#using the greatest video game of them all: the human mind

[voerman]

regrettably this is hanusa and minthara.

[sizhens]

A "marxist-leninist video game" as I envision it would not really look like Halo but it's About The Revolution. I think a proper ML video game in my mind's eye would be an extremely low-action but mind-bogglingly thorough and complex browser/OS simulator wherein you do the day-in-day-out extremely difficult work of investigating the material bases of the conditions of this fictional world and its ludicrously nuanced lore and compiling meticulous research to justify making specific, extremely small-scale policy decisions for your local branch of the ruling communist party of the DOTP you live inside. it is rendered in beautiful pixel art but has a mode where the entire game can be run 100% text-based. you will have to contend with the data you collect being tainted by various elements including but not limited to random incompetence, foreign bourgeois propagandist interference, confusing inconsistencies, and simple individualist self-interest. the game would use remarkably advanced AI text-parsing technology to decide whether or not your reasoning and justifications for a particular policy decision were sufficiently thorough and careful and whether they had sufficiently considered the possible downstream effects of this decision on the broader society. if you make a mistake you have to do an entire sidequest branch which involves criticism and self-criticism which is again judged by the game's AI. the game would use the most bleeding-edge LLMs to do this and would be optimized to run on a Raspberry Pi 2 platform and would be distributed in little fun single-purpose consoles called Handtrons. it runs natively on Linux Mint. it would cost $0.15 and would get an Overwhelmingly Negative review on the Steam store but there would be an avid fanbase of a friend group of like 30 guys in Inner Mongolia who have meticulously and lovingly curated an independently hosted wiki for the game. amidst all of the vicious reviews on Steam of "Wtf this game is shit" and "how do u even play this" and "couldn't get past the first page(?)" there's a single glowing review, beautifully translated into 5 languages, which includes comments like "I don't believe it is right to call this a game. Rather I believe this elevates the medium of "game" into an entirely different form, and we are all bettered for it. This piece is rich in humanity and even richer in its love for the toiler. It is, down to its very core, the love of a firm older sister -- occasionally unforgiving, but only because it thinks of you so highly and expects so much; transcendentally hopeful, in how it believes in the capacity for things to be changed, if only in a small way, by the work of someone it trusts without question; kind and gentle in how it is as patient with you as you choose to be with it; and, like the only kind of love which matters, it is rooted deeply in truth. I will give this game to my children when I have them, if I am able, and it will be my greatest joy. 4.5/5 stars, only because I had difficulty running this on my android device despite there being native support (I downloaded a modded version from rutracker that fixed all the issues)."

[nerd-artist]

Horizon Rock Bands AU: Alpha Prime

This is heavily inspired by the animated series Jem and The Holograms (I’m sorry if you know the reference because it means you’re as old as me 😆). There will be posts about other bands. Ereloy implied 🧡.

The band

Alpha Prime is a synth-punk rock band that performs songs about the struggles of social life and humanity's downfall. Aloy and her twin sister Beta started the band to take down Nemesis, the evil group that was winning every contest through dishonest ways before Alpha Prime showed up. Petra, Alva, Zo, and Talanah also had their own personal discordances with Nemesis, so they teamed up with the sisters to bring them down and make the world a little brighter with their music.

Unstoppable on stage, they've been number one since their first appearance at The Proving, the most prestigious battle of the bands in the music scene. There, they met the band Rock Breakers, who are not only their competitors but also great friends and allies against Nemesis.

With their manager Ersa, they’re getting ready for the competition by touring across the country. Their shows are called epic, thanks to their magical computer GAIA, which adds awesome visual effects and illusions to their performances.

Character profiles under the cut

Aloy

She's the leader of the band and their main songwriter. She plays her guitar ‘Outcast’, and her soft voice mixed with her feral screams make her the perfect backup vocalist. When she and her sister Beta were little, their mother disappeared, which shattered Aloy's trust in others. This caused her to become closed off, and now she struggles with social interactions. She seeks revenge on Tilda, the leader of Nemesis, because she suspects her of being involved in her mother's mysterious disappearance. When the weight of her mother's legacy and her own frustrations become too much to bear, she turns to her best friend Erend, the leader of Rock Breakers. Being by his side makes her feel more at home than anywhere else, sparking emotions she doesn't quite understand—emotions that end up fueling her songwriting.

Zo

Fans describe the soothing tone of her voice as healing, so it’s no surprise that she uses her ‘Fa’ mic to take on the role of the band’s lead vocalist. Always looking out for the other girls, it’s common to see her setting up meditation sessions before shows. As an environmentalist, she’s determined to take down Nemesis to stop the pollution caused by the companies owned by their members. She’s also (very) openly in a relationship with Varl, a member of Rock Breakers.

Beta

Even more isolated than her sister after their mother disappeared, she found solace in sci-fi movies and video games, completely avoiding social life. She’s a tech nerd who spends most of her time planning new shows with the computer GAIA. For her, forming Alpha Prime has meant gaining a new, bigger family that’s slowly helping her come out of her shell. Though she keeps a low profile, the deep beats of her bass, ‘Matrix,’ make the crowd feel the tremble and are essential to completing the band’s sound.

Talanah

Her cultural background made her believe all her life that guitars weren't meant for women—until she picked up "Khalis," the guitar passed down from her father, who was said to be the greatest guitarist under the sun. It felt like she had finally found herself. She made it her mission to become the best guitarist out there, regardless of gender—and she did. Now, she shreds alongside Aloy to take down Jiran, a member of Nemesis and the one responsible for her father's death.

Alva

CEO, a member of Nemesis, controls the town of Alva from a distance. Both he and his predecessors have erased music from existence there, repressing the creative minds of its inhabitants and keeping them submissive. Alva is determined to recover musical knowledge and bring it back to her people, across the world, along with her beloved Federa. With her keyboard 'Ancestor' in hand and performing alongside Aloy, she feels capable of freeing her people from the torment of living without music.

Petra

It's no coincidence that the crowd's cheers grow louder whenever Petra shows up. The power of the rhythms from her drums, 'Forge’s Breath,' combined with her strong personality and physique, make her a favorite, especially among women. She's an amazing musical engineer and has crafted all the band's instruments in their players needs. She's not here seeking justice or revenge; she's here to hit hard and push the rhythm of their songs to the max.

Thank you for reading! What do you think they would sound like?

If you want to know more about Rock Breakers check this post ✨🤘

[ilikekidsshows]

Am I jumping to far if I call Marinette a psychopath? I mean she uses people as she please for her own benefit, she seems to has no remorse, no conscience, egocentric, impulsive and well, she could be charming I suppose, especially to Cat Noir. Idk what else to call the combi of those trait if not psychopathy🤷‍♀️

---

I don’t think we should be pathologizing selfish behavior. Marinette is selfish and spoiled, and she is being written with the awareness that she’s a wish-fulfillment protagonist. Marinette is a bad example of one, but it’s not exactly comparable with an actual neuropsychological condition, for all the writers tried to use: “she’s traumatized!” as an excuse for some of her actions. This writing direction affects the rest of the cast too, and not just Marinette. The sympathetic characters validate Marinette's behavior almost constantly and any actual criticism Marinette faces in universe is nothing more than friendly ribbing with no expectation to act better attached.

I’d say Marinette is Kirito For Girls, but, like, even Kirito isn’t as selfish as her. Marinette has more in common with the current ilk of the wish-fulfillment isekai protagonists, like Naofumi from The Rising of the Shield Hero, or any other isekai series with similar trappings. The thing about this kind of protagonist is that their actions are basically justified by the protagonist being in another world, where they obviously need to do whatever it takes to survive. Usually these worlds will be made hostile in some way, the nominal hero humiliated and brought low by those in power before he can rise in power and get revenge on them all and win all the girls’ eternal devotion.

We’re meant to cheer for whatever nonsense these characters get up to, because they’re the only real/good humans in these fantasy settings, with everyone else being an NPC in a video game, or every other character in any position of power is the most over the top, ridiculous example of human garbage. The thing is that, as paper thin as these justifications end up being, they’re still something that gives the audience an excuse to root for the hero and enjoy the power fantasy. Even when the protagonist isn’t too sympathetic, the people around them are so much worse that the hero comes across as the better person.

But here’s the reason why Marinette can’t even manage the bare bones of rootability that modern isekai protagonists have; Marinette lacks their justifications. Marinette lives in the real world, she is the most popular girl in school, she has loving parents and caring friends and she’s the “greatest Ladybug ever” and all her “bullies” are ineffectual losers who never really bring her down outside of the almost never shown backstory. Marinette doesn’t get treated badly to justify her rise to power to stop herself from being hurt again (for all ‘Derision’ tries to prove otherwise), her world isn’t filled with awful or stupid people who can’t be trusted with power so Marinette has to take all the power for her own. We’re supposed to root for Marinette just because she’s the protagonist or we're supposed to not root for other characters, not because they've done anything wrong, but because they are not Marinette.

Basically, Marinette is the way she is because the writers view only her as a proper character instead of merely a prop and they write the series with this approach in mind. Marinette exists in a world where everyone else is a puppet dancing to her benefit, either to praise her or to make her look good when she defeats them. With this core concept in mind, of course she isn't going to feel empathy towards what basically amounts to toys. However, this creates the conundrum of: ensemble cast shows tend to have audiences with different favorite characters, Miraculous itself got a lot of praise for the five hero team we saw at the end of season two, yet post-retool Miraculous is telling us we should only care about Marinette, meaning they’ve trashed one of the draws for this show. The attitude of the writers seems to be the exact thing I brought up when discussing how even some of the toy lines are now ignoring that the rest of the cast even exists: “If you like any hero other than Marinette, fuck you, you stupid kids!”

The Marinette problem is so all-encompassing that it affects other characters and even merchandise, so it's very hard to explain with any in-universe explanation.

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Fics Not Rated (3) Masterlist

part one, part two

15 years (ao3) - That_cool_weirdo

Summary: dan and phil make a very special post on the 19th october 2024

[or, what if they actually did hard launch instead of posting that jokey video]

and you're back again, only different than before (ao3) - dancingroses

Summary: dan used to disappear at odd hours without his phone, leaving phil to sit around anxiously waiting for him to come home. things have been better since wad. when dan takes a morning to himself to process the reality of the terrible influence tour, phil is forced to confront just how much this little habit of dan's used to affect him.

As The World Caves In (it’s you that I lie with) (ao3) - amzingmati

Summary: Doomed au inspired by the song As The World Caves In.

Dan and Phil:Outlast Oneshot (ao3) - trancelover99

Summary: Dan and Phil are investigating Mount Massive Asslyum due to the strange goings on that have been reported there. However, they seem to be more than what they bargained for, as the asylum becomes a literal hell on earth! This is based on that one scene where Dan was hiding from Chris Walker during his Outlast Gameplay in 2024, and what better time to upload this than Spooky Week Lol hope you enjoy it!

dangender (ao3) - classichysteria

Summary: it’s late at night and dan just wants to talk about what’s on his their mind

Fix You (ao3) - emodnp

Summary: Dan deals with some painful memories and feelings and has a good and important conversation with Phil.

Fourth (Crystals, Blisters) (ao3) - amyoffline

Summary: A series of strange events in Shibuya leads to Dan and Phil... getting married? Maybe? (In which they are caught up in one of the objectives of the Reaper's Game during their 2015 vacation to Japan.)

Get Away From Him, It's Not His Time (ao3) - emodnp

Summary: TW: while I did leave anything graphic out of this, It does start with Dan seeming like he may be hurting himself or worse and Phil getting him help which is a larger part of the premise for this

Holidays and Other Seismic Activities (ao3) - PyroStormIsBae

Summary: When Phil was unconscious Dan wanted to wrap him in his arms, tell him, I’ll be your blood flow, your diagnosis, I’ll be your hedonism. You are the greatest consequence to ever happen to me. But Phil didn’t happen to people. He didn’t inflict himself. He wouldn’t know how to cause damage if it ground itself into his ribs. Not like the earthquake that was Dan Howell.

Or: Daniel Howell never really learned how to relax. (Set during their vacation to Turkey)

if you could see it, then you’d understand (ao3) - MANIAvinyl

Summary: There was a point in their relationship when Phil was stable enough for the both of them. But when his anxiety gets worse, he’s not sure how to handle anything; not his panic attacks, not Dan and his still-frequent episodes, and not all the new stresses that come with this kind of fast-paced life.

instructions unclear (ao3) - danisnotreadingfanfic

Summary: this came to me in a dream. i am sorry.

It's quiet uptown (ao3) - Frog910

Summary: Dan is spending Christmas with the Lester's for the first time and is struggling with internalised homophobia.

Kisses Through The Years (ao3) - undertalednp

Summary: Phil wanted this forever.

And so, forever is what he got.

let me show you (ao3) - cloudsrm

Summary: dan was born a colour bandit, emotionless and one of the most destructive creatures in the universes. he doesn't mind his evil and repetitive life, but once tragedy strikes, dan finds himself loathing the monster he was born to be.

phil was born colourful, full of emotion just like every other human. he tries to be just how he's wanted to be, but each day the task grows harder and harder, and phil finds himself wearing a mask of happiness wherever he goes.

when dan is forced to return to his home planet, he's lost all hope. when phil arrives at his favorite cliff side, he has as well. when the two meet, both of their world's rapidly change...but is it for the better or worse?

Meant to be, we might be alright now (ao3) - lesbosz

Summary: Dan thinks about the cramped tour bus bunks and traveling the world again with his soulmate of 15 years.

meeting the parents (ao3) - SylvesterLester

Summary: Dan is ready to meet Phil's parents.

Right?

Mucky Pup (ao3) - cats_with_no_tails

Summary: Dan knows what Phil acting out and being a brat was indicative of, even if Phil himself doesn’t. He also knows how to wrangle his boyfriend back into reality after weeks of repressing pent-up feelings.

Or: Phil is a stinky baby throughout the US tour leg because he has a hard time working through negative emotions. Dan grounds him by putting him in his place.

On Tour Bus Beds (ao3) - katiecal1013

Summary: “Best buddies can share a bed!” - Phil Lester, 2024

One of Those Days (ao3) - cats_with_no_tails

Summary: Based on the anecdote from Dan’s birthday stream that Phil dropped his ice cream and cried, featuring Autistic Phil + Dan comforting him during a meltdown.

peace. (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: He doesn’t feel the need to constantly defend himself the way his twenty-one or twenty-two year-old self would have when the topic of sexuality or his relationship with Phil is brought up.

And he’s grateful. He’s so, so grateful that he doesn’t feel like that anymore.

But he does still feel sad.

remote crisis manager (ao3) - danhoweiis

Summary: it's 4am in auckland the day before dan's show and dan is having a crisis

Something fragile (ao3) - Bones_the_beloved

Summary: Dangender and how trying to find a word for it is difficult and the support of the people that love you can make all the difference.

The Nightmare of Chemistry (ao3) - Merrydith

Summary: Dan and Phil have amazing chemistry. They've built their entire lives around their dynamic. But Dan is lonely and decides to start dating to fill the desire in his heart - but everyone he brings home is too intimidated by Dan and Phil's connection. One day, Phil unknowingly gives him an idea that could change the game. Will Dan finally find someone comfortable enough to compete with what Dan and Phil have? Or will Dan have to realize that maybe what he has been looking for was in front of him the entire time?

Tightening, Infinitely (ao3) - TempestRising

Summary: They still blocked dozens of commenters a week—mostly bots but also just nastiness, much of it directed at other commenters, and a not-insignificant portion aimed directly at Phil.

Or: Phil didn't set out to hide the nastier comments from Dan. He's just gotten used to being the protector. Until it becomes too personal to take.

Without You Here (ao3) - raisedufromperdition

Summary: “I never thought losing you would be so hard,” Dan began, with a deep breath. He toyed with the strings of his grey hoodie, ignoring the stinging in his eyes.

A story which consists of Dan talking to Phil’s grave and reflecting upon their life together.

You came in from the rain (ao3) - cemeterysociety

Summary: Dan and Phil see each other again on a random rainy day after not seeing each other for years after their break up, Dan thought Phil would never forgive him, but intertwined souls always find their way back to one another.

[lulu2992]

Hey there!

After reading your great insight on what to keep in mind when, say, writing the Seed brothers in fanfiction, I was wondering if you wanted to cap things off on what to keep in mind when writing Faith?

You don’t have to do it immediately, just when you have the time.

Hi! Sure, let’s conclude this “series” with the last member of the family, Faith Seed :)

First, while she’s referred to as a/the Siren by Dutch, a couple of NPCs, and in promotional material, this isn’t her official title in the Project. And as you probably know, Faith Seed’s real name is actually Rachel. However, unlike what the Far Cry Wiki claims, I’m quite certain her full name was never Rachel Jessop. Unfortunately, the biography on her Wiki page is partly made up and based on that incorrect assumption, so I really don’t recommend trusting it. This advice goes for all Far Cry characters, and I don’t think the Far Cry 6 Season Pass is a good reference, either, since the DLCs were written with the help of the Wiki.

In Far Cry 5, in addition to the story cutscenes, she has three sermons (here, here, and here), four answering machine messages (here, here, here, and here), and can also be randomly encountered in the Henbane River region as a “specter” (term used in the files). When she appears, she either hums the song “Oh The Bliss” (here and here) or talks to the Deputy. I think what she says really is worth listening to and adds a lot to her character. @teamhawkeye has done a tremendous job recording and compiling all her appearances in 9 videos (1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9)! As for Marshal Burke’s “apology video”, in which Faith also appears, it’s here.

I wrote a summary of what other characters say about her here (masterpost here), and all the NPCs’ comments about the Seed family are available here and here.

Faith isn’t in Far Cry Arcade and doesn’t have the same “combat lines” as most other characters, but you can still listen to everything she says during the final fight against her here.

Her deleted lines are here, and she has even more here. Most of them probably aren’t relevant anymore, but they’re still interesting and make me wonder what they originally had in mind for the character!

If I’m not mistaken, there’s only one note in Far Cry 5 written by Faith: the “Note for Tracey” (Hope County Jail). The note “A Confession” (Throne of Mercy Church) was also written by “Faith”, but it seems to me the author is one of Rachel’s predecessors.

Indeed, in-game evidence indicates Rachel wasn’t the first woman who took on the role of Faith Seed. There were at least two others before her, Lana and Selena, but we barely know anything about them or why they were replaced. Two letters, written by people who knew and loved them, can be found in the game in the Horned Serpent Cave and the King’s Hot Springs Hotel, but that’s pretty much it.

There was another note written by Faith, apparently cut from the game but still available in oasisstrings. It was supposed to be in her bunker, Faith’s Gate:

To my guardians, Because we have each other, we are already strong. But when the Collapse comes, this gate will need to be the heart of our strength. Guard it with your lives, knowing that any sacrifice you make will be for the future of humanity's greatest ideals and dreams. Jacob and Joseph have chosen you to guard this gate. You should be very proud. I know you serve me with love, but never forget that this will be your home, too. If you falter from this purpose, remember the bliss is there for you. With love, Faith

It’s worth noting that, in the game’s files, Faith (or the Henbane River) is sometimes referred to as “Selena Seed”. To me, this suggests that her identity and her backstory went through many changes during the development of Far Cry 5, and that might explain at least some of the grey areas surrounding the character.

Since she isn’t the Seed brothers’ biological sister and they weren’t raised together, The Book of Joseph doesn’t give a lot of information about her life before Eden’s Gate aside from what the game already tells us: she was a broken person, addicted to drugs, and was “adopted” by Joseph as his sister and Herald. When she joined the cult, since drugs are forbidden by the rules, she first had to overcome her addiction, and the book says she succeeded with the help of scopolamine (basically Bliss). It’s also explained she then worked with a geneticist named Peter, probably on developing Bliss. That said, in the game, he’s never mentioned, cultists never use the word “scopolamine” (always “Bliss”), and nothing clearly indicates it can be or has ever been used as a substitution treatment, so I’m not sure what’s still canonical...

Faith also appears in the short film Inside Eden’s Gate (not entirely canon to me but still good) where she’s played by Mackenzie “Kenz” Lawrén Johnson. I must admit Faith is my favorite Herald in the film; I really like Kenz Lawrén’s interpretation as well as her opinion on the character, which she gave in this interview!

Weirdly, Faith has often been referred to as the “half-sister” by the game’s main writers (such as here or here) even though she isn’t related to the Seed family in the game. It’s possible that she used to be but that was changed at some point. According to the Lead Writer, “Maybe she isn’t liked by the other two brothers as she didn’t grow up with them” (which is hinted at by NPCs and John himself in Far Cry 5). In a now-deleted interview for GameCrate, he also described her as “more of an outsider” and “probably the most fervent believer in Joseph”.

Greg Bryk, who co-created and played the Father, said he believed he needed Faith because “the maternal aspect of the feminine energy is missing” in his life even though it’s something “essential for Joseph to have”. He thinks there have been several Faiths because “when [Joseph] would lose faith, [he] would find another Faith.” And according to him, “she doesn’t need to have a specific energy because there’s something of an essence that [he needs] as opposed to a person”, and she almost has a “mother earth energy”.

While she does give a bit of information about her past life as Rachel in the game, saying she was “ostracized by her community”, “bullied by friends”, “abused by her family”, and “wanted to die”, it’s not always easy to know what’s true and what’s not when it comes to Faith because she’s known for being a master manipulator; lying is canonically part of her modus operandi. In a way, because Faith Seed is a role, I would say she’s also always performing. Unlike what a few NPCs claim, I don’t think that means she never tells the truth, but she’s still undoubtedly “very skilled at twisting the facts and turning any situation to her advantage”, as the game’s Narrative Director put it.

Although the details are unclear, I believe it’s true Rachel was “lost” and “broken” before she arrived in Hope County and joined the Project. It’s also true that, as Faith Seed, she’s now powerful, dangerous, and not innocent anymore, as her former best friend Tracey Lader, who knows her very well and witnessed her transformation (but was unable to stop it), warns the Deputy. I neither mean nor think the situation Faith is in is normal, healthy, or the best thing that could have happened to her, but I do think saying she’s unhappy with it, helpless, in danger, or that she only wishes she could run away from the cult really is a misunderstanding of the character. Faith knows what she’s doing, and she’s very good at doing it. To me, she’s the most powerful Herald.

Since the lore is a bit inconsistent, we’re not entirely sure how the Bliss works and who created it, but we know it’s an almost magical, hallucinogenic and pacifying drug made from “bliss flowers” (heavily inspired by Datura stramonium) that Faith is immune to, can control, and uses to brainwash people. “The Bliss” is also a place, but once again, the details are unclear. It could be her bunker, or maybe just a distorted version of reality that individuals who are exposed to the drug “live” in. Wherever or whatever it is, most people never truly come back from it or fully break free from Faith’s influence, as seen with the Marshal in the game…

In the Project, Faith’s role is to lure (hence the nickname “Siren”) people into the cult and convince them to follow the Father, often with the help of Bliss. If they keep resisting or are “too full of fear and doubt”, high doses of the drug can be administered to them and turn them into Angels, who are comparable to zombies according to some characters. Bliss irreversibly damages people’s brains, and those who become Angels unfortunately can never be saved. Faith and her followers seem to think they’re beautiful creations because they’re faithful to the Project and unable to sin. It seems she has the power to control them (at least partly), and the cult doesn’t hesitate to use them as “shock troops” or “slave labor and beasts of burden”, as NPCs say. They’re indeed very docile and resistant... as well as hard to kill.

Again, there are some discrepancies regarding what happens to potential converts in the Henbane River region, but it seems people first have to walk along the Pilgrimage path and, at the end of it, take a literal leap of faith from the statue of Joseph, just like Faith explains she did (even though whether or not the statue already existed at the time is a bit uncertain). As unbelievable as it sounds, NPCs confirm it’s entirely possible to survive the leap. After walking the Path, some pilgrims become Angels, some simply join the Project, and others don’t survive, either because they don’t make it to the end or die when they jump (maybe because their faith isn’t strong enough, I’m not sure how that works).

In the Family, Faith can be described as “the favorite child” (and I think that makes John jealous), who saw Joseph as her savior when they met and wants others to experience the same feeling, by force if necessary. Just like her brothers, she basically weaponizes her trauma and makes people relive a sublimated version of her life story: she targets the most vulnerable individuals, gives them drugs to ease their torment, and sometimes takes their minds away from them. Even though Faith is fully capable of thinking for herself, isn’t mind-controlled, was a drug user before she joined the Project (not after), and left her old self Rachel “in the darkness” willingly to be reborn as Faith Seed, she still became a new person for the Father and expects the same from anyone she converts, even if that means she has to completely brainwash them.

In conclusion, we don’t really know much about Rachel and her backstory, simply that she was broken, saw Eden’s Gate as a chance to start anew, and happily took it. Since she was young, desperate, and therefore suggestible when she met Joseph, one can wonder if Faith is simply a manipulated, brainwashed victim; a poor, helpless soul devoured by a cult. But although that situation is far from ideal or normal, she and other characters confirm that she too has teeth, and she doesn’t hesitate to use them. Rachel should theoretically just have been a victim, but as Faith Seed, she’s transcended this status. She’s found purpose, power, and is committed to her beliefs. Not everyone in Hope County precisely knows who she is, but now, she does. She’s a multifaceted mystery whom people tend to underestimate, and it’s something she likes to cultivate because that’s how she gets them. She’s a Siren, but in my opinion, also a Phoenix, who was consumed completely and rose up from her own ashes to be born again. Rachel was broken, but Faith is strong. Rachel lost herself, but Faith was found. Rachel was nothing; Faith can be anything.

[twistedtummies2]

Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes - Number 14

Welcome to A Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes! During this month-long event, I’ll be counting my Top 31 Favorite Fictional Detectives, from movies, television, literature, video games, and more!

SLEUTH-OF-THE-DAY’S QUOTE: “You attacked reason. It’s bad theology.”

Number 14 is…Father Brown.

Originally created by author G.K. Chesterton, Father Brown is one of the most famous detectives in English literature. Having said that, I must immediately make a confession: I’m not THAT well-versed (perhaps surprisingly) with the original “Father Brown” short stories Chesterton wrote. I’ve read some of them; specifically, I’ve now read all the ones collected in the book “The Innocence of Father Brown.” (My favorite is “The Invisible Man,” which, for the record, has absolutely nothing to do with anyone named Griffin). However, beyond that, I’m not especially familiar with the original writing. I also have not seen either of the two English-language film versions I know about (one played by Walter Connolly, another by Alec Guinness), both of which were based on the story “The Blue Cross.” And I should also immediately state that I have seen only one episode of the TV series starring Kenneth More from the 1970s, which I know has been highly lauded in years since.

So…since it seems like I am unfamiliar with nearly EVERYTHING that has brought this character into popular culture…how DO I know Father Brown, and why is he so high on the list? Well, because there is one version of the character and his universe that I am VERY familiar with: the most recent TV series adaptation of the stories, which began in 2013 and is still going strong today (with a new season coming this year). This show, simply and appropriately titled “Father Brown,” stars Mark Williams (whom many may recognize for playing Mr. Weasley in the Harry Potter films). While it frequently changes a LOT from the original Chesterton stories, the show is still EXTREMELY good. In my opinion, it modernizes the stories in a way that is pretty decently handled, so that even if you haven’t read the originals, you can still get a lot out of what’s being given to you. The spirit of Chesterton’s work is still intact. Much of what I say here will be informed by Williams’ portrayal of the character, which is why I wanted to make all this clear right off the bat.

Father Brown is an example of what might be called “the busybody detective,” or even more appropriately “the accidental detective.” What I mean by this is that he’s not in any way officially tied to the police; in fact, the police frequently see him as a nuisance, who gets in the way of their work and often makes them look like fools. He also never makes a career or a proper hobby out of his detective work. Being a detective just…kind of happens to him. Father Brown, on the surface, is a simple and humble local priest; a God-fearing, God-loving man of the cloth who is charitable, good-hearted, and at times seems sort of fumbling and shambolic. He’s not someone, therefore, you’d expect would make a great sleuth.

A great sleuth, of course, is exactly what this mild-mannered Catholic priest is. Father Brown’s rather simple demeanor belies a steely will, an even more steely faith, and a very cunning and alert mind. He typically ends up playing detective not so much out of a desire to one-up the police or some obsessive desire, but simply because he notices something amiss and begins to question why that is. His greatest assets as a sleuth can be summed up as two simple attributes: common sense, and, above all, human empathy. Father Brown doesn’t necessarily look for fingerprints or psychoanalyze criminals like a forensic profiler, but simply notices things that don’t make sense and then tries to make sense of them. He uses his understanding of people’s personalities, looks at their character traits and ideals, and uses them to his advantage; if he feels it isn’t in someone’s nature to shoot in cold blood, he follows his instinct, and he’s usually proven correct. If he sees someone showing some weakness or vulnerability, he latches onto that to try and sway them. He tries to redeem his enemies more often than he tries to ruin them. Contrariwise, this man also knows when NOT to trust people. While he’s noble and forgiving, Father Brown isn’t a pushover. In fact, the Williams version is revealed to be a war veteran; he’s seen some action (and horror) in his lifetime. This, combined with his devotion to the confessional booth, means that he knows very well that people are not perfect. With that said, despite being a religious soul, he isn’t superstitious, and tries to be tolerant of others with different beliefs. In short, Father Brown seems to understand that good people are good people, and tries to find the good in everyone, even those he seeks to defeat. Whether you’re spiritual or not, he’s not only a good detective, but arguably a good role model: I think a lot of us wish we had a Father Brown in our lives.

Tomorrow, the countdown continues with Number 13!

CLUE: “Are you with me? You might even be way ahead of me.”

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

//So with 30.8% of the vote, Seiko Vs The Lizard takes the spot for our 10th round.

//Dr. Kimura Vs Dr. Connors. I'm actually REALLY excited for this one! The things these two can do against each other are so interesting,

//But let's move onto the semi-final...And I'm happy to say...It's TIME...!

[NOTE: I have shown my bias towards one particular matchup on this list (you'll know which one if you've followed me for a while) and while I personally would love to do it, do not let my opinion sway your bias]

//Connections are under the cut:

Deku: Both were born as starry-eyed kids in a world populated with powerful people with unique powers and abilities as one of a few people who do not possess one themselves, driven by their affection for a faction that represented their world (Ultimate's and Heroes). Both wished to have powers of their own but are driven by different motives (While Hajime's motives were rather selfish, wanting to become someone that mattered, Izuku wanted to become a Pro Hero to help people with a smile). Both would be given the chance to receive these abilities, along with a title they would inherit with a similar "Hope" theme ("The Ultimate Hope" and "The Symbol of Hope") from some of the most important people in their world that they greatly admired (For Hajime, it was Hope's Peak Academy, a school he attended as a Reserve Course student that he looked up to since he was a kid, and for Deku, it was All Might, the Number 1 Pro Hero and his idol). The power they inherited is among the greatest power in their worlds, and permits them to use various powers and abilities from other individuals (The Ultimate Hope Talent, which bestows upon Hajime every known Ultimate Talent in history, and One for All, which bestows upon Deku the power and quirks of previous users.) Both would attend a school full of individuals with similar capabilities (Hope's Peak and U.A.) and for contrasting reasons, this led to them taking on different identities (Hajime's personality and individuality was erased by the researchers that gave him his talents, becoming Izuru Kamukura, and Izuku Midoriya adopted the Hero Name of Deku to represent his own individuality and what he stands for). At their best, both characters are selfless heroes who are admired and looked up to by their classmates and best friends (Class 77 and Class 1-A respectively), who include a jealous rival (Nagito and Bakugou), a love interest (Mahiru and Ochako), and their best friend who always looks out for them (Chiaki and Iida). Though fundamentally similar heroes, their tales, however, are not the same; Hajime's is of a fallen hero, whereas Izuku's is of a rising hero.

Sunny: Both characters are the seemingly depressed main characters of their respective video games, which largely take place within a realm separate from that of the normal human world (Danganronpa 2 takes place inside a virtual reality, and over half of Omori is spent within Sunny's Headspace, a world made of the machinations of his mind) Both realms also exist as a coping mechanism for each character's trauma (Hajime/Izuru was placed into the Neo World to restore his original personality after he and his friends were brainwashed into being Remnant's of Despair, and Headspace serves as Sunny's "Happy Place" which he closes himself inside to cope with the death of his sister Mari) but both realms came under threat of a demonic force that threatened to take it over (Monokuma/AI Junko and the "Something"). Both characters suffer from experiencing the traumatic death of the person they loved the most, which was inadvertently caused by them (As Izuru, Hajime worked with Junko to mastermind the original Chiaki Nanami's death, and Sunny accidentally killed Mari during an argument where he pushed her down a flight of stairs) and through different means, both developed a second blank-faced and soulless personality from this trauma that existed purely in their minds, which one way or another, threatened to take over, though by different means and motives (Izuru Kamukura was born when Hope's Peak wiped Hajime's personality away after giving him infinite Ultimate Talents, and then remained as a spiritual figure inside Hajime's mind until Hajime was almost killed during a fight with Nagito, and Izuru automatically took over. Sunny has Omori, which is the manifestation of himself inside Headspace, and threatened to take over Sunny in the real world, inviting unimaginable horrors into the poor boy's mind until Sunny confronted his trauma and defeated him). Said alter-ego's also have contrasting relationships with their dominant personalities (Hajime and Izuru are shown to be quite chummy, and in spite of Izuru's lack of personality and emotional attachment, he does seem to hold Hajime in high-regard. Omori however, represents the side of Sunny that closes him off from the outside world, the "killer" he believes he is, and basically represents all of the boys inner demons).

John: Both went to a fundamentally depressing school full of remarkable people, where there is a hierarchy based on the abilities and talents of the students (Hope’s Peak acted as though Talents was the reason why someone matters, and New Bostin views the higher tiered students to be literal Kings and Queens), as two people who lacked these abilities, being given less than flattering nicknames (Talentless and Crippled respectively). As a result, they grew up as resentful and jealous young men until they were given the chance to possess the most potent gift of all; one that enables them to possess enhanced forms of other people's abilities (Hajime became the prime subject for the Izuru Kamukura Project, which granted him access to every talent in the universe, making him superior to all others, while John unlocked the power of Aura Manipulation, a power that allowed him to sense other people's powers and fighting capabilities, as well as duplicate them and amplify said powers.) But as a result of being the top dog, getting these would make them go down darker paths, and as a result, they would lose not just their former selves but also any close friends they may have had, becoming the opposites of what they once wanted to be (Hajime would transform into Izuru Kamukura, the Ultimate Despair, who contributed to the Tragedy by upsetting the stability of life at Hope's Peak and ultimately causing the death of Hajime's closest friend, Chiaki Nanami; while John would turn into a ruthless tyrant seeking vengeance on those who had bullied him and his friends, eventually becoming a bully himself and losing his friendship with Claire and Adrion.) Eventually, both would conquer their pasts, even though hints of their original personalities remained (Izuru remained as a fragment of Hajime's mind and John retained some of his savagery and violence) but were saved by new friends who helped them come to terms with themselves (Chiaki for Hajime and Seraphina for John).

Min-su: Though starting out as notably kind and thoughtful people, a great tragedy turned both of them into fallen heroes and the deadliest villains known to man (Hajime took part in Hopes Peak Academy's Hope Cultivation Plan following the death of his fellow Reserve Course students that the academy completely ignored because of their lack of talents, with the intention of developing his talents; but Izuru Kamukura, a more cynical character, was born to host his body. Min-Su is an Isekai hero who returns from another world only to confront the somber reality of losing his family and being rejected by society as a pitiful nobody). Even though each of them was given their powers with the intention of using them to save and bring hope to their own worlds, once they turned evil, they started abusing and unleashing their abilities to cause the world to descend into complete misery. They are both the de facto leaders of a group of people in a similar situation as them (the Brainwashed Class 77-B and the 9-Heroes) and both have also waged war against the entire world with the sole intent of plunging it into pure Despair. At one point or another, both were battling a group of resistances that pushed them to stop trying to build a utopia centered around despair and free the world (The Future Foundation; the Restoration Government and the Resistance Heroes.) The difference lies in that Hajime eventually overcomes his despair, returns his original personality and joins the hero team, whereas Min-Su only progressively loses his mind more and more as the series goes on.

Infinite: Both signed their lives and what heroism they had away after being tempted by the ultimate power of their universe (Hope and Talent and the Phantom Ruby) which was eventually gifted upon them, or rather infused into them, to use at their leisure by a powerful group of people with a dark underbelly (The Hope's Peak Academy Steering Committee and the Eggman Empire). Both characters snapped and gave up everything, including their old personalities, to undergo said villain's brutal experiments, with the catalyst for their decision being told to their face that they are weak, useless and don't matter in the grand scheme of things (by Juzo Sakakura and Shadow the Hedgehog respectively) and through some coercion and manipulation, the two became the right hand man of the most evil villain in their respective universes (Junko Enoshima and Doctor Eggman), aiding them in bringing complete control and destruction to the entire world, in which they succeeded (Izuru led the Ultimate Despair against the world and helped Junko bring about the Tragedy, and Infinite defeated Sonic, allowing Eggman to conquer the world). Thus becoming the biggest and most powerful threat to the resistance organization that battled against them, including a spiky-haired protagonist (Makoto Naegi and the Future Foundation, and Sonic the Hedgehog and the Resistance). Both characters are also shown to possess a degree of boredom to the world that they let guide their actions (Hajime/Izuru is so powerful, he doesn't have to put effort into most of what he does, taking the excitement out of doing anything, whilst Infinite initially accepted Eggman's offer to join his army because he was bored with the peaceful world as it was) Both at one point possessed a title with the word "Ultimate" in it (Hajime is the "Ultimate Hope" and Infinite was once the "Ultimate Mercenary").

[leveractionlesbian]

i've been playing fallout 4 a lot recently, and i've come to realize the story is actually good if you're willing to meet it halfway. it's only crime is being a story that's just "good" in a franchise with three (fallout 3 isn't real it can't hurt me) of the greatest stories ever told in any video game

elaborating under the cut:

you cannot play fallout 4 as an RPG. you will hate it. there is very little roleplaying outside of the very few avenues the game gives you for it (roleplaying as "generic member of the faction you're playing as" is actually pretty fun) because character builds don't build character narrative and the dialogue options are miserably limited. fallout 4 is a looter shooter with a branching story, and if you treat it like that, you'll have a good time.

the Minutemen questline is cool but underdeveloped. you should play it with the mod We Are The Minutemen for an improved experience. but generally, it does a good job making the player feel like a goody two shoes minuteman running to help the farmers and settlers, and building a small idealistic republic. it ties the narrative into the settlement gameplay very nicely as well. imo, they should have just made Preston Garvey the general so that him giving you orders makes more sense

the Institute are good villains. they remind me a lot of Caesar's Legion (though significantly less interesting and well written), mysterious and frightening until you reach their home base and learn more about them. they're also pretty evil, but you can at least understand them on some level: they're the greatest minds of the modern world, controlling things from the shadows using kidnapping and violence because they think being scientists makes them better than everyone else. it's not great, but it gives them enough depth to be more than just "the evil faction who is evil because they're evil." giving the player character the personal connection through Shaun was a good idea too, since it adds a layer of complexity to the question of if you should destroy them

the Synth issue in the game is misinterpreted by a lot of people, but that's because the game does an extremely poor job of communicating it. it's not "are synths human," because we interact with them enough to know, with absolute certainty, they are. the question is moreso "if this group fundamentally poses a threat to literally everyone around them, can you justify letting them exist?" this is pretty well outlined by Maxson during the BoS questline and the situation with DiMA in Far Harbor. the choice of accepting synth baby shaun is a decent resolution to this theme: do you accept this child as yours? it ties into how you feel about synths but adds the extra weight of it being your son. it's pretty cool!

the Railroad questline is kind of terrible, but it ends up being pretty fun, and i don't think it's by mistake. the characters and quests and interactions with the other factions are so absurdly goofy that it just becomes a sort of "fuck all the other factions" playthru in the same vein as Wild Card. it's not very good, but i like it for what it is.

the moment to moment writing kind of ties it all together for me. obviously the extremely limited dialogue options are awful, but it wasn't the end of the world for me, although it is definitely the worst thing about the game. but the companions are pretty likable, and the NPC dialogue has enough character to not be boring, and the side quests are mediocre at worst. there's some good writing in them, but for the most part they're extremely basic motivators to go shoot things, and the gameplay is fun.

its by no means perfect. the dialogue option sucks. the Railroad, while very funny, still kinda sucks. Preston Garvey sucks, and he's the main dude for the Minutemen questline. the reason the Synth issue is so often misinterpreted is because the writers are bad at properly explaining it outside of a few specific scenes. these are just a few problems, and most of the problems are actually extremely detrimental, and a story where you have to meet the writers more than halfway at least half the time is a poorly explained story but i still like it. it's overhated, and when you're just playing the game and actually are meeting it halfway, it's fun to take part in

[adarkrainbow]

So, the thing I have been hinting at since a few posts is that - if you are not aware, Bill Willingham, the creator of the big DC comic book franchise "Fables" (a landmark in the history of both fairytale media and urban fantasy), decided to make "Fables" public domain. And everybody is losing their mind.

I am not sure of the details of the matter, but from a quick glimpse around the boiling Internet, Willingham was fed up with how DC handled their ownership of Fables and kept reinterpreting the contract Willingham had with them, ranging from DC chosing cover artists Willingham had not approved of, to him receiving apparently no money for the video game adaptation "A Wolf Among Us". So, tired of having to constantly battle with a DC company that apparently wasn't "playing fair", he decided to "cut the grass under their feet" as we say in France, and to make Fables public domain so that now everybody can make Fables work and sell them legally.

I am not sure if this will actually be happening since I am fact-checking my info while writing, and DC Comics has published a response explaining they will do everything they can to prevent this from happening - so this seems to be the beginning of another legal battle between Willingham and DC.

I also see a lot of posts heralding Willingham as some sort of hero for standing up against the "big company" that is DC and all that, I'll take a minute to remind you how before this all happened, Willingham had gotten a more ambiguous, if not unsavory reputation. I do like Fables (or at least I like the core of it, after a moment it really dragged on too much and tried to live way past its natural lifespan), and I am thankful it exists - but it doesn't change the fact Bill Willingham hasn't proven to be the greatest guy. His most recent dark note being his rudeness at the "Writing Women-Friendly Comics" convention, where he participated as a member of the panel, but apparently kept interrupting, mocking and disagreeing with all the women participating in a very rude and stubborn way. The guy certainly had cool ideas - but it doesn't mean he is a good guy, and given the series of accusations against him, and bad behavior incidents he got into, the whole "public domain" thing doesn't surprise me. Willingham has been giving off "petty diva" vibes these recent years, and this "public domain" move can be read in this direction.

I already highlighted how when it comes to actual variety in genders and sexuality, we have to wait for the spin-offs of Fables rather than the comic itself, spin-offs not written by Willingham - and there is also the whole thing of how he wrote one of the most perfect and heart-touching metaphors in Fables for the experience of being a trans person (the story of the wooden soldiers who wanted to become humans of flesh), but from what I heard he actually is not at all a trans-ally in real-life, not to say he might be transphobic? (Note: as I am writing this I discover he might also be doubtful, if not actively denying, climate change? Really?)

I am not sure of it all, again there's a lot of drama going on I have not spent my life documenting. But all of that to say... if Fables ever becomes public domain I would be so happy, because the original Fables truly exhausted its run in Willingham's hands (the recent revival has proven to be very disappointing, furthering my point), and only got breaths of fresh air within other writer's hands so far, so I would be very happy to see the franchise being explored and remade by other people. Again, Fables is a great concept and has been a big influence on so many things - it deserves to exist without the shadow of Willingham's dramas behind it.

At least that's my personal opinion. And with DC making all it will can to prevent the entering in the public domain, it might as well not happen...

[m34gs]

For the anime ask: 6, 9, 14, 25

Thank you for the ask, friend!! (from this post) There might be some spoilers ahead, but that kind of comes with the territory for questions like these. Beware!

6. popular anime you didn’t like

Are you trying to get me killed, friend. Do you want to see the Meags dead in the ditch. (I jest. Only god can kill me, and only when I'm ready.)

Alright, I have to admit: I don't actually tend to really know what's popular. Sometimes I know, sometimes I'm like 'oh this is so good I bet everyone watches it' and no one else I know has heard of it, or sometimes everyone is like 'oh this show is so popular!!!' and I'm over here like 'whomst?'. Comes from not being allowed a internet or personal ipods/computers when I was younger, and our TV channels were limited. So, bear that in mind while I list my answers and my reasons.

Sword Art Online: Hate. Hate hate hate. Loathe. Kirito? More like Kiri-NO. He's so...bland. And annoying. And I just despise him. Couldn't watch the full thing. Don't like. Don't like at ALL.

Yugioh: I used to watch episodes here and there on 4KidsTV. I didn't like it. I did not like the art style and character designs and I didn't get what the big deal was about them battling with cards. And even now that I'm older, I could probably go and rewatch it, but I don't really want to. Just. No desire.

Kuroko's Basketball: Let me just first start by clarifying. I was actually interested in this anime at the start. But then they started making the sports actions out to be super-powers...and I didn't know at the time that Sports Anime is just Like That. So then I became more neutral about it. And then. It dragged. It dragged so much. Like, the plot got so slowed and I got so bored I ended up not finishing it. So, there were parts I did enjoy, and I really liked a lot of the characters, but I can't say I liked this anime overall.

Chobits: Idk. It's cute and all, but also I just didn't enjoy the main dude. I found him annoying. Also stopped watching this one part way through. That's just something I do. If I find it does not Spark Joy, I stop watching the show. Because I don't like to waste my time on shows I don't like.

9. favorite anime child

This is a toss-up between Somali from Somali and the Forest Spirit and Anya from SpyxFamily.

Anya is cute and funny. She's so relatable in a humourous way, and she really does try her best. She fails a lot, but then sometimes her failures inadvertently save the day. Plus, she has some of The Greatest facial expressions.

Somali is an innocent human child discovered by a Golem in a forest; in a time and place where humans are nearly extinct and are hunted down by Beasts and magical being. The Golem is trying to get Somali back to her own kind. Somali is a sweetheart. She does her best to follow the Golem's direction and she genuinely cares about him, and she calls him papa. Similar to Anya, she is just trying Her Best. In contrast to Anya, she is much more quiet and timid.

Honestly, I can't choose. Both girls are very sweet.

14. saddest anime you have ever watched

Ok, Honestly, I've probably watched a lot of anime with sad things, and bittersweet endings...it's hard to really choose One. But, that being said, I do have one that comes to mind. Take it with a grain of salt, though, because this is my opinion, and my opinion is subject to change at any point and time lol.

Corpse Party.

Yes, I know it's based on a video game. Yes, I know it's in the horror genre. I don't care, it is still sad. It is sad more than anything. Why is it sad? I don't know where to start. I'm not going to recount all the deaths, onscreen or offscreen, because that would take too long. The situation itself is bleak; students trapped in a ghostly school with all sorts of spirits after them to hurt them and rip them apart? Maybe it's sad because they're children? They're supposed to represent hope and light and the future, and they get stuck in this school and (literally) torn to shreds. Also. The littlest one dies. Which, is like, that is a Big Thing, ok. LIke, even in regular horror movies; there was a time where You Did Not kill off the children (yes, I know there are plenty of child deaths in horror now, but it is still one of the more disturbing aspects of those movies). Kids end up being the unlikely heroes. The ones who persevere and survive despite their innocence and trust in others, or maybe even *because* of it. (or they end up being the demons, but that's not relevant here).

So when that little girl gets tortured and murdered, After putting her trust in an older boy who said he would help her...it brings a huge wave of sadness. She was so helpless. She just wanted to find her big brother. She went from hopeful and trusting to Terrified, and then dead. (not to mention the ghost possessing the place to begin with is Also A Child)

25. anime you would recommend to someone who hates anime

I don't really know if I have one specific anime for people who hate anime. I don't think there's a catch-all that everyone would enjoy. And I don't really like pushing things on other people if they've indicated they don't like it.

If I were to recommend one, it would entirely depend on the person. If they're nice to me about it and they indicate they want to try anime, I would talk with them and find out their interests before recommending. Someone who loves romance might not wanna sit through One Punch Man, you know? So I'd take the time to figure out some actual suggestions that they might genuinely enjoy.

But.

If they're mean to me. Or talk down to me.

I'm gonna recommend they watch Boku no Pico with their Grandmother. 😀

[cwenvs3000w23]

Music in Nature

Music in particular is an extremely powerful force that can draw people in, and express a powerful feeling in a way that people from all walks of life can enjoy and relate to. Music is a universal language that people from all cultures around the world use to express themselves, and the environment around them. Music can be any form of sound that is manipulated by a change of tone and pitch, and for this reason music is most definitely present in nature. The sounds of the birds calling to each other, the mating calls of various animals, and the sounds that are produced by climate such as the sound of wind echoing, or that of raindrops on the night of a thunderstorm these are all melodies that are produced everyday in nature. Sounds are used by many animals throughout the world's ecosystems to communicate various different messages such as for  mating, pointing out a food source, or warning fellow animals of a predator nearby, in a similar way to how humans use many different mediums to communicate their thoughts and feelings. It is for this reason that music is so present in nature, the sounds of nature tend to serve an important function, such as Ravens who will mimic the calls of other birds to trick them or lure them to a certain location (Bird Avid, 2022). In the same way, music serves an important function for humans in regards to helping us express emotions like beauty or despair in a way that simply speaking can't. 

One of the greatest and most consistent sources of inspiration that many artists draw from is often forces of nature, and you see many songs use references to nature, especially when you look at things such as folk music or cultural music, where references to the natural landscapes of a particular nation serves as a source of national pride. It is for this reason that music can be such a magical force when it comes to making people feel a deeper connection to nature which can further help develop someone's understanding of nature and of it’s beauty and importance (Beck et al., 2018). Nature in music can be seen in its purest form when we look at things such as the drum in indigenous culture which symbolises the heartbeat of mother earth, such connections show how intertwined nature truly is with music (Hampton, 2021).  

One song in particular for me personally that makes me feel a connection to a landscape in nature is the song Subwoofer Lullaby by c418, which is the artist that makes the band for the world famous video game, minecraft. I often had this and the rest of their soundtrack in my ear while working endless hours as a tree planter, the calm piano music made me feel such a strong connection to the earth I was planting, as I also had in mind my fond childhood memories of exploring the endless landscapes in minecraft. Minecraft is a game that had different soundtracks that often pertained to different biomes and landscapes of the map, and it did such a fantastic job of setting the mood of being in a spruce forest, a desert, a mine, or a snow biome. This is a great example of how music can be used to bring people closer to music, as you can also do through other forms of art such as video games, and there are no limits to the natural beauty you can capture in the form of song, and the magical feelings of awe that music can strike into the hearts of many.  

Citations

Why do ravens mimic sounds? explained. Bird Avid. (2022, December 1). Retrieved March 5, 2023, from https://birdavid.com/ravens-mimic-sounds/#:~:text=Ravens%20make%20different%20sounds%20to,t%20so%20common%2C%20after%20all. 

Beck, L., Cable, T.T., & Knudson, D.M (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritagefor a Better World (1st ed). Sagamore Venture.Hampton, M. (2021, July 15). Indigenous drumming a sacred art. Merritt Herald. Retrieved March 5, 2023, from https://www.merrittherald.com/indigenous-drumming-a-sacred-art/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CFor%20First%20Nations%20Peoples%2C%20the,special%20rhythm%20on%20the%20drum.

[xaracosmia]

ꕥ — WELCOME TO MARE COSMIA, WOLF. 🌗

ꕥ  — OOC INFORMATION;

name / alias: Payton age: 23 pronouns: they/them ooc contact: bethjohanssen (tumblr) or cospayton (twitter) other characters in XC: Parker Davis, Jimmy Smith, Adder, Zenirith

ꕥ  — IC INFORMATION;

name: Wolf age: 35 pronouns: he/him series: Future Man (TV) canon point: Directly after escaping Haven app triggers: drug use/abuse, unsanitary (food)

personality: 

“He’s a demolitions expert, come fashion icon, come celebrity chef, come politician, prince, poet, and thief. He doesn’t just survive, he thrives. With little time for remorse and even less time for the losers who simply don’t get it… Which is everyone not named him! This wolf is at your door, blowing your mind AND your house down… And you’re thanking him for it!” 

-Susan Saint Jackalope on The Diecathalon, Season 100.

Wolf is a strange man. A lover of violence, death, gore, and destruction… Yet also soft and gentle. A good father to his fake child and a wonderful chef with a delicate, masterful hand in the kitchen. Despite often being underestimated as “just the demolitions expert,” Wolf is smart, cunning, a hell of a public speaker, and surprisingly charming in his own “Wolf” ways.

something your muse struggles with:

Wolf assimilates to new identities a little too well. If you put him in a role, whether he initially likes it or not, he will grow to accept it as his new life and even grow attached. Despite not being “his” family, he was hard-pressed to be pulled from his cluster (polycule) in the NAG as he had grown to love them like his own. In other time travel escapades he’s often the one to blow their cover as well, inventing sliced bread years before it should have existed.

your muse’s greatest strength:

Wolf is both resilient and extremely quick to pick up new skills, languages, and tactics to aid with the mission or everyday life. He can pick up new skills like nobody’s business, such as learning the fictional language Na’vi in mere hours.

history/background:

Born in 2127 to poverty in a post-apocalyptic Earth, Wolf was raised in the slums of society. In his future, “Biotics” are a subsect of humans who took a super cure for all diseases created by scientist Dr. Elias Kronish. Those who didn’t take the cure were cast out of society and into the sewers, starting the Biotic War.

Joining the resistance against the Biotics, Wolf was one of the top fighters and demolitions expert alongside his commander, Tiger. Using a time travel device, the resistance sends back a training simulator to the 2000s disguised as a video game. This simulator is extremely complex, only able to be beaten by the one they would come to see as their saviour. Travelling back in time to 2017, Tiger and Wolf find their saviour, a lowlife janitor and certified gamer who beat the game named Josh Futturman. Luckily enough, he’s willing to help in his own way revealing that the very same creator of the super cure they’re trying to stop just happens to be his boss, Dr. Kronish. 

Time travel shenanigans ensue, bouncing between 1969, 2017, 2023, and 1985. During all of this Wolf finally gets to live for the first time, discovering the tantalizing tunes of Corey Hart, volleyball, comradery between men, beer, and cooking. Wolf took to cooking like nobody’s business, going from a man who ate rats and cats as sustenance to making a souffle that rivalled a Michelin chef.

It’s in 1985 that Wolf leaves the resistance life behind, deciding to live as a normal man for once. With the help of a new friend, Blaze, he opens up Wolfhart’s, an immersive dining experience where he would kidnap unsuspecting diners and bring them to DIE…ne. He brings them to dine. Wolf says food tastes best when mixed with the adrenaline of thinking you may genuinely be at the end of your life. It was a hit, instantly blowing up and becoming the talk of Los Angeles. Celebrities, politicians, and socialites alike would all clamber for a taste of Corey Wolfhart’s cooking.

Four years later though, Wolf was lost, missing his resistance commander and friend (and also that weirdo small guy Josh), developing a pretty terrible cocaine addiction. In turn, his cooking turned stranger and stranger with maggot risotto, batwing fritto miso, and more. When that still didn’t satisfy his “itch” he started an underground fighting ring, but nothing gave him quite the “kick” that fighting did. 

Dejected, addicted, and desperate Wolf travels back to 2017, meeting up with Tiger and returning back to Josh to finish the mission they all set out on years prior. A lot of violence, a few bombs, and a grand finale later the time travel trio successfully killed Kronish, mission complete! Tiger and Wolf return to 2162 to live the life they dreamed of, breaking their time travel device with one final jump.

Now in 2162, their world is different from what they hoped. Two societies exist, one that rejects technology and scrounges for scrap, and another of people clad in spandex jumpsuits who believe their leader will take them to “MARS.” Wolf gets ushered into the scrap society, the New Above Ground, and mistaken for a wheel-maker named Torque. Despite his protests, Torque’s cluster (his polycule) insists that Wolf IS Torque and just has “sand brain” from being “kidnapped for two years.” Despite the unforeseen circumstances Wolf thrives in this new environment, becoming one hell of a wheelmaker and eventually running for (and winning) the political office as “Supreme Overlord Torque.”

In time (see: months) Wolf reunited with Josh and Tiger, learning that “MARS,” the utopia promised, has been a ploy to kill and trap humanity in a virtual eternity of AI design. Through even more time trio shenanigans involving a nut allergy, brain touching, and a time loop, the gang gets to annihilate this AI once and for all, saving the citizens of this timeline. However,  before they can revel in their victory a duo of time cops appear to whisk them away without question.

Welcome to 3491, Time Jail!  To serve out their punishment the time trio gets sent into a deadly Wipeout-style gameshow called the Diecathalon. Day in and out Josh gets fatally injured early on while Tiger and Wolf complete the deadly obstacle course with little to no trouble. At day’s end, Josh is brought back from the brink using future medicine while Tiger and Wolf’s memories of the previous day are erased. It’s torture for Josh and after a month of this ceaseless, eternal torture he manages to lead an escape, steal a time machine, and the trio go on the run.

While on the run, the trio finds a time rift that leads them to a land out of time and space by the name of “Haven.” Populated by dozens of famous historical figures it seems like a proper utopia. With time though, each member of the gang begins to lose their memories of their lives before Haven and even of their lives mere days ago leading them to spend ten thousand years unaging in this eternal nightmare. This drives Wolf to madness, living thousands of years unaging in a shed filled to the brim with conspiracy boards and the writings of a madman. Through the power of friendship (no, literally) the gang finds each other once more and memories come flowing back, leading to them figuring out how to break this endless cycle and return to Earth to finish their mission once and for all.

In that blip to Earth though it seems Wolf ended up displaced somewhere else. Will he assimilate to this new cosmiae like every other world before him? Only time will tell!

powers/abilities:

N/A

inherent abilities:

Trained Soldier

Spending most of his life on the frontlines, Wolf is a soldier through and through. Dense enough to dent the floor if he jumps and strong enough to throw an adult man like he weighs nothing, Wolf is a formidable foe in battle.

Specifically, Wolf is a demolitions expert specializing in all things that go boom.

Celebrity Chef

Everything Wolf touches is gold. Even a microwave meal seems to be gourmet in the hands of Corey Wolfhart.

items/weapons: 

Gobulator

A small-ish metal box that can strap across a person’s chest. In it is a bunch of tiny, marble-sized bombs he has taken from biotics he’s killed.

Child’s Pencil Drawings

A series of hand-drawn pictures of various stick people and scenarios. Some are labelled with names like “Lugnut (Me!)” or “ Papa Torque.”

Vial of Cameronium

Neon green substance in a test-tube-like vial. Used to power time machines, but utterly useless without one.

Best of Corey Hart cassette tape

Self explanatory. Includes songs such as “Sunglasses at Night” and “Never surrender.”

Non-working home AI Sigourn-E

From James Cameron’s mega-mansion and famously put out of her misery by Wolf

Can be fixed, just not by this guy.

starting ability: N/A 

starting item: Gobulator

extra: 

Sorry that literally every future man app XC has gotten is so long and convoluted. The show is worse, this is condensed.

Simultaneously begging people to watch this show and begging them to stay far far away

Wolf :)

discord id: corey.wolfhart passcode: my bad, guys.

[winningwithlaughter]

Playing Games

I've often heard the expression "don't play games with me." It's an unusual expression that I understand, but don't vibe with, as it gives game playing a bad rap.

Games are meant to be playful, not manipulative, and the intent is to bring joy, excitement and even healthy competition to the moment.  It’s a departure from the grind, an energy shift into presence and the lightness of being. A game can serve to be a bonding, taking a group of individuals and giving them a group purpose. It’s an opportunity to focus, removing us from the cacophony of noises that pound on the daily into our senses. 

The word “playful” derives its meaning from the word “play,” meaning that we’re filled (full) with play and joy.  No stressors exist from work or financial dealings. We’re in the moment, and that moment is anxiety free.  Unless, of course, the angst is from being competitive-about-stupid-shit like I am. I treat some games like the Super Bowl, even pulling a hamstring playing Charades.  Ever trying acting out “whole thing” of Titanic? Daddy went down with the ship, literally! 

One affirmation/confirmation I’ve heard many times is that I’m a good dad.  I would humbly agree.  Contrary to what kind of an ass I can be to adults, my four kids get a devoted and loving father 24/7. No matter what difficult circumstances are thrown this way, the centered ground of being a great parent cannot be tumbled. Fumbled, yes, tumbled, no.  The committed roots of love are too strong.  One thing my children will never grow up to work out in therapy is - “I was raised with no laughs by a boring man who never smiled.”  Ha!

Not having a dad in my life as a child reinforces the yearning to be an active, loving and supportive father to the four Shoemaker kids. I give them all I longed for as a boy.  

One thing that stayed with me, and inspires me aways to heal, is missing what the other kids had - playing with their pops.  I recall being so resentful of my neighbors, who had a large family unit, all referring to events as “my dad” this and “my dad” that.  I sarcastically called the oldest boy next door, “my dad,” acting as if he was trying to make me jealous, when indeed he was simply spelling out his activity that day.  “My dad is taking us to Phillies game.” Grrrr.  It would send me to envy and sadness, knowing I could never utter those words. 

One Father’s Day 18 years ago, my son Justin cued up the scene from Field of Dreams, where Kevin Costner’s character, Roy Kinsella, asks his ghost father, “do you want to have a catch?” With a devilish look on his face, Justin pressed play, and watched me bawl my eyes out, while begging him to stop the video.  

That classic film is all based in the world of the game of baseball, metaphoric meanings aplenty, with family love at the core.  All walks of life, varying goals and agendas, are all brought together by a game some have never even played.  They found bliss on a field created from dreams. We can do the same in our lives, creating a personal world that’s not so dark and serious, abundant with emotional freedom. 

My children thrive when we engage in games. Before bed I give them choices of invented family customs we play out.  Most often they choose trivia we call, “Keyser Soze,” where my knowledge nudgers are spawned from looking around the room, like Keyser Soze made up his story in the film, The Unusual Suspects.  For instance, I spy the vertical window blinds and ask, “what blind singer sang Georgia?” 

We laugh a lot, even if it’s making fun of me for asking a dumb question.  I’ll trip on a banana peel for them.  Laughter is the greatest form of intimate unity.  

I say we humans pull away from the evil triad of fear, doubt and worry, and jump on the train of love, light and laughter.  If happiness is the goal, then there will be less “mind games” to worry about.  You get to create your own energetic space, and the mean folks will go away when your vibe is about fun.  

What kind of games do you play with your loved ones and friends? Share that.  It’s better than sharing a photo of your ass in a thong at a beach we’re not at! 

Oh. Gotta go. My kids have a Frisbee, waiting for their dad to play…on the sand…in front of our luxury hotel…in sunny Maui…where you’re not.  

Hahaha.  Just playing with you.  Have a fun day, wherever you’re playing your games! 

[shemakesmefeellikeprey]

Homework:

5 Things I Enjoyed Doing When I Was Younger:

1. Playing Video Games

2. Dueling (Yu-gi-oh)

3 - Riding bikes to the parks with my brothers.

4 - Drawing

5 - Getting Lost

What of those 5 things do I still enjoy doing? Do I still do them? If not, why not?

1 - I play video games as often as I can, but nowhere near as much as I used to. With everything else going on, my mental bandwidth just doesn’t have the capacity anymore for that level of focus.

2 - I still duel on a constant basis. If I’m not dueling with my brothers and cousins, I’m still able to duel playing Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel on Playstation. Honestly, this is greatest love outside of my human relationships.

3 - We’ve all gotten much older, and carry families of our own, so riding bikes to the park just to roll down the hills are basically out of the question. Now that our kids are old enough, we’re able to take our kids to the park, but we don’t ride anymore.

4 - Drawing was something that I always liked to do, but this was when I was much younger and the drawing pencils came in metal cases. My dad was always the more creative one, and when his spark for drawing burned out, I guess mine died along with it. The hardest part about it all is that he’s extremely creative with just a burned out soul. I would probably definitely start drawing again if I had someone to draw with.

5 - This was one of those things my dad told us to do when we were children, because he just couldn’t wrap his mind around the concept that we’re having fun playing video games. Still, it was me, 2 brothers, and 2 friends at any given time, which was enough that we were never “lost” alone. As long as we were back before the street lights came on, then whatever we got into what our own. Never really did hoodrat stuff, but we would explore. I don’t explore as much as I want to because I just haven’t. Though, I’ll probably explore this more.

Newly discovered things that I enjoy.

Yeehawin’ at the Watering Hole - Obviously, everyone who’s spoken to me in the past two months knows that I can’t get enough of line dancing. It lets me sweat, focus, and just be in the moment. It honestly brings me an almost unusual amount of joy, and I never really experiences “joy” before.

Going Live on Tumblr - The people that I’ve met on this site have literally given me a new lease/outlook on life. Just being able to be part of such a cool community, not to mention people gassing me up, brings a lever of enjoyment that I’ve never had due to my current lack of friends. There really is power in your village, and while these people are mostly on Tumblr, they’re all incredible.

What is the reason I’m doing this exercise, and what do I want to accomplish from this?

I would love to find a sense of self, or a sense of purpose. To feel better and just overall rekindle my inner child. I know he’s been neglected for so long, just a sensitive kid who wants to smile again, and I owe it to him/myself to make sure that I’m doing what I can to make him jump for joy because God knows I need it some days.

[twistedtummies2]

Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes - Number 7

Welcome to A Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes! During this month-long event, I’ll be counting my Top 31 Favorite Fictional Detectives, from movies, television, literature, video games, and more!

SLEUTH-OF-THE-DAY’S QUOTE: “Now, I may be wrong…but frankly, I doubt it.”

Number 7 is…Jessica Fletcher, from Murder, She Wrote.

I had a tough time deciding between Jessica Fletcher and our previous pick, Columbo. Both are from classic detective programs, and each show had a remarkably long lifespan (incidentally, both ended the same year, 2003). However, while I love the twist formula of Columbo, I personally always liked “Murder, She Wrote” a little more. I blame this on two primary facts: one of them is the simple fact that I’m a sucker for an old-fashioned “Whodunnit” mystery, of a more traditional sort. The other is summed up in two words: Angela Lansbury.

Angela Lansbury – may she rest in peace – was, is, and always has been one of my favorite actresses. She was one of those ubiquitous types of performers where it’s hard to say where people would know here best from: for some, she may be recognized most chiefly for her work in musical theatre, with shows like “Mame,” “Gypsy,” and “Sweeney Todd.” Others may know her for her connections to Disney films, like “Beauty and the Beast” or “Bedknobs and Broomsticks.” Still others may know her for any of a variety of other shows and parts some may call more “serious,” such as the villain of “The Manchurian Candidate.” And of course, for some, there’s “Murder, She Wrote,” where Lansbury – from 1984 to 2003 – played the marvelous Jessica Fletcher, easily my favorite female detective character in all of fiction.

Jessica can best be described as a sort of combination of Ellery Queen and Miss Marple. She’s a mystery writer who lives in a quaint little town – the fictional seaside village of Cabot Cove – and uses her experience writing detective work to help her solve crimes. While she finds plenty of cases in her hometown, research for her books (along with past experiences and jobs, such as working as a teacher) has brought Jessica all over the globe, and she has many friends and connections as a result of her travels. In a typical “Murder, She Wrote” episode, Jessica will find that one of these connections is under suspicion for murder. However, for one reason or another – sometimes simple faith in her friends, other times for more practical and logical reasons – Jessica refuses to believe they are responsible. When the police dismiss Mrs. Fletcher, she takes matters into her own hands and eventually solves the case and clears her friend’s name.

Mrs. Fletcher’s sheer determination and confidence are probably her most noteworthy traits as an amateur sleuth. Once she feels she’s right about something, nine times out of ten (at least), she typically is, and she won’t allow anyone to tell her differently or treat her as inferior for any reason. Her personality is fun, too, of course: she is in some ways a very soft, almost maternal figure, but she also has a sharp wit and a fine amount of sass in her soul. However, what I personally find most interesting about Jessica Fletcher is her attitude towards crime itself. I’d argue she is probably one of the most empathetic detectives out there.

Most of the time when Fletcher solves a case…she’s sad about it. There’s almost always this sense of pity and sympathy towards the ones she helps take down, even when they try to kill her, themselves, in turn. When she isn’t sad, she’s angry; this is most typical when the killers are people she knows well. She recognizes that murderers are just as human as the ones whose lives they destroy. Many of the victims in the show were unlikeable people, and while Jessica can’t agree with the ones who took them out – especially since they often endangered people close to her – there’s a sense she often feels sorry for them. In her mind, they aren’t necessarily bad people, simply people who made bad choices. So she doesn’t hate them; mostly, she seems to feel disappointed in them.

The series gave Lansbury a lot of room to flex her acting chops, in a lot of different ways. As the nominal star of the show, she had a lot of input on the content of episodes, and Jessica was not the only character she played in the show. There was also Jessica’s flamboyant cousin, Emma, a recurring figure who even took over for Jessica in one story. It’s hard to imagine anybody else now in the role, and I would argue it’s the actress, as much as the character herself, who makes this series so enjoyable to watch.

Tomorrow, the countdown continues with Number 6!

CLUE: “I did not know the bank was being robbed because I was engaged in my sworn duty as a police officer.”