#virtue shifters

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Welcome to Virtue

So I cannot sing the praises of Murphy Lawless (in this case writing as Zoe Chant) as an author enough. I thoroughly enjoyed the Gladiator Shifters books, but coming back to the beginning of the Virtue Shifters series, I was absolutely delighted. Why? The writing, for one, but for this book specifically? The main character is a mid-30s single mother with a four year old. I was PSYCHED to have an FMC who wasn't 20 with a mint-condition uterus. (See, Miss America Pageant??? Women who are older and who have kids are AWESOME and have VALUE.) As a 30-something myself who has been rapidly noticing her protagonists seem younger by the year, this was a breath of fresh air and a delightful change.

And ngl, hot late-30s guy with washboard abs who the four year old trusts and loves? Excuse me while I fangirl squee over how awesome this is. Let's talk Timber Wolf.

Mabs and Noah Brannigan escape Noah's deadbeat, dickhead sperm donor to live in an inherited heritage home in Virtue--an old, New England shifter town. Unfortunately, the home is in desperate need of restoration and Mabs is basically broke and trying to DIY something that really and truly needs a professional while wrangling an almost supernaturally active four year old.

Thats about when Jake Rowly rocks back into town nursing a broken heart and kickass carpentry skills. He and Mabs are aggressively set up by a mutual friend, and the pair work together to restore the house and make it safe for Mabs and Noah to live in.

When Mabs's ex shows up looking to either take her back or take Noah away from her, Jake is standing firmly behind Mabs, letting her find the confidence that her gaslighting dickhead of an ex did his best to quash, and protecting Noah. And as a fun side effect of all of this, they manage to uncover a murderous realtor and a literal fortune stuffed inside an old mattress that neatly solves Mabs's financial troubles.

Groundbreaking? Not particularly. Fun? Absolutely. Warm and cozy? You bet! If ever you want a snuggly romance that isn't a couple of single twenty-somethings, this is a great one to start with. I particularly love that despite the genre, Mabs is over here rebuilding her own confidence with support, rather than having Jake's existence just magic it back. Their conversations about what Mabs does and does not want Jake to do are amazing and really sweet. Not to mention the situational comedy of trying to fall in love while keeping things G-rated for the rambunctious child in the house that this book does beautifully.

I rarely have a lot to say about the Virtue Shifter books, but thats more because they're adorable and snuggly and I adore them than anything else. So if you're looking for a cozy shifter romance, you cannot go wrong by picking up this series.

[mizkit]

Ask the Author: writing for Zoe Chant

Ask the Author – the Question: I am curious about how you got in on the Zoe Chant action. And how exactly does it work when multiple authors write under a single pen name? Hah! I got in on it because I have a friend who writes for Zoe and she spent years trying to get me to apply to write for them. Eventually I did. And while that sounds easy enough on the surface, it took me two rewrites of one…

[animentality]

the Star Trek fandom always acts like either Riker or Kirk is the god of rizz in the Star Trek universe, and it's bullshit, when Quark exists right there.

he was literally pulling klingon widowers, cardassian enemies of state, trans ferengi, vulcan terrorists, amorphous he/they shape shifters. he constantly had men chasing after him too.

Kirk's womanizing ways were vastly overstated by people whose memories are clouded by age, and Riker's repertoire was the most generic humanoid hotties out there, whose personalities were basically omg i'd love to have sex with you do you like my skimpy outfit.

Quark was pulling much harder just by virtue of the fact that all of his pulls were people who had a good reason to not get involved with him at all, but couldn't resist in the end.

seriously. cardassian political scientist that hates him, ferocious klingon warrior who just wants to use him for political reasons, a trans ferengi who doesn't want to be outed, a Vulcan terrorist who REALLY shouldn't be helping him but does, and a cop.

he has that much rizz, mk?

trust me. I'm a scientist.

I have the qualitative data to back this up.

[randomhatthief]

These two match more and more as time goes on. 

[reiashiftsrealities]

tips for musician dr shifters <3

hey guys! thought i’d post something a lil different cause i have been SLACKING on posts, so sorry abt that. but in my fame dr, i am the head manager for my family’s band, and i have learned a bunch of things from that experience so i’m sharing it here :)

✧ kindness is a virtue when it comes to venue workers. they can really make or break a show if they wanted to. also they’re extremely underpaid for the amount of work they do, so just be kind and patient with them unless they do something to you first.

✧ goes out to all fame dr shifters—don’t pay attention to headlines too much. people are gonna hate no matter what so don’t waste your time listening <3

✧ get a bodyguard/security guard asap. even if you think you don’t need one.

✧ pay close attention to your record label because some of them aren’t in it for the music but more in it for the brand.

✧ ^also don’t let them pressure you to do features. while it can help with popularity/recognition, you will be fine without it if you don’t want to do it.

✧ if you use fog machines; if it starts to smell like how the outside smells after it rains or like broccoli, change it out. that means it’s outdated and prolonged exposure will make you sick (my brother almost lost a lung because of complications from it ☹️)

✧ get a really good PR manager. shit will save your life.

✧ if you’re struggling with lyrics, go outside. no matter the weather GO OUTSIDE!! it works wonders.

✧ keep the barricade at least 3-5ft away from the stage to prevent people from being able to grab onto the stage itself

✧ CONNECTIONS ARE EVERYTHING!!!! make friends with other musicians. trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

✧ never sample someone’s song/music without permission. you WILL get a cease and desist or sued 93% of the time.

✧ you only get a small amount of revenue from streams!! touring is where most of your profit will ensue.

✧ try to get to your venue 3-4 hours early. that gives you time to fix wardrobe/equipment/transportation malfunctions should they occur.

✧ fans remember EVERYTHING, so be careful with what you say/do cause i swear they keep tabs on that shit😭

p.s. if you scripted some of these to be different or out completely, then ignore them! these are just general tips, they may not apply to everyone’s drs :)

let me know if y’all want a part 2 cause i have so many more🫶

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

[ruushes]

Hello I just discovered your blog because I love Bg3 and your art is just *keysmash* 😍😱💚 You named your Tav Lux and your Durge Nox? That is beautiful! Normally I'm most obsessed with my own Durge (her name is Maev 😊) but you got me hooked and I would love to know more of them! Are they shape shifters/trans/androgynous? (Correct me if I'm wrong but I think I spied both male and female forms 🧐) I love your design and the concept that Nox is like a cat, innocently playing with half dead things while the others witness it with shock and disgust 😆

💕💕🩷💜🩵THANK YOU for asking about my creature i love them so much 😭😭😭😭💕💕 answers under the cut so i can ramble contentedly and here is a wip of their cult leader days vs their return to baldur's gate (i just got to act 3 and they are Going Through It)

they originally started as a tav w/ the name lux, short for the tiefling virtue name luxury, then i restarted w/ them as a durge and the name nox bc it was like the opposite of lux (night vs light). they've evolved pretty far from the original lux character in terms of backstory, motivations and priorities, though personality-wise they're still pretty similar. i'm still considering whether i want to preserve/develop lux as a separate tav 🤔

they like to change up their gender presentation but tragically (in their opinion) are unable to physically change shape (major point of sibling rivalry with orin). i guess the best term for them might be genderfluid, or polygender? they're fine w/ any pronouns and gendered words but tend to most enjoy androgyny and ambiguity

and yes you get it..! that's a good analogy, not exactly innocent but amoral in the literal meaning of the word, like outside of mortal morality. cause they're not mortal ultimately and even by the end of the game struggle to see anything wrong with their enjoyment of violence and killing

they think about things less in terms of right and wrong and more in terms of what they care about and how they're affected (though they do throughout the course of the game begin to redevelop their very beaten down and atrophied sense of sympathy). luckily for everyone involved they want to be Loved and can compromise by mostly only enjoying socially acceptable violence and killing lol

[pankekesito]

Rust Cohle's tattoos - A mini-essay on their possible meaning

Hi, this is probably my longest post, I may have to split it into two parts due to the length but I will try to see that everything can be compacted into one post.

DISCLAIMER!

This mini essay is done purely as a hobby by a die-hard True Detective fan, none of this is actually 100% confirmed (other than the interview part of ‘The Last Magazine’). While this is as logical and accurate a research as possible, it's just a hypothesis of what Rust Cohle's tattoos seen in the series could mean; if you don't think it's reasonable, that's fine. All opinions are valid as long as they are made on the basis of respect!

Without more to say, I hope you find this Mini Essay interesting and fun, I made it with all my love for you (and obviously because of my love for Rust); I would like to know your opinions about it, even if they are not the same as me! (I will leave a section in my profile to give you the sources used in the research in case you want to know more about the arguments to support my opinion).

An apology if something is not fully understood, English is not my first language ⸜❤︎⸝

And remember, ⥁‘Time is a flat circle’⥀

Rust Cohle has two tattoos which are a bird of unknown species on his right forearm and an unidentified symbol on his chest; right where the heart is located.

Focusing on the forearm tattoo, thanks to a short interview in “The Last Magazine” published on May 10, 2016; Josh Lord who is a renowned tattoo artist who has worked to perform various tattoos in the entertainment world along with Joji Fukunaga who directed the first season of the series mentioned that they wanted the tattoos presented in this one to have the same detailed realism that is reflected in the audiovisual product. For the case of Rust Cohle initially in Pizzolatto's original script his tattoo would consist of a pair of flaming dice. Personally I'm glad to know that this didn't happen because while they tried to give him that wild and dangerous meaning, Rust doesn't believe in the randomness of fate and every action he takes he does it consciously, carrying in him the responsibility for his actions and not granting it to fate. Josh and Fukunaga had something clear and that is that the tattoos would go from being a decorative element to a characterization, a symbolic element of the souls and the truth of the guts of the characters.

For this very reason they chose to draw on Cohle's undercover past as a member of a criminal motorcycle gang, whose emblem was originally intended to be a raven. Subsequent revisions turned the gang into the “Iron Crusaders” where very aptly the tattoos of its members refer to anvils, bones, engine parts, demons, weapons, etc. Something important to note is that the vision of the Iron Crusaders is dark, mysterious, funereal and gloomy (as all its operation within the series), the initial idea where the raven would be its emblem makes sense because in general the raven is associated with death because they are scavengers, predators and for some civilizations they embody death and the underworld.

But while the terrain where the Iron Crusaders unfold has a close relationship with the first and best known negative view (symbolically speaking) of ravens, its positive meaning has more to do with Rust Cohle's behavior and reason. The raven can also be a powerful animal totem, a protector and spiritual guide, a shape-shifter, a messenger and the symbol of transformation. In its benevolent symbolism, it represents giving up on the human world in search of wisdom, as well as being a cunning and intelligent animal capable of adapting and embracing change. In the Scandinavian tradition, the raven is a sacred and wise figure that brings virtues of “reflection” and “memory” while in Native American tribes, ravens are revered for their intelligence and spiritual importance. They are considered messengers of the spiritual world, possessors of universal wisdom and protectors against evil forces. It is also said that in Norse mythology there were two ravens that always accompanied the god Odin, whose names were Hugin and Munin. Hugin represented the power of thought and Munin represented memory and intuition; every time the sun rose both were sent to earth in search of information and every night at sunset they returned to Odin's palace and whispered all the news and events of which they had learned on their visit to planet earth.

A fact that may not be so relevant (and most probably I am just adding it to be interesting) is that there is a constellation called Corvus having four points in its constellation that make it to be, which is related to the raven (it is all due to a Greek myth). I like to think that this has a lot to do with Rust's tattoo because of the position of his tattoo (more properly speaking the wings) with the resemblance to the graphic references usually used for the raven of the constellation Corvus and the close relationship it has with the universe and the cosmic. Also the four points of the constellation remind me of the four stages of Rust Cohle seen during the series (1995, Crash Comeback, 2002, 2012).

Now we can't overlook the fact that the Celts held ravens in high esteem, associating them with battles and the Celtic Goddess of war and destruction (Morrigan). Ravens were seen as protectors and warriors, embodying the qualities of intelligence and strategic thinking. The raven's ability to shape-shift, attributed to Morrigan, further emphasizes its transformative nature. All of the above meanings attributed to ravens provided by various cultures, whether with a positive or negative focus curiously fit perfectly well with the ideology of our armored detective Rust Cohle. Rust is surrounded by silent anxiety, tragedy, death, chaos and pain. He himself struggles even with internal battles, his demons from the past. Yet he has a strong mentality, he uses his reason to adapt to even the most unsafe territories even if it means changing shape (like Crash). The fact that he more than likely made the decision to get the tattoo during his infiltration as Crash when he was in the narcotics department is reasonable as he was like a predator within the gang, a shape-shifting scavenger trying to get answers as he shrewdly roamed the rubble of human evil. The raven was his way of remembering his purpose and no wonder, Rust is very skilled with manual tasks. His hands allow him to do his work properly; watching them constantly do the dirty work and hide or reveal the ashes when necessary makes him evoke his intention in this world and how ephemeral it is on the earthly plane. It is not for nothing that the raven is on his forearm, showing his bones as a sign that death will always be with him until his last breath.

To focus on his last tattoo (and the most intriguing in my opinion) we must go back to Celtic culture. As we have seen throughout the series, symbols and religions (beliefs of something beyond comprehension) are always present because they touch the most sensitive parts of human beings. Their constant search for belonging and the meaning of life. In Celtic culture runes are used as signs, talismans, symbols and runic alphabets. Basically runes are a writing system that was used in Scandinavia and parts of Northern Europe from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages. Although it is not known exactly who invented runes, it is believed that they emerged sometime around the 1st century AD. Specifically “Rune” means secret. Runes are magical instruments of power, carriers of secrets and wisdom. There are several types of runes with vast meanings however in my research I found four runes which I will use to support my hypothesis about the possible meaning of Cohle's chest tattoo. First we must be certain that the tattoo on the chest of Rust does NOT exist as such in the Futhark Runes, or in any other compilation of symbolism so we can say that this symbol is a composite symbol; referring to the fact that although it is based on the Celtic runes, it has NO direct relationship, nor systematically objective. We can notice it even more thanks to the inverted cross of the tattoo (soon we will return to this point).

Talking about the possible runes used for the composition of the tattoo we have:

•Rune Thurisaz ᚦ

Meaning: Door. Reflection. New options. Magical use: Regeneration. Concentration. Override negativity. Meditation. New beginnings. When you need luck and control of any circumstance. Protection and defense. Neutralize enemies or opposition.

•Rune Raidho ᚱ

Meaning: Wheel. Travel. Communication. Help in taking risks. Self-healing. Magical use: Changes. Protection. Transformation. Justice according to good. Safe and comfortable travel.

•Rune Wunjo ᚹ

Meaning: Joy. Comfort. Harmony. Security. Tranquility. Magical use: Triumph. Motivation. Recognition. Achievement of goal. Success in travel. Luck in love or work.

•Rune Berkana ᛒ

Meaning: Growth. Awakening. Rebirth. Development of creativity. Magical use: Healing. Wholeness. Clarity. Motherhood. Self-realization. Fertility. When seeing the runes presented we can relate them with Rust Cohle because they present several descriptive concepts that define him; but to my point of view, of those presented the rune more linked (and similar to his tattoo) is the rune Raidho.

Throughout the series we can see the entire journey Cohle goes through both through the Lange case that is presented to him, as well as his growth individually. His journey in general has been dangerous, putting him in a vulnerable state but never fully achieving it, having Rust in a cathartic state of progression where although the road was arduous, it always ends with him having a safe process of introspection. This path was just like a wheel where he repeated over and over again aspects of his life that he had already lived (Time is a flat circle) but thanks to communication these repetitive aspects had a significant change. The clearest example of this is his relationship with Marty Hart; in the series they had a partnership that while solid was undeniably chaotic. Marty did not want to listen to Rust and Cohle could not stop spouting his pessimistic ideology until the issue related to Maggie happened which made them separate. It wasn't until 2012 that Rust swallowed his depressing verbiage in order to talk to Marty and he, took his time to listen to Cohle and support him in his plan. Changing their relationship and the situation through communication. Precisely to this, both were able to give the due justice that the case deserved and finally Rust was able to be a little warmer with himself, finally accepting the past that haunted him and taking the first step to self-healing.

Of course, the Raidho rune and the symbol on Rust's chest are not the same because as I mentioned earlier, Cohle's tattoo is (probably) a composite symbol but the resemblance both physically of the rune and allegorically to the detective's ideology is something worth mentioning. Rustin Cohle's first step in understanding his pain and being able to allow himself to open up honestly and vulnerably with someone as he did with Marty was to be humble about his feelings. Humility was an important factor in this, as well as dealing humanely with his penance given by the past. These two issues are ideological characteristics given in the Christian symbol of the inverted cross of St. Peter. According to tradition, Peter asked to be crucified upside down because he did not consider himself worthy of dying in the same way as his master, Jesus of Nazareth. However, in other contexts the inverted cross is often used as a symbol of atheism, humanism and occultism. This is also notoriously seen in Rust's philosophy as we know that the belief in something greater than the human being which governs the commandments of humanity seems ridiculous to him. A simple stoic belief to alleviate the rottenness of reality. That is why perhaps that rune was transformed according to Rust's philosophy (which makes sense, Josh Lord does not do work without tying up loose ends; much less from the hand of Joji Fukunaga).

While we don't have an exact answer about the meaning of the tattoos of our endearing and cold-hearted detective, I like the idea of trying to unravel the hidden meanings among the symbols that physically characterize his personality, trying to investigate as logically and clearly as possible the probable exact representations of Rust's philosophy embodied in his skin. I believe that the series is so well designed that even the smallest details count and that's why I took the time to try to dig into the secrets of what Rust's tattoos want to tell us.

If you made it this far, thank you so much for taking the time to read this mini-essay! It was really fun to do, I think that while I'm not sure what his tattoos really mean; I was able to better understand Rust in different and meaningful ways. I hope someday we can know for sure what they mean (although part of me doesn't want to, because that would take the fun out of it). I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a like if you found it informative or entertaining, comment on what you thought, if you have any other theories of its possible meaning or reblog this mini-essay so more people interested in True Detective could see it! A kiss to whoever reads this and I hope the Yellow King never finds you! 💛

[henrytanael19]

Propatulus Aurora AU

In which Earth, the entire solar sytem and other planets is alive, a universe where the impossible is only an illusion, where monsters and gods are sometimes both and can be killed, living amongst their mortal kin, where the concept of Death is different for every planet or galaxy, but the solar system has a concept of death joined with the void, as inevitable as it is kind, the primordial darkness rejoicing of the life that dots it. And in which Humans are just vibing after being properly introduced to the Wider Galaxy Community, turning enemies into friends and the like. Also, Earth takes no shit from alien invaders and boots them out the moment they try to enter her atmosphere.

Except for the good ones, they can stay.

In this Au, Planets were vaguely sorted into three categories: Destroyer, Creator, and Protector. The likes of Primus, Eukaris, Devisiun, Petropia and numerous others were known as Creator-planets, due to being able to seed life from their own bodies. Whereas Unicron, Pyros, Appoplexia and the like were known as the Destroyer-planets, being known to destroy dead planets to make way for the new cycle. As the name suggested, Protector-planets were primarily concerned with the defense of their home system, protecting it both from Destroyers seeking to devour a still living planet and Creators from seeding other planets with parasites, but also has the fewest planets of the three, with Earth being counted among it alongside her siblings in the Solar System in the Milky Way. Arburia also counted as a Protector before it's destruction.

But for those lacking a Protector-planet to defend them, a Guardian and a Titan was the next best thing individual planets can have. Consisting of a planet's strongest children, they can be considered as gods in the view of others. E.g. Godzilla and Mothra of Earth are a textbook example of a Titan and Guardian pairing, despite the fact that Earth was a Protector-planet. Earth is their version of a cryptid to her fellow planets, appearing in other galaxies with no warnings.

Where humans have powers that is derived from their souls, some able to turn it tangible as their weapon of choice like a sword, or manifesting an entire armour made up of their soul or even performing them like the four elements. Due to this close connection with their own lifeforce they live somewhere in between the living and the spiritual world, otherwise called as the umbral, or fourth dimension. The denizens of the Umbral World consist of mythological or extinct creatures and primarily steeped in magic, invisible to the naked eye. And in honor of their mother-planet, they dedicated themselves to taking care of creatures trying to cause trouble in the mortal realm, whether by rehabilitation or execution, the primary group known for this is called the Titanslayers, led by June Darby and Cade Yeager.

All of this is done quietly in the shadows, considering almost none in the Wider Galaxy Community is aware of the Umbral Dimension. The Anur system are one of the few to also be able to interact with the Umbral Dimension, as well as the Null Dimension and Legerdomain by virtue of being attached to it.

Earth is steeped in magic, so humans have been able to mostly connect it seamlessly with technology and even science (E.g. Ben Tennyson being a World Shifter as well as a biologist in this AU). The primary examples are the Jaegers, metal machines operated by human pilots and the love child of science, technology and magic.

The Earth-Titans are also denizens of the Umbral Dimensions, so they are a visible example of creatures originating in the Umbral Dimension living in the Mortal Realm.

Also, Earth is as ancient as the other planets, consisting of those ages in trillions, but because she only settled into a planet after most planets already turned inactive in the case of the Creator-planets, the Galaxy widely believed she was only 4 billion years old, having only counted the years she was a planet rather than the active creature she was back then, having been the third to settle as a planet in their solar system.

Also, Earth's biodiversity came from the planets and creatures she has killed and eaten, once having been described as containing a black hole for a stomach, and with those biodiversity inherited by humans was born their nearly limitless ability to procreate with any sentient creature in the Galaxy. As long as they have the equivalent of a soul, they can carry a child of that alien species, double the effectiveness if they were just using their soul, as having just used it means their lifeforce is still closer to the surface of their physical body and made flexible enough to make procreation between two different species possible. (E.g. The Plumbers Kids/Amalgam Kids, Max McGrath, Kevin Levin, Others)

Hybrid children still aren't that common though, due to having to feed fragment bits of their own soul to sustain a half foreign onr. It can even prove taxing enough to require a third party stepping in just so both parent and offspring doesn't die.

Ancient creatures lurk in the background of the universe, taking the form of Suns, Black Holes and the like. Helios, the Sun of the Solar System, is one such example.

And as a bonus, this AU is primarily crack with eldritch horror, heartfelt feelings and interspecies romance mixed in.

In other words, welcome to the crackfest that is Propatulus Aurora, and enjoy your stay!

(PS. I'll be taking stuff from each canon and mashing them together to fit my perceptions and suits my purposes, and ignoring anything else that doesn't.)

[blessingmaxxer]

My response to @mywitchyblog!

"Thank you for your response! I definitely have a deeper understanding of your perspective. I will make sure to answer your direct questions within your argument as soon as possible, as well as also clarify/highlight some of the points I made in my argument." - my initial response to your post

My stance: Race-changing is often (if not always) disrespectful and you shouldn't need to race-change to care about or try to understand another race

With that being said, I'll start again!

To answer your question about mixed people race-changing, I don't see why one would need to? Are you not those races??

Anyway, the practice of reality shifting, wherein individuals immerse themselves in alternate realities or dimensions, includes the controversial activity of race changing. You argue that race changing allows for profound personal growth, empathy development, and cultural competence. However, critics express concerns about cultural appropriation, racial fetishization, and racism. This essay critically examines the arguments for race changing in reality shifting, addressing its ethical implications and assessing the validity of its claimed benefits.

You and some others describe the practice as a deeply immersive experience that extends beyond physical transformation, including emotional and cultural integration. You say that this immersive experience fosters empathy and a nuanced understanding of different racial identities. However, this perspective oversimplifies the implications of embodying an entirely different racial identity, especially considering that race-changing practitioners can opt in and out of their new identities at will—a privilege not afforded to real individuals facing racial discrimination. Those who do so will always do it in a cavalier manner, since they can easily discard all social implications and conventions that exist. Vacationing to a life of discrimination is truly disheartening and fetishizing to see.

"Just wanting see" what the hell that is discrimination is like is backwards. What could be so interesting about a different race that you have to become it? If you strip every argument down, it will always lead to someone not fully respecting other races is-- They don't see it as something to be held in regard if they can easily cross that boundary.

While you claim that race changing enhances empathy by allowing individuals to experience life from a different racial perspective, this argument has limitations. Experiencing racial identity through shifting lacks the permanence and systemic context that characterize real-life racial experiences. Even if you shift to a new race, you will never inherit the deep-rooted understanding of what it means to be that race. Visiting another country does not make you automatically or intrinsically a part of it's culture for the virtue of you being there, and having a willingness to "learn", does not automatically translate to a willingness to be respectful of that culture or identity.

Shifters may encounter only a superficial or selective aspect of racial identity without enduring the lifelong societal challenges and discrimination that individuals of that race face. Thus, the empathy developed through such a practice might be more akin to a simulated experience rather than a genuine understanding of racial adversity.

Furthermore, while race changing might lead to personal reflection, the capacity for self-reflection does not naturally translate into a deeper or more accurate understanding of racial issues. Genuine empathy and social justice awareness require sustained engagement with real-world issues and communities, not merely temporary immersion in alternate realities.

Shifting for a few months or years does not an empathetic person make, or give you true understanding of an identity. What do you expect, you have someone call you a slur and suddenly you become a better and more understanding person, ready to fight discrimination every which way? Multiverse or not, that's not how people work.

You acknowledge that race changing can be seen as a form of cultural appropriation. That is because it is. Assuming a different racial identity, especially for temporary and frivolous purposes, does, in fact, trivialize and commodify the lived experiences of those races. You don't want it to be that way, but it is. You counter that shifters can engage with new cultures deeply and respectfully, integrating themselves fully into their desired identities.

Nevertheless, this perspective fails to address the fundamental issue that race changing involves choosing and discarding identities at will, an act that lacks the permanence and societal impact associated with real racial experiences. The practice risks perpetuating the notion that racial identities are interchangeable and can be explored without the enduring consequences of systemic racism, ergo, discarding the meaningfulness of these people and experiences.

Additionally, the ability to "opt out" of a racial identity undermines the reality of living with that identity, potentially reducing it to a mere fantasy or experiment, which for an incomprehensible amount of people, it is not.

The concern of racial fetishization is pertinent, as race changing might encourage the objectification or exoticization of racial identities. I argue that focusing on racial characteristics for personal or imaginative exploration can reinforce stereotypes and reduce complex identities to superficial traits.

You assert that the immersive nature of race changing fosters genuine cultural engagement and empathy. However, the risk of fetishization remains significant, particularly if the practice involves an emphasis on stereotypical or desirable aspects of a racial identity while neglecting its broader, more complex reality. It doesn't go away because you think there's very little evidence or weight to it. Effective engagement with racial identities requires more than temporary immersion; it demands a deep and respectful understanding of the lived experiences and systemic challenges faced by individuals of that race.

The argument that race changing is inherently centers on the notion that it minimizes the real struggles faced by marginalized racial groups. I believe that such practices can perpetuate harmful stereotypes and disregard the reality of racial oppression. Those who race-change often operate from a place of privilege, like a rich person pretending to be poor for the fun of it or the aesthetic.

Just as someone would rightfully side-eye said rich person, people of color have every right to side-eye race-changers, and people who enthusiastically support it (as you've said, people have the right to be offended; that's because it makes sense to be).

To address these concerns, it is essential for practitioners of race changing to engage critically with their motivations and the broader implications of their practice. Effective empathy and anti-racism require MORE than temporary experiences; they necessitate a sustained commitment to understanding and addressing real-world racial issues.

Having that "as long as we aren't weird about it, we can do it" mentality is a coverup; there's no way to be not weird about it, if you're already willing to cross that boundary. You can't say, "Oh, black people... Cool, cool... Let me see what that's like, looks interesting," and it not be weird. Race isn't a fashion that you can try on and discard later. It's not a enriching activity you can do with the family. It's a real and tangible identity that one random person on the internet can't just grapple or tackle on a whim, or even with careful thought.

In short, race changing in reality shifting may offer some insights into different racial perspectives, it also raises significant ethical concerns. The practice risks trivializing real racial experiences, reinforcing stereotypes, and perpetuating a superficial understanding of racial issues. For a meaningful engagement with racial diversity and empathy, it is crucial to approach these issues with a commitment to real-world understanding and systemic change, rather than relying on temporary, simulated experiences. Critical reflection and genuine engagement with racial communities (outside of reality shifting) are essential for fostering a deeper and more accurate understanding of racial identity and systemic inequality.

Thank you for your time.

[i-love-klim]

man... Alice end isn't talked about much, but it's one of the coolest SHIFTer moments in all of virtue's last reward, IMO. a lot of VLR's story locks are bypassed by reciting eminently memorizable and/or discoverable bits of intel (the bits that aren't--the 9-character hashes used to defuse the bombs, etc--justify themselves by asking you, the player, to store them away somewhere in physical memory). but the Alice end story lock is bypassed by Sigma just reciting a fuckass huge number out of nowhere. and Alice somehow prime factorizing it. I think that's really cool

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Caaaaaaaaaaaaan... Anybodyyyyyyyyyy...

Fiiiiiiiiiind me...

Ok, I literally adore Somebunny to Love so much. The romance is fluffy and delightful. The rabbit puns are ON POINT. The writing is fabulous. Virtue as a shifter sanctuary is awesome, quirky, and full of heart.

Hey, here is your SPOILER WARNING!

The romance is pretty straightforward and quick (fated mates keeps things from being complicated or confusing). Emmy and Karl are in love at first sight--which has to be weird for Karl, because Emmy is in her bunny form when they meet. But what I adore about this Virtue Shifters book is how well it blends heart and humor. The humor is evident in my first favorite quote from the book:

This poor, poor man is about to get it on with the girl of his dreams and the next thing he knows, he has been aggressively kicked in the face by a giant rabbit who is absolutely terrified. It's perfect, I wouldn't change a thing.

The heart, though? Comes from my favorite line in the book, which is from Emmy's rabbit:

Rabbits in general--and Emmy's in particular--are anxious little things. And it's SO EASY to fall into the trap of being brave for someone ELSE. It's almost expected of people, and it displaces the worth of being brave for yourself. What I love here is that Emmy's rabbit is brave for Emmy, and that's the most literalized being brave for your own sake that I've ever seen. It's really lovely, and I like the little bit of insight into the relationship between a shifter and their animals. It was a really lovely little moment, and I love that Emmy gets to be brave for herself with support from Karl.

Overall, this book is adorable, soft, fluffy, and made me laugh out loud multiple times. Seriously, the rabbit puns are absolutely out of this world, and it's amazing how fast they turn into innuendos.

[hey-hamlet]

Fic Prompt: 13, Puppydog Tails AU, Hound Dog.

I can already imagine a scenario, however I'd like to see your take on it as well, not to mention that this character isn't one usually used, so that's a plus for me, getting to see an underrated character :D

What doesn’t kill you,” he continues, “changes you in ways you can never recover from. But what you do with those changes is up to you."

Getting Midoriya to attend therapy had been a hard fought battle. One, he noted as he meet eyes with a green-furred, sharp eyed, wolf-like dog, they'd not entirely won. It wasn't impossible to hold a therapy session when your client refused to shift into a form that allowed communication, but. Well. It certainly was more difficult.

He near refused to answer to his last name, leaving it up to teachers how they would refer to their newest student. Use his first name and subtly continue the implication he was less worthy of respect than other students? Or call him by his last name, distress the kid, piss off his friends and lose control of the classroom. Yagi and Aizawa had neatly sidestepped the problem by virtue of only calling him a nickname (my boy and problem child, respectively).

Hound Dog figured that giving the boy the agency to pick his own name was more important than implications.

"Now, Izuku." Hound Dog said, noting with a spark of happiness how Midoriya's ears pricked at his name. "This is just an introductory session, we won't be handling anything sensitive at this moment." He forward in his seat, eyes locked on Midoriya, but avoiding his eyes. Body language was tricky with mutants and animal shifters. The last thing he wanted to do was threaten the kid.

"I just want to make one thing clear first - you are just as worthy of safety and comfort as your fellow students. There is nothing wrong with the way you seek that comfort, even if it means we have to work a little harder to communicate, ok?" Midoriya stared at him, frozen for a moment before soft whimpers built in his throat. He watched the body curl in on himself slightly, sure tears would be dripping from his eyes if he were capable of it in his current form.

Ah - Hound Dog felt himself soften. Even now, the pup's tail was wagging.

[alto-tenure]

Do the ends justify the means?: A Zero Escape analysis

I'm not here to answer a nuanced philosophical question, sorry. At least not in any way beyond "it depends on the ends, and it depends on the means". If you'd like to leave your own opinion, as of the time this post was made, I have a poll open for that. A while ago, somewhere on Tumblr, I read a post criticizing the moral framework of Virtue's Last Reward, saying that the game (and especially the formatting of the AB Game), right down to its title, says "morals are for suckers" in comparison to 999 being driven by compassion. I don't agree with this premise (and if you're OP of that post, I apologize for making an example of you), but nonetheless I wish to take a closer look at the moral framework driving all three Zero Escape games, and ask: what exactly does Zero Escape as a franchise believe about the ends and the means?

DELTA: Don't be mistaken. If we do nothing now and let time pass, an even worse future awaits. A religious fanatic will trigger a nuclear war with a terrorist attack. Eight billion... All of mankind will perish. Unfortunately, the fanatic's identity is unknown. Therefore I decided to kill six billion people.

AKANE: Why...

DELTA: By doing so, I will have a 75% chance that they are among the virus's casualties. To tell the truth, history has proven me right.

JUNPEI: So...to kill one person, you'll sacrifice six billion...?!

DELTA: It is to save two billion people.

AKANE: And that's how you used Radical-6...

DELTA: You don't believe that's the ethical choice?

AKANE: What?! Of course I don't!

JUNPEI: Is that all you think human lives are worth?! Do you feel nothing as you kill off a whole bunch of innocent people?!

I'm opening with this because Zero II, aka Delta, is the most extreme of the Zeroes in terms of how far their means go to justify their desired end. Delta's desired end, as textually expressed (or at least one of them), is to assemble a group of SHIFTers capable of creating a timeline where Radical-6 is unnecessary and the world doesn't end.

Zero is, generally, painted as this somewhat mysterious shadowy villain, an intimidating presence that looms over the game Zero runs, even as the characters figure out that someone among them must be Zero themself. At first the player's not sure why Zero set up the Game -- for entertainment? For some kind of fucked up experiment?

But with the reveal of Zero's identity also comes the reveal of Zero's motives.

I get everything now... At last, I finally understand what all of this means. I know why the Nonary Game was held today. I know why we were kidnapped and brought here. It was all for this moment. All of this was planned out to lead to this one moment. Oh my God... This is...this is insane! I...I can't believe it, but there's only one possible answer... June is--Zero is--Akane Kurashiki. She recreated the history of the future that she had a glimpse of, 9 years ago. She tried to save herself that way 9 years ago-- No! She's trying to save herself right now! That means that there's only one thing for me to do. Even if this is all some sort of insane plan... I will save her... I will save...Akane Kurashiki. I must save her, no matter what!

(minor edits made to game's script here for readability)

Nothing about Zero's motivations is ever simple, regardless of the game -- Delta is not alone with his complex motives. In 999, it's left uncertain what exactly Zero's motivations are for a while. It's only once you start to learn about the first Nonary Game and the experiments conducted there that you start to get a picture of what's really going on, and even then, it's not truly an accurate picture. You start to see the outlines of a possible revenge plot, of the men at its center, of the targets placed on the backs of Cradle Pharmaceutical's executives. But ultimately, it's not really about revenge, though that's kind of a component. It's about saving a girl trapped in a paradox. The Cradle Pharmaceutical executives could have gotten out alive -- and for that matter, the game was designed so that the door was left open. Revenge wasn't the true goal, though perhaps it was optimistic to believe in a timeline where Ace wouldn't kill the others, all things considered. Is Akane's life worth the lives of the Cradle Pharmaceutical executives? Is Akane's life worth the trauma she inflicted on the others and re-inflicted on Clover and Light? The game hardly leaves any time for an answer from anyone besides Junpei. And Junpei won't let Akane die.

We never see Akane, so we don't get too much more rumination on this. Do the ends justify the means? Someone needed to save Akane's life, and danger is required for the morphogenetic field to work. And I don't think there's anyone who would want to let 12-year-old Akane burn in the incinerator (besides the person who put her there), regardless of what she has to do in order to avoid being burned.

Virtue's Last Reward and Zero Time Dilemma both massively up the stakes from 999. What hangs in the balance isn't the fate of a single girl, but the fate of the whole world.

Virtue's Last Reward places an emphasis on predestination -- not that 999 didn't have those aspects, but that the future was much less certain in 999 in comparison. Akane is both dead and alive, but in Virtue's Last Reward, the apocalypse has already happened, and the world has already died. What matters, then, is not the timeline that we are present in, but the timelines that could be. In End or Beginning, you're left with that hope for a better timeline -- hope that the Sigma that jumped to December 2028 can create a better timeline. But in the meantime, this Sigma is stuck in this timeline, and that won't change for another forty-five years.

Would I...would we really be able to change the course of history? No...that was the wrong way to look at it. It couldn't be a question. I had to change history. We could save the world. I'm going to change history. I stared at the darkening skies above us, and steeled myself. I would succeed.

Sigma comes to the same conclusion as Junpei in 999: someone needs saving, and so the past must be changed. Becoming Zero is necessary because he already has before. "What you are, I was; what I am, you will become." Sigma is the one caught in the paradox this time, because if he runs from the fate in front of him, then there isn't even a semblance of hope that things could change.

But that's not where the game ends, thanks to natural disasters in Japan.

TENMYOUJI: But what would rewriting their history mean? The nine [bikers] who survived lived full lives. How can it be right to just erase all that? The survivors overcame their own misery and loss, and made the best they could of the hand they'd been dealt. Isn't that worth something? Isn't that the best thing that humans can aspire to? Is there really any point to a world where everything is happy? Are people who struggle for a better world just idiots? Being human is about fighting even when it seems hopeless, and finding happiness even in a world that hates it. Are you saying that's worthless?

Another Time may not have ultimately been taken into account for Zero Time Dilemma, but it is one of the few times when Zero's mindset -- and the player's mindset, due to experience with 999 and other multi-route visual novels -- is directly addressed and challenged. Life goes on in those abandoned timelines, despite it all.

Zero is always going to be dubiously moral. Putting people in a death game is never going to be something good, no matter how just a cause it is. But Another Time is one of the few times the first two games question directly whether it really is right -- whether all those cross-timeline casualties are really worth it for the ideal nice happy ending.

...of course, Zero Time Dilemma, as with the title, only adds to the moral balance.

Going back to the lines of dialogue we started with here: Akane and Junpei are a group of people who, generally, believe that the ends justify the means. Akane couldn't have been Zero in 999 without that belief, and she undoubtedly has come to fully accept it by the ending of Virtue's Last Reward:

SIGMA: Do you really think I can keep the virus from getting out?

AKANE: You have to. If you don't, billions of people will die. Only you and Phi can save them.

The AB Project, for Akane, is a necessity. She'll do whatever is necessary for a world without Radical-6.

...and this brings us back once more to Delta. How far do the ends have to go to justify the means? ZTD bends over backwards to explain how Delta can still have a somewhat sympathetic motivation by stating that he's fighting fire with fire -- asking the player if they'd rather kill six billion or eight billion people. And the answer, according to the writers, is "fuck that, we're finding a third option"...which is also what Delta wanted, in the end. Delta also gets his motivations challenged a fair bit -- not just wanting to secure his own existence in the form he is currently in, but also everything apocalypse-related.

Zero Time Dilemma never quite settles the question of whether the ends justify Delta's means of getting there. In my opinion, what you make of Carlos's final decision and resolving the ambiguity says a lot about your thoughts on how Delta's means work towards the ends he sought.

But in the end...the characters still accept Delta's premise. The characters are still working to find the person who Delta claims doomed the human race to either nukes or Radical-6 and the annihilation reactors. Zero Escape as a series has firmly lodged itself into believing the ends justify the means, even if that means it has to justify brutal deaths and an apocalypse-causing virus. That isn't to say that it's incapable of questioning the premise altogether, but Zero as a figure is one that cannot exist without the philosophy of a good outcome mattering more than any bad outcomes along the way.

[mizkit]

new blog post: Release Day: Lion on Loan

new blog post on https://mizkit.com/release-day-lion-on-loan/

Release Day: Lion on Loan

Positively delighted to bring you LION ON LOAN, the first of a new paranormal romance series set at a wildlife park in Ireland! :D

This is a series inspired by Fota Wildlife Park in Cork, Ireland, a location I really love and strongly recommend anyone visiting Cork go out to see. I was chatting with friends and thought, wouldn’t it be fun if a wildlife park also doubled as a shifter vacation spot/refuge? Next thing I knew, I had a bunch of titles and a plan, so what was I to do but write it? I had a wonderful time writing this story, and hope you enjoy reading it at least as much as I liked writing it. :)

He’s just lion around on the job… Lion shifter Elliott Harkness is in Ireland for the dream vacation of a lifetime—and helping the Shamrock Safari Wildlife Park do some fundraising by staying there for a few days! After all, it’s not often that a shifter gets to display his animal form in public, and being the ‘lion on loan’ means Elliott can show off while doing some good for the always-underfunded park.

She’s pawsitive something’s wrong… Aoife Gallagher loves her education and outreach job at the Safari Park, but there’s something weird going on there. Bringing new animals into a zoo isn’t a fly-by-night operation, but as long as she’s worked here, there’s been a magnificent menagerie of exotic animals who seem to drop by for a week and then disappear again. And the new lion is in a completely unsafe enclosure! And is also…the hottest guy she’s ever seen?

Together they’ll make a purrfect team… The instant connection Aoife and Elliott feel would be wonderful under any other circumstances—but today Aoife has to convince a rude investor that the wildlife park’s mission to protect endangered species is worth their money, while also dealing with an ill-mannered child and the revelation that the park she’s loved for so long is a refuge for shifters as well as an ordinary wildlife park. It’s all too much—except Elliott is there to be Aoife’s ‘mane man,’ and his steady support (not to mention his incredible biceps) help Aoife get through a day that goes wrong from the start—and right at the end, in all the very best ways.

Lion on Loan is a funny, charming, and sweet entry in a new series from the author of the Virtue Shifters, a series described as “like reading a warm hug” by readers. Buy now and fall in love with a touch of the Irish in this brand-new romantic comedy paranormal romance! (Affiliate links throughout!)

[return-of-the-trinidude]

So I just finished Zero Time Dilemma and I am so confused

Spoilers for the entire Zero Escape Series below the cut

The game felt way too short. I have spent an average of 39 hours on the first two games but only 24 hours on this one. This is a small thing, but to me, it adds to the game's incomplete feeling.

Where on earth did Delta come from? When Q first points out Delta, it looks like a fourth wall break, but then it reveals that he's just always been there? Even when Q kills Delta, everyone just kinda looks at him like "Oh, that's who you killed.'' with no surprise. I get that the structure of the game is that the player is Delta looking through the eyes of Carlos, Q and Diana, piecing together their memories to figure out what happened, but then how is he also physically in the bunker with the others?

What's the deal with Q? Everyone goes from not knowing him to calling him Sean. His card even says that they've always called him Sean and nothing else. Huh? Did I miss something? And then it's revealed that they actually called Delta "Q"? What's the story here?

Delta's knowledge. How is he able to perfectly recreate the situation that led to his birth? He repeats constantly that he cannot shift, and the only reason he's able to know what happened in other timelines is by reading the memories of shifters. Who's memory did he read to build those games? Akane and Sigma were able to build their games using their shifter abilities and connecting to the morphogenetic field, but Delta doesn't have that kind of power.

Free the Soul's purpose. In Virtue's Last Reward, Free the Soul was a cult that believed in transcending humanity by separating soul and body (hence Free The Soul). This was their purpose for creating Radical-6. VLR claimed that Brother's (Delta's) beliefs were spurred on by the death of his brother, whom we meet a clone of in the form of Left. However, in ZTD, Delta claims that he created Radical-6 to kill the Religious Fanatic and prevent humanity's extinction. The storyline of his brother is also thrown to the wind. Did VLR lie to us? Not likely, given that Akane would have gotten that knowledge from Delta himself. Did Delta lie? If so, why? Is he lying about the Religious Fanatic too?

Delta's Plan. Did he really create a virus to kill 75% of humanity with the blind hope that he might kill the Religious Fanatic? Wasn't there another, surer way to go about this? Sure, it seems like he was successful, but that seemed to just be chance. Why use this method? Speaking of which,

Who on earth is the "Religious Fanatic"? This person seems to be the driving force behind the entirety of the Zero Escape storyline and we only hear about them near the end of the last game and even then, the information is bare. Was there supposed to be a next game after this one that deals with this person? The story feels so unfinished. There are a bunch of other things I didn't get but these are the main ones that confused me. I'm going to go read Reddit posts and wiki entries to try and fill in the gaps, but any fans on Tumblr can feel free to answer. I felt like I just needed to vent. I love Zero Escape, but this ending left me a bit disappointed.

[alixanderdisaster]

Religion

I don know exactly how but me and the kid I am training at work got onto topic of religion, specifically Christianity. So I’m just going to ramble here.

Neither of us are religious. Both of us grew up in Christian households.

My introduction to God was going to church with my grand parent and my mother telling me ‘God doesn’t like ugly’ and ‘lying is a sin, liars go to hell’ as a small child. And I believed… for a while. Until bad things happened, and kept happening or kept getting worse no matter how hard or how much I prayed.

I’m fairly certain I stopped believing in god at about the same time I realized that Santa wasn’t real. Which I would say was probably between 6-7years old. No one told me Santa wasn’t real and as far as I remember there was no big upset about it. I don’t think I even mentioned it, just kept playing along.

My childhood was not great, but no where near the worst. There are countless other people who have had much worse circumstances. But there’s only so much a child can pray for to stop happening, for something to change, before first wondering what they could have done wrong to be punished as such, and next wondering if there’s even a god at all.

Because surely an all loving god wouldn’t put a child through such things as I have experienced, let alone the worse horrors happening for even less reasons.

Granted as a child I did not have the ability to express or even understand the feelings and emotions as I can explain as an adult. I felt anger and betrayal toward a god who had obviously decided that my devote worship and prayer wasn’t good enough. That anger shifter targets when my belief stopped, aimed instead at those that continued to try to shove the Bible down my throat or tell me ‘it’s gods will’ and ‘god always has a reason’ and whatever other bullshit people spout in an attempt to make meaningless atrocities hurt less.

IT DOES NOT WORK.

I have slightly less anger towards religious folks now. As an adult I can see individuals separate from the religion. That is, while the organization may condemn something, the individual may not. While the church may say one thing, the individual may differ.

A big example would be same sex relationships/marriage.

Christianity as a whole condemns it. However some sects/individuals differ on it. Some say it’s a sin. Some say it’s a sin but to each their own. Others say it’s not a sin at all.

This does not change that the institution says it’s a sin and that the sin will be punished. Therefore, even if you tell me that you think everyone who says it’s a sin is wrong and not a ‘real Christian’ it doesn’t matter.

If this ‘all-loving’ God punishes me, despite me doing everything I can to be a honest, caring, good person, and doing my best to never hurt anyone. If the only black mark on my soul is that I loved the wrong gender and that I refused to worship something I couldn’t believe in then your god is not worthy of worship.

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

Marcus Aurelius

There is nothing in this world, short of Jesus himself giving divine proof, that could cause me to believe. And even then, with no doubt of belief, I could not worship a God that demands worship or punishment. That gives free will, freedom of choice, and punishes those who use it.

I wish I had faith in something bigger than humanity. But I cannot reconcile what a petulant and cruel being god would have to be while his followers sing his praises and children die en masse.

Good night.