that humanity is fundamentally Good (or that it can further his cause), and leaves himself vulnerable... He will lie, cheat, and deceive to save his own skin. Plays dirty. Will actively, preemptively hurt. He cares for himself, and will harm and tear down others if it will benefit him. "Me with the world until the world hurts me" mentality.

[itslouisan]

Talk about Urahara: does he fit the mad scientist archetype?

Short answer: yes

Btw shout-out to @uraharashouten and @saranel since some of their posts gave me inspiration and in general how they handle his character in their posts

Elaborate answer: What forms the mad scientist archetype/why it fits Kisuke Urahara, can a mad scientist be good or morally gray?

Ok let's start for the recipe for our mad scientist according to portrayal in media as well as writing discussions, ALSO note that these are tropes and they can be adapted and written differently

1- need to be antisocial/isolate themselves socially from others, not get how social interactions work

Kisuke ACTUALLY shows this, such as his initial time as a captain in the 12th division, shy, not knowing to what direction take, and generally not the best with social interaction and relationship with others, in fact, I always saw Kisuke as someone who's introverted and doesn't ACTUALLY want to interact, you need to talk abt his interests and things that he is passionate about to begin with, otherwise it's a raw and empty talk (btw I 100% picture him as autistic, there's no way he doesn't have hyperfocus) so yeah, checks out perfectly

2- they need to have questionable morals

*cough* Hōgyoku *cough* Rukia *cough* some notes on Ururu *cough* that Yoruichi form

Like ME as a Urahara enjoyer and someone who literally dreams abt Kisuke daily and as a hobby analyze him, I understand ALL of the examples set above, but from other people perspectives and character perspective it's acceptable to think he has questionable morals, especially when he's so passionate about his work, plus he always does what's necessary to achieve his goals so...check

(3-5 are PRETTY self-explanatory if you ever watched bleach or paid attention to kisuke at all and his doings to the plot so..yeah, maybe when I'm not tired I'll edit everything with neat examples and explanations jvj)

3- mad scientists aren't always bad, they just have a passion for a specific subject

4- dedicated hours or more in projects that usually are important to the plot

5- usually mad scientists are also used as a important character to the overall plot

6- at least have 1 artificial being created as a companion

I mean Kon was basically his doing indirectly so check, filler but...also these 3 useless bounty arc dolls that I forgot the name of because I despise the bount arc fall into the same category, plus Ururu I'm pretty certain falls into this category and I'd be delighted to make a post with hcs and interpretations on her as to why I classify her as such like Nemu but Kisuke equivalent

Verdict? Mad scientist 100%, though I think he falls into the neutral chaotic scientist vibe

[radfemverity]

The term ‘queer’ is intentionally vague, in order to blur lines and therefore erode boundaries. Every distinct category and/or identity which exists, gets sacrificed at the altar of surface-level virtues like ‘equality, diversity and inclusion’. Especially inclusion. In turn, sexuality and biological sex (plus its logically incoherent placeholder ‘gender identity’) are treated as if they are fluid, ever-revolving doors of ambiguity that anybody can pop in and out of at any time. Queer theory posits that this is a moral imperative, because they believe the most cardinal sin one can commit is to use words in any way that could exclude literally anyone.

It’s no wonder then that this hurts women and LGB people disproportionately. In the case of lesbians, ‘queer’ creates in effect an opening for people to assume they might actually try being with a man (especially trans-identified) ‘if the right one comes along.’

But it isn’t a cardinal sin to exclude people from your love life, changing rooms, hospital wards, or any other spaces that you need to feel safe, and be safe. Exclusion is a neutral act. It can be good, it can be bad. It is context dependant. Don’t fall for this new bizarre conglomerate of neoliberal and ‘progressive’ ideologies, where everybody loses their right to use words that have clear, applicable, meaningful definitions – in order for language to operate as it should, and for immutable characteristics to be protected in law.

[sanctity-in-sexuality]

I'm a little confused about the teaching that it's ok for a couple to use a perforated condom to collect a sperm sample for medical testing (as stated in USCCB's 2020 "Reproductive Technology Evaluation and Treatment of Infertility Guidelines for Catholic Couples"). I assume that even a punctured condom must still reduce the chance of a pregnancy by a little, otherwise it wouldn't collect a sample very well? Isn't reducing the chance of fertilization through the use of a tool like this kinda partially being closed to life? Regular condoms don't have a 100% prevention rate and yet we still condemn them for reducing the chance. I'm also assuming that a couple who does the same behavior but without the intent of keeping a sample for medical testing is doing something faulty. But don't we say that a faulty act cannot be made permissible even with a good intent, like with it still being unacceptable to masturbate to obtain a sperm sample? And I guess I'm confused about the theology handles nitpicks like, how small can the holes be before it's no longer permissible. This isn't like a pressing relevant issue in my life by any means but I'm trying to better understand the logical thinking behind topics in sexual morality! Thanks

The reduced chance of conception in this scenario is so negligible that it is practically non-existent. You honestly need very little sperm to get a woman pregnant; that's why the pull-out method doesn't work as birth control, because even the sperm in the pre-ejaculate is enough to cause conception. To say the amount of sperm a man ejaculates during sex is overkill is an understatement.

Intent doesn't necessarily excuse faulty action, but intent is nonetheless important in determining whether an action was faulty in the first place. Some actions are inherently sinful; others are sinful based on circumstance, means, and intention. Avoidance of conception during sex falls in the latter category. Masturbation falls in the former. (I'm happy to explain why, if you'd like).

I think the problem here is that you assume the issue with condoms are that they reduce conception rates. Which is true, but the moral issue is not the thing itself, but the purpose of its use. The tools themselves are neutral. Using it to collect samples for health evaluations wherein its property for potential barrier to conception has, in all practicality, been rendered harmless, is a licit use of a neutral tool.

FYI, a couple could actually licitly use a condom during sex regularly -- i.e., such a textured one for assisting the wife's pleasure -- if they were to cut the tip off. I don't really see any reason why a couple would regularly use a perforated condom except with the hope of potentially mitigating conception, in which case the intent is clearly sinful (even though it wouldn't work lol).

[russanogreenstripe]

I've been playing Owlcat's adaptation of Pathfinder: Kingmaker and have some thoughts

There's a choices they made when designing their game that I think are really interesting from a design perspective, even if I don't fully understand or even agree with them in all cases, but they are useful intellectual exercises. Perhaps the most interesting to me is how they handle Neutral alignments.

I'm going to assume most people finding this know about the 3x3 Alignment grid used in Dungeons and Dragons and other games descended from it, including the 1e version of Pathfinder that the video game is based on. The classic Lawful vs Chaotic and Good vs Evil. Countless gallons of ink and terabytes of text have been spilled over this very basic system, but it's usually the ends of those axes that get the attention. Neutral rarely gets as much detail or analysis about it compared to Good/Evil/Chaos/Law, and it's usually in one of three modes. If I had to come up with names or descriptors for them, I'd go with something like Unaligned, Not Opted In, and Balance, and versions of these exist for both axes. Unaligned is when these opposing forces don't register for you at all, usually due to a lack of cognitive capability. Simple constructs, plants, and animals often fall in the Unaligned category, and I've heard this approach to Neutral basically described as "Neutral Hungry" - what does a bear think about moral debates? It doesn't, it only cares about whether it's hungry or not. Most people don't expect complex philosophical thinking out of a pitcher plant. Not Opted In is when a person has enough cognitive capacity that they could make principled decisions regarding the two axes, but for whatever reason simply don't or haven't. Most people aren't saints or devils, paragons or chameleons. They're just... normal. They're not concerned with cosmic struggles for Freedom versus Order, or pledged to uphold the tenets of Kindness or the debasements of Sin. They just kinda go about doing their thing without needing a big picture. When they make decisions, alignment isn't their primary factor - other things like practicality, culture, needs, and other mundane forces are more important to them. Balance is when a person does have cognitive capacity to recognize these dynamics, and intentionally chooses none of them. This is the classic Druid alignment, the middle way between the extremes. It is a choice and a firm principle, but not in a Lawful or Chaotic way, but in a way that is simultaneously both and neither.

There are certain universal dialogue options in Kingmaker that are tagged with alignments. Any character can choose those options, and doing so will shift your alignment meter towards that alignment very slightly. Then there are some that are tagged with "Requires Good/Evil/Law/Chaos/Neutral" - for those ones, only characters who have that alignment can select it, and also gives a bump towards that alignment. Pretty straightforward, and a fairly representative way to handle these systems in a rigid video game. The universal Neutral options (whether that's True Neutral, Neutral Good, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Neutral, or Lawful Neutral) tend to be somewhere around Unaligned or Not Opted In. Where things get interesting is when we look at the "Requires Neutral" options - all the examples I can think of are written intentionally from a Balance perspective. They come up when two independent groups or forces are in opposition, and these options allow you to either choose no side, or choose BOTH sides as a mediator. And when you choose those options, there truly is an opportunity for reconciliation that prevents otherwise inevitable division and even bloodshed. If you asked me out of the blue "Hey, where on the alignment grid do you find brokering a peace agreement between two opposed factions that stops a civil war?" I'd probably guess either Good or Lawful. Owlcat Games says, "No, that's True Neutral." And the opposing forces don't need to be different halves of an alignment axis - there's a section early on where the only way to not take a side between two Lawful Evil groups and prevent escalation to full-blown conflict is to take an option that Requires Neutral. There's scenarios later that let you act a mediator between two very different people, and two opposed nations, and if you want to truly be able to bring both sides to the table in those scenarios, you have to be Neutral. Even if your intended outcomes are things like "Foster understanding" or "Avert a civil war," things I would categorize as Good, the game makes them Neutral. My current playthrough is mostly Chaotic Good, and I've been pretty satisfied with those options. But when there is deep, deep opposition between two groups in the Stolen Lands, Good won't always bridge a gap between them, but Neutral can. This makes Neutral options an actual Choice instead of just the thing you pick when there's not a Good/Lawful/Chaotic/Evil option - it is a principled position on its own, just as nuanced and effective as the extremes of the chart, and not just the weird ugly grey color in the middle of the alignment chart, and I think that's neat. That's different than the way I thought about it before, and that's cool to analyze.

[viluve]

Introduction post ᯓ★

Hello, I see you’ve stumbled across my blog. Welcome and thanks for stopping by.

For your information, this is a tickle blog, aka just a silly little place where i repost amazing art, occasionally write stuff, and just chill. My blog is fully SFW so fellow minors are welcome to interact with it. Please do not interact with me in any way whatsoever if you post NSFW content, i am a minor.

To find out more about me,my boundaries, and general information about my blog, look under the cut. :)

About me ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ :

First of all, here is an image with things that apply to me

Done looking at them? Good!

More about me ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ :

My name is Vic, friends may call me Vivi or any other nickname that isn’t weird. :)

I do not know if i am an ENTP or an INTP (Myers Briggs Type Indicator)

I am a True Neutral (Moral Alignment Test)

If I had to describe myself with adjectives i would say I am bold playful, open, and (mostly) funny.

I think that’s it about myself. But before we move onto my boundaries I will briefly explain what all my shortened words mean in case you do not understand them. :D

DNI : Do Not Interact

SFW : Safe For Work

NSFW : Not Safe For Work (18+)

tk : tickle

TDLOSK : The Disastrous Life Of Saiki .K

ASSAS CLASS : Assassination Classroom

PJSK : Project Sekai

DDLC : Doki Doki Literature Club

My boundaries ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ :

DNI if : You are a Lovejoy fan, a Wilbur fan, a Melanie Martinez fan, over 20 years old (with the exception of blogs i follow/interact with first), if you post NSFW content, if you are racist, a proshipper, xenophobic, homophobic, or transphobic, and if you are too sensitive. (The “too sensitive people DNI” thing because no, i will not do a whole list of things for you just so that you don’t start crying and screaming like a child.)

You are on thin ice if: You are a Hazbin Hotel or Helluva Boss fan, if you are a DTEAM fan, 17-19 years old, someone who likes to argue, or just annoying.

Please interact if: You are in any fandom I’m in, if you are a fellow SFW tk blog, or if you’re just chilling :)

What you can/shouldn’t do ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ :

Here is a list of things i would be comfortable with and that you can do, followed by a list of things i would be uncomfortable with and that you should not do. The list of things you can do is if you do not fall in the DNI criteria of the previous list.

What you can do: Dm me to talk, ask for my socials, give me non romantic compliments (e.g. “pretty; smart; funny; silly; …”), reblog or like my posts even if you are not a tk account (just don’t put them in a main tag), send me asks, and just enjoy my content :)

What you shouldn’t do: Dm me in hopes of romance, dm me for sexual matters, tease me if i do not know you, ask for teases if i don’t know you, dm me in hopes of seeing my face/body, interact with me in any way if you are in the “DNI” category, give me weird pet names, sexualise me, or be weird.

Now that i’m done talking about myself, let’s talk about my blog.

About my blog ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ :

My blog has two “sides”, a non tk related side, and a tk related side. Regardless of what you are following me for, be aware that the other “side” exists.

About tk related things :

This is not a fetish, nor a kink, for me tickling is just a playful and cutesy thing between friends or characters.

I might post some more fics, headcanons, or other things. If I do post them, expect them to have characters from these fandoms :

- JJK

- MP100

- TDLOSK

Please understand that i cannot write for fandoms i know nothing about, so if you send me an ask saying e.g. “can you write lee!y ler!x from xyz show??” I will not be able to do that.

To see my fic/s type in “tickle fic” in the search option on my profile.

About non tk related things :

I think i’ll mainly just reblog poetry or write about stuff happening in my life, nothing too hard to understand :)

Once again, thanks for stopping by and thank you for reading my introduction. :)

Vic outᯓ★

Started my blog on August 14th 2024 at 09:53am (CET)

(yes the exact time is necessary)

[simlit]

CotS: What Ifs // part ii

what if Aster would have chosen to not give up the banner in the forest battle against Sarayn/Therion?

The notes on this scene are as above. Had Aster refused to give up the banner, Therion would have intervened to stop Sarayn from killing Eira and the three of them would have come to a diplomatic agreement to surrender the banner anyways. Eira would have been too injured to continue, and Kyrie would have pulled them out. Therion and Aster's relationship would have gotten a big boost instead of the hostile confrontation they had in canon leading to Aster's opinion of Therion falling off. Sarayn and Therion would have continued the trial at odds which then would have impacted the follow up scene between Sarayn and Therion vs Åse and Eve, as Therion would no longer have been a willing partner in the fight. Obviously this would have wiped Sarayn's reputation across the board (as if it could get any worse at that point lmao).

what are the potential outcomes of Sarayn's answers to Tayuin?

These were the three potential paths Sarayn's route could take. At over halfway through the story, he is now officially locked in. During the poll, one answer from each category was selected, defaulting him into the Wisdom route. Only one of the questions had a close vote, but either option would have locked him into Wisdom. This was the most neutral, and admittedly, probably most fitting route, but the least interesting storywise (in my personal opinion. sorry).

what if Sarayn wouldn't have ditched Eve just to win in the first trial?

Sarayn would have given the key to Eve and they would both have been granted the win. Eve and Sarayn would have continued to grow their relationship. Obviously the impact of Sarayn starting down that path made many waves throughout the story, so I can't list all the might-have-beens. That being said, this was one of the very earliest preliminary "lock out" votes as he acted against one of Kyrie's most closely held moral codes. Had the poll gone the other way, there was a scene to follow that would have taken place in the library where Kyrie would have come to him and asked him about his home and generally what it was like to live his life. They would have bonded over their vastly different life experiences and perspectives. After the second Eve/Sarayn vote, Sarayn was eliminated from bachelor challenge contention entirely. At best, he and Kyrie can end the challenge as friends, but that is still to be decided. If anyone is interested or cares enough, I've uploaded the dialogue text of the Sarayn x Kyrie library scene here since I liked it a lot and I'm still sad it never happened.

what if Tayuin had apologized to Taiyo in the forest trial instead of being a brat?

(for the record, "asker" used much stronger language but I reworded the question lmfao). The conversation between Taiyo and Tay would have gone much differently (obviously), Tayuin would have had a bit more self-reflection. Taiyo cursing Tay in retribution wouldn't have happened as it did HOWEVER, it would have happened eventually, anways. Had Tay not pressed Taiyo over the apology, they would have carried on and run into Indy and Tal. Tay would have tried to arrange an ambush of sorts against Taiyo's wishes and Taiyo would have had the same control loss and used the curse against Tay to stop him from hurting Tal and Indy. So yes, Tay would have been cursed no matter what.

[madamlaydebug]

The term "Sex magic" is used to describe the act of sex or sexual acts combined with magic that are performed during some SEX MAGIC type of ritual. This can be accomplished in one of three magical methods being that of active white or black magic and inactive neutral magic. In this article, I would like to explain in the most simple way possible the various differences between these three magical rites of sex.

Many of the top adepts, alchemists, and whom some would call white magicians, do not abuse the sacred act of sex. They do so by either practicing abstinence or simply by rarely having sex, in order to retain their creative force, in which they do not release this vital energy just for the pleasure of orgasm. Other adepts like myself perform white magic sex with mutual love between sexual partners, where both parties are conscious to each other's energies, thoughts, love and goals during the sex act.

It is with white magic sex that these energies, thoughts, love and goals can be enhanced and improved upon. This is done by making your "mutual creative force" as powerful as possible to the point you and your mate become a power team of energy, that can take on just about anything that life throws at you. Your light becomes so bright that it defeats all darkness and the dark spirits flee from the illumination in your home because the light is too bright for these dark spirits to hide, and the heat in the kitchen too much to handle.

This white magic love creates a dynamic energy duo. A Batman and Robin team of energy that supports one another with each other's light, truth and unconditional love that lives by what Albert Einstein had once wrote, "Everything is energy and that's all there is to it."

In black magic, there can be love or no love involved between sexual partners and it does not require one or the other to be conscious of your sexual partner's true thoughts, loves or goals of the sex act.

However, this is not the rule because each partner can be aware of the other's true motives and they can definitely love one another as well. Often the goal of this magic when done by a black magician or Satanist is to enhance their life force for material gain or soul gain whether it be for money, material possessions, or soul possession.

Sometimes with black sex magic the other partner may not be aware that this is occurring and there are no rules stating that there has to be a disclosure of the magician's sexual intentions. This allows some of the more ill willed black magicians to basically steal the other person's sexual energy which is really their creative energy. Often the results of black magic, is the unaware partner going mad, and many times the magician himself brings down the great forces of white magic upon them to the point of the black magicians own destruction. Hence, the term, "mad in love."

What you sow, you shall reap and with the sacred act of sex this is rule number one.

In my last article titled, The Occult Forces of Sex and Sexual Union of Souls, I had somewhat explained what happens to us humans during the act of sex or what some call making love. In that article I detailed how almost all people are completely ignorant to this “energy force” when it comes to the spiritual realm, and their astral souls and their animal bodies in the material world.

The act of sex, let alone sex magic is simply one of the most abused and least understood of human behaviors in the normal and or the occult worlds. It is often the people who do not understand the implications of sex and what it does to us humans spiritually, who are easily taken advantage of by some of those black magicians, who in turn use this spiritual ignorance for their material or sexual selfish gain. Certainly not all black magicians would fall into this category because many do have ethics and even sexual morals as well. But those of you who are uneducated of these sexual magical facts are easy prey for these ill willed occult practitioners out there looking for their next ignorant victim. Hence, this would be the whole point of many black magic sex rituals.

Those naive initiates who do not understand the spiritual science and energy aspect of sex can become easy prey for some of the ill willed black magicians who may take advantage of this sexual ignorance for pure pleasure or to invoke magical spells onto their victims. Other wise black magicians know exactly what they are getting into and have made their deals with their soul in order to play with other souls and gratify their earthy passions.

After all, what better way to recruit and control people than through sex and perversion of spiritual energies that these new recruits are completely unaware of. As they say ignorance is bliss, and sexual ignorance may lead to soul suicide if one is not careful.

Magicians such as Aleister Crowley think of sex as "the supreme magical power" and initiates of the Ordo Templi Orientis would fall into the black magician or Satanist category of sex magic practitioners. Crowley was a self-proclaimed magician, drug addict, and sexual deviant that had developed an occult black magic sexual practice.

According to Crowley:

The Book of the Law solves the sexual problem completely. Each individual has an absolute right to satisfy his sexual instinct as is physiologically proper for him. The one injunction is to treat all such acts as sacraments. One should not eat as the brutes, but in order to enable one to do one's will. The same applies to sex. We must use every faculty to further the one object of our existence.

Crowley's stance on sex and sex magic is simple, "DO THOU WILT."

You will find no instructions on the sexual science or the soulful implications of "DO THOU WILT" during the course of sex magic. This failure to educate is a simple willful act to keep the profane in sexual ignorance so they can easily be taken advantage of. This fact can still be witnessed today by "some" (not all) Crowley followers and self-proclaimed Satanists who remain naive to the dark forces they are bringing upon themselves for violation of the laws of the universe, which is not "DO THOU WILT," but is "DO THOU WILT WITH LOVE OF THE UNIVERSE AND HUMANITY."

However, let me add that like Crowley, I do believe that it is our choice to choose which path we want to partake on in this life. Whether that be the path of "DO THOU WILT," or "DO THOU WILT WITH LOVE OF THE UNIVERSE AND HUMANITY." The choice is yours but at least before you take your path, you are made aware of the implications for such choices that can affect your soul and life in more ways than you may have thought.

Paschal Beverly Randolph, the first known author on sexual magic had wrote this about these black magicians in his book Eulis! The History of Love: Its Wondrous Magic, Chemistry, Rules, Laws ...;

Other books, in other millions, vile, atrocious, cancerous, abounding with death in every line, fraught with ruin on every page, have been, still are being, scattered everywhere across the nations, till the flower of the world's youth has been blighted, and the morality of earth sapped dry. Oh, that literature, foul, disgusting beyond belief! terrible as the cobra's fang, keener than the dagger's edge, monstrous as a drunkard's dream, more devastating than the spotted plague! until between the two millstones — quackery, pseudo-professional literature on the one hand, and the execrable, libidinous abominations on the other—one-half of the manhood and womanhood of our nation has been ground into the very dust.

No punishment can be too severe for the disseminators of the latter; no contempt too great for the authors of the former.

Those black magicians who do not abide by the laws of the universe by abusing other humans, animals, nature and love are doomed to live in a type of purgatory or their own human hell.

manly_hallThe facts are that true adepts such as 33rd degree Freemason, Manly P. Hal, and illuminated white magicians like Paschal Beverly Randolph do not die addicted to drugs such as heroin and alone in a boarding house, because their lights are so bright and wisdom so keen, they do not let a dark substance type drug like heroin control and then kill them. They have mastered the ways of life, themselves, and are in control of their passions or demons. It is not the other way around where their passions for drugs or sex control their every breath, like that of black magicians who eventually die from the darkness of the acts they have committed during this life in the full light of day or dimly lit nights under the moon. These black magicians of selfishness and hate are simply not permitted to shine like true morning stars or earn a place amongst the heavens with the Saint's because they have violated the laws of the universe and of love.

Max Heindel, the founder of the Rosicrucian Fellowship said this about the misuse of this sexual energy;

"As the Holy Spirit is the creative energy in nature, the sex energy is its reflection in man, and misuse or abuse of that power must be expiated in impaired efficiency of the vehicles, in order to teach us the sanctity of the creative force."

"Each person owns his or her body, and is responsible to the law of Consequence for any misuse resulting from the weak-willed abandonment of that body to another." (The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception p. 471).

Many people think that the act of sex is mostly done for pleasure and the sensations that they get from having sex. While this is true that sex is one of the most stimulating human activities that we can partake in, the reality is that sex is a form of soul or astral union and human reproduction that is often abused for the act of pleasure. What God and nature had intended to aid in the reproduction of our species, we have more often than not have turned into a purely pleasurable act. All the while forgetting what is truly occurring during these sexual encounters which are really the union of souls, the penetration and combining of astral bodies to create a magnificent union of energies that make mini star explosions in the SO BELOW in us humans.

Like in the occult world, sex magic is also as simple as black and white, or the Left or Right Hand Paths. You will find that the sexual path of Crowley would be the Left Hand Path with the practice of black sex magic. The sexual path that white magicians take such as that of the Rosicrucians is the Right Hand Path. This is because they practice white sex magic and that is if they have sex, because Rosicrucians abstain from sex in order to self preserve this creative sexual force that they can use to further evolve their astral bodies and or create in this world.

Our astral body or etheric body resembles our physical body in all its internal and external aspects, but it is the energy from inside and outside of our material bodies. Remember what Einstein had said and LIVE by this statement, "Everything is energy and that's all there is to it."

This energy fact of life is paramount in understanding everything in the occult, esoteric, sciences, and also how we humans operate in this world, and especially when it comes to sex or choosing a sexual partner.

Author Paschal Beverly Randolph had wrote about sex and the soul in his book;

Sex is a thing of soul; most people think it but a mere matter of earthly form and physical structure. True, there are some unsexed souls; some no sex at all, and others still claiming one gender, and manifesting its exact opposite. But its laws, offices, utilities, and its deeper and diviner meanings are sealed books to all but about two in a million; yet they ought to have the attentive study of every rational human being, every aspirant to immortality beyond the grave.

If you think about our human bodies and spirits as the great Einstein would have us think that everything is energy, you will then begin to understand the implications of just about everything you do or come in contact with in your life. You begin to notice how everything in our world is truly a form of energy and when we come in contact with these energies we can actually feel internally if this energy is good or bad, dark or light. We begin to think outside ourselves by starting to recognize these energies that surround us, whether they are neutral, or negative or positive, and this scientific fact is the most important factor that can be found in the act of sex.

You need to start thinking of yourself as a person with three bodies in which all of these bodies you need to carefully and equally take care of.

Theosophists describe man; as consisting of four elements, two of which are the body and astral body, constituting the masculine principle, while the third is the Soul, which is feminine. The remaining part is spirit, and this, as being an emanation from God, is, therefore, God; so that every man carries God within himself!! The Soul, then, is placed between the Divine element and the Body.

The "Astral body;" is regarded as the "Philosopher's Stone" or "Living Stone" of the alchemist, the "Wedding Garment" of the Gospel of Matthew and the "Soul body" that Paul mentions in the First Epistle to the Corinthians. The master French occultist and magician, Eliphas Levi wrote much of "the astral light", a factor he considered of key importance to magic, alongside the power of will and the doctrine of correspondences. He considered the astral light the medium of all light, energy and movement, describing it in terms that recall both Mesmer and the luminiferous ether.

Sex also holds a regenerating as well as a generating force. Our sexual fluid is what drives our creativity, passions and energy. It is a magnetic fluid that is not only composed of semen, but the true human emotional vehicle which is the solar astral body, which can be crystallised through Tantric sex. One energy acts through the human according to the sex of the human, male or female, - Thoughts of the sex nature enter the body through the sex organs; they arise and apply for entrance into the heart. If the mind grants. This is the sexual union of the souls and our spirits or astral bodies then become one. This is easier said than done since we live in a world where many people cannot muster the strength to just control and master their bodies, let alone master their souls or astral spirits.

Sexual-Soul-Union When we have sex with someone, we literally become one with that person's astral body.

The true astral body receives its creative energy through our sexual energy that acts like a conduit to our mental body in which is the case of a man, his penis is a type of positive conduit pole that then penetrates the negative whole of the astral body of the women. They are called annunciators for the astral body to work through as a connecting link between the soul and the physical body.

Before Aleister Crowley and his black sexual magic that he had propagated to the ignorant across the world, there was 19th century American occultist Paschal Beverly Randolph,who wrote about the earliest known practical teachings of white sex magic in the Western world under the heading of The Mysteries of Eulis:

If a man has an intelligent and loving wife, with whom he is in complete accord, he can work out the problems [of how to achieve magical results] by her aid. They are a radical soul-sexive series of energies...The rite is a prayer in all cases, and the most powerful [that] earthly beings can employ...it is best for both man and wife to act together for the attainment of the mysterious objects sought.

Success in any case requires the adjuvancy of a superior woman.

THIS IS THE LAW! A harlot or low woman is useless for all such lofty and holy purposes, and just so is a bad, impure, passion-driven apology for a man. The woman shall not be one who accepts rewards for compliance; nor a virgin; or under eighteen years of age; or another's wife; yet must be one who hath known man and who has been and still is capable of intense mental, volitional and affectional energy, combined with perfect sexive and orgasmal ability; for it requires a double crisis to succeed...

The entire mystery can be given in very few words, and they are: An upper room; absolute personal, mental, and moral cleanliness both of the man and wife. An observance of the law just cited during the entire term of the experiment -- 49 days. Formulate the desire and keep it in mind during the whole period and especially when making the nuptive prayer, during which no word may be spoken, but the thing desired be strongly thought...[1]

Randolph himself was greatly influenced by the work of English Rosicrucian and scholar of phallicism, Hargrave Jennings.

I will end" Illuminati Sex Magic - Part I" with an eloquent quote from the Master Rosicrucian, Max Heindel; "Through passion the spirit has been crystallized into a body and only by chastity can the fetters be loosed, for heaven is the home of the virgin and only insofar as we elevate love from that of sex for sex to the standard of soul for soul can we shatter the shackles that bind us." (Mysteries of the Great Operas, pp. 153-4)