#thing is they're more tied in with nature and the elements

[seewetter]

"ofc we’re stupid and illiterate our schools suck!!!"

The whole framing is wrong.

Why are people talking about "stupid" Americans? Because they're discussing why America so often is plagued by decisions with foresee-ably terrible outcomes.

But America is an oligarchy, it's participatory elements are minimal and often pure aesthetic. How much control do people exercise in a first-past-the-post electoral system with massive corporate bribes (Superpacs) that also influence media reporting, which is also a surveillance and police state?

Rhetorical question, right? So if Americans barely exercise control, what are we criticizing? Are we criticizing the >70% of Americans who don't even own a firearm? Or the majority of Texans that vote Democrat...even though it's a "red state" due to how their laws work? Are we criticizing the American majority that shows sympathies for Bernie Sanders, support abortion, queer rights, trans rights, realizes climate change is real and is the reason why "woke" (diverse) Hollywood movies make such money?

Why criticize Americans for watching Marvel, when Marvel viewership numbers have collapsed over the years?

Why criticize Americans for not knowing who James Baldwin is, when James Baldwin is in many ways not someone who affected the course of history or someone who Americans -- who I am CERTAIN use the public library all the time -- would necessarily stumble upon when reading in a public library. What, did you learn about Baldwin from watching Nosferatu? Or maybe a Cronenberg movie? Would Americans borrowing books on history naturally stumble on Baldwin? If they borrow the collected speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. or the Autobiography of Malcolm X, will these reference James Baldwin?

People know who James Baldwin is because he is an excellent writer and certain white Jewish intellectuals in the 1970s stumbled across his prose and made him famous and later Baldwin would burn those ties and became famous within progressive activist circles. This does not mean that a visit to a public library will make people aware that he exists. You have to know what to look for.

Also progressives often know who he is but not what he said. How many progressives do you know who don't care that James Baldwin talked about the "myth of race", that James Baldwin considered post-racial thinking to be more progressive than identity politics? Most progessives who know Baldwin quote him second-hand or third-hand, why are you not mad at them? Why some nebulous idea of "Americans"?

"because you assholes have had FREE ACCESS to THOUSANDS of books and audiobooks and classic films this ENTIRE TIME you’ve been blaming your schools for your elected ignorance!!!"

In 19th century anarchist literature, a distinction was often made between the freedom to do something and the capacity to do something. The freedom and legal right to buy a yacht is nice...but if you can't actually buy a yacht, you have the freedom but not the capacity.

Like how many holidays and free weekends does the average American have? There has to be a better way to educate people with a busy schedule than shaming them about their ignorance, especially when ignorance is tied to class. DON'T misread me. I'm not saying working class people are ignorant. I'm saying some people can afford a very nice education for their kids and other people can't. "Oh, it's on the internet, which is free" is not how people spontaneously become enlightened.

Like: just have a chat with a Joe Rogan listener. They're mostly Trump supporters, but all of the ones I've met are achingly sincere. They really do have the wool over their eyes, they're usually not malicious. And they're really really ...like they don't have a good research strategy. They don't even know what that looks like. They think they're "studying" when they listen to podcasts. That's a thing they think. Do you think free access to libraries and internet has given these people all they need to free themselves from their shackles and the risks they pose to others? Do you think people just spontaneously sit down and every week for a year devote all available time to researching academic literature on a hot button topic? Many of these people don't even know where to find appropriate academic literature ("It's too expensive" thought one Rogan listener I know) and many of them associate these resources with academic agendas.

Look up "hermeneutics of suspicion". It's when people approach a topic looking for ways to confirm their suspicious feelings. That's what's going on there. People read some academic article and they suspect it's all BS. If they don't understand a concept, they assume someone is trying to manipulate them. And why shouldn't they, the media is blatantly dishonest, academia has a number of crises and universities have certain conflicts of interest. Why shouldn't these people spontaneously start from such a place? It's not your job to shame them, because if you do, they assume you are doing so from a place of ideological fanaticism, rather than from a place of informed frustration. You know the meme where trans people talking about gender is represented as Plato and Aristotle in the agora, having a debate, while trans people talking to cis people about gender is represented as a mom helping her toddler assemble building blocks? That analogy applies to any topic. There are a lot of adult "toddlers" out there and if you call them toddlers to their face, they will rightfully be ashamed and upset. They put a lot of work into forming their beliefs, they just don't have a good starting point. Or decent tools. Or non-judgmental 24/7 help. And they exist in a quagmire of bullshit claims. And they relate to misinformation in a vibes-based way if the information otherwise seems to be applicable and more useful in their life.

If someone lives in a media environment that reassures them that they are currently studying the (alternate) facts and informing themselves, or that they are currently getting the gist of the facts from experts, then people won't necessarily use the library or grasp its value. Also you have to use the library correctly.

"and if you expect me to you’re classist and 18 year old Americans are too stupid to know bombing foreign countries kills people so it’s okay if they choose to do that rather than work at McDonald’s and of course I have no idea what stocks are or what colonialism is and MCU is the height of cinema and it’s feminist to wear makeup like."

I find teens accusing every intellectual impulse of being classist and ableist unbearable too, but not so long ago, this website popularized the idea that the only valid criticism of feminism was an anti-racist, anti-classist, anti-ableist, anti-transmisogynist, anti-perisexist etc. criticism.

In other words "I refuse to course correct unless you show me how my current course hurts a minority."

So yes, people will defend American complacency using ridiculous "anti-classist" rhetoric. Because it's the only defense they've seen modelled and maybe even the only defense that's socially permitted in their circle of friends.

Defenses of war crimes are horrible. Period. If people think Americans don't have a partial responsibility just because they were ignorant, they're wrong. But partial responsibility isn't full blame and more importantly: are real Tumblr users actually saying that exact thing in good faith? Are people out there defending ignorant Americans who never talked to a soldiers about what a bomb is and does or who never watched a bomb dropped in a movie?

I agree Disney adults can be irritating, but I think that most Americans aren't Disney adults and those that are... are from all walks of life and varying degrees of ignorance. Are Disney adults, Marvel fans, the ones who don't grasp that bombs kill people? Or is this a weird mishmash of stereotypes that don't capture why America, as a state institution, is such a horror? To me it's also sad that Americans get overly emotional about Mickey Mouse and that Marvel movies got so successful, but I think this is not really connected to America. Marvel movies and Disney parks aren't uniquely American, America is just -- at gunpoint -- the largest economy in the world, so a lot of junk that people worldwide consume comes from there. Disney Parks in Japan or France do quite well and also involve Disney Adults, we just don't hear about them so much and the money is ultimately made by America, a country with military bases in almost every other country. Is this the fault of Disney Adults in Orlando, Florida? I don't think so.

Also makeup is an "unfeminist choice", but feminists should, in fact, fight for people's freedom to make unfeminist choices. Kate Harding had an entire essay on that.

As for the reply:

When trying to convince someone that their reasons for believing something are faulty, always make sure to point out what they may have missed and try not to miss anything yourself.

Let me provide a few examples:

"Did you know that to get to a library here, you have to travel?"

The person you are responding to wrote (and you acknowledged it with "I'm glad you found a way to access our libraries") that to read the contents of a library, all that is needed is digital access.

So then "did you know you have to travel" doesn't make sense as the next sentence. It's on its face unconvincing.

"Since you know so much about us, you must know that our public transportation system is all but non-functional, and a lot of people can't even afford bus fare, let alone their own vehicle, and most of our cities are not walkable. The closest library in the town where my half-siblings grew up was a 30-minute drive away. But there are digital libraries, of course!"

Of course! And their existence invalidates all the detailed descriptions you just provided for the inaccessibility of American libraries. Americans that don't use the libraries don't use them because (A) they forget these exist (B) they don't want to use them (sometimes out of shame, sometimes out of misguided conviction).

"Did you know that not every single one of us stupid Americans has access to a home computer and internet?"

The OP you are responding to was concrete about being frustrated by kids (18 19 20 year olds) on Tumblr. If they're on Tumblr, they must have internet and must be able to access an internet library.

"Did you know that exceptionally strict conservative parents monitor their childrens' internet usage and restrict what they can see?"

Yes and.

Yes, and this influences blindspots that some Americans have.

See, on its own "do you know some parents monitor internet" creates a strawman example, where the people OP was attacking (people who freely use tumblr.com, "the queerest site on the internet") are somehow being treated as if they have parents that monitor their internet usage and censor all content that might burst their conservative bubble. I hope we can agree that these are two different groups of Americans.

"Did you know that school library media centers (computer labs) restrict access to a lot of websites and information that do not pertain to curriculum? Of course you did."

But if the people are goofing around on Tumblr calling others "classist" for expecting them to know stuff, how is the computer lab not restricting their Tumblr access? How does Tumblr pertain to their curriculum?

It's possible that this is a censorship oversight or something, but again, the real counterargument against OPs nonsense isn't "Americans aren't free to know new information" and rather "Americans often lack the capacity to even know what they're looking for". I don't think OP name-dropping James Baldwin and stocks will have given people any real idea of what they need to look for, especially if they need comprehensive education on everything from ecology to statecraft and civics to economics, to history, geography, moral philosophy, epistemology, foreign policy, marginalized perspectives and activism, statistics, organizing, protesting safety, IT security and data protection, narrative structure, narrative experimentation, artistic craft, avant-garde sensibilities (I'm being entirely unironic about that.), reading comprehension, project management, culinary skill, survival skills, networking skills, the list goes on.

This also isn't merely an "American" problem. I know plenty of Australians, Kiwis, Canadians, Europeans who use gmail accounts, don't understand imperialism and need a crash course in epistemology every time a hot button issue comes into discussion because they just keep shouting at each other without treating the other party as a human being with their own heuristic for gathering, evaluating and processing information.

"Did you know that lobbyists are trying very hard to defund and even actively shut down our libraries. Partially because they don't want us to have access to free recources, but also because ignorance works in their favor? Did you know book bans are being placed in libraries across the country, based on what conservatives deem inappropriate?"

Most of those points seem a little off topic (lobbyists trying to defund libraries may affect future ignorance but doesn't account for ignorance today), but I grant that the book bans really might have some kind of impact that prevents people from having heard of James Baldwin. It's a decent reply to the OP, who seems to think all libraries serve up the same information to all Americans. But you should be fair enough to recognize that it still is a bit weird when the people who show up ignorant are ...Tumblr users smart enough to be making accusations of classism.

"Since you know all about how we are educated, you must know that American curriculum is designed to discourage curiosity and create the illusion that we are far and above all other nations and that everything we are taught in our classes about others is simply all there is to know."

What I've heard is that many public school teachers in America are extremely dedicated well-meaning people. I've met a few American teachers and their German counterparts, for example, earn about 20 times what they earn. So American teachers often really are in it to help kids learn.

I'm not sure that the American curriculum really exists to "discourage curiosity", that sounds a bit weird to me. I do know the Texas board of education tried to ban critical thinking and I know American schools have some weird national anthem singing and I bet they teach American exceptionalism. But I would say perhaps the only reason any of that sticks is because Americans often can't afford to visit other countries.

I have not heard that Americans learn that school teaches them all there is to know, but when I think of ignorant Americans, they often give me the opposite impression: that of a "do your own research type" who doesn't think "I know everything from school" and instead just never bothered to buy a book about Atmospheric Phenomena (or grab a illegal free .pdf copy) and therefore thinks some glittering orb in the sky is a alien spacecraft. Genuinely, ignorant people are often really nice people who try to learn about the world, have a real desire to learn new things... and then they watch Graham Hancock or some other well-designed nonsense and they mis-educate themselves and get very defensive if anyone tries to correct them, however gently, in part because they lack even the basic skills to know whether the correction is plausible.

"So, with all of this information that you clearly already had at your disposal, do you genuinely believe these children are cognizant or at all concerned with how much they know about other countries and cultures?"

I think the better question to ask is "Do you really think only Americans would fail at "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?""

Because let's face it, I've seen European versions of that premise, where they go out into the street, ask a basic question ("What's the equator?") and get embarrassing answers ("A line that floats in the sky above the center of our planet").

OPs gripe with "Americans" is that they know other countries exist but just don't care. But hey, are Europeans that much better? In Europe, people know European countries...because countries are small and these are almost like American "states" in a way, especially since the EU is in many ways a country in all but name (and lack of military). How many Europeans know how many African countries there are, what their names are, what their capitals are, what their history is, what colonial powers kept which country under control when and for how long? How many Europeans know anything about Laos or Cambodia? Do Europeans even know which continent Cambodia is on?

And I've talked to Japanese people and found incredible ignorance. And do we imagine that the education system in, say, Burkina Faso or Brazil produces much more worldly individuals?

If you want to criticize specifically American ignorance you need to things: you need lots of real-life examples AND you need to prove these examples are unique to America.

Like India recently managed to get a lot of kids into school long enough to learn how to read, which is awesome! But if someone from India (like OP) is attacking American ignorance, OP is likely doing so from a certain degree of "wealth in the family". That's not a criticism, just a (hopefully humbling) observation. Countries around the world can blame their widespread ignorance on colonialism...and then get upset at ignorant colonizers. But maybe no place on Earth really produces a completely sufficiently informed citizenship.

"Adults who are groomed through adulthood to believe that "bombing foreign countries" and selling their body to their government is one of the only accessible options to receive further education."

Isn't the American military facing historically low recruitment numbers and worried about morphing into a "warrior caste" (their words, not mine) because their recruits mostly come from old military families where everyone's in the military? Not to say the poor person going to the army doesn't exist, but aren't most Americans pretty anti-military, especially these days?

"You believe these people are simply bumbling idiots too self-absorbed to want to learn about the history and inner workings of every other nation around them?"

Why emphasize that public schools brainwash the kids with American exceptionalism and then turn around to argue that the people leaving public school AREN'T self-absorbed about their own country? That comes off as overly defensive, not as a reflective response. I doubt OP found that argument very convincing.

"Like, you understand that not knowing what you don't know is a thing, yes?"

But OP must at least be partially correct. Like -- I would blame maybe feelings of overwhelm at all the information, and maybe mistrust of information sources -- but it does often come across, at least at first glance, that a lot of Americans can't be bothered to understand basic geography. Like they know countries outside of America exist, but aren't bothered enough to find out what they are.

Again, this is probably not a purely American problem, but one does sometimes get the impression that many Americans approach conversations without making sure they have a bit of an overview of the topic. They often just seem to research the talking points of their side in a debate (i.e. they know the history of colonialism better than they know which countries have Spanish as an official language, so it's easy to make them look stupid or they have to ask what tariffs are but they already think tariffs are great since Trump is doing them...like why aren't they reading the "tariffs" page on Wikipedia or whatever, to get at least a general idea? What's going on?)

"I would go as far as to point out the hypocrisy of all of your shaming when the beginning of your post clearly states that you were ignorant of a resource available to you before it was pointed out to you."

Now that's a sick burn. But don't get cozy.

"Your time spent belligerently accusing a whole society of people which you deem unintelligent of being willfully uneducated and unwilling to reach beyond their own privilege would be better spent sharing resources you've found and encouraging others to broaden their own horizons. But hatred of the American public as a whole is a lot easier when you can paint us all as intentionally dumb and heels-dug-in fascists."

It is hard for people to grasp how little control Americans have over their society. When America always advertises itself as "land of the free" it seems like they freely choose to be giant assholes on the world stage.

And it's only with a lot of reflection and/or research that people realize just how much the game is rigged. But still...the people who just flat out support tariffs, for example, without wasting a single braincell on experimenting on how they can find information on it that doesn't come from a possibly biased pro-Trump source...like it feels like willful ignorance. Part of me can't believe it isn't.

ever since i got access to american library cards thanks to tumblr user anneemay (pbuh) 2 weeks ago ive lost even the 3% sympathy i had for americans crying ofc we’re stupid and illiterate our schools suck!!! because you assholes have had FREE ACCESS to THOUSANDS of books and audiobooks and classic films this ENTIRE TIME you’ve been blaming your schools for your elected ignorance!!! from my home in India I’ve listened to eight audiobooks and watched half of cronenberg’s oevre and I’m watching nosferatu (1922) today and I can’t even go to a library in person and you people have had these things your entire life yet you come on tumblr at 18 19 20 and say you don’t know who james baldwin is and if you expect me to you’re classist and 18 year old Americans are too stupid to know bombing foreign countries kills people so it’s okay if they choose to do that rather than work at McDonald’s and of course I have no idea what stocks are or what colonialism is and MCU is the height of cinema and it’s feminist to wear makeup like. my god. you people are going to go through the rest of your life being incoherently stupid and it’s not because you’re poor and it’s not because your schools suck but its because you’re so ensconced in your American privilege that you will never be forced to confront the realities of life and you can go on living your Disney adult fantasies because you’ve destroyed your innate human curiosity and potential at the altar of hyper consumption.

[itsahotminuteinbetween]

You mentioned you were from the middle east so i am going to start terrorizing your askbox /aff

(I don't want to accidentally disrespect the culture genies originate from)

ehehehe

yep, 2nd generation immigrant here! Grew up in a middle eastern household, so I know a lil bit! feel free to ask whatever you like :) I put some general info in the tags if you wanna look into that

[14dayswithyou]

💖 Day 3.5 is now available! 💖

For the last couple of months, only Server Boosters had access to the 3.5 update... Buuuuut now it's available for everyone to play in the 14DWY Discord — and soon itch.io once I'm happy with the QA and state of the game — so please don't feel pressured to join unless you want to!!

The full devlog + even more screenshots are under the cut ^^

What's been added to the 3.5 version?

📺 Streamer Mode!

I've been told that it's difficult to stream and monetise age-restricted videos on YouTube and Twitch, so I added an option to remove the sexual content and strong language used in the demo.

Now y'all can invite Ren into your bed for cuddles without putting your streamer career on the line /silly /lh

This won't affect the 18+ rating or dark themes/elements of the game, however! Although Streamer Mode will prevent you from seeing any "gruesome" CGs in the future, most of the core elements of the game will still be tied to the choices and decisions you make. So you won't miss out on the overall experience by using streamer mode!!

⚙️ Custom Pronouns!

It only took me one entire year to get around to it, but you can finally choose your own preferred pronouns (or use a set of pronouns instead)... At the cost of being able to change them mid-game ^^;

Since the original pronoun screen wouldn't update until a new scene was displayed, I temporarily disabled the feature. But once I find a workaround, I'll bring it back!

💗 Choose how others perceive you!

You can now choose how the cast and narration perceive you! Originally, the narration was kept strictly gender-neutral (outside of pronouns and genitalia picked by the player), but this will soon change in future updates.

For more clarity: you don't get to choose the words specifically, but you can choose between masculine, feminine, and androgynous terms!

📋 Separate top and bottom genitalia!

You can now choose your tatas and pps separately! >:3

Alongside that, you can also choose your preferred body type!

I removed the "both" genitalia option because a few players still assumed it was an obscure version of "intersex". That wasn't my intention and I don't want to mislead anyone, so I took it out for now ^^;

I also didn't want to include a screenshot of the new genitalia choices in action (because it's NSFW), so y'all get the same character menu screen for the nth time instead lmao

📱 Relationship Screen Overhaul!

You can now change your own status for more immersion, and long-term Server Boosters will eventually be able to submit and use their own icon within the game as well!

Stalking finding your friends has now become easier by using "Buddy Maps"; a new app that allows you to see the location of all the cast members!

I want to offer players more incentive to check the relationship screen since they tend to miss the status updates, so hopefully this might help ;v;

It also says it "updates every few hours" so folks don't go overboard and check every 5 seconds to see where Ren is gdsghf (also keep in mind that he's a hacker lol)

🖤 Additional Scenes Update!

Day 2 received a brand new CG!!!!! Originally, I planned on only adding a few CGs sporadically throughout the game, but it didn't feel right to leave Day 2 so... empty... so I added a brand new CG to (hopefully) make things feel more balanced and natural!

If you decline Teo's offer on Day 3, Leon will now call and try to convince you to reconsider. However, players are still allowed to decline, and if they do, they'll reach a dead end.

After listening to feedback on itch, I changed some of the dialogue during Days 1-3 to make it seem more consistent! They're only small changes though, so it's honestly not worth looking for sdgjssga

🎶 Updated BGM and SFX!

I wanted to try out a different style of music to see if it fits the vibe of 14DWY more! The BGM features more acoustics to suit the "beachy" theme of Corland Bay, though I made a conscious effort to include piano elements as well to stay true to the original!!

I figured it'd be better to give players a live example before I make a poll (to see if they prefer the change or not) and publish it to Itch.

Some new SFX have also been added, though it's very minimal and honestly not that noticeable.

How to download and play the update?

(warning: clicking on the following links will open Discord!!) To download the Day 3.5 update, simply join the 14DWY Discord server, verify your age, and visit the "14dwy-updates" channel!

Alternatively, you can also wait until the update is publicly released on Itch to play it as well!! (It normally gets released shortly after a round of QA testing/getting feedback from the server, though I may release it earlier if I feel like it hehe ^^)

Enjoy!!

[comicaurora]

Tahraim is my fav absolutely adore him! I love that you’ve made the smith deal in introspection and cryptic bs, a lot of times smiths are very straightforward characters in stories. What made you decide to shake it up?

Can gods be tied to concepts as well as cities? As Tahraim seems to be a god of blacksmithing (or at least has some serious motifs) does he have a city thats just forges?

He also seems a lot more mobile than the other gods, or is he just “tied” to Danix?

Tahraim is a conceptual god, a class of deity considered grander and more untethered than city or nature gods. Also in his weight class are Emnis and Erebas (dreams and nightmares), Shanyasi (music), Sennaia (knowledge), Jiya (war), and a whole bunch of others. They're gods of ideas, and their domains are in the collective consciousness of mortals. They can manifest anywhere they hold sway, and several of them have constructed domains of their own in pocket dimensions; Sennaia has a transfinite library hidden away somewhere, and Tahraim has a forge.

Tahraim's personality comes from my own experience with artists and craftspeople. Many artists are acutely aware that in order for their work to be better, they need to be better. The process of creation and introspection becomes inextricably linked. Forging a tool changes the forger, little by little.

There's also an element I've observed from teachers. I was always a firm proponent of "don't be cryptic or cute, just tell me the thing and I'll get it," and while that's true a lot of the time, there are concepts that cannot be Just Told in any meaningful way. They don't hit or stick if the person doesn't put them together themselves and construct a way that works for them. Teaching isn't always the impartation of information; a lot of the time it's guidance so the student crafts the tools that work for them. Even if the teacher can perfectly communicate what method works for them, everyone is different, and a student that does the exact same thing exactly right might gain no benefits or be actively harmed by the process. Instead, the student has to parse the lesson and create their own tools to execute the same goal.

Personal example under a readmore because it got a little long:

I've sporadically dealt with intrusive thoughts my whole life, though I didn't understand what they were at the time and they've mostly gone away on their own. When I was little, upsetting thoughts would get stuck in my head and stay there; things would give me nightmares that lasted for weeks, or I'd be stuck awake in the wee hours ruminating on every time in my life I'd done something shameful or harmful or wrong. My dad recognized I was upset, and tried to teach me a method of "counting thoughts" that worked for him, where I could sit for a few minutes and just passively observe the thoughts floating by, counting them and observing them and thus becoming aware that they were small, fleeting things with no power on their own. The problem is, this method didn't work for me at all, because "count the thought" didn't communicate to me "and that makes the thought not a problem anymore." The thought still hurt just as bad, all I was doing was reminding myself how many bad thoughts were happening. I would get overwhelmed and end up more distressed, and the fact that this thing that should have worked didn't work just convinced me that I was trapped and nobody could ever help me.

It took actual years before I found a method that clicked in my brain, and it was just one step further down the path of counting thoughts:

"Having that thought is harmless."

Every thought that got stuck in my head was about times or ways I might've harmed people. The things that distressed me most were things I'd done wrong that I had zero power to change, so the wrongness would just haunt me forever, making me miserable forever. But the root of the distress was that I had messed up and hurt people.

The thing that clicked was that having the thought does nothing to anyone but me. The thought is harmless, even if the event the thought is about wasn't or wouldn't be. Having the thought hurts no-one else. And since 90% of my distress was distress at the thought of hurting other people, it hit me that in reality, even in the depths of my angst, I was just sitting there, hurting no-one.

And suddenly I found that the last few intrusive thoughts rattling around in my brain withering, because the last thing that had been feeding them was gone. I was given the technique for Counting Thoughts, but it wasn't made for my hands. I had to make my own version out of it. And just because it worked for me and my own personal brain doesn't mean this method would work for someone else, just the same way the method that worked for my dad didn't click for me. If I wanted to teach someone a way to bypass intrusive thoughts, all I would have to work on would be what worked for me, but I could try to guide them through a path similar to the one I followed to find my method so they could maybe find their specific hangups and what specifically would work for them. Every mind is different.

This is also why it's so frustrating to hear someone say stuff like "Oh I used to worry about that too, but it's actually fine, you can just stop worrying about it!" And it's like, "oh, fuckin brilliant, just stop worrying about it? Absolute genius, I just hadn't thought of that-" like yea it sounds flippant and yea it's not helpful, but they are using the only frame of reference they have and describing what they did. They stressed about something, realized it was not actually a problem, and knowing that was enough to make it leave their mind alone. But saying that they "just stopped worrying" doesn't make you understand or internalize how they did it. And because they can't seem to help you, it makes you mad. But then sometimes, with time and perspective, you look back and think "wow, yea, at some point I really did just stop worrying about that." It doesn't mean their advice worked, it just means somewhere along the line something clicked in your mind and started working.

Tahraim is a smith who sees no difference between shaping a tool and shaping a person, but there are some ways that people can't be shaped from the outside, and instead have to shape themselves. He likes to be subtle and cryptic, but he also has good reason to be. The only way to make something click in someone's head is to guide them towards it and nudge them when necessary. It's not all hitting stuff with hammers.

[horse-girl-anthy]

essay on the UFO motif in RGU (and YKA) under the cut

one of the things that makes aliens so interesting is their versatility. YKA uses the classic alien invasion trope as the set up for its narrative; aliens as outsiders, infiltrating human society and sowing paranoia. as anyone who's seen the show knows, this premise is soon subverted. fear of the other is used by the invisible storm girls to justify securitization and eventual militarization, while the main characters work to break down the self-other dichotomy.

RGU doesn't feature its UFO motif so prominently; or anyway, it's not present from the beginning of the show, but instead scattered throughout. this marginality does not make the motif any less important, however. let's take a look at the text to see how the motif itself is used.

in almost all instances, UFOs and aliens are associated with the shadow girls. the first time they're mentioned is in episode 9.

in the skit, A-Ko insists she saw a UFO, while B-Ko says it must have just been a shooting star. they argue about this for a while, until A-Ko changes the topic to disillusionment: she knows that Santa Claus, wizards, fairies, princes on white horses, and kind-hearted, true friends only exist in fantasy. but she begs to be allowed to keep her belief in UFOs.

the inclusion of UFOs in this scene may not seem particularly meaningful. the skit draws a constrast between childhood illusions and adult cynicism, notably including "true friends" on the list of fantasy creatures. with hindsight, though, this choice does seem purposeful. maybe A-Ko wants to believe in what the UFOs represent, which is more clearly spelled out as the show goes on.

in episode 12, the shadow girls list "normal things" for people to do: study normal subjects, get a normal job, fall in love normally, get married normally, have a normal family, and live a normal life. but they conclude that being normal "has nothing to do with them" and proceed to board a UFO so that they can "go back to what's normal for them."

this is an obvious parallel to Utena's arc in the episode, where she rejects how society wants her to act and reclaims her own normal. but it's also telling us something about the shadow girls.

the shadow girls don't just "want to believe" in UFOs--it seems that they are aliens. they're "from Planet Kashira" according to Ikuhara; "Inhabitants of Planet Kashira" is the title of the shadow girls track on the first OST.

I think what this is telling us is that the shadow girls are outside observers. they're not natural citizens of Ohtori but exist at a remove from it. they can interact with the story, but they're a constant reminder that something beyond it exists--that the "rules of the rose crest" are not the laws of the universe.

from episode 13 on, the shadow girls put on their plays after returning to earth from their UFO. episode 24 ends with an encounter between Suzuki, Yamada, Tanaka and the UFO. we see the "monkey-catching-robot" again; once it successfully bags its prey, it enters the craft and flies away.

I could probably provide a reading of this scene if I tried, but mostly, I think it's there to round out the Black Rose arc. it's rather tongue-in-cheek; the UFOs are a part of the silly side of RGU. this eccentricity is humorous, but in my view also tied to the theme of individuality, which requires unapologetic strangeness. there's also something to be said for RGU's use of the inexplicable and uncanny, which often have a far deeper impact on the audience than concrete story elements.

in the final arc, the shadow girl plays begin with their UFO crashing into the chairman's tower. this is as clear a metaphor as one can hope for: the shadow girls and their alienness are a destabilizing force. maybe they're not revolutionaries--the crash appears to be accidental--but their randomness, their strangeness, their lack of propriety are a threat to the order, the masculine rule represented by Akio.

that's about it for the shadow girls. but as I mentioned, aliens are brought up in another context: the episode "Nanami's Egg."

the line "Nanami's some kind of space alien" is rather famous, and that part of the episode isn't hard to read. she's worried that she's seen as a freak, an other, by her peers. however, we also get a return of the motif at the end of the episode.

after abandoning her egg, Nanami is unable to put it out of her mind and runs out into the night to find it. she sings and dances with it, but after a bedtime conversation between Utena and Anthy, the show cuts back to Nanami, now bereft of her egg again.

she finds it, grown 100 times larger, propped up in the woods. she promises never to abandon it again, but it seems not to forgive her, shooting strange beams at her in attack. then it fades and lays before her, cracked open.

I think this scene is adding a new dimension to the egg metaphor: in the final moments of the episode, the egg becomes a symbol of Nanami's self. she tried to be rid of it, as she killed the cat--but just as she did then, she found herself regretting it. but she's unable to forgive herself for it, feeling that she's betrayed herself and lost something very important for the sake of a false normality.

to finish this essay, I'd like to reflect on how the motif of alienness is reflected in the larger themes of RGU. in the episode 11 commentary, Ikuhara wrote the following:

I tried to live true to myself. “You’re just like an alien,” someone said to me one day. They must have been telling me, “You’re not normal.” In other words, apparently “living true to yourself” means “living as an alien.” And so I became “an alien all alone in this world.”

alienation, individuality, and deviance are all major themes in RGU. the shadow girls present a positive image of what it means to be an alien: they are carefree and unconstrained. however, for the other characters, being an alien--an individual--is not so easy. it sets them apart from the social order and may even put them in danger. therefore, RGU depicts the defiant joy of deviation, along with the pain that often accompanies it. individuality may be a threat to the system, but that's exactly why it's difficult to achieve.

finally, "alienness" serves as a great metaphor for self-other encounters, as I've touched on throughout this essay. if we are individuals, that means we are fundamentally separate from one another, because we cannot experience each other's experience. thus, we are each of us aliens to each other.

Anthy asks Utena this question as if she truly does not know, as if Utena is some mysterious being encountered in a dream. they are drawing closer together, and so the fact of their alienness is only becoming more pronounced. it will take the rest of the show to find out if contact is possible.

[earthstellar]

Brave Bang Bravern!: A Review for Transformers Fans

I've seen so much about this on my dash that I had to give it a try, and I gotta say, as someone who hasn't watched any new anime series since around 2008 at the most recent and I also hate the fucking military, this is a pretty good show.

THERE WILL BE SOME MILD SPOILERS. Nothing major. I'm not gonna spoil anything critical or mention characters that are introduced later etc. At of time of writing, only 6 episodes have been released.

Understanding Genre: The Trailer is A Lie

Now, while there is a trailer here, I want you to largely disregard it.

Why is that? Well, we need to talk about the "big two" robot show genres in Japan, which are as follows:

Real Robot -- This refers to a typically military setting or other serious setting, in which robots are handled as realistically as possible in terms of how they work and how they are applied. There tend to be less individual/sentient robots and more "suit" type mechs right along side human-made, more realistic machinery and mech designs, although that isn't entirely unique to this genre. Usually this stuff is labelled as sci-fi/action outside of Japan.

Super Robot (THIS IS THE SHIT TRANSFORMERS FANS GENERALLY WANT) --Essentially borderline seemingly magical robots with their own rules and in universe backstory for how they work, which isn't necessarily tied to realism. Usually this stuff is labelled as sci-fi/fantasy or space fantasy outside of Japan, since a lot of these tend to be space robots. They can be "driven" by pilots or just straight up sentient robots who are vibing with some human companions, although it's not exclusively that. It can be both, it can be neither, but no matter what, Super Robot shows are less about strict realism and more about really cool shit with robots that are basically their own people and exist according to their own rules.

Now, the trailer for BBBB (the acronym for the show is based on the Japanese title, which is Bang Brave Bang Bravern) is a COMPLETE FUCKING LIE.

It wants you to think this is going to be some dumbass GI Joe shit.

While there are elements of dumbass GI Joe shit, this is largely just to set up the premise for why shit is happening in the first place, and to help introduce the main threat (alien space creatures with fucking light beam lasers) as well as bring in our main characters under the premise of everyone having to work together to address this alien threat to Earth.

What we care about here amongst Transformers freaks is gay space robots, and this show delivers.

Getting Into Bravern: First Episode, Mild Plot Spoiler Summary

It wants you to think this is a Real Robot show.

The first episode sets things up as though it will be a Real Robot show.

There is a threat to Earth, a mystery space alien mechanical enemy, and nobody knows what the fuck to do. A military exercise between multiple nations using Titanostriders (which look very much like Shiro Masamune Appleseed-style mechs, human made in nature) to practice battle drills who are now instructed to swap over to real ammunition and go to fucking town.

Nobody knows how to do that.

They're skilled with the Titanostriders, sure, but it turns into a shit show. The alien mechanical enemies are using fucking space laser shit, it's a disaster---

--And then Bravern drops in from the fucking sky and it IMMEDIATELY TURNS INTO A SUPER ROBOT SHOW.

There's a "get in the robot, Shiji" moment where one of the Titanostrider operators, Isami Ao, is encouraged by Bravern to get inside of him.

He does. And immediately has no idea what the fuck is going on, Bravern is largely in control, and starts to blast his own theme song inside his cockpit as diegetic music while Isami is generally losing his shit, as one might do.

Humanity's reaction to Bravern is Real Robot genre type, where it is handled seriously by all the characters and organisations involved in universe, however Bravern is very much a Super Robot genre character who brings more of a Super Robot energy to the show at large.

The serious elements are mostly balanced by how fucking silly Bravern is, and there are some excellent moments in this show (currently only 6 episodes have been released) which make it entirely worth a watch.

Fun Things About Bravern Himself

Braven is very, very, very gay for his pilot.

Chances are, you've seen the screenshots of some of these moments on Tumblr already, but the delivery of these lines is magnificent.

Bravern sings his own theme song. It's the voice actor for Bravern doing the vocals, and the song itself is reminiscent of 1970s orchestrated big band energy mecha themes. For Transformers fans, it has a very Transformers Victory theme kind of vibe to it.

You gotta hear it, it fucking rules. The album cover shows Bravern holding a giant microphone.

Bravern is generally light hearted, doing his best to motivate his pilot while not hesitating to enter the action and try to defend humanity.

Now, why does Bravern care about humans so much? We don't know, but we'll talk about some mysteries in a later section below.

He is surprisingly insightful at times, while also fucking around and enjoying himself. (You may have seen screenshots going around Tumblr of Bravern with a loop of hot dogs strung around one of his chevron points on his forehead. This follows a scene in which he wants his pilot to take a break and associate with his peers for once, as a way to relieve stress. So they go to a bar, it turns out reception is positive and someone even brings weenies out for Bravern since he's too big to fit inside, lol.)

Generally, he's a very interesting mech, because we have so little information about him. He's fun, and clearly vibing, but he's also borderline if not outright obsessed with his pilot and has unknown origins, which has lead to some darker interpretations and audience discussion.

A lot of people have compared Bravern's energy to Rodimus, and generally I would agree with that. He has his high-energy silly moments, and his more serious personal moments (primarily with Isami, but also with Smith), and I think these aspects of his character work well to create a fun mech with the potential to be deep in a believable and effective way, with an equal capacity for being a doofus.

Bravern is obviously the number one reason to watch the show for most people, and I would say that if you're purely here for a giant gay space robot, then this is going to be a decent watch.

The Military Sucks: There Are Militaries Involved Yet Somehow This Is Still Watchable

I hate the fucking military, so at least the military here is depicted in an acceptable way (so far, at least). In episode 2, they waterboard Isami to interrogate him for information he doesn't have regarding Bravern, which is a realistically shitty and awful thing for the military to do-- They don't sugarcoat how fucked up the military is. These people very much have the capacity to harm their own staff, and they will do so if it means they might get an edge over the enemy.

At the same time, the actual characters in the military are depicted as primarily doing this shit out of a genuine personal desire to defeat these horrendously destructive space entities, which have attacked at least some of their home towns and home countries, so it's more personal rather than purely being a military directive that people are being forced to follow.

In this way, it's not really realistic, but everyone is on board for their own largely humanitarian aid type of reasons (there is a mission which is basically just locating survivors of an attack and then getting the fuck out) which makes the military context feel less oppressive and shitty.

Part of why this is more OK than other military depictions is because the military forces involved here are international (collaborating to defeat a global threat rather than kill each other's civilians) and because the military is clearly losing this war.

Because it's an international effort, this brings more diversity to the show-- There's a surprising amount of English interspersed between dialogue in Japanese here and there, and the military board consists of representatives from multiple nations, including some Germans who at first believe Bravern is some kind of secret American operation, lmao.

Bravern calls the military out on its shit, and essentially tells the military board to stop with the suspicious infighting bullshit and drop the internal tension because otherwise they'll all die to this mechanical nightmare creature threat.

They actually listen, which means this is an unrealistic portrayal of the military, lmao. I think they struck a good balance so far between showing that the military sucks and has problems, while also making sure that you're not really cheering for any given military force, but rather, you cheer for individual characters who just happen to be stuck doing this military shit as a premise for anything to be going on in the show at all.

So it's not the worst when it comes to the military shit; At least so far, it's watchable, which as someone who passionately hates the fucking military, is surprising to me.

It's less GI Joe and more "we just needed a reason for these characters to be involved in this situation".

Of course, your mileage may vary, but personally I found it easy to tune out or just skip through any military shit that got grating and I didn't miss anything important by doing so. At the very least, you can skip around and ignore a lot of this stuff and get right to the gay robot if that's all you want to do. It becomes clear pretty quickly what's going on if you skip around a bit, so no worries there.

Fun Speculation: What is Bravern?

Only 6 episodes are out at the moment, so there's tons of shit we don't know yet.

Bravern has a notable resemblance to a type of enemy in the show, called a Death-Drive.

Death-Drives are mecha who are distinct from the "minion" type enemies (which almost resemble flying saucers with laser gun arms and light shields), and have their own unique character designs and names.

Why these things are here, how they are here, why they are interested in Earth, and everything else is currently unknown.

Bravern looks like he could possibly be of the same mechanical species, although we don't know if that's true (yet). He has abilities that the other mecha don't seem to have, but how far this goes and what it might mean is not yet clear.

Bravern also seems to have knowledge of human media (he references The Abyss at one point and he likes 3D printing figures of sentai show characters lmao), and was immediately able to speak to the humans using language they would understand, so it's unclear if Bravern may have been studying Earth for some time before his arrival or why.

He is obsessed with his pilot and cares for him so much that he extends some care towards others purely based on their relation to Isami as co-workers; Why? What makes Isami special?

How does Bravern know seemingly every human language? How does his piloting system work? How similar is he to the Death-Drives-- Are organic beings critical to them in some way? If so, why are the other mechs killing so many of us? (These are big questions especially by the end of episode 6, due to some spoilers and a spoiler character who shows up later.)

We know little to nothing about a lot of the key elements of the show, including any motivations for the Death-Drives or what they are, what's up with the fucking UFO looking laser things, etc.

There's more to speculate on, but that would be getting into deeper spoiler territory so I'm gonna hold back on that for now.

Summary: It's Gay and Cool and Has Interesting Ideas

Bravern's not the sole source of gay vibes in this show, but it's fun that he is also a source of gay vibes in this show.

The designs are great, the Titanostriders remind me of Appleseed style mechanical suit designs which is nice, the Death-Drives are super interesting, Bravern is fucking fabulous but he's not too goofy to take seriously, and the military is unfortunately present but it's clear that they suck and are generally losing (and since the conflict is not between different groups of humans but rather is about human collaboration to defeat a non-human shared threat to our entire planet, this goes a long way to make the military shit tolerable).

It pretends to be a Real Robot show but has so much Super Robot show sprinkled in that you might as well consider it a little bit of both which the show balances pretty well.

I haven't watched an anime since around 2008 at the very latest, so I don't know how this might compare to any other robot animes since then and I am certainly not an anime expert by any means LOL, but this has been a fun show to watch so far.

It does have its problems, of course, but if you can get past the setup for the first episode (when it's still pretending to be a Real Robot show), from the moment Bravern arrives towards the end of that first episode, the show gains momentum and starts to get interesting very quickly.

It has some issues. But we're only 6 episodes in, so at the moment, they have plenty of time to potentially address those issues and we'll see where things go.

I'd recommend it if you want to give it a try!

I think there's enough here to appeal to the usual Transformers crowd and you might end up liking it, or at least having fun while watching it in the background.

If you end up wanting to to tap out then no worries-- I think it's worth giving it a shot and if it's not your thing, no problem.

Each episode is around 25 - 30 minutes, so while the first episode might feel like a slog to get through because fuck the military, once Bravern shows up the show actually gets started and I wouldn't blame anyone for just skipping to that point in the first episode and going from there, because there's nothing in that opening that you won't be reminded of or be able to figure out. It mostly just sets up the intro to the human characters and the collaboration training session, introduces the Titanostriders as a thing, and you can always go back and watch that part later if you want to.

All in all, pretty decent! Obviously we're Transformers people so we're here for the robots, and the robots are interesting and fun, and that's all I need to have a good time.

Hopefully this was a useful summary if you're interested or have seen Bravern stuff on your dash! :)

Thanks for reading!

BONUS: I forgot to mention this somehow, but there's a lot of overlap between Transformers and other Brave shows involving actual Transformers re-used in Japan for these shows; There's a good video about it here on YouTube which explains some of this, but if anyone's wondering, yes Bravern has a grounder alt-mode and it's pretty cool. Will we get a transforming Bravern figure??? We can hope!

There's another video here which mentions some of the Transformers elements in other Brave shows/Yuusha, which might be interesting for those of you who are unaware. :)

[bitchslapblastoids]

thinking about the more cutting elements of the show... thinking about how they prod at the grotesquerie that is the youtube landscape now. something that was originally homespun and free and fun is now this soulless maw of manipulation and cynicism, and they're naming names.

thinking about the more cutting elements of their feedback for us; how the sweet homespun thing they birthed then morphed into something massive with its own acute levels of grotesquerie and horrors for the two of them. and how alongside all of the giddy love and joy and euphoria i've experienced these past couple of days, i have also been feeling some more complicated feelings. and i guess some of that may be shame, because for all the years i've loved them so, i was in the trenches participating in the retraumatization of dan (a word that kind of bowled me over to hear). and i sure as shit wasn't 12. i just fervidly wanted to know every damn thing i could. still do, i guess. tis my nature. but hearing dan describe him and phil as the internet's 'first true crime case' had me feeling quite specifically chastened. and sad.

because it is sad that their private world had all these porous slippery bits and all these intrusions and this panopticon around them and their every move, tracking every blush, every whisper of a mention of attraction to men, every possible slip-up, every morsel of their deeply personal love for one another. i imagine a feeling akin to a trapped animal. and you don't know where the predator is or even if there is a predator at all or if you're the one who has done something wrong, all you know is you're trapped. and there are helicopters and a searchlight too.

this isn't a mea culpa; i'm not looking for feedback or reassurances or anything. i really feel super duper okay about feeling this weirdness. i think it's probably good and healthy. i'm sure it's cathartic as hell for them to finally say all of this and point the finger at (some of) us. and we're moving on. they've moved on. i'm aware. and i don't think anyone else should feel any kind of way; i am not a proponent of shame. i hold a firm live and let live approach to fandom, so it feels weird to make this post when i've railed so much against the phandom's guilt complex.

but i did just want to dog-ear this somewhere. that among all of the sappy giddy fluttery feelings, i'm also feeling some weirdness and some reflection. and that amidst all of the joy and hilarity, there was some heavy fucking shit in that show. and so it is odd to feel like i was in some small way a participant in the construction and reinforcement of some of that shit. i know this may all feel like..yeah...duh...rudimentary....and yes of course i've considered this all before, i am self aware, yes. but it's different hearing it so explicitly from them in the flesh, you know?

[kickingitwithkirk]

Winchester's Folly

Summary: When Dean gets into trouble John decides to hide the truth for his family

Pairing: Alpha!Dean x Omega!Reader x Alpha!Sam

WC: 1126

Dark! Fic-don't continue if you are disturbed by the subject matter.

Warnings: A/B/O, dystopian au, canon elements, non/con, dub/con, incest, subjugation, pandemic, mentions of nudity, physical/mental abuse, mention of collaring/leashing, sexual/slavery, rut/heat, physical altercation, death/murder conviction, show level violence, parental dominance, trafficking, branding, panic attacks, bondage, forced mating, dated derogatory terms, medical treatment

*Additional warnings will be added

Square filled: @spnabobingo Slutty Omega

A/N I: Still working on reigning myself in, keeping each part reader-friendly length, and have no clue how many parts this will end up being.

A/N II: a few notes about designations in A/O sub-genders for this story.

Alphas-Dominant (head of the pack/family) Subordinate (obey Dominant) Breeders (rare & highly coveted by the government. Can challenge Dominant for pack/family leadership)

Omegas -Domestic (mostly wiped out by plague, few natural born left) Feral (government-supplied breeders sold commonly called O's) House O’s (3rd generation+ Feral/Dominant breed. Used as servants/sex workers) Pack (rare & highly coveted by the government)

*Divider by @firefly-graphics

*No Beta-all mistakes are mine

**Apologies for taking so long getting this part out-had an accident at work and will have limited used of right hand for a bit.

Series Masterlist

Part XI

Dr. Stevenson slid surgical scissors under the ties, quickly sniping, explaining the original posture collars were redesigned for auto-erotic asphyxiation. It fades out as Dean feels like he's having needles pulling out from under the skin of his neck when she drops. "I was expecting that. Let's get the O back on the table."

The doctor continues talking as they slowly remove it, "And this is why they're outlawed," stepping back allows Dean to see the deep purple bruises with black depressions stripping the unconscious O's neck.

****

The doctor gently scrubbed her neck with a fine-pore sponge and commented, "You felt it, didn't you? " The question took Dean off guard and touched his neck, "How'd you?"

"I noticed the claim mark while I was removing the collar. Finding an O you're biologically compatible with isn't easy these days, and even more so for the owner to claim them if they are." Dean doesn't respond. "'Course, it's none of my business. I'm seeing a lot of soft tissue abrasion but no skin necropsy. That's good. Bruise cream will speed up healing." The doctor shined a light into her mouth. "Has she attempted to speak?" Dean admitted he had not heard anything outside coughing.

"I am concerned about this inflammation in her throat." They pick up a swab. "I'm going to have some labs run. Make sure it isn't from an STI since O clinics are only obligated to run standard STD testing for appearances." Slipping the swap into a sterile tube notices the Alpha's confusion.

"Several years into Hibbing, there was unrest brewing about selling people, so the government mandated all O's must have their hymens intact before the first purchase and made propaganda reels still shown in schools to program the populous in believing they're not mistreated." The doctor moves to a cupboard, pulling out a sterile pack.

"Truth is, these O's are versed in various sexual acts by the time they're teens. Going by the physical, I'd say she's been repeatedly throat fucked with that collar on; undoubtedly, it's also done some damage to her vocal cords. But if you're willing, you can do things to help." They gauge Dean before continuing.

"Give her nothing too hot or cold, only room temperature. Tea with honey, soft foods only need to swallow, nothing chewy, and protein supplement specifically for O's. If lucky, she'll recover enough to be understandable but be prepared for the worst, that she'll never speak again." They began preparing a site near the original implant. "I'd normally like to wait on the suppressant; it'll slow down healing. But with her current physical condition, going into heat would be detrimental."

They continued talking, oblivious Dean's vibrating with anger in muscle memory: unable to stop the strangers hovering over his Omega because being tased several times had temporarily left his legs unusable; furiousgrowls bounced around the room when he smelled her blood. Needing a distraction before his instincts swallow him, Dean turns his attention elsewhere and eyes the collar.

Running his fingers over it, he feels the visual bumps and discovers slim, horizontal boning embedded in the leather and hears the doctor comment, "They're constriction rings, function similar to cock rings without the pleasurable effects."

Dean's habitual guilty-as-hell caught in his throat. He failed again to see what was right before him. He shouldn't have kept blindly believing his dad's continued quoting of that damn pamphlet, that him treating it like any other person confused its lower intelligence.

Sam's snide comment that only dick Alphas believed in that antiquated bullshit led to the latest round of Dean physically getting between them before punches got thrown. His wonders what level of dick his brother now considers him is interrupted by the phone's ringtone.

"Hey Bobby, no, still at the clinic. What? Sam's registering shouldn't be an issue; his paperwork is all there." Dean listened to the Betas ranting. "Alright, I'll head over there and deal with it." Then came a list of errands the Beta needed him to run made Dean pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Just what he needed; more things slapped on his overflowing plate when he felt the O coming around, ending the call to focus on her. "Hi, sweetheart. Have a good nap?"

She turned towards his voice, spotting the IV pole, and glanced down at the tubing protruding from her wrist. She peered at him and blinked three times, the signal for question. "You have something going on in your throat and need some antibiotics and fluids. Listen, I gotta run out for a while and deal with something at Sam's school. Will you be okay?"

That's when it smacked Dean; something had shifted between them. If he allows himself to be honest with himself, it scares him. Refocusing on the O, he's unnerved by her concerned expression, too similar to Sam's, and feels relief when she blinks once for yes since he's unsure how to react to her becoming more in tune with his internal feelings.

Grabbing the three-quarter-drank bottle of rotgut, Bobby doesn't bother with the glass; he feels it burn his throat as he polishes it off. Banging the bottle down, he stares at the wording on the paperwork and understands why John was so cagey about his questioning about Frank. The sonuvabitch knowingly mated his children; that practice hasn't been done since before the Omega plague. And knowing the temperament of the man, it wasn't to get Dean out of dire straits because he is John’s son, but for the older Alphas' continued vendetta.

The Beta's mind whirled with questions, but one kept popping to the forefront- who or what made her appear out of nowhere, and why now?

The longer he broods, the more he's convinced it has links to Mary Winchester. Picking up the cordless phone, he dials a familiar number. "Hey Bobby," a female voice warmly says. "Guess you're not calling to find out who to bet on in Sunday's playoffs."

"We both know the Vikings are going to the Superbowl," there's an amused laugh on the line, "Keep telling yourself that. So what can I help you with?"

"I'm not sure where to start with this one," Bobby admits and hears cards shuffling through the receiver. "It'd be best to go back to the beginning. And keep the drinks down to a minimum." He glances at the new bottle he had sat on the desk just before calling, "How'd you...?"

"I'm the best damn psychic in the state," Pamela reminds him, "So start talking, or I will reverse the charges for this call." Bobby makes a vexed noise at his fellow Betas' cheekiness.

"In 1986, I met a man with two small boys looking for answers."

Part XII

SPN TAGS: @donnaintx @lyarr24 @flamencodiva @lassie-bird @nancymcl @spnbaby-67 @leigh70 @b3autyfuld1sast3r

Sam/Jared: @idreamofplaid

Dean/Jensen: @thoughts-and-funnies @stoneyggirl2 @beabutterfly987 @smoothdogsgirl

WF: @slamminmine @ladysparkles78 @deans-spinster-witch @ilovetaquitosmmmm @strawblueberrys @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @kazsrm67 @elmolovesw33d

[unhingedreblogging]

I'm gonna post some of my Danny phantom headcanons under the cut, because it's gonna be looooong I think, read through if you'd really like to see how my brain works on this.

Ghost cores and corespeak

Now, we all know cores, they're the physical manifestation of the soul, the everything to a ghost. Here's a few new things I have thoughts on:

Cores become denser the older a ghost was before formation, thicker layers to represent a more clear cut sense of self, while younger ghosts are more fluid and easily change their shape after formation. Of course there is a drop off point, after a certain Living age, the sense of self dulls and loses definition, leading to these ghosts being more like looking through cloudy glass, that's the best way to describe it.

Corespeak is all emotions, thoughts, feelings, and concepts, and the actual sounds are tied into how a ghost, were they originally of the Living, died. It is, of course, incredibly taboo to point sounds out that you can recognize when they are tied to said ghosts death, you simply do not hear them, you do not recognize the sounds of Death. A Neverborn or Spirit are different in their corespeak, these sounds are tied into their nature as a Being of ye Infinite Realms, the element their core has taken on, or their place in the overarching monarchy of the Infinite Realms.

Now, of course there are elemental cores, but there are also conceptual cores, for beings such as Clockwork, Nocturn, and Undergrowth, Time, Sleep, and Nature respectively, although an argument can be made for Undergrowth to have a Life core instead, I do take suggestions and criticism, debating is an excellent way to grow your thoughts.

Auras

Now, we've seen the glow a ghost has, this can be a way to judge overall health at a glance, the stronger a ghost is, the brighter and steadier the glow. When a ghost begins to feel weak, their glow will dim, when they feel sick their glow with waver, when both are happening it is time to take them to a medical facility, of which there are many should you know where to go.

Bonds

Ghosts bond through friendly fighting, verbal altercations, and mutual aid to said ghosts haunts. These bonds can range anywhere from friendship to romantic to even parental, depending on the type of aid, level of combat, verbal wit being displayed, or some combination of the three.

Haunts

Haunts are a ghosts home, or claimed area of the Living realm or the Infinite Realms. To trespass into a haunt is frowned upon, but as long as a proper apology is delivered the slight will be forgotten. Examples of proper apology gifts are: Obsession fulfillment, food, drink, or assistance with a problem in the haunt.

[ancientbygone]

simulacra 3 [take me back to eden]

[sundowning] [tpwbyt]

Sleep's mimic forms of the vessels during the time period of TMBTE, because i can't be normal and start a series from the beginning and not the end.

more info + design breakdowns under the cut:

[obligatory "when talking about the vessels, i'm talking about characters" disclaimer]

background info on the whole idea:

Sleep as a being is shapeless in my mind; more of a concept than a creature. it can manifest as sort of an absence of light in any shape to others, usually to appeal to feeling/emotion. the only "rule" for that is that whatever Sleep tries to appear as cannot look more or less innocent/powerful than Sleep actually is, which usually manifests in two things: the size being different from the thing/person it's imitating, scaled according to power, and/or added features, usually in some way threatening or regal.

one of Sleep's more consistent forms it takes throughout interacting with Vessel is mimicking him, partially to create an illusion of the two being more similar than they actually are and partially because Sleep used to exist as Vessel's shadow when they'd just met. the visual itself has changed through time (you can see what it was like during Sundowning in my Higher artwork), and during TMBTE that visual is pretty much the titular song's character with the most minor tweaks (which is why i didn't draw it separately).

all that made me think about the idea of Sleep mimicking the other vessels just to fuck with Vessel further (to be clear, i am a strong believer that Sleep only interacts with Vessel in any way). so now here are the designs of those mimics during the events of TMBTE, utilizing the album's song characters much like the Vessel mimic. because again, i have to start a series from the end, i guess.

"ii"/ii mimic (song character used: AYROK)

the main idea driving the design of "ii" is the real ii's goal to keep Vessel more or less safe by being by his side in worshipping Sleep, which is the reason he'd decided to become the second vessel in the first place. the choice of AYROK as the character to use in this design is obvious. one of the ideas that stem from that is ii's duty/desire to keep his face hidden for Vessel's sake; only his hands are visible & detailed because that's the only part of him Vessel remembers before either of them became vessels of Sleep and the only part ii has really shown after that. another is ii's timidity in telling Vessel to go against Sleep's will because he fears that no matter how bad it may be, it'll be much worse if Vessel doesn't follow it. that part comes through in the pose - shyly holding his hands together as if they're tied.

"iii"/iii mimic (song character used: Aqua Regia)

the song character inspo being Aqua Regia is mostly because of the calmer nature of the song and the dynamic duo it makes with Vore, less so the themes of the lyrics. also its visual design. iii mimic's design themes are iii's adoration/borderline obsession with Vessel (wearing Vessel's jewelry and having elements of his robe in his shirt + his own face/mask slowly melting off) and his enagement with worship as an act/aesthetic rather than something more serious (the overabundance of jewelry and accessories; the extra arms; the body language; the cuffs around his arms and legs being decorative and not actually restricting). also the rings on his fingers make a checkered pattern.

"iv"/iv mimic (song character used: Vore)

the use of Vore for "iv" is obvious too. song wouldn't be the same without his real life self. the design really just aims to combine iv with the Vore character, but there are two big things here. the simplest one is anger issues, which is why he's So Goddamn Spiky and why his jacket looks like scarred skin rather than painted & customized. the anger mostly shows up in the body language: most of the time "iv" just stares unblinkingly with pure palpable ire in the two glowing dots for eyes, and when he does move it's very stiff and snappy and barely controlled. the other thing is that, simply speaking, the real iv got into this whole mess without knowing the full extent of it and now he's in too deep and kinda losing himself. in the design it's expressed through the human features gradually turning into bug-like, such as the hoodie fading into a segmented millipede-like body and the fucked up mantis hands, and the gold of the original iv's mask melting over the face with the horns being part of it. the spikes protrude from him in a way that makes it difficult to distinguish between jacket decorations and actual parts of his body, but the spines are definitely from his body & allow me to live the dream of iv with a mohawk LMAO

anyway have fun with these go nuts i'll make similar sheets & posts for Sundowning and TPWBYT eventually

[tornadoeffect]

Thinking about how similar yet how different Max and Rachel are...

Rachel is obviously destructive and impulsive in some ways, whether it's intentional or not, but so is Max! She does fix things a lot in the game, or at least tries to, but there are various occasions where she can act upon destructive desires mainly thanks to her newfound powers. For example, she immediately decides to blow up the doorknob to the principal's office when she can't find a key with Chloe and the latter can't pick the lock open. She can also spill Frank's beans onto the ground unprovoked. These are minor examples, but the greatest one of course is the Bae>Bay ending where she quite literally lets a tornado swallow up her entire childhood town to keep her best friend (girlfriend?) from dying. Her very powers are associated with the chaos theory. She says herself in her dream: "You're a goddam hypocrite. You've left a trail of death and suffering behind you.". She also says later in the game: "I can't keep fixing everything, if all I'm gonna do is just break it, over and over again!" Sure, this is her low self esteem and slight self loathing talking (as well as her having a normal reaction to the awful situation she's been put into), but the words have some merit if you look into them. Her powers, seemingly designed to fix things, seem to just make everything worse or break something else instead.

More under cut.

Meanwhile, Rachel turns a small, controlled burning of a picture into a forest fire. She spikes Victoria's drink on one occasion to keep her role in a play. She throws a bottle near Chloe in a junkyard in anger. She develops a self destructive drug usage habit. I'd argue her relationship with dangerous, older men is self destructive. Her difficulty with communication adds a chaotic element to her and Chloe's relationship (even though she's by far not the only guilty party involved). She breaks a table when her pent up anger towards her father escapes containment. She's associated with fire and the storm. There's obviously nuance to her actions, which is why I mentioned them being intentional or not at the start, but it doesn't erase their destructive or impulsive nature.

Now, I use the terms "destructive" and "impulsive" loosely here. And obviously, most of the examples I provided for Rachel are a lot more extreme than the ones I provided for Max, but I still think I got my point across. They both cause chaos, destruction, and disharmony around them, mostly guided by their feelings and what they consider to be "right" or "wrong", "deserved", "necessary", etc. And if the theory about Rachel being the one to grant Max her powers is true, then destruction links them together even more.

Furthermore, they're both young women onto whom destiny shoves great burdens and seems to play painfully ironic games with: Rachel must maintain her perfect appearance despite her unstable and crumbling sense of identity and freedom and the sudden revelation of her family's past, and she ends up an aspiring model dying horribly in a dark room; Max unlocks super powers out of the blue one day and tried to do good with them, but as she figures them out she ties them (and by consequence, herself) to a deadly approaching tornado without mentioning the extremely traumatic events she goes through in a matter of a week, and ends up having to decide whether to sacrifice an entire town or her closest friend.

And most importantly of all: they are both trapped by or in Arcadia Bay, albeit in differing ways. Rachel's case is more obvious: she's literally, physically trapped due to her family's unwillingness to move and her inability to leave alone, which is especially suffocating for her free spirit, and she's also metaphorically trapped by heavy expectations from everyone around her, feeling like she has no room to define herself.... herself. She's buried in the town's junkyard after years of dreaming of freedom. Max physically leaves/"escapes" Arcadia Bay as a child with her move (though she didn't especially want to), and does go back voluntarily, but is almost immediately chained to the very fate of the place and its people out of nowhere. I'd also argue that her past with Chloe and the guilt she feels because of it also traps a part of her in Arcadia for a long time. And after the ending, no matter what she chooses, Arcadia Bay will never let her go for the rest of her life.

[sparklycharmy]

Neuvillette, Zhongli, and Yin-Yang.

zhongli is fairly complex and looks to be an equal blend of both (with more reverence to yang should his connections to the heavens prevail over earthly connections/symbolisms). earth in general symbolizes yin (with regard to solely the heavens vs earth context in chinese philosophy), however, his undeniable associations with the sun and his celestial origins introduce very potent yang elements in equal measure.

Zhongli

Yin characteristics:

1. stability and reliability: as an earth-associated figure, zhongli embodies stability, always presenting a dependable, supportive, and firm presence.

2. connection to the material: earth represents the tangible, material world, reflecting zhongli’s role as the god responsible for the creation of mora and economic stability in the earthly realm.

3. his geo element: he regularly controls an element associated with the earthly realm: yin!

4. philosophical and reflective: he often displays deep philosophical thought, engaging in teachings and reflections about order and the general world. he’s calm and gently supportive to those he looks after and is usually never the aggressor.

5. his other form is part qilin: the qilin represents yin! or at least leans more toward it.

Yang characteristics:

1. celestial authority: as a figure who came from the heavens (not earth) and is still a leading god (no longer an archon, but i say leader because 1) xiao wouldn't still have to go to him for permission to do certain things and 2) zhongli says he still as a duty to care for humanity), zhongli embodies celestial authority and control, which are hallmarks of yang energy.

2. guiding light: just like the sun, he serves as a guiding light for liyue, directing its people towards prosperity and self-sufficiency. his role as a celestial being involves watching over and actively protecting liyue. his prominent, guiding influence continues to preside over liyue, even in his absence (yang).

3. dynamic influence: his lines and lore in cn refer a lot more to the heavens, one example being the phrase "heavens move, earth follows", aligning with yang qualities of authority over the earth and guiding its element(s).

4. intimidating presence: even when disguised as a human, others are too intimidated to talk to him. despite that, his strong reputation has most of the people he interacts with regard him with reverence.

5. he represents the eastern dragon (and directly refers to himself as a dragon, even after retiring and no longer interacting with humans as a god): the eastern dragon is an embodiment of yang. they're gentle in nature yes, but embody yang according to sources (especially heavenly dragons).

6. power: zhongli is notoriously known for being a ruthless warrior of formidable strength and a daunting reputation. he is extremely assertive when it comes to contracts and impartially enforcing them (which he prioritizes over all else when involved).

- as a minor detail, adeptal energy is also more ethereal in nature than elemental (so yang affiliated), and zhongli is noted to be their ancestor on top of not being from the earthly realm.

In conclusion, he is a perfect blend of both, with a slight lean to yang.

Neuvillette:

neuvillette is similar to zhongli but remains oh so different. unlike zhongli, neuvillette’s element(s) are solely associated with yin; he does not hold heavenly (yang) ties in the same way zhongli does.

Yang characteristics

1. leadership: as a sovereign, his leadership and authority over fontaine demonstrate yang characteristics of control and assertiveness. his unwavering commitment to his role as chief justice, ensuring justice and order, is a yang trait.

2. opposition to the heavenly principles: his proactive stance against the usurpation of authority by the heavenly principles shows a decisive, yang-like purpose and he intends to go through with that purpose with action...we don’t know when, but soon.

3. he’s supposed to represent a western dragon. these dragons are more aggressive and arrogant in comparison to their eastern counterparts.

4. commanding presence: despite reaching out for amiable interactions, he holds a somewhat intimidating presence at first impressions.

Yin Characteristics

1. judicial purpose: as chief justice, neuvillette embodies the yin quality of receptivity by focusing on balance and fairness in the system.

2. care for the melusines: his protective and nurturing attitude towards the melusines aligns with the yin aspects of care and empathy. his soft nature is referred to several times.

3. contemplative nature: neuvillette holds an introspective approach to just about everything. his duties and his thoughtfulness are rooted in trying to understand humanity to better understand himself (a major yin trait, his foundational purpose is associated with introspection). this reasoning is highly reflective, aligning with yin.

4. preference for subtle simplicities and sensitivity: his taste. his sensitive nature is noted by sigewienne and himself.

5. emotional depth: the care he shows for fontainians and his role connect to his emotional depth and feelings for others, core yin qualities. emotional depth is shown to be an overarching part of his character again and again; his emotions have a direct influence over the entirety of fontaine and its weather for example.

6. his element. water represents depth, fluidity, intuition, and the capacity to flow and adapt, all of which align with yin characteristics. in most sources, water is solely referred to as a yin element.

- as a minor detail, his sq has yin written all over it! literally everything about it is sourced back to neuvillette’s own internal conflict/introspection (wriothesley helps in pointing this out, too). it is one of the only major quests/sqs that do not have us fighting a big bad, the main resolution ultimately lies in assuaging neuvillette’s internal conflict that paints his perspective of the world around him.

- the primordial sea, which he rules over and is of him, is referred to as “amniotic fluid” (the fluid that only exists to support a fetus) which undeniably connects to womb symbolism (supporting this is the fact the sea is the source of all terrestrial life on the planet!).

in conclusion, neuvillette embodies a nuanced mix of both yin and yang qualities, while leaning slightly more to yin.

PS: i almost forgot about his voiceline detailing the intimate connection himself and his vishaps have with the moon, a yin figure!

PPS: just a funny detail: he detests the sun.

[gattnk]

Working with Irene is a dream come true! Now Igor on the other hand... talk about a nightmare...!

This is it folks, the last of the Golden School teachers! We still have some other Eternals left to go, as well as the humans, but I feel like this is a good milestone to start the year with. Now, Irene and Igor are very particular: they only show up in what the fandom refers to as the "Russian saga", a self-contained story based on the show where Raf, Sulfus and friends briefly go to Russia for some lessons under these two. This context informed my design choices a lot, and they go as follows:

I chose Irene and Igor to be in charge of the Oneiric Compositing faculty, that is, dream-crafting. The concept came from Uriè's digi-dream camera: I thought it would be interesting if angels and devils also influenced humans in their sleep by either inspiring goodness or tormenting with fear respectively.

Irene's canon dress threw me off a bit: I could tell it was a Russian noblewoman's dress thanks to all the gold embroidery and red fabric, but I couldn't pinpoint its exact influence other than it was not a common sarafan. I scrapped the nobility aspect in favor of something more homely, inspired by traditional Eastern European clothes and the Matrioska doll (sorry, no detailed embroidery, I have to respect the design philosophy I've kept so far).

I chose the Matrioska doll as my key inspiration to homage the Russian saga, but also because of its ample symbolism. Some believe these dolls grant wishes and bring good omens; others find them to represent the layers of the mind and the self; they can also be seen as a mother figure, a symbol that embraces and protects generations to come. There's so many ways to look at Matrioska dolls and interpret them, just like dreams!

Igor also had to depart from his canon counterpart: I could tell the original design was inspired by Rasputin, and I see how his infamous reputation could enrich a devil character, but that same infamy could be brought into the picture in other ways. I kept the body complexion, the beard and the long coat as key elements so he would still be recognizable, but I fully departed from the real historical figure and instead focused on making him look like a nightmare that instilled fear and terror.

When I think "nightmare", I think boogeyman, bugbear, Krampus. A spindly, crooked old man that uses his walking cane to punish more than he does for walking, who will stuff you in a sack and take you away if you misbehave, his glowing eyes being the last thing you see before everything goes dark... His only mercy comes from his victims shuffling in the bag, thus ringing the bells tied on top, so now the other children know to beware! >:D

Irene's colors are the traditional primary colors: red, yellow and blue; red and yellow are warm colors and are naturally very eye-catching, so for contrast I used more shades of desaturated blue in her design. Her design is very curvy and full of semicircles, which inspired her halo's shape.

Igor instead has the traditional secondary colors: green, purple and orange; since green is very versatile in terms of warmth and coldness, I used it to highlight certain elements while keeping the rest of the palette more muted and dark (thus the orange became brown). His ram horns are very angular like the rest of his design, and they're the biggest devil horns yet, signifying his age.

If math serves me right I'm only missing three more Eternal designs for the central cast of characters (if you guess correctly which ones, you earn a cookie), but then again I was never great with numbers so I might surprise even myself down the line, hehe. We're done with the Golden School staff! Huzzah! :D

I'll Fly With You (rewrite fic) Art Masterpost

[practical-hearthcraft]

Crafting Your Own Intuitive Spells

Alternative titles: How to Customise Your Own Spells OR The Importance of Learning Magical Theory.

Hi, hello. I want to talk about how you can learn to design your own spells for your specific needs and provide some insight on why magical theory is so important and how we can apply that knowledge. I'm not particularly eloquent, but I really feel this is crucial information for any baby/beginner witches who are looking to deepen their craft and develop their skills further.

As you develop your practice and learn more about what works for you, you might find the spells you come across online don't quite suit your needs. At this point it's vital to have a firm understanding on core theory so that you can develop spells and rituals which resonate with you specifically.

So, how do we do this? To break it down, I'm going to walk you through an example spell I've recently worked on. I'll explain why I chose which components and why, and hopefully, it can spark a conversation and provide some insight. So grab a cup of something warm, and let's get into it!

I'm also tagging @ofdirtandbones, @drinkbooksreadtea, and @spilledmagic13, who commented on my interest post. I hope you guys find this useful!

We're going to work through a popular spell format, a money jar spell.

We all love a jar spell as they don't need a lot of expensive or hard-to-track-down components, and they're great for manifestation spells, but if you want it to be effective, you need to customise it to your needs specifically.

First things first, we need to identify what we want to achieve. On this occasion, I am looking for something powerful but long-lasting. I am performing this for both my dad and husband as they're both facing similar situations at work, and both have the chance to lead to some financial success.

The second thing I need to do is look at my own craft and identify my strengths. Personally, I have strong ties to herbs, plants, and crystals, as I'm very much an earth-element-influenced witch. I also prefer to conduct my spells outside in nature, and I find weather plays into how I channel my intent.

The trick to intuitive spellcasting is marrying the intent to the practitioner. As you will see, many of my choices for this spell are really personal. I think this is often why a lot of the spells, etc, you see online are aimed more at beginner witches. Each witch's craft will be so personal to them as they develop relationships with different plants, crystals, etc, so no two witch's grimoires will ever look the same. A witch who works with celestial aspects may wait for a specific planetary alignment or choose herbs that correspond with The Sun for power and success. A witch more called to the element of water might want to use a specific type of water infused with herbs and (water/salt resistant) crystals.

So, let's get into it!

Most of the time, I tend to follow a particular routine of questions when designing a spell.

Timing: Is the timing of these spells going to be important? Well, I want this to affect careers and wealth, so if I'm working with correspondences in nature, I want to time this during the waxing of the moon to invoke manifestation, growth, abundance and a sense of drawing wealth towards the subjects of the spell. I don't worry about the day of the week as I don't hold any pantheon, and many of the links there are based on the gods. If you are an observer of a particular pantheon, you may wish to call on the aid of a specific deity who will be linked to a particular day, thus influencing the timing of your spell.

Elements: Which elements might we want to use for this spell? As mentioned, I'm very nature based and channeling the elements really helps. Because I want to focus on wealth and material abundance, this is definitely going to be an earthy spell. That means I'm going to use a lot of herbs. Earth is a slow-moving element which will give me the long-lasting effect I want, especially given that it's a jar spell, so I'm going to balance this out with Fire as well. Fire is really good when I want to add some oomph, and its faster nature should hopefully balance out the slower pace of Earth. I don't like my spells to only call on one element as I find it can then be out of balance, and in my experience, that often leads to undesirable outcomes. Fire is a great element for expansion, and conversely, Earth is wonderful for stability, both aspects I want to include.

Foci: What tools do I want to use to help focus my intention? I love using crystals as physical anchors during my spells. I find they really help me keep focus and harness my intent. I also like to reflect on my tarot cards, as this can help me explore different aspects and outcomes of whichever spell I'm working on, which can also help strengthen my intent.

Power: How powerful do I need this spell to be? Is this a little boost I need in some part of my life or are we looking for big changes to be made? Energy = Power here, so if I want significant results that will have long-lasting positive effects, I want to ensure that the spell I cast is a big one. For me that means layering intention and meaning through multiple components. Go big or go home.

Okay, so I've considered my goal, my strengths and personal correspondences, and I've established certain pillars of the spell I want to incorporate. Now we tie it together! This is the fun part.

On this occasion, I decided to set up a bowl outside to burn herbs of my choosing. I would use the time of the fire burning to focus on my intent and hopes for the spell, and then I would collect the ashes into a jar, which I would seal and keep on my altar until I saw the desired outcome.

Choosing herbs will be straightforward for most practitioners. I say most because so much of the herblore available online is based on Western correspondences. If you are a witch practising in the Caribbean, for example, you might find certain plants hold different meanings than if you were working out of Scotland. So, where possible, work with the herb meanings of your culture, and you'll find it much more powerful.

I decided I wanted to work with Bay, Mint, Basil and Cloves. 5 is my lucky number, so I chose 5 leaves/cloves of each. I'm fortunate to have a pretty nice garden, so I also elected to use plants from my own home, specifically because I was trying to direct wealth towards family members, and I felt using herbs grown in my own home would lend strength to that. I also included salt in my bowl. I chose Bay, Mint and Basil as personally all three symbolise wealth, abundance and prosperity to me. I chose Salt and Cloves for protection. I personally always include protective magic in money spells as I have no interest in dirty money coming my way, especially if I'm acting on behalf of loved ones. Salt to me, also holds an aspect of hard work which is a trait held by both targets of this spell so it felt fitting.

As I was going to be burning things and I'm lucky enough to be openly witchy, I got a fire pit and set it up in my garden once the moon had risen in the sky. I use an app for that timing. As much of my craft is rooted in a mixture of English Cunning and Welsh Folk magic, I chose to face North for Earth. Your cardinal directions may differ depending on your practice.

As I added each herb to the bowl, (fireproof, with a bucket of water close by for safety) I called on the property of the plant. I'm not one for chanting or rhyming, but if you are and you find it beneficial, please feel free to say something at this point. Once all components were added, I wrote down my intention for each target of the spell on some paper, wadded them up, and added them to the bowl as well. Then I lit a match and set fire to the contents.

Just a practical note here: fresh herbs don't burn well! So if you're burning something, try to either use dry herbs or you can dry your own fresh herbs in an oven or dehumidifier.

While my fire burned, I held onto some aventurine (for creativity, the release of blockages and good fortune) and the IX of Pentacles for my foci. As I wasn't burning a large amount, the fire didn't burn for too long, but I made sure to really focus on my intent while it burned.

Once the fire was out I carefully collected the ashes into a jar. Again, as a practical measure, I went for a screw-top jar. This is mainly because a money jar needs to be shaken daily, and I don't want to have to worry about ash getting all over my clothes and altar each morning, so I wanted something that would have a good seal. I didn't want to seal with wax; I have found wax seals are better for banishment or containment spells than spells where I need some movement of energy.

Once my jar was filled, I added some pennies, sealed it shut, and placed it on my altar. I had cleansed the jar itself with some incense prior to use, and I'd anointed it with some prosperity oil, so it was all good to go. I shake it daily and have already seen some positive outcomes.

If you've made it to the end of this example, well done, and thank you! I hope this provides some guidance on how you can begin to develop your own spells. If you have any follow-up questions or thoughts, my ask box is always open. If you disagree with any of the above, I'd love to hear from you and learn more about your approach.

[mcdonaldsforehead-emofurry]

Daoism and The Complicated Bond Between a Hero and their Arch-Enemy ☯️

(Disclaimer: I'm not an expert on Daoism/Taoism, and even though I made sure to do plenty of research before writing this, I'm likely going to be wrong about some things. If I got something wrong, please correct me. I'm also going to use the Daoism spelling from now on for the sake of simplicity)

A common sentiment expressed between a hero and their arch villain is "Wow, the villain is the yin to that hero's yang", or "They're so yin and yang".

I myself am not an exception, as I've made that point before, especially in relation to the characters I talk about on my blog. But what does that truly mean, and how much does the original source (Daoism) play into these characters in their story?

The most commonly held definition of Daoism is that it's an ancient set of beliefs that focus on being harmonious with the universe (AKA the Dao) via being spiritually/emotionally/physically balanced within. The hard part of the definition comes specifically from the Dao because it represents the universe and its overall depth along with the seemingly contradictive beliefs that come from it. (which is fitting because of how vast and fluid the very nature of the universe is). [2][4][5]

One of the main ways the universe/oneself can remain in balance is through the aforementioned concept of Yin and Yang. Yin is the darkness that holds light and Yang is the light that holds darkness. Yin is feminine, quiet, passive, calm, and negative. Whereas Yang is masculine, loud, aggressive, and positive.

Despite these contradictive traits, Yin and Yang are forces that can't live without one another or else the universe would be out of balance. This balance is achieved through each one having an aspect of each other, as Yin holds some of Yang's passionate and aggression while Yang holds some of Yin's softer and colder parts from within.

It's also important to note neither is inherently good or bad. Rather, they're merely two sides of the same coin that remind us that everyone and everything is multifaceted.

Another concept I need to define from Daoism is Wuxing:

[1][3]: Wuxing Theory/Philosophy is a principle found in Daoism that sets to explain the natural order in the world. Wuxing incudes the elements and their associated color: fire with red, earth with yellow, metal with white, water with black, and wood with green/blue. Each of these elements/colors represent the different aspects/cycles of life including the seasons, body parts, planets, life stages, directions, etc.

[3] Here's a simplified chart showing what each element represent/is associated with:

And here is a simplified chart showing the relationship each element has with each other:

The elements chosen are more so allegorical rather than literal, which is why wood and earth are considered two elements instead of one.

When the wuxing elements are out of balance, a person's self/the world divulges into chaos as the order of nature is ruined. However, when in balance (both the destruction and creation aspects), one's self is complete and in line with the natural order of the world.

This post is going to focus on how this concept applies to the "enemies and lovers" (though lovers can be substituted with friend if desired) trope; specifically between Batman/Joker, Adora/Catra, and Ekko/Jinx. I chose these three relationships because I feel each relationship represents what happens when Daoism is applied in different ways, because this blog is mostly focused on those three, and because I feel like the Batman/Joker dynamic is arguably the most influential/subversive Yin/Yang duo in the modern age.

Which brings me right to-

Part 1: "You're the yin to my yang, can't you see?" Batman and Joker

Before analyzing the specific dynamic and how that influences their respective story, I'm going to analyze the aesthetics because I think the physical appearances are a good visual indicator of their ties to Daoism.

Simply put, Batman is the embodiment of "Dark is not Evil" whereas Joker is the embodiment of "Light is not Good". Batman wears all black to hide in the shadows and blend in while Joker wears bright colors to stand out from the shadowy Gotham. Batman works hard to uphold justice while Joker works hard to spread harmful chaos. Even more interesting is that Batman wears fully black while having white pupils, while in the animated series, one of Joker's redesigns has him with (sans undertale type) black eyes against his white skin. This would seemingly lead to the conclusion that Batman is Yin while Joker is Yang. After all, Yin is usually the quieter/repressed one with elements of aggression while Yang is the opposite.

However, it can also be argued that Batman is Yang due to his aggressive and passion to help others while holding a deep darkness within, while Joker could be Yin due to his overall darker nature with his jovial side being hidden behind his actions.

its been stated by both men how they could've easily become the other after their respective "bad day":

Detective Comics #33 (1939) Bill Finger and Gardner Fox

Batman: The Killing Joke DC Comics (1988) Alan Moore

Either way, I think this ambiguity of who Batman/Joker represents is fitting for what Yin and Yang is because everyone has a bit of Yin and Yang in them.

However, what makes Batman and Joker the ultimate Yin and Yang duo is the fact they represent opposite ideals while reacting in completely different ways. Because of how extreme said ideals they get, both men need a barrier of some sort to keep the other from going over the edge.

After all, its been said by Batman himself that if he killed the Joker he'd end up going overboard with wrath and end up hurting more than intended:

Batman: Under the Hood (2005) Judd Winick

Besides that, Batman's anger is infamous for how it manifests in a highly controlling nature. One of the only people that can go against and challenge Batman's controlling nature is Joker. Likewise, the only person who can plan for Joker's chaos is Batman. That's what makes their fights so personal for each man. They aren't just fighting a man they hate, they're fighting the contradictive ideals they see in one another while giving the other symbolic purpose.

It's no wonder why there are a multitude of stories that showcase Joker grieving over Batman's death/disappearance. After all, without Batman, crime has no punchline:

Knight Terrors: The Joker #1 by Matthew Rosenberg

Joker's 80th Anniversary: Kill the Batman, Gary Whitta

Batman The Animated Series Epsidoe 51: "The Man Who Killed Batman"

Some other examples include The Dark Knight Returns (by Frank Miller), and Going Sane (by J. M. Dematteis, Eddie Campbell, and Daren White).

While Joker is open about how much he needs Batman (with the most infamous example that comes to mind is the final fight between them in Arkham Knight), Bruce is a lot harder to crack.

At first, Batman's feelings are cut and dry, with him hating Joker for all the terrible things he put him and his loved one's through. However, various adaptations and comics (especially in recent years) have shown that Batman's feelings about the Joker are a lot more complicated than originally thought.

Part of this complication comes from how they've been fighting for so long that it's become routine for both of them. Ironic considering that Joker is all about chaos, but I digress. Heck, this same point is brought up in Batman Arkham Knight: The Riddler's Gambit by Alexander C. Irvine, where Batman tries to sort out his seemingly out of place grief that came after Joker died due to how familiar fighting him was.

Another part of this complication is due to the nature of comic books and all the adaptations that come from it. Some writers will write Batman mourning over the loss of Joker (I.E. The short story Perp Walk by Jason Shawn Alexander, The Arkhamverse, The Injustice series, Batman: Damned by Brian Azzarello, etc) whereas other writers will showcase Batman not giving a crap over Joker and his death (I.E. the DCAU). The only thing we can guarantee is that Joker makes Batman feel everything BUT indifference. Even when Batman claims he means nothing to him, he's usually screaming this or putting other peoples safety in jeopardy just so he can deal with his seemingly unimportant butt.

Whatever their personal feelings are, it doesn't stop the fact both men are trapped in a dance with one another due to their conflicting ideas.

Which brings up the question "If Yin and Yang are meant to compliment each other, how can Batman and Joker be Yin and Yang if they constantly fight with one another while rarely working together?"

Outside of their team up storylines including Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo (2023) by: Marc Silvestri, Batman: Europa (2016) by Brian Azzarello, Batman: The Enemy Within, Batman: The Brave and the Bold: season 1 episode 13 Game Over for Owlman, and Dark Knights: Metal (2017) by Scott Synder), they don't seemingly mash well.

And that is the crux of how Batman and Joker both subvert and utilize Yin and Yang. Does being opposites and the same while not being able to truly work with one another prevent them from being truly Yin and Yang? Or is it only a reflection of how Yin and Yang are both separate concepts that retain their individual ideas even when together? There's a lot to say how their cosmic fight both utilizes and rejects the union present in Yin and Yang (at least in a conventional way).

Whatever the case may be, the ties they do share with Yin and Yang is a reflection of each other's vices, and potential successes should they work together. Unfortunately, with the nature of comic books, these two won't be able to break apart from the cycle, which both supports the idea how they both subvert and utilize the tethered nature of Yin and Yang.

Part 2: "But you two... Even when you're trying to kill each other, you can tell there's a real bond there" Adora and Catra

Just like the previous section, I'm going to start off with analyzing the aesthetics' of these two before doing a deeper dive into how Daoism plays into their story:

Adora's main color palette includes red, white, and gold whereas Catra's color palette is red and black (with occasional violet-red in some of her outfits). They both share the color red as a reference to their leadership roles, but the difference with Adora having white and Catra having black best represents how the symbolism of red is applied differently. For Adora, red represents confidence, strength, energy, and health while for Catra, red represents danger, war, blood, anger, and passion.

With these descriptors, Adora/She Ra could be represented with Yang while Catra can represent Yin. Adora is more spunky, competitive, confident, and noble while Catra is closed off, sly, colder, and feminine. And like Yin and Yang, they held opposite qualities, with Catra being often rougher than Adora while Adora (at first) had to be told what to do and wasn't very assertive in what she wanted in her own life.

The whole series follows the fall and rise of their relationship, and how they go from enemies to allies over the course of several years. In short, their relationship serves as the backdrop for the show's universe; as while the two were fighting against each other, Etheria was often in jeopardy. However, when they reconciled and truly opened up to one another, they were able to save everyone around them.

Even their very character growth required them to learn from one another. Adora needed to have some of Catra's selfishness while Catra needed some of Adora's sympathy for others. Without these lessons, the two were self-destructive and unhappy. In this case, selfishness turns into self-love when applied correctly.

This union is also showcased in their future outfits, as Adora adopts some of Catra's feminine side along with her crown, while Catra adopted her ponytail and jacket:

During their first kiss, the scenery involves an excess of yellow, blue, white, green, and black. Combined with Adora/Catra's red, these colors are the same found in Wuxing philosophy (though technically there's five colors with green and blue being interchangeable/substituted with one another).

I'm sure this was a coincidence, but I think the background colors matching with the Wuxing elements is fitting as both women were finally able to open themselves up about their love for one another. It's especially interesting that Adora and Catra have red color's, especially because red/fire is associated with the heart and growth in Wuxing [1][3].

All in all, Adora and Catra's journey throughout the show concluded with them adopting elements from each other while still keeping certain aspects of themselves intact (with the exception of the self destructive traits), and I think that's a beautiful description of what Daoism aims to achieve. Not to concern yourself with someone else's differences, but rather learning from one another in order to grow as a person and retain balance in the universe.

Part 3: "Dynasties and Dystopia" Ekko and Jinx

Once again, lets start off with analyzing the aesthetic references to Yin and Yang that Ekko and Jinx share:

During their infamous bridge fight, Ekko is standing in front of a bright light while shadows fade on him. Meanwhile, Jinx is shrouded in shadows with a brink of light shined on her. This visual imagery showcases that Jinx is Yin, and Ekko is Yang.

Interestingly enough, their outfit's seem to showcase the opposite:

Ekko wears a white tank top with something dark on it whereas Jinx is wearing a black tank top with something light on it. There's also how Jinx is a pale white woman who wears mostly black/dark clothes whereas Ekko is a black man who wears mostly white/lighter colored clothes. Through this visual indicator, it would seem Ekko is actually Yin while Jinx is Yang.

Which could also work because Ekko's gritter aesthetic contradicts with his hopeful, noble personality while Jinx's playful aesthetic contradicts with her inner turmoil and anger.

The idea of Jinx being the Yang to Ekko's Yin is further visualized with both the necklace Ekko gives Jinx/Powder in the alternate universe:

Another tidbit to mention about the ambiguity of who represents Yin/Yang is the season finale where the two come together to save everyone around them. Like Catra and Adora, this union is visualized through their new outfits:

Jinx has hour glasses and green streaks colored onto her while Ekko has pink X's around his body. They also adopted some fashion elements from one another with Jinx's shark hoodie probably being partially inspired from Ekko's hoodie/owl mask, while Ekko is wearing a crop top similar to how Jinx would wear crop tops. Jinx has a brighter top with black in it (like Yang) while Ekko's top is darker with some whites on it (like Yin)

Similar to Batman and Joker, the ambiguity of what Jinx/Ekko represents is fitting for what Yin and Yang is, as everyone is ultimately made up of both forces.

That being said, on a metatextual level, Ekko and Jinx's relationship is one of Arcane's visuals for how much balance is present. This is best observed through the differences in season 1 episode 7 and season 2 episode 7.

In season 1, Zaun and Piltover have a lot of tension due to class issues (which in itself is a reflection of imbalance) and everyone's respective trauma. This fits along with the disarray between Ekko and Jinx and their mutual frustrations with one another.

In the alternate universe, the main cause for everything being different was hex magic never being utilized due to Vi's death. Despite this tragedy, Zaun is seen thriving with everyone looking healthier, happier, and safer. This is best showcased with Ekko and Jinx/Powder being in a happier relationship together.

Even with these differences, Ekko and Jinx still share a Daoist connection to one another, something shown through Powder/Jinx's line: "You know those ugly twins, genius and madness"

At first, it would seem Ekko is the genius to Powder/Jinx's madness. However, Ekko himself isn't as mentally stable as he appears to be. He spent various time loops and over a decade trying to help his best friend turned terrorist, he's prone to obsessive behavior, he witnessed his adoptive father die, and he's prone to bottling up his emotions due to the various traumatic events that he went through. Meanwhile, Jinx is also genius in her own way; as she's able to build advanced weaponry using scraps, she's a poetic person, and she (with the help of Ekko) was able to convert her lair into a working blimp of sorts.

Ultimately, it would be more accurate to say Ekko is the genius holding madness while Jinx is the madness holding genius inside. Both with the potential to act out as either, but only in a way that balances the other out.

Whatever the case may be, these two are always going to be tethered together even though Jinx had to leave. One of the main themes of Arcane is duality, connection, and opposites living together. Ekko and Jinx's cosmic relationship is just another way to showcase this theme among the chaos going around them.

Part 4: The T.D.L.R.

Batman and Joker both utilize and subvert Yin and Yang

Adora and Catra are directly influenced by the message presented from Yin and Yang through their union together

Ekko and Jinx is the personification of Yin and Yang in Arcane/League of Legends

This distinction is important because it shows how much the environment reflects each character VS how much each character reflects their environment.

Batman’s/Jokers world is stuck in a continuous loop unable to break apart from the cycle despite wanting to, Adora/Catra's world changes and evolves with their relationship, and Ekko/Jinx is a relection of the good and bad their environment could bring depending on how they react to it, and well they come together.

Sources:

Bertschinger, Richard. The Five Elements - Mytaoworld [1]

Oldstone-Moore, Jennifer. Taoism: Origins, beliefs, practices, holy texts, sacred places. Oxford University Press, USA, 2003. [2]

Hsu, Shan Tung, et al. “Wu-Xing Theory.” Blue Mountain Feng Shui Institute [3]

Taoism. National Geographic [4]

Zai, Dr. J. Taoism and Science: Cosmology, Evolution, Morality, Health and More. Ultravisum [5]

[grison-in-space]

it's been really interesting seeing your posts about harm reduction as a social policy, because I did vaguely know it was used on a macro level, but all of my personal interaction with the term has always been on a micro level, like therapists suggesting less risky forms of self-harm; that's an interesting and probably frustrating case of linguistic drift

Almost certainly! I don't think I've encountered it without the collectivist aspect very much, but then I'm usually running into it either in the context of activism or in the context of public health (or public policy). It's typically a philosophy I associate with collective practices and initiatives, not with individual choices, which might come down to a few different idiosyncrasies:

I like infectious disease, public health, and public policy a lot and have occasionally flirted with the idea of hauling my career in that direction a few different times in the past. I've never actually done it, but I still read in the field occasionally. So I'm used to thinking about problems from a lens of "with the resources available, what way is best to minimize bad outcomes and maximize good ones?"

I actually did train as a population geneticist and evolutionary biology before finding myself dragged into neuroscience and decision-making, and I still naturally think at the population level rather than at the individual level. I got really into phenotypic plasticity for a while, which is the field where you try to understand how and why, say, a juvenile organism who can develop into two different forms chooses which one to grow into. That amplified that tendency: you can think of a single decision as a unique moment in time, but you study decision making by aggregating hundreds or thousands of tiny decisions made by tens of animals over many trials. So: populations again. Really, you could sum both of those up with "I happen to be a scientist who spends a lot of time thinking about complex population level behaviors."

As an activist*, I associate arguments based on harm reduction with arguments based on expediency and efficacy: given X resources, what can we do as a community to achieve Y outcome? Implied in that argument is the understanding that Y is not going to happen unless my co-activists and I gear up and donate time and expertise (even if it's just knowing Microsoft Excel and being willing to be awkward in public) to make it happen. Even if Y is something like "how do we reduce the odds that kids in our community commit suicide?" It's the sort of thing that you say to recruit other people to help you do more of an activity that is important.

Harm reduction also ties very deeply in my head to the disability justice principle of the right to accommodation in pursuit of access. They're both philosophies that I would use to guide my choice of actions or my moral assessment of a situation, but I'm not sure I would characterize either as primarily a structure to motivate personal moral judgements, see what I mean? Both are political ideologies as much as anything else, and they exist beyond me.

I love that it's an aspect of the concept that you hadn't encountered before, though, and I really do encourage you to dig into it as a topic! I find it interesting and useful to learn about other people's political and activist successes and failures, and I think crucially I love the element of evidence based examination I see in harm reduction approaches to complex problems. It's very easy to get hung up on proxies for desirable or undesirable behaviors and try to inflate those proxies without referencing the actual deeper goal that inspired looking at proxies in the first place. If a behavior is risky and therefore undesirable, and so we find a way to make the behavior less risky, you get a lot of pushback from people who stopped at "the behavior is undesirable" and are now outraged that you are making that behavior "easier". Harm reduction exists as a philosophy to make it easier to identify that kind of mistake, so that we return our analysis to our true values (people don't get hurt) rather than our proxy values (people don't do risky behaviors that could hurt them).

*explaining things on the internet is not a primary form of activism unless I am making an effort to modulate my tone, presentation, and communication with a specific goal in mind: if I'm in Teacher Mode, if you will. Right now, I am not in Teacher Mode, I am fucking around with my vape in my back yard and engaging in a reasonably satisfying autistic lecture to the Internet, which is where I get to bring out the fun profanity. You can tell because a few hours ago I addressed someone as "fuckstick," which is not the kind of thing that is generally effective when I am wearing my activism hat. I am way more friendly in activism mode. (This is because I learned how to do activist work in the context of asexuality awareness, which means that I have been asked in almost every imaginable kind of awkward situation about my masturbation habits in environments, and at that point you get really, really good at performing friendly accessibility.)